Odd Thomas, a fair-minded and kindly do-gooder, is like a knight in psychic armor, rescuing and helping those alive or dead, as he unravels twisted lives and brings justice to the guilty. The story in Brother Odd takes place while Odd Thomas is a guest in St. Bartholomew’s monastery on the Sierra Nevada. Weighing his options of becoming a novice, Odd Thomas seeks peace among the devoted because he is tired of the hectic life he has lived in Pico Mundo, California. During a snowstorm, he catches sight of some shadows belonging to otherworldly dark beings he calls bodachs. He starts going after them, because the monastery has a wing for physically and mentally challenged children, and bodachs are known to gather around the children to grasp their souls when they sense a disaster of epic proportions is about to happen. Odd Thomas's psychic premonitions draw him not only after bodachs but also after greater dangers in the abbey. The superb weaving of the plot leaves the detection of the real antagonist to the end while the interconnected mysteries of this thriller take the reader's breath away.

As typical in Koontz's books, all the characters are exquisitely drawn. Especially in this book, most of the characters and even those with minimal effect on the plotline are one-of-a-kind, quirky, and unconventional. The monk-turned mafia man Brother Salvatore or Knuckles, The Mother Superior - Sister Angela, John Heineman - the world-renowned physicist who became a monk, Joseph Calvino - a disabled boy, and another guest of the abbey- the Russian librarian Rodion Romanovich are all characters that move the story forward. The ghosts of Elvis Presley, the dog Boo, and at the end, Frank Sinatra add the humor element to the storyline to lighten it up.

The events are told from the first person point of view of Odd Thomas, drawing the reader further into the story. Although violent, fierce, and bone-chilling through its unfolding, the premise of the book is nevertheless moral and humanistic, and the first chapter is so well-written that it could be a teaching device in any writing class.

reading for pleasure and also for learning from the masterful character development and plot weaving.

the humor element in such a dark story.

Dean Ray Koontz was born in 1945 in Pennsylvania. While working as an English teacher, he wrote under various pennames. Later, he was convinced by the editors to use his own name. Although Koontz's writing is sometimes pushed into the horror genre, in my opinion, suspense and mystery would be a better description for it, since most of his good characters end up happily. Some of this prolific writer's books are: The Darkest Evening of the Year, Velocity, The Taking, The Face, False Memory, By the Light of the Moon, One Door Away from Heaven, From the Corner of His Eye, Seize the night, Fear Nothing, Cold Fire, Strangers, The House of Thunder, Whispers, Demon Seed, Shattered, Prison of Ice, The Vision

Dean Koontz never disappoints, and Brother Odd with its fast pace grips and mesmerizes the reader.

For those who have not read the earlier books, this novel has enough information in it to make the reading interesting. Knowing the first two books, Odd Thomas and Forever Odd, however, will add to the enjoyment of this sequel.

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Created Dec 16, 2007 at 10:26pm • Submit your own review...