The Taking

 

By Dean Koontz

Climate change on a grand scale! Huge water spouts pumping water out of the oceans and sending back down over all the lands of the world in the form of torrential rains. But this is only the beginning of everything being turned upside down. It's a tale of a massive scale of death and destruction, but told from the prospective of a small resort town in America. 

The first intimation of the changes to come, beside a strangely scented, glowing downpour, was when Molly saw a pack of coyotes taking shelter under the overhang of her house. She looked out at them and sensed they meant her no harm and so she stepped out to stand among them. They simply ran off into the woods. Her spouse, Neil, woke up after having a terrible nightmare, unusual for him. He wasn't one to give in to irrationality. Together, Molly and Neil turned on the TV to discover the experiences they were having were occurring everywhere and that communications were becoming iffy. A feeling of doom and menace permeated the atmosphere and stories of monsters and murder began to filter through the static that was destroying the airwaves. 

Neil felt that their home was not a safe place for them to stay. So they packed up their car and headed into the nearest town, the small resort town of Black Lake. First they stopped at the home of their friend, Harry, which turned out not to be a good idea when they discovered Harry had killed himself and his reanimated corpse came after them. 

After fleeing from zombie Harry, they continued on to Black Lake but things were just as crazy there. The locals are in various stages of succumbing to whatever doom has fallen upon the world and the only allies Molly and Neil are able to find are the neighborhood dogs who have organized themselves into a troop to protect the local kids. Molly and Neil try to talk the adults into making a stand against the unknown menace but soon realize they are on their own. That's when they set off into town with the dogs to located and secure any children in the town. Doing so, they face the otherworldly horrors who will use all their tricks and attacks to thwart them in their quest, including sending Molly's criminally insane father to attack her.  

This was an OK read. Molly and Neil try to fight the horrors but mostly fail, barely escaping in time. The local people, except a very few, quickly fall under the malign influence and Molly and Neil are left alone to stand against the attackers. The ending was kind of lame, the attack just stops and the menace goes away, leaving everything in shambles and with a few people left alive to pick up the pieces. 

Here is a review by Kirkus Reviews.

In Odd We Trust

 

By Dean Koontz

A graphic novel

Odd Thomas is a young man with a gift. He sees ghosts. The ghosts don't talk but they do seem to communicate to Odd at times.

Odd lives in a town in California and has a job working the grill in a small restaurant. He has a steady girl friend and he likes his job and he is also trusted and liked in his community. 

But tragedy visits small towns too. And Odd is seeing the timid ghost of a small boy. The boy was home alone when he was attacked and slaughtered. But it soon turns out the boy was just killed because he was in the way of the killer's real target, the babysitter. 

For some time the babysitter, Sherry, has been stalked by a stranger who sends her messages composed of letters cut out of magazines. Who this person is, Sherry has no idea. And the killer is still stalking Sherry and clearly doesn't mind committing murder to gain access to her. The only clue to the killer's identity is locked inside the silent, shy ghost of a small, murdered boy that only Odd can perceive.

This was an OK read. Being a graphic novel, it lacks the depth you usually find in an Odd Thomas story.  I'm not really a fan of manga-style illustrations, though. I think that affected my perception of the story.

According to Wikipedia, it's a prequel to the first Odd Thomas novel and was published in 2008. 

A Big Little Life

By Dean Koontz

Dean Koontz really loved his dog, Trixie. She was a trained assistance dog who had to retire due to health issues. She was smart, friendly, obedient and well-trained and she became like a daughter to Koontz and his wife. In fact, Koontz feels that Trixie became a major influence on his writing and helped to open his eyes to the importance of joy in everyday matters, to the importance of innocence and of love. Koontz feels that his dog was sent to him as an emissary from God and that she was a holy spirit in a dog's body, sent to enlighten him as to the mystery of life, death and creation.

This was an OK book. At times the it grows a little tedious reading about how wonderful and special Trixie was, who, according to the author, was even able to speak an actual human word, ball. I don't have a problem with the author's beliefs about his dog, most people who love their pets feel pretty much the same way. But it did get a little boring reading about Trixie's perfection. Also, the book is a lot about Koontz's own beliefs about God and death and the purpose of life, which is OK, but not really what I care to read about.

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.

Brother Odd

By Dean Koontz

This story is 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.
In this story, Odd is at a monastery high in the mountains. He is there not only to deal with a wayward spirit but also to deal with the tragic loss of the woman he loved. But Odd soon discovers that something very sinister is happening when malign spirits that feed on human suffering begin flocking to the school for disabled children that is associated with the monastery.

I liked the premise of a man that helps ghosts. Unfortunately, this book is really just a horror or monster story that reminded me a lot of Stephen King's stuff. It's a kind of story that I am not really a fan of. I guess it was OK if you like that sort of thing. I don't plan on reading any more Koontz though.

Review on Horror Novel Reviews:    https://horrornovelreviews.com/2013/09/30/dean-koontz-brother-odd-review/.