Monday, March 8, 2010

Brother Odd by Dean Koontz

Brother Odd
Dean Koontz
2006, 2007, HarperCollinsPublishers, London
9780007226580
439p.

Odd Thomas can see dead people and strange creatures which feed on death he calls bodachs. After his girlfriend is killed in a mall shooting, he finds his way to a monastery where he hopes for some peaceful reflection. But of course, he doesn't get it - bodachs begin swarming around the monastery and Odd must find out what they are after before too much blood is shed.

An ok story, but not great writing style. I never felt comfortable in the narrative - it was like the narrator wasn't sure which voice to use, and the story jumped around far too much. Odd should be a fascinating character, but it just doesn't come through which is a shame. The best part of the book was the tete-a-tete between Odd and Romanovich.

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2 comments:

freelunch said...

I know what you mean about the narrative. I'm reading this one now and (like the first two Odd Thomas books) there's something offputting about its flow. As it is in the first person I guess this is how Odd thinks..

I don't recall having similar difficulty with other Koontz books, though I haven't read many.

Ro said...

Koontz is very hit and miss. His good books are fantastic, but his bad books are terrible.