Author: Dean Koontz
Genre: Sci-Fi, Odd Thomas #5
Published: 2012
Personal Rating: 3/5 (just okay)
Format/Narrator: Audiobook/David Baker
Yearly Count: 79
Odd Thomas sees a ghost-woman on horseback in Roseland and decides that he and his companion, Annamaria, will stay for a bit to help her.
I have conflicting feelings about this one. I adore Odd, and I love, love, love David Baker's narration. He IS Odd Thomas. The conflict comes into play with the plot and do I dare say the writing? Yes, the writing. At one point I wasn't going to set it aside, but I was extremely frustrated with hearing description after description after description. Does Koontz do a fabulous job with his metaphors and similes? Absolutely! Do those same metaphors and similes illicit some sort of awareness or emotion? Absolutely! He's a master. No doubt about it. However, I wanted more dialog, more interaction, more relationships, something other than descriptions. Sadly, that affected my thoughts on the book overall. I still love Odd and will continue to read or listen to his future memoirs. His quips are the best. :)
I gave up on this one in print and plan to pick it up on audio. I'm afraid Koontz lost my trust with regard to Odd after none of the previous sequels quite made the grade. I figured the audio would at least have some performance to it based on my previous listenings...
ReplyDeleteSeth ~ I think the audio version of the Odd series is excellent, but unfortunately that doesn't change the plot. Did you read the Interludes?
DeleteI didn't read the interludes. Well, I downloaded a free sample of them from the NOOK store, but never pulled the trigger on the full versions. I realized quickly just how little I remembered of Odd Hours, which isn't a good sign. Because I remember most of the details of the original book but few of the sequels.
DeleteI read the first few chapters of Odd Apocalypse but then returned it to the library in favor of more worthy reads. Hmm...I did the same thing with Koontz's latest non-Odd title. Maybe he's burning out.
I agree with Seth. I wrote the following for my review for Odd Hours:
DeleteI quit! After 125 pages, I just couldn't get interested or come to care about Odd's latest dilemma. I loved Odd Thomas (read it twice), but was disappointed with both Forever Odd and Brother Odd. I really wanted to fall in love with this latest installment, but it kept putting me to sleep!
After searching through my blog, I wound up spending the last 15 minutes reading through all of my reviews for books by Dean Koontz and I've decided he's not for me. I loved Odd Thomas, but most of his other books have been disappointing. And, yes. His similies can be forced and over the top.
Les ~ I agree with you and Seth regarding Odd Hours. I gave it a 2.5/5. I found it to be very disappointing. Brother Odd, on the other hand, earned a 4.25/5. Unfortunately, I do not remember much of any Odd book.
DeleteAs for other Koontz books (standalones), I've rated several 3.75/5, but I really enjoyed The Good Guy.
So, I guess my experience with him is a hit or miss.
I usually like Koontz and read the first Odd book and liked it a lot. Too bad this one didn't live up to expectation.
ReplyDeleteStacybuckeye ~ I still want to read Watchers. I heard that that one is a winner.
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