Friday, June 29, 2012

Books read in 2012: No. 58 - Odd Thomas

by Dean Koontz

Started: June 27
Finished: July 1

Notes: A couple of decades ago I was a huge Koontz fan, but I eventually tired of him. His plots and characters all began to feel the same to me. Still, every once in a while I give the man another chance. I'm particularly interested in this novel because it is the first in a series of books concerning Koontz's serial character Odd Thomas, apparently a fry cook who can see dead people.

Mini review: I have to admit to being pleasantly surprised. This is the best Koontz novel I've read in a long, long while, and it is unlike anything else of his I have read (which is quite a lot, though mostly pre-1990 or thereabouts). This is allegedly the first novel in a six or seven book series, and in the future I'll be tempted to read more. Not exactly horror in the traditional sense, more a supernatural thriller, this is still a fairly dark work for Koontz. I enjoyed it more than anything of his I've read in a long time.

2 comments:

Adventuresfantastic said...

Ty, I haven't commented in a while, but I wanted you to know I appreciate your mini reviews of books you've read. You've introduced me to new authors I need to check out. I'm looking forward to seeing what you think of this one. I've not read Koontz, but this series looks intriguing.

Ty said...

Keith, thanks. Drop by anytime you'd like. Or just have fun perusing my blog. Glad I could bring some writers to your attention.

As for this Koontz book, I'm not quite half way and it seems to be something very different for the author. He's doing a lot of things I've never seen him do before, but to be honest I've not been a regular reader of his since about 1990, so it's possible this is more of the same for his more modern material. Of his older works, I think "Watchers" and "Lightning" were his best, just in case you decide to give him a try.