Product Description

The latest Odd Thomas thriller from the master storyteller. A mystery in Magic Beach, California has lured Odd to the small town by the ocean -- but is it the call of the deep or the cry of the desperate? Odd Thomas knows more about the mysteries of the universe than the rest of us. He can see the lingering dead. He has learned that there are no coincidences. Even in chaos, there is order, purpose, and strange meaning. Intuition has brought Odd Thomas to the quaint town of Magic Beach on the California coast. In his desert home, Odd once found an ocean filled with love, and lost it. Now, scarred and alone, the only magic he finds by the vast, indifferent Pacific is in the name of the town where he has come to rest. As he waits to learn why he has been drawn to Magic Beach, he has found work as cook and assistant to a once-famous film actor who, at eighty, has become an eccentric with as long a list of fears as he has stories about Hollywood's golden days. Odd is having dreams of a red tide, vague but worrisome. But nothing prepares him for the hard truth of what he will discover.For in Magic Beach, he will come face to face with a form of evil that will test him as never before.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11260 in Books
• Published on: 2009-01-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Review
Praise for Dean Koontz: 'Odd Thomas is certainly a page-turner -- this is a read-at-a-sitting novel -- with a terrific final twist' Observer 'A terrific pursuit story ! clever, up-to-the-minute, and riveting' Guardian 'There's surprise after surprise, including a killer finale ! a read-in-one-go novel' Independent on Sunday 'Dean Koontz is not just a master of our darkest dreams, but also a literary juggler' The Times 'Psychologically complex, masterly and satisfying ' The New York Times 'One of the great masters of suspense, Koontz has an undeniable gift for playing on the reader's innermost fears ... What we have come to expect from Koontz are exciting, fast-paced thrillers that make your flesh creep. Once again, he doesn't disappoint' Northern Echo 'A modern Swift ! a master satirist.' Entertainment Weekly 'If Stephen King is the Rolling Stones of novels, Koontz is the Beatles' Playboy 'Tumbling, hallucinogenic prose. Serious writers might do well to study his technique' New York Times Book Review 'Fast-paced and dark ! Koontz knows we live in a world where evil delights in justifying itself ! Classic literature that deserves a place on the bookshelf beside Orwell's 1984 and Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451' California Literary Review 'Koontz is a superb plotter and wordsmith. He chronicles the hopes and fears of our time in broad strokes and fine detail, using popular fiction to explore the human condition' USA Today 'Inspires both chills and serious thought ! has the power to scare the daylights out of us' People

About the Author
Dean Koontz is an international household name whose hugely entertaining parables for our times have been bestsellers in many countries, selling seventeen million copies each year. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, he lives with his wife Gerda, their dog Anna, and the enduring spirit of their dog Trixie in southern California.

Customer Reviews

not the best
The fourth in the series, and I hope that Dean is not running out of steam. The plot does not have the supernatural feel of the previous three. It's just "Odd stumbles upon some bad guys and foils their plans by shooting them".

Yes, there are a few ghosts, but nothing like previous books. There is also a pack of possibly supernatural animals that shows up twice and threatens Odd, but each time they slink away when told to do so.

There is a girl, who looks as if she will play a part in future books, but here she is irrelevant to this plot. Odd thinks she needs protecting, but she is never in any real danger. She seems to be there to make enigmatic pronouncements which, hopefully, will be explained in the next book.

On the plus side there is plenty of the banter from Odd that we have grown to enjoy (rather too much actually). Worth a read, but seems to be more of a prelude to Odd 5.

Very good
I was expecting this book to be less than brilliant due to so many lackluster reviews but I actually really enjoyed it! Deffinatly not the worst in the Odd Thomas series. I found the first half to be a bit boring in places as not that much happens but it really picks up in the second half and I ended up reading the last 200 pages or so in one go because I just couldn't put it down.

In this book, Odd is now living in a place in California where he knows something terrible is going to happen. He meets Annabella, a women who he knows he is supposed to "save" but her enigmatic personality just mystifies things further.

A good suspence thriller which I would reccomend to fans of Dean Koontz or the Odd Thomas series.

Hmmmmm !!
I LIKE Odd Thomas! Admittedly, I found him & Stormy a little irritating, but there are ALWAYS plucky heroes & heroines, and they are always (sorry Dean), a little irritating, but I have still read all his books more than once!!

This book was fine! I lay on the couch, hungover & read it in a few hours, but other than Frank Sinatra (always welcome) and a fleeting chat with Odds current employer, who I feel we met too briefly, it WAS just a light, time passer, rather than a show stopper!

I like Odd because of his interaction with the dead, but anyone could have sorted this problem out, it really didn't need him, and I am worried we are close to a Crocodile Dundee 3 here!
The first was really good, unexpected, nice & original, I enjoyed 2 & 3 too, but be careful! PLEASE don't milk it too much! It gets lame!

So many authors at the moment seem to be churning books out too quickly, and they just lose the punch.

I do now want to know what happens to Odd & the enigmatic girl (who really needs a slap for being so surreal!) but I really think 5 should be the end of it for a while, and Another hero or heroine should come out or a while, so we can fully anticipate & enjoy future adventures.