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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780553807059
ISBN number: 0553807056
Label: Bantam
Manufacturer: Bantam
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 368
Printing Date: May 20, 2008
Publishing house: Bantam
Release Date: May 20, 2008
Sale Popularity Level: 597
Studio: Bantam
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Product Description:
Only a handful of fictional characters are recognized by very first name alone. Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas is one of those rare literary heroes who have come alive in readers’ imaginations as he explores the greatest mysteries of this world and the subsequent with his inimitable wit, heart, and quiet gallantry. Now Koontz follows Odd as he is irresistibly drawn onward to a destiny he cannot imagine and to undreamed of places where the perils he will face and the stakes for which he fights will eclipse all that he has known.
The legend began in the obscure little town of Pico Mundo. A fry cook named Odd was rumored to have the extraordinary ability to communicate with the dead. Through tragedy and triumph, exhilaration and heartbreak, word of Odd Thomas’s gifts filtered far beyond Pico Mundo, attracting unforgettable new friends—and enemies of implacable evil. With great gifts comes the responsibility to meet great challenges. But no mere human being was ever meant to face the darkness that now stalks the world—not even one as oddly special as Odd Thomas.
After grappling with the very essence of reality itself, after finding the veil that separates him from his soul mate, Stormy Llewellyn, tantalizingly thin yet impenetrable, Odd longed only to return to a life of quiet anonymity with his two otherworldly sidekicks—his dog Boo and a new companion, one of the few who might rival his old pal Elvis. But a true hero, however humble, must persevere. Haunted by dreams of an all-encompassing blue tide, Odd is pulled inexorably to the sea, to a small California coastal town where nothing is as it seems. Now the forces arrayed against him have both official sanction and an infinitely more sinister authority…and in this dark night of the soul dawn will come only after the most shattering revelations of all.
Burnishing Dean Koontz’s stature as a master of suspense and one of our most innovative and gifted storytellers, Odd Hours illuminates a legacy of mystery and hope that will shine on long after the final page.
Amazon.com Review:
Amazon Exclusive Essay: Destiny and Odd Hours Odd Thomas came to me as a gift, the entire very first chapter of his very first book having poured out of me as I was in the middle of writing The Face. I wrote it by hand, though I never work that way, and I never hesitated to think what should come next. He was fully-realized in my mind from the moment I began to write in that lined legal tablet. With other stories and characters, I can identify the source of the inspiration, but not with Oddie and his books. He just suddenly was. When I write about him, his narrative voice is so clear to me that I almost hear him in my head. For those among you who long have thought that I should be institutionalized, just relax: I said I almost hear him. Many times over the years, I said I would never write an open-ended series. Then along came Oddie, and he proved me wrong. Or so I thought. As I wrote the very first chapter of Odd Hours, the fourth featuring my fry-cook hero, I realized that this was not an open-ended series, after all, but that it would conclude with six or seven novels. I now think seven. I suddenly saw the end point of his journey, the arc of it to the final book, and I was stunned. Beginning with this fourth story, the stakes were being raised dramatically; Oddie was going to face far more physical and moral danger than previously; and he was going to mature toward the fulfillment of a destiny that I had not seen coming until that moment. Initially, I tried to argue myself out of the direction that Odd Hours was taking. I didn't believe that the very first three books had put down a sufficient foundation to support the formidable architecture that I saw rising from it in the subsequent three or four novels. When I began to reread the very first three books, however, I quickly discovered that I had unconsciously paved the road that the series was now taking. I had thought I was writing a series with an overall theme about the power and beauty of humility. Indeed I was, but it was also something more than that; and Oddie's ultimate destiny will not be merely purification to a state of absolute humility, but will be that and something else I find quite wonderful. What lies ahead will be a challenge to write--or perhaps not. The character of Odd Thomas was a gift to me, and now I see that the entire architecture of a seven-book series was another gift that came to me complete on the same day Oddie arrived, although I needed time to recognize it. This world is a place of wonder, and life is a mysterious enterprise; but nothing in all my years has been more mysterious than Odd Thomas's origins and my compulsion to write about him. -- Dean Koontz
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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I, like many people, fell in love with Odd Thomas after reading the very first novel in this series. The subsequent two were good reads as well, and I couldn't wait to read the latest installment. Then I read it... Never have so many words said so little. The events of this book could have been included in a thirty page chapter within a more interesting novel. The character Odd Thomas is still extremely intriguing, but too much time and space is wasted describing the fog, the pier, etc. Okay, if you pay close attention there is a plot to be found, but once you find it you will be even more flummoxed than you were by the almost endless descriptive ramblings. This book left me feeling angry and cheated by one of my favorite literary characters. I am a Koontz fan, but this book left such a bad taste in my mouth it will take a while for me to pick up another of his books. I will, however, read the subsequent title in this series because I love the character so much. If you have enjoyed the series so far, go ahead and read it... Odd Thomas has plenty left to offer, and unfortunately this is a piece of the larger puzzle. Just don't say I didn't warn you.
Rated by buyers 
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Yet another chapter in the saga of our favorite Odd Thomas. Dean Koontz work just keeps getting better and better!
Rated by buyers 
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this book is the least exiting of the series and at the end i felt that this book just did not deliver and i was disappointed, do yourself a favor and get this as cheap as possible if you do get it at all.
Rated by buyers 
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Before anyone throws stones in my direction, I am one of those rabid fans who has read everything Dean has written. He is the one author who's books I purchase new automatically, the hardback version, the one where I have to plunk down some real bucks because I can't wait to enter Dean's world. And I will do the same for his subsequent novel, because Dean has earned that kind of loyalty from me by writing so many novels that will always be my favorites, books that I go back to read time and time again.
But just between us hard-core fans, let's be honest....lately, with four books published every two years, maybe one is a novel worthy of his track record. Recently, too many of his novels feel like deadline material, mortgage payments, efforts to keep the publishing house happy....you see where I'm going with this? Granted, how many authors will ever have a "Watchers" or "Dark Rivers of the Heart" on their resume? No, Dean is a Hall of Famer right now. But as a fan, I have to admit to myself....Dean ain't throwing the heat anymore. After reading this book, I did the only thing a Koontz fan can do after suffering through another lukewarm effort...I went and reread "Dark Rivers of the Heart".
Rated by buyers -
The title of this review relates to key elements in Dean Koontz's novel: a tugboat, the ghost/poltergeist of Frank Sinatra, and a pack of supernatural coyotes.
I had just finished reading Koontz's The Darkest Evening of the Year when I picked up Odd Hours. Odd Hours is a much weaker book. I haven't read any of the other Odd books, so maybe I'm missing something. But this work has too much fog. Too many ghosts. Too much rushing through the night. This struck me as a write-as-you-go book, with very little planning.
It seems to me that Koontz was trying to capture the spirit of a (bad) screenplay from the 1940-1960 era, years which he often references in Odd Hours. There's semi-mindless comic banter. Melodramatic heroes and villains. Bursts of violence that are hard to take seriously. Maybe a young Mickey Rooney as Odd Thomas.
Koontz is a master wordsmith, and his command of the language is obvious throughout Odd Hours. Some of his characters have Dickensian qualities, notably Hutch Hutchison, an octogenerian retired movie star, and Hoss Shackett, a malevolent police chief.
I most enjoy Koontz's work when it is anchored in reality. A little of the supernatural is okay. After all, Koontz is famous for his ability to mix the real and the unreal. But this book was just too goofy for me.
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