Odd Hours

By: Dean Koontz

Narrated by: David Aaron Baker

Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's Summary

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Only a handful of fictional characters are recognized by first name alone. Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas is one such literary hero, who has come alive in listeners’ imaginations as he explores the greatest mysteries of this world and the next with his inimitable wit, heart, and quiet gallantry. Now Koontz follows Odd as he is drawn onward, to a destiny he cannot imagine. Haunted by dreams of an all-encompassing red tide, Odd is pulled inexorably to the sea, to a small California coastal town where nothing is as it seems.

©2008 Dean Koontz (P)2008 Brilliance Audio

Cashing a paycheck?

I've read Koontz for a very long time, and although the narration quality is excellent, the book itself is lacking. I'm wondering if the publisher got greedy and split the book with another one coming soon. Lots of unanswered questions and it leaves you hanging. With under an hour left, it just wraps up so quick it is tough to believe. The first Odd Thomas is the best, the second was okay and this one is lacking.

Odd for Odd

Any book by Koontz sells well and any book with Odd as the main character sells well, but Koontz may have shot himself in the foot with this half a** attempt. I believe Koontz is getting tired of this character and it shows in his writing. Odd mentions more then once that he would like to die and I believe Koontz would like to kill him off, if only he did not sell so well.

The story starts off on a beach where Odd is attack by some bad guys. It takes him eight chapters to get off the beach. Most of the book is filler. Toward the end our gun hating hero, uses a gun and kills several people, some point blank. At one point he bravely stands still while a bad guy takes three shots at him, like he is superman. It seemed very out of character for Odd to use a gun and I believe it was just a easy way for Koontz to get his character out of trouble, so he compromised the character's character.

In chapter 46 there is an exchange between Odd and a bad guy that is roll on the ground funny, but this is about the only place in the book where there is any levity.

This is the fourth book in the series, but you can read them in any order. My favorite in the series is Forever Odd.

Koontz has written some really great stuff and my favorites are: The Bad Place, Lost Souls, Life Expectancy, Dragon Tears, and By The Light of The Moon.

Best since the first

First, this book is excellent. Its a great read that will make you laugh & think, like most Dean Koontz books, all while wrapping you up in the suspense and mystery of the story. This book isnt particularly scary (most Koontz books arnt these days), but its got enough to keep it in the horror genre. The best thing in my opinion is that Koontz is beginning to tie at least some of his other stories into the Odd Thomas universe - maybe I'm alone in this but the first 2 minutes of the book made my eyes bulge with the implications.

Something interesting though, it seems to me that Dean Koontz and Stephen King are having a political battle through there most recent novels. If you've read SK's "Duma Key" you know that there are parts of that book that exist only to insult roughly half the country (it adds nothing to the story, though if not for that I'd say it would have been one of the greatest horror novels of all time). The same sort of thing happens in this book, and again its very obvious and shoddy, like it was thrown in at the last minute, perhaps just to counter King's attacks. Koontz has always expressed his own philosophy and morality but always in a general fashion even when it touched on politics (no names), until now that is. Personally I think this is terrible on the part of both authors, people dont buy their fiction to be berated for their beliefs and you shouldnt subject them to derision after they paid money for entertainment. King is more guilty of this than Koontz as his attacks are personal and more numerous but thats no excuse to stoop to the level he's dropped to. I'm an independent, and "Duma Key" enraged me at points, "Odd Hours" just made me uncomfortable at 1-2 points. DK needs to stick to philosophy and morality as it fits into the story - if these two authors want to duke it out let them debate each other in the non-fiction section.

Odd Hours

I enjoy the Odd series but this book was a disappointment. It will leave you with an "unfinished feeling."

Worst of the series

I read both of the first two books in this series and felt that this one didn't hold a candle to the others. There are so many better Koontz novels; skip this one.

Odd Hours-Disappointing

Disappointing. Odd doesn't have his usual reliable sidekick to elicit his quirky personality. The heroine adds little to the story. She is absent during most of Odd's journey and she responds to questions with answers such as, "What will be, will be." I found her more irritating than mysterious. Also, rather than outwitting his nemeses, Odd, though exhibiting remorse, escapes peril by killing them off. This is a departure from the Odd of the Monastery. One can only suppose that the writer resorted to surmounting quests in such fashion to meet a publishing deadline or perhaps to offer a substandard tidbit to satisfy those of us who greedily demanded more Odd, now rather than later. With questions left unanswered, this undoubtedly is a pre-quel to the next Odd iteration.

Odd Thomas when it was still fun

Any additional comments?

Unlike other reviewers, I really liked this addition to the "Odd Thomas" series. I always enjoy Dean's/Odd's wry humor and this had plenty. Great characters, as usual, and very enjoyable mystery. This was the last "Odd Thomas" that was really enjoyable to listen to before the stories became so dark. Worth listening to again.

Not a Classic

I am a big fan of Dean Koontz and have enjoyed the earlier books featuring Odd Thomas. This one missed the mark. It lacked the constant suspense of earlier books.

Odd's narratives have become flippant boilerplate in this book. Hoping for better from Mr. Koontz next time.

Very enjoyable, especially as an Audiobook

I listened to Odd Thomas and absolutely loved it. I then bought the paperback versions of the next two in the series (Forever Odd and Brother Odd) and was a bit disappointed - they just weren't as charming. I then decided to go back to the audio version of this latest in the series and the enjoyment was back!

The narrator does such a good job bringing Odd Thomas and his quirky friends and enemies to life that you can't help but love it (or at least I can't). I found myself laughing out-loud many times while listening to this book.

It is true that the plot is a bit light (but not really any more than Forever or Brother) and doesn't entirely hold together but it is highly enjoyable and I rather liked the changes to Odd's character over the series.

I would highly recommend this series in Audio format; you will not be disappointed.

Odd Odd

I've listened to all of the other Odd books and loved them. This book, to me, was a great disappointment. It lacked some of the supernatural aspects that I liked in past. It also was not as suspenseful. This book would start to elevate me with excitement and at about the 3/4 mark to climax it would drop me again and again. On a good note, there was enough in this book to keep me interested from beginning to bad ending. Hopefully the next will be better.

Dreadful

I listened to the original Odd Thomas book over 10 years ago and it was a great story. Although Dean Koontz can be sanctimonious, overly sentimental and heavily biased towards feminism, he can on occasion spin a good yarn. Forever Odd wasn't too bad either and even Brother Odd was OK, although I think the series had gone a bit off the boil by then. I thought I would give this one a try and maybe have a crack at finishing the series. Wish I hadn't bothered. The writing is juvenile at best, with laughably stereotypical characters and a plot so thin and transparent it was a real struggle to finish. I ended up skipping over 2 hours or so towards the end as he drivelled on with his preachy, sentimental and frankly childish ramblings. The "tough guy'" in the vicarage towards the end of the story is arguably the worst fictional character ever created. Dean Koontz at his absolute worst. Buy a home improvement or cookery book instead, it will be much more thrilling than this load of garbage

Loved it.

To fully appreciate the Odd Thomas World you should read the books from the first .
This let's you broaden your understanding of each character. some appear in more than one book. Elvis for example.
This is another exciting read with fabulous use of language. Dean Koontz is a master class author.
I'm not a spoiler so buy it and enjoy it.

Always a good book

Very good booked. Shame they don’t have all the book but they have the next few so that’s my next listen

Absolutely brilliant.

I loved listening to this story. It's Dean Koontz at his very best. A fantastic story and narrated to perfection.
As with all the Odd Thomas books it works perfectly as a stand alone. You don't need to have read the previous books though I promise it will make you want to read or hear all the others. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Brilliant

Another great story in the odd Thomas collection. can't wait for the next few stories.