Odd Thomas

By Dean Koontz

I first became acquainted with Odd Thomas in Koontz's third novel about Odd, Brother Odd. I didn't particularly like that novel and so I was not planning to read any more books by Koontz.
Oddly, though, before I read Brother Odd, I had seen mention of Koontz's character Odd Thomas and decided to read the book, Odd Thomas, as it sounded intriguing. So I put in a request for the book at the library. Years went by and I forgot about the request.
Then a few weeks ago the library informed me that my requested book was in. I didn't know what book they were referring to and was surprised that it was Odd Thomas. Well, since they went to the trouble to fill my years-old request, I decided to go ahead and read it.
So, since some of what I said about Brother Odd applies here also, I will quote from my review:
"It's about a young man named Odd Thomas. He ended up with the name Odd because of a typo on his birth certificate; he was supposed to be named Todd. But the name Odd fits him better because, to paraphrase the movie, he sees dead people.
Ghosts appear to Odd when they need his help dealing with the baggage from their lives that is preventing them from crossing over and entering eternity. The ghosts can't speak, but Odd is very intuitive and is able to figure out what they need from him ... Odd soon discovers that something very sinister is happening when malign spirits that feed on human suffering begin flocking..."
In this story, the malign spirits, called bodachs, are flocking around a customer at the cafe where Odd works. This customer, whom Odd calls Fungus Man because he reminds Odd of a mushroom, captures Odd's attention. Odd decides he needs to take a closer look at Fungus Man because the collection of bodachs around him are portents of violent death in the near future. Odd investigates and comes to the conclusion that something terrible is in store for the town where he lives.

I didn't care for this book anymore than I liked the other Odd Thomas story, Brother Odd. For one thing, Koontz has nothing good to say about modern culture and in fact hates the way the modern world is trending so much that he declares that the bodachs are the twisted, warped essence of voyeurs from the future surfing back through time to feed and glut on the violence and suffering of the past. Also, although Odd can see the lingering spirits of the dead, in this novel, as in Brother Odd, the main part of the story concerns Odd's desire to deal with and prevent whatever impending violence that has drawn the attention of the voyeuristic bodachs. So what could be a look at spirits and ghosts and life after death turns out to be just another thriller-type horror story. If you like that sort of thing then you would probably enjoy Odd Thomas.

Review from Publishers Weekly: https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-553-80249-8.