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Reviews

I love Dean Koontz and the Frankenstein books and this one is another great one

I hungrily gobbled up this latest addition to the Frankenstein franchise. Like others, however, I was disappointed. The plot is underdeveloped, leaving one to feel as if the story is just getting started as the book is ending. As I was getting toward the end, I kept glancing at the few remaining pages with foreboding, realizing that he was running out of time to make this a "good" book. The reason I gave this book two stars instead of one, however, is that I enjoyed the snarky banter between Carson and Michael, as well as the comic relief of Erika and Jocko. The most disappointing aspect of this book was the almost total lack of presence of Victor's character. What little we find out about him is 180 degrees different from the previous incarnations of Victor. In fact, he is so different that the reader is hard pressed to consider him "evil". One has to assume that he is evil, but ultimately Victor is so invisible from the plot that the reader simply doesn't have the opportunity to develop an opinion one way or the other. In my opinion, this thin attempt would have been more suitable for one of Koontz's graphic novels.

I have been an avid Koontz fan for many years and have greatly enjoyed many of his works; including the prior three Frankenstein novels. This one, while readable, is DEFINITELY NOT one of his better works. I have to agree with some of the other reviews that it felt unnecessary, thin, contrite, and worst of all SHORT. I felt like I just bought half a book, and that is the most disappointing of all. With the commercialization of everything else in this world, splitting movies, games, and everything else into multiple "installments" in order to keep us buying; I was ashamed to have one of my favorite authors pull the same shtick. The book itself does borrow very heavily from so many other sources, which in and of itself isn't terrible, but in most cases it was done poorly or half heartedly and, I feel, did injustice to not only the original yarn, but Koontz' adaptation as well. My honest suggestion: Get it from your library if you are a fan; it's not worth the $10, skip it if you aren't. Leaving the story so open at the end of Dead or Alive is a preferable ending to this and potentially what is in store for the next book(s).

Normally I wouldn't bother to post a review of a schlocky thriller but this one was so bad that I feel I had to warn anyone considering it. I an not a rabid Konntz fan but I did enjoy some of the ones I've read in the past as being good for the limitations of their genre. However, this one must have been written with utter and cynical contempt for any reader. Not only are the characters and dialogue cartoonish to the point of rendering it almost unreadable but this very short novel ends abruptly - presumably to create interest in the sequel. I've never read anything quite like it. I was wondering how the story might end given the brevity but couldn't imagine that it would just fall off the cliff at about the part where King begins the meat of his story. I can't imagine how anyone who paid for this book feels. As it is I feel anger at the author for releasing such a cynical piece of dreck. The only saving grace is that I was able to finish it in about 2 hours since it contains almost nothing in the way of dialogue or characterization that is of interest and necessary to follow the very meager story line.

I ordered the three books in the series and read them all within a week. I thought I would be getting a complete story line by buying them this way. The Lost Souls book actually made me angry when I realized that it just stopped in the middle of the plot as if someone chopped an axe in the middle and said this book will end here!! There was no satisfication in reading this book since to find out what happens I will have to wait until next year to get the next installment of the story and then most likely the same thing will happen all over again. I have read Dean Koontz for years and he has alway been one of my favorite writers. I hope that he finishes this story line and goes back to writing one good story per book. I would pay more for a big fat "Stephen King" type book, just let me know what happens without waiting a full year! Please, it seems that this manner of writing books is all about making money, not about pleasing readers. There are many writers that I have just stopped reading all together since they don't know now to finish a story line, in one or even two books. I don't want a story line that takes years to complete.

Reviews

This is like no other Koontz book... you'll fall in love with his dog within minutes. Truly remarkable story, great for the whole family and I highly recommend the audio version because the author is the reader. Get it for your family roadtrip!!

It is the most heartwarming story I have heard in a long time. Since it is an audio book read by the author, his feelings come through.

I highly recommend this book. Not being a fan of Koontz's "darker" writing, I thoroughly enjoyed this uplifting story of the ways Trixie impacted their life. As an avid reader, usually one book a year makes a terrific impression on me. This year, it was this book, and I purchased several copies of the book and CD (hopefully being "abridged" it will still be wonderful) for family and friends. Looking forward to their feedback.

Reviews

Odd Thomas has to be one of the most likable characters created by Dean Koontz or any other author for that matter. Unfortunately, it seems Odd may have run his course & the series is out of steam. Mr. Koontz has in the past number of years changed his writing style, which is not a problem. He's still excellent. As weak as this book is, the writing is still top notch. The problem for me arises from a very improbable story line & some characters that are so underdeveloped one wonders why they were included in the book. Picture, if you will, Odd out of his fry cook element in Pico Mundo, Ca. He now is charged with saving four U.S. cities from nuclear holocausts from a handful of madmen. Odd, of course, saves the day. Preposterous compared to the first three novels which were all good. If one had not read this series in order, he/she would be greatly lost reading this book. Sadly it does leave Odd Thomas open for a 5th book. Mr. Koontz, I beg of you, please retire Odd Thomas after this travesty. This book does not do your literary talent any justice at all.

I love Dean Koontz and he has finally written a SERIES! I highly recommend the Odd Thomas series. Odd Hours is book four. Odd Thomas Series (Volumes 1-4) The books are entertaining, sometimes funny, suspenseful, and imagintive. You will fall in love with Odd as a little brother, son, friend, or fry-cook.

Odd Hours is perhaps the most serious Odd Thomas adventure yet. It certainly is the most morally ambiguous and wierd novel of the series. Koontz's skill as an author saves what could easily become a messy and boring story in less gifted hands. Odd Thomas is as droll and virtuous as ever, but his minimalistic character is deepened through actions that are both heroic and ruthless. I'm ambivalent about this change of character, which gives the novel a somber and serious tone (in my opinion not exactly "Odd Thomas like.") The plot, much like the others in this series, does not drive the novel. To keep the pages turning, Koontz introduces another couple of vivid secondary characters (Birdy, Hutch), some deeply introspective and beautful first-person commentary, and brilliant comic dialogue. I also find Koontz's premise, employed here and in the other novels in this series, that there can exist both unadulterated evil and pure good, refreshing and compelling. The book does have its faults though. Annamaria's character seemed nearly unnecessary; her significance (and nature) left me perplexed. The supernatural menace aluded to (i.e. the porch chair and storm drain incidents) were left undeveloped and their meaning unresolved. And, The Voice just didn't compare to The King. Despite these complaints, I cannot give the novel anything less than 4 stars (I would get a 4.5 if that was an option). This story was fun to read from cover to cover and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys unique and well-written fiction.

Can't get enough of the Odd Series. Can't wait for the next one to come out. Love Dean!

I'm beginning to get the same unpleasant feeling about the Odd Thomas stories that I got from some of the earlier Repairman Jack books; that instead of having one or two bits of disbelief to suspend and then the rest of the story being largely grounded in somewhat reality, there are increasing amounts of "not real" filtering into the stories to the point where it gets harder to say, "Yeah, I'll go along with that." In the case of 'Odd Hours,' Odd doesn't interface with the dead so much, as was pretty much the setup of the original premise. Instead, he begins to have prophetic visions and get embroiled in what COULD have been Grade-A weirdness, but turns out to be pretty much just domestic terrorism. I liked that Odd was pretty much just that - "odd." I liked that he could see (but not hear) dead people, and not necessarily know exactly how to communicate with them. I liked that he could see the bodachs, and they otherwise left him alone. But then in the last novel, 'Brother Odd,' Koontz added in some additional unreality in the form of the...whatever it was that was terrorizing the monastary. The rationale for this pretty much seemed to be, "Hey, Odd's seen strage things - how about some completely from left field strange things?" I didn't really like 'Brother Odd' for this reason. 'Odd Hours' continues this "let's just keep adding weirdness for the sake of weirdness" while simultaneously having the course of the story play out over a single evening. There's not a lot of time for any planning, thinking, or even really responding to the stimuli that Odd encounters - he just sort of rolls with the weird flow. It seems like the end of this book is setting up some sort of larger, overarching plot line that I might have to just call it quits on.