... Having started with the novel by the same name, he quickly followed it up with "Forever Odd" and brought out a third novel at the start of this year: "Brother Odd."
Odd is a strange little character with a dry wit, a passionate sense of right and wrong and a desire for peace, tranquility ... Read review
By popular demand, the story of the life and times of Odd Thomas continues. To escape the ... more
haunting memories of his lost soul-mate Stormy Llewellyn, Odd has retreated to a monastry in the High Sierra. It's December. Icy winds and deep snow besiege the r...
Postage & Packaging: refer to website Availability: in stock
Advantages: It's an 'Odd Thomas' novel, they're always good and easy to read Disadvantages: This one's a little too farcical in places
Odd Thomas is clearly a favourite of Dean Koontz. Having started with the novel by the same name, he quickly followed it up with "Forever Odd" and brought out a third novel at the start of this year: "Brother Odd."
Odd is a strange little character with a dry wit, a passionate sense of right and wrong and a desire for peace, tranquility and a quiet life doing nothing more than cooking pancakes for the customers ... ...Mundo. Unfortunately for Odd, he can also see the dead and has the power of Psychic Magnetism, which tends to draw him towards violence and danger in the weirdest forms.
In his quest for the quieter life, and having lost his girlfriend and almost lost his best friend in the two previous novels, Odd decides to take a break from his hometown and takes up residence in a monastery in the mountains of the High Sierra. "Brother Odd" ... more
Odd Thomas is clearly a favourite of Dean Koontz. Having started with the novel by the same name, he quickly followed it up with "Forever Odd" and brought out a third novel at the start of this year: "Brother Odd."
Odd is a strange little character with a dry wit, a passionate sense of right and wrong and a desire for peace, tranquility and a quiet life doing nothing more than cooking pancakes for the customers at his friend's restaurant in his home town of Pico Mundo. Unfortunately for Odd, he can also see the dead and has the power of Psychic Magnetism, which tends to draw him towards violence and danger in the weirdest forms.
In his quest for the quieter life, and having lost his girlfriend and almost lost his best friend in the two previous novels, Odd decides to take a break from his hometown and takes up residence in a monastery in the mountains of the High Sierra. "Brother Odd" picks up a year or so after the events of the previous two novels, where Odd is beginning to feel as if his life is finally starting to have some order. He has been befriended by the nuns and monks and has been given special privileges that other guests would not normally receive.
With the exception of Elvis, who shows up frequently to give Odd a guiding hand and poke fun at him, and the disquieting presence of a monk who apparently commit suicide and subsequently turned poltergeist, Odd's only other dealings with the spirits during his respite has been with that of a dog named Boo, who's taken a shine to Odd and likes to hang around with him and Elvis.
It's not until Odd looks out of his guestroom window one day, anticipating the first fall of snow, that he spots something ethereal skulking around the grounds of the monastery. As well as the dead, Odd Thomas has the ability to see bodachs, mystical creatures who are the harbingers of death and carnage. Odd has no idea where these creatures come from, what they do here or why they're attracted to places where death comes messy and in volumes - he only knows that they're bad news, and the site of them on the grounds of his new home in the days before Christmas can only mean one thing: death, and lots of it.
Whilst it would be easy to read the second novel in the series, "Forever Odd", without having read "Odd Thomas" first, this third novel is not so easy to pick up the thread of Odd's unusual life. Having explained in detail in the previous two novels just how and why Odd Thomas is as unique as he is, Koontz has steered clear of too much repetition in "Brother Odd" and focused more on the story. Whilst the earlier two novels do have a touch of otherworldliness about them, they always stuck to a fairly tangible storyline that was somewhat ordinary but for the special abilities of the central character; however, with this third novel Koontz has taken a delve into the realms of religion and the supernatural in a similar way to that which he did with "The Taking". As with that novel, in "Brother Odd" Koontz has explored the power of God and the creation of life, but while "The Taking" sought to resolve the cleansing of humanity, this novel seeks to explore godhead: the belief that an individual has of their celestial abilities and, through the power of thought (and a little bit of modern-day technology and a lot of imagination), manages to create new life.
Technically, the novel is well written. The prose is easy to follow and maintains the staccato style of the previous two Odd Thomas novels. The character's wit is still with him, even managing to draw a smile in the midst of danger: at one point, faced with the psychotic bad guy who has just explained how much power he needs in order to use thought to create new life, Odd Thomas quips: "sir, your electrical bill must be massive." But while Odd might be keeping his composure at a time of darkness, cut off from the world by a snow blizzard so fierce they stand no hope of rescue, and while the disabled children who reside in the nun's school face terrible peril, the arrival of the uberskeletons and the manner in which they were created seems somewhat farcical.
After a slow build-up, Koontz rushes towards an anticlimactic conclusion that makes you feel like you could have resolved the whole problem by shooting the bad guy on page one and saving us all from 364 pages of despondency.
On the whole, this novel is an easy read and a reasonable page-turner, but it's not as compelling as the first two novels: "Odd Thomas" was excellent; "Forever Odd" was a good read. Perhaps it's because Koontz brought out this novel so quickly after the publication of "Forever Odd", but whichever way you look at it "Brother Odd" is okay if you're already a fan of the Odd Thomas series, but it's not a necessity to your book collection and it doesn't conclude the Odd Thomas franchise. Needless to say, Koontz has left this novel wide open for another novel with this character at the centre - if he does bring one out I hope he lifts the character back to where he hailed from and looks to bring conclusion and peace to Odd Thomas's life.
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The hardback of this novel, ISBN 978-0-00-722657-3 is available in all good bookshops and is currently selling on Amazon for £11.87, rrp £17.99.
Advantages: its better than the second Disadvantages: none
Apologys people but here comes another book review.
Dean Koontz is a rather prolific writer it seems that everytime I go to the supermarket unaccompanied while on my tours of the toy and book aisles one of his latests works tries to throw itself in to my basket along with the lego sets and Spongbob DVD's. On my latest trip it was this the third of the books featuring Odd Thomas which made its way in to the basket.
Odd Thomas for anyone unfamiliar ... ...a desert town which has no real distinguishing features other than the massacre at a shopping mall some time ago, and that it is Odds home town. Odd on the other hand is much stranger, well not personally but he see's ghosts, and believes that they come to him for help to pass over after whatever it is that troubles them is sorted out. But after the events described in the previous books Odd is living at an Abbey, a place where Monks and Nuns together ...
scuba_angel 23.08.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Brother Odd - Dean Koontz
Advantages: Back to the high intensity of the original ODD THOMAS Disadvantages: none- this is another tightly held-together thriller featuring the reluctant hero, ODD.
...anyone has to die?
BROTHER ODD is the first, and in my opinion, the only sequel to fully live up to the potential of the original novel on which the rest of the series is based. This third book is every bit of a tense, emotional ride as the first novel with plenty of action and a real seige mentality that keeps you gripped until the end. Though the basic premise behind the novel is far from an original one ( as Odd and his fellow monks find themselves ... ...communication with the outside world, they are forced to face off against an unimaginable assailant) that has been used hundreds of times before in films such as John Carpenter's THE THING or PRINCE OF DARKNESS and novels such as Agatha Christie's TEN LITTLE INDIANS or Michael Slades CUTTHROAT, it really does work within the parameters of the story. As things progress, the novel becomes about not just managing to survive against insurmountable odds ...
sparkymarky1973 20.08.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Brother Odd - Dean Koontz
Advantages: Thrilling, Gripping, Fantastic Plot Disadvantages: Quite a saddening book in parts
I have recently just finished reading Dean Koontz's 'Brother Odd'.
Because it is a book set in a monastery I assumed it was not going to interest me because I have never been to a monastery or met a monk. However in his usual manner Dean Koontz dragged me in and showed me something new and amazing whilst enriching my knowledge of something new.
[ There will be no spoilers in this review ]
- Characters - The characters in the book are excellent ... ...in the book. Dean Koontz even manages to weave in a tiny bit of political humour with 'As dangerous as a woman with a knife, a man with a gun or a U.S Senator with an idea.'
His dry sense of humour makes me actually laugh out loud whilst reading the book.
I got some strange looks from parents and colleagues There is a character (a dog) called Boo in the book, I liked him best because he was cute =] The main character (Odd Thomas) is very relatable ...
Autumn1991 26.07.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Brother Odd - Dean Koontz
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Quick review of Brother Odd - Dean Koontz
Brother Odd effectvely incorporates fiction wit philosophy. Koonz has become masterful at this. There is lure of ghosts, romance and horror for those who are not into the deep reflections. It has wide appeal and is a generally good read. Had a difficult time with the ending, but that may just be my personal preference. Koontz is tricky.. Maybe I just do not like being deceived! ...
souldancyr 10.01.2009
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Brother Odd - Dean Koontz
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Advantages: Story, Characters ect. Disadvantages: Sligtly unrealistic but you don't really care.
Odd Thomas is the first installment of the 'Odd' series, which is followed by Forever Odd and BrotherOdd.
I'm a DeanKoontz fan, but by far this or Life Expectancy have to be the best of his books, so I'm not biased.
The book is set in Pico Mundo a small town in the desert, with the main character Odd Thomas actually narrating the book.
The main characters are:
Odd Thomas - The main character sees the dead and the shadows (bodachs)
Stormy Llyewellyn - Odd's girlfriend, and 'destiny'. She was abused by foster parents after her real parents died.
Chief Porter - Odd's friend, apart from Stormy one of the only people who knows Odd sees the dead.
Little Ozzie - Odd's friend, has 6 fingers on 1 hand. The one who made Odd write the book and owning a 50 year old cat, who he insist is that old.
The story starts with Odd seeing ...
Advantages: such a truly great character Disadvantages: The weakest of the series by far
and Koontz is in real danger of alienating his fans if he doesn't give us even a few answers...
ODD has become a major franchise for Koontz with all his adventures either already in print or promised that they are forthcoming. Odd even has his own little section of the DEANKOONTZ website and his own 7-part webisode set between ODD HOURS and BROTHERODD- and thats without mentioning all the Pico Mundo merchandise you can also buy now as well.....
It is a shame then that with ODD HOURS that the series feels perilously close to losing steam. With mentions of WYVERN and THE MAGIC TRAIN, it seems as though the long-rumoured cross-over with the JONATHAN SNOW novels may well be on the cards (Snow appears in the Koontz books FEAR NOTHING and SEIZE THE NIGHT) but whether this attempt to link several of Koontz's titles together will be a success (the ...
Product Information for "Brother Odd - Dean Koontz" »
Product details
Type
Fiction
Genre
Thriller
Title
Brother Odd
Author
Dean Koontz
ISBN
0007226578; 0007226586
Manufacturer's product description
The third Odd Thomas novel from Dean Koontz, following 'Odd Thomas' and 'Forever Odd'. Odd Thomas is looking for peace. But in the silence and snow of the mountains, danger and desperation haunt him still ! Odd, a charismatic young man with a sense for the otherworldly and the downright strange, is in self-imposed exile. The tragic events that took the love of his life have led Odd from his sun-bleached desert home of Pico Mundo to a monastery in the High Sierra. It's December and the remote abbey is besieged by icy winds and snow. As ever where Odd Thomas goes strangeness goes too. A white dog named Boo befriends him -- as does the ghost of Elvis. And a world-famous physicist is conducting experiments in the catacombs of the abbey. Could this be why Odd can once again see bodachs, shadowy harbingers of violence? They prowl the halls, suggesting terror to come. But what form will it take? And how will Odd defeat an enemy that eclipses any he has met before? See all Product Description
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