Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #95825 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-02
• Binding: Hardcover
• 400 pages

The Times
The master of our darkest dreams

Synopsis
Odd Thomas is looking for peace. But in the silence and snow of the mountains, danger and desperation haunt him still ! By popular demand, the story of the life and times of Odd Thomas continues. To escape the haunting memories of his lost soul-mate Stormy Llewellyn, Odd has retreated to a monastry in the High Sierra. It's December. Icy winds and deep snow besiege the remote abbey, a contrast to the sunbleached desert town of Pico Mundo where Odd was born. A white dog named Boo befriends Odd. The King of Rock 'n' Roll has followed him there and silently serenades man and dog. But Elvis isn't the most spooky phenomenon in the place. Odd is one of four guests there. Another is John Heineman, world-famous physicist, who years earlier left the secular world because he found the nature of reality, as quantum mechanics reveals it, so very weird. But Heineman continues his physics experiments down in the catacombs of the facility. Added to this, those shadowy harbingers of extreme violence, bodachs, are prowling the halls. Only Odd can see them. Only he knows what their presence means. Odd has a knack for finding himself in the path of trouble no matter where he goes, even among the eccentric monks in their sanctuary ! where Odd is about to encounter an enemy that eclipses any he has yet known.

From the Back Cover
Odd Thomas is looking for peace. But in the silence and snow of
the mountains, danger and desperation haunt him still ...

Odd, a charismatic young man with a sense for the otherworldly, is in
self-imposed exile. The tragic events that took the love of his life have
led Odd from his sun-bleached desert home to a remote monastery in the icy
High Sierra.

As ever, where Odd Thomas goes strangeness goes too. A white dog named Boo
befriends him - as does the ghost of Elvis. And a world-famous physicist is
conducting experiments in the catacombs of the abbey. Could this be why Odd
can once again see bodachs, shadowy harbingers of violence? They prowl the
halls, suggesting terror to come.

But what form will it take? And how will Odd defeat an enemy that eclipses
any he has met before?

Customer Reviews

Odd indeed
I'd recommend reading the Odd series in order, since they add to the depth of the central character of Odd Thomas. More importantly the references contained within Brother Odd would surely ruin the twists that the previous two had in store. Brother Odd lends itself from several other books written by Koontz; all the trademarks are there, including the lovable and intelligent dog (although Boo isn't a central character). Without revealing any plot, Brother Odd is a tale of self-analysis and of the evils of the human mind. There is more of a supernatural bent to this book than Koontz has used for several years and in doing so, he has created some scenes of real menace. Although the end is both predictable and weak, the path that gets you there is both riveting and, at times, tense. Different enough to be refreshing, with new and thought-provoking characters, Brother Odd is a worthy third installment to the Odd series.

downhill...
I loved the 1st in the series and bore with the second, as I rated the character Odd so much. The first two made me cry, aswell as read in one sitting, although I preferred the 1st by a mile and awaited the 3rd thinking it would overcome the 2nd novel-2nd album syndrome. As for Brother Odd, sorry to say I started to really dislike the character so much that he gave me mental italics. This book was a real letdown. The plot was gossamer thin, and the sweet simple personality of the protagonist felt cloyingly annoying and 2D. Not to mention the loss of Elvis himself.. the one point in the book which may have had some poignancy, if left alone, was quickly ruined by the appearance of none less than Sinatra. (I'm sure Odd was meant to be lacking in the ego department? Why not some anonymous soul?)
That said, I will buy the 4th book, hoping to find some remnance of the promise of the first and not something that feels like a contractual obligation and insult to readers integrity.

poor ending
I bought this book in a US airport with very little choice and was the best of a bad bunch. I have not read the two books preceeding this one but that did not seem to matter. I have read a couple of other Koontz books in the past and they were a lot darker and manacing than Odd Thomas. This was a very light hearted read, funny in places, but the end was abrupt and poor. I didn't realise monks were so down to earth.