Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

I have not read any of the novels in this Odd series by Dean Koontz so on a recommendation from Hillsdale I started with this first one.  I cannot define the genre though the  Wikipedia review classifies it as a thrioller and a suspense novel.  I can only say it is odd, strange and although the writing is excellent and the characters are so intriguing, I will not be reading any others in this series.  It was just not something I enjoyed although I did read it all the way through. Published in 2003, 446 pages.  There are 6 sequels in the Odd series and I am glad I did not order all of them, just one.  This novel also was adapted into a movie in 2013.  I've never seen that either.

The tale is told by the main character, Odd Thomas an unusual first name, "Odd"  certainly odd.  It is set in the Mojave desert town of Pico Mundo where Odd is a 20 year old short order ry cook at the local diner.  His only higher aspiration is to perhaps work in the tires warehouse.  Pg 2, " ...I do not mean that my life is better than yours.  I'm sure that your life is filled with as much happiness, charm, wonder and abiding fear as anyone could wish.  Like me you are human, after all, and we know what a joy and terror that is   I mean only that my life is not typical.  Perculiar things happen to me that don't happen to other people with regularilty if ever. "   

Odd Thomas Back Cover

The following is  excerpted from Wikipedia which summarized this far better than I can..........Odd meets a suspicious-looking man in the diner followed by bodachs, shadowy spirit creatures who appear only during times of death and disaster. This man, whom Odd nicknames "Fungus Man" (due to his waxy complexion and blond hair that resembles mold), has an unusually large swarm of bodachs following him, and Odd is convinced that this man is connected to some terrible catastrophe that is about to occur. To gather more information about him, Odd uses his gift of supernatural intuition, which his soulmate Bronwen (a.k.a. Stormy) Llewellyn calls "psychic magnetism," to track him down.

Odd's sixth sense leads him to Fungus Man's home, and Odd begins to uncover more details about the man and a mysterious other-worldly link to the dark forces about to be unleashed on the town of Pico Mundo. Accompanied sometimes by the ghost of Elvis Presley and encountering other memorable spirits, including a murdered prostitute, Odd is soon deeply involved in an attempt to prevent the disastrous bloodshed he knows will happen the next day.

"I see dead people. But then, by God, I do something about it." – Odd Thomas pg. 32

Odd could see the dead and also see shadowy figures that normally lurk around people that will cause deaths or will die. They are called bodachs and feed on the pain of others. 

Odd's destiny. Stormy's real name is Bronwen but she prefers to be called Stormy because she thinks this makes her sound less like an elf. She is the manager of an ice cream shop and hopes to own a shop of her own some day. Stormy's parents died when she was very young. She was adopted by a couple when she was 7. Her foster father sexually molested her for almost 3 months. She reported him to a social worker and was moved to an orphanage where she lived until seventeen, at which point she was cared for by her uncle, Father Sean Llewellyn, rector of St. Bartholomew's church. She remained under his legal guardianship until she could become independent. She is a strong believer in delayed gratification, that this life is a "boot camp" for the next, which she calls "service," and that finally in the third life are the rewards. She insists on waiting for sex with Odd until marriage, hoping to make their first time together a me aningful experience and to not bring the memories of her abuse on their bed. She also is the only person who knows everything about Odd seeing the dead. She is killed in the first Odd Thomas novel during the mall shooting.  

Police Chief Wyatt Porter helps Odd many times, acting almost as a surrogate father. He is one of the few people who knows Odd sees the dead but he does not know all of Odd's secrets. He is shot 4 times by one of the antagonists who would later shoot people at the mall but survives.

Fungus Man or Robert Thomas Robertson is initially portrayed as the main antagonist. He comes to Pico Mundo surrounded by bodachs and immediately Odd is suspicious of him. Little is explained about Robertson directly. Odd finds that he is obsessed with serial killers as evidenced by the files he keeps on them. Robertson was approached by Eckles, Varner, and Gosset a few months before the incident at the Green Moon Mall, having met them at a satanic cult gathering. They were interested only in his mother's money. Eckles, Varner, and Gosset killed Robertson's mother (with his permission) and gave him her ears as a trophy. Robertson is murdered by one of his conspirators when they find out that Odd's attention is being drawn towards them and their plans. Robertson then becomes one of the lingering dead and stalks Odd for a short time as a poltergeist. When Robertson's ghost confronts Odd at his home, he goes into an uncontrollable rage, destroying much of the kitchen. Odd leaves him there in the house where he is assumed to still be haunting.""""

Terri 

There are other interesting characters throughout the novel including Terri Odd's boss and owner of the diner and Mrs. Sanchez his landlady who rents him his apartment upstairs of her garage. Page 221 describes Terri's widow grief after the passing of her husband Kelsey and why she has become  a walking encyclopedia of all things Elvis .  

Tragically Odd is unable to prevent the planned massacre entirely but does curtail it.  The last page....."My name is Odd Thomas.  I am a fry cook.  I lead an unusual life here in my pico mundo, my little worlkd.  I am at peace.":     Hard as it was for me toi categorize the genre of this novel it is just as difficult to rate it..  Not a 5 ***** to me, but 3 *** seems inade    uate due to the variety and richness of characters and writing.  Just not a favorite for me.