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Guys who wear porkpie hats are always, in my experience, up to no good\u2014and pleased about it. Whether that style of headwear turns previously benign men into sociopaths or whether men who are already sociopaths are drawn to that style is one of those mysteries that will never be solved, though the Department of Justice has probably funded a score of scientific studies of the issue.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Another Odd Thomas novel<\/strong> from Dean Koontz, another home run. I won\u2019t say Odd Apocalypse<\/a><\/i> is my favorite in the series\u2014I won\u2019t even say I\u2019m sure I liked it better than the previous novella, Odd Interlude<\/i>, which I reviewed recently. But all these books are so far superior to anything else being done in the genre (assuming I know what the genre is) that you know going in that you\u2019re in for a delight. And you are not disappointed.<\/p>\n
Odd Thomas is the simplest of men, with the simplest of desires. All he wants is a quiet life, and to love a girl who is gone. But he\u2019s been entrusted with gifts\u2014the ability to see the \u201cundeparted dead,\u201d and a sort of psychic GPS that helps him find people he\u2019s looking for. Because he\u2019s faithful to God, he employs these gifts for the good of others, which leads him into great danger time and time again. <\/p>\n
This time out, he\u2019s not led by his psychic gifts, but by the mysterious woman whose protector he has become, a young pregnant girl name Annamaria (and if you think that name is meant to suggest something, I suspect you\u2019re right). Because of Annamaria\u2019s mysterious charm, the two of them have been invited to stay at Roseland, a San Simeon-like coastal estate in California, owned by a reclusive multimillionaire. Soon after arriving, Odd has an encounter with a ghost, a woman in a bloody nightgown riding a great black horse. She communicates to him (the dead can\u2019t speak) that her son is somewhere on the property, and is in mortal danger. Not long after that encounter, Odd sees the sky turn from blue to yellow, and he is pursued by giant bats and ferocious, human-like beasts. When it passes, no one else seems to have noticed it.<\/p>\n
It all leads back to an evil conspiracy that began in the early 20th Century, and the experiments of a famous physicist. <\/p>\n
What is most poignant about this story is the way Odd\u2019s character is forced to change, in spite of himself. The most peaceful and gentle of men, he finds himself tasked with being (in his own words) a \u201cscourge\u201d of great evil. Life exacts its prices, even for those who do right. Fortunately, he has faith and a silly sense of humor to uphold him.<\/p>\n
Highly recommended for teens and up. Cautions for violence, non-explicit sexual deviation, and other creepy stuff. I recommend you read this series in order of publication.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Guys who wear porkpie hats are always, in my experience, up to no good\u2014and pleased about it. Whether that style of headwear turns previously benign men into sociopaths or whether men who are already sociopaths are drawn to that style is one of those mysteries that will never be solved, though the Department of Justice … Continue reading Odd Apocalypse, by Dean Koontz<\/span>