Paez,+Jeniffer

//Odd Thomas (2003)// By Dean Koontz Reviewed by: Jeniffer Paez __ Brief Summary __ Odd Thomas is not your typical twenty year old fry cook. He has a special gift, a gift that allows him to see the dead. The story begins with Odd, the protagonist, seeing the ghost of a small girl he recognizes who helped lead him to her killer. After a wild goose chase involving breaking and entering, it was all over when the police arrived to finish the job. While at work, Odd comes across a suspicious looking man who soon becomes surrounded by a swarm of buddochs, evil shadows that are attracted to death and destruction. Due to the mystery man's waxy complextion and "moldy" hair, Odd nicknames him "Fungus Man." Using his gift of supernatural intuition, Odd tracks down Fungus Man and gathers more information. Odd's sixth sense leads him to uncover more and more about the mysterious man and the dark forces about to be unleashed on his town. Basically, the story involves Odd's adventure to help prevent the bloodshed he knows will occur the next day.

__ About the Author __ Dean Ray Koontz was born on July 9, 1945 in Everett, Pennsylvania. Koontz lived a childhood filled with turmoil and abuse. As a child, he used books as his way of escaping the horrors of his home life. With a violent, alcoholic father and being a child prone to illness, Koontz's life was far from simple. His main inspiration for writing is to be able to give others the same escape from the world that he had when he read as a child. What is surprising is that his parents never supported his writing career and actually discouraged him from reading, thinking it was a waste of time and money. By the age of 8, Koontz began selling original fiction to the public. After winning a fiction competition as a senior in college, Koontz realized that writing is what he desired to pursue. He is currently married and living in Orange Hills, California.

__ Other Works of Dean Koontz __ ~Life Expectancy (2004) ~The Good Guy (2007) ~Your Heart Belongs to Me (2008) ~The Face (2006)

__ Characters __ Odd Thomas: Protagonist of the story. He has the power to see dead people. Stormy Llewellyn: Considered to be Odd's soul mate. Chief Wyatt Porter: He is one of the few people who knows Odd's secret. Robert Thomas Robinson "Fungus Man": Main antagonist.

Style __Description and Detail__ Dean Koontz is a master at being able to use description in his writing to the extent that the reader is able to picture the different scenes. Koontz is most specifically famous for graphically describing scenes that could best be considered disturbing and gruesome. There really isn't much realizm in //Odd Thomas// mostly because of the fact that the main character has the power to see the dead as well as shadowy figures that represent death or an ill omen. The characters, however, seem more realistic because the reader could immediately detect their flaws. For instance, though Odd Thomas is the hero of the story, one can tell that he is definitely an under achiever who doesnt think much of himself because he would pursue the lowest ranking jobs possible. Dean Koontz makes sure to distance himself from making any of his characters perfect so they could seem more realistic and connect with the reader. Dean's speciality is the use of suspense. He is able to skillfully utilize the element of suspense to force the reader to refuse to put the book down. Each turn of the 446 page book has the reader bitting his or her nails with anticipation. __**Character Development**__ Dean is able to slowly develope each of the main characters until they each posses a unique characteristic that sets them apart from each other. None of the character's personalities overlap. By the end of the book, each character has a dominant characteristic that makes them memorable. Reviews "ODD THOMAS has echoes within its pages of past masters. There are memorable, if brief, homages to H.P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury, Sherwood Anderson, Theodore Sturgeon, and others herein. Yet it is clearly and uniquely an original, a quietly haunting morality tale that beckons to be embraced and deserves to be studied. Koontz, astoundingly, continues to challenge his readers and himself, and in doing so with ODD THOMAS may well have published the penultimate novel of his career." ~Bookreporter.com
 * __Realism__ **
 * __ Suspense​ __ **

"Odd Thomas, the hero in Dean Koontz's new novel, believes that "a little terror goes a long way." And after reading this suspenseful, memorable, and thoroughly entertaining tale, named after its unassuming protagonist, so does a little humor, social commentary, and feel-good optimism." "One of the many reasons this novel works is Koontz's talent for creating richly drawn characters. Odd's oddness seems to arise partly from his estrangement from his family. But Koontz doesn't hit the reader over the head with that underlying psychodrama." ~Boston News

"In this new book Koontz has shaped a story in which the world of the real collides head-on with the world of the unreal with devastating and very real human tragedy. While in //Odd Thomas// Koontz delivers all we have come to expect from him, including suspense, action, violence and general weirdness, there is also something wonderfully understated about this book. Along with everything else, it tells a very subtle human story of love and life against a backdrop of the strange and sometimes nasty." ~January Magazine Destiny Review "Odd Thomas" by Dean Koontz has just the right amount of suspense and horror to grab the reader's attention. There is so much detail that some parts are able to make the reader look away momentarily. "Odd Thomas" is an extremely thrilling book that expresses how sometimes being different may have its advantages. One cannot help but keep turning the pages to see what else Dean Koontz has to say.

Sources Hartlaub, Joe. “Odd Thomas.” Rev. of //Odd Thomas//, by Dean Koontz. Bookreporter.com. Bookreporter.com, 2010. Web. 20 May 2010. .

Koontz, Dean. //Odd Thomas.// New York: Bantam, 2003. Print.

Lightbody, Robert. “Something Frightening This Way Comes.” Rev. of //Odd Thomas//, by Dean Koontz. January Magazine. Web. 20 May 2010. .

Skerrett, Joanne. “Hero has a ghost of a chance to solve crimes in ‘Odd Thomas’.” Rev. of //Odd Thomas//, by Dean Koontz. Boston.com. Globe Newspaper Company, 2006. Web. 20 May 2010. .