Another Odd journey
avid reader, character-lover, chronic reader, chronic book buyer, fiction reader
| Pros |
|
NOV
28
2007
Brother Odd —
Odd Thomas is one of those characters you can't forget. I discovered him in the quirky, touching, and sometimes chilling "Odd Thomas." I met him again in the darker, less heartfelt "Forever Odd." When I saw the dramatically colored cover of "Brother Odd," however, I was worried that Koontz would take our literary hero into the land of the ludicrous. I picked up the book with a fair share of concern."Brother Odd" finds Odd in a new location, seeking solitude and rejuvenation at a monastery in California's Sierra Nevada mountains. This isolated spot gives the story more tension, throwing a bunch of monks and nuns and needy children into a pressure-cooker situation. Odd knows there is trouble brewing again, trouble of a kind only he can see, when he detects evil entities stalking the children. With typical Koontz style, the story unfolds with lots of literary wordplay and Odd Thomas humor. The supporting cast does its job, although the heavy-handed attempt to make Mr. Romanovich seem menacing is just that--heavy-handed, and a bit too misleading.
In the end, Odd Thomas and his band of merry monks and nuns must face the nameless evil that lurks in the blizzards and mountains, and in so doing, Odd confronts his own guilt, while freeing others (such as the spirit of Elvis Presley) from theirs. Koontz's worldview becomes more thought-provoking as his novels come along, and Odd Thomas is the perfect foil for those views--humble, gifted, and a bit odd. In conclusion, this story expresses thoughts about science and creation and God that are intriguing, uplifting, and cautionary--but also preachy, when serving as a denounement to a fast-paced thriller.
With sardonic wit and pokes at our modern culture, Koontz is a writer I'll keep coming back to. He may be too pedantic for some, but at least he has something to say--and he's not afraid to say it. I'll be waiting anxiously for his next, "The Good Guy."
Last edited on Apr 23, 2008
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