"Odd Thomas" by Dean Koontz

 Koontz in his element -- 4 stars

Now that I’m in review writing mode again, it was time for another of my favorite authors, Dean R. Koontz!  This time I chose “Odd Thomas,” and I’m glad I did.

Odd Thomas is a short order cook who has a unique ability:  He can see dead people.  But not only that, he can also see dark, shadow like creatures that stalk people, either to cause death or be near when they die.  He calls them “bodachs,” and he tries not to let them know that he can see them.

At age 20, Odd handles things a little better than the little boy from “The Sixth Sense.”  By the time we meet him, he’s already reached the stage of wanting to help these poor ghosts, and to thwart the bodachs when he can.  Odd tries to keep things simple, but when he encounters someone he calls “Fungus Man,” who is surrounded by these bodachs, he worries something very bad is going to happen.

The story is told from Odd’s point of view, which allows the reader to really experience his thoughts and feelings about these “lingering dead” and the disastrous bodachs.  Once the action builds to its climax, the book turns into a true page turner, Koontz at his best!  And even though the story goes on into multiple sequels, I was pleased that this book itself had a concrete ending.  The reader does not HAVE to go on to the sequels, as “Odd Thomas” stands alone on its own.

The only reason I’m not giving this book 5 stars, which was the feeling I had at the end, is that there are stretches of the novel that tend to drag.  I never lost interest, mind you, but there were whole chapters that didn’t actually contribute much.  It felt as though Koontz was “padding the run time” or something, like he was worried that the book was going to be too short (my copy was almost 450 pages, so I’m not sure why it would be a concern).

But even with that fact, I still highly recommend “Odd Thomas” for any fan of Dean R. Koontz.  And I’ll be checking out more Odd Thomas stories in the future!

"Blue Rose" by Peter Straub

 A look into a disturbed child's mind -- 4-1/2 stars

"Blue Rose" takes a look into a very dysfunctional family, with the focus on the two youngest of five brothers:  Harry and "Little Eddie."

In the Beever family, everyone seems to abuse everyone else:  The shrewish mother berates the father; the three eldest boys abuse the youngers and each other; the two oldest have left and joined the military, but the middle child, Albert, is still around to dish out physical and verbal abuse.

But even Albert spends most of his time at the local mechanic garage, so that leaves Little Eddie to Harry's tender mercies.

As the story opens, Harry is terrorizing Little Eddie with stories of his next year's school teacher having "killed" a former student; Eddie has problems with fear, and Harry plays into this until Eddie hands over his recent birthday present, a toy car.  Which Harry proceeds to destroy and discard.

But the real plot gets rolling when Harry finds a book on hypnotism in the attic where the two boys play.

The passages that followed reminded me somewhat of "Pandora's Game," a book I highly recommend.  But in "Pandora's Game," the protagonists use hypnosis to explore their inner creativity (before things go awry).  In "Blue Rose," Harry uses it to explore his inner sadism on his brother.

I won't give away the details of Harry's experiments, as "Blu Rose" is a novella that runs just 87 pages in my edition.  But I will say that they escalate out of control in very short order, leaving this reader feeling sorry for Little Eddie in a way that lingered even after the story was over.

And Straub does an excellent job of examining the experiments' fall out as it affects the whole Beever family.  He crafts an uncomfortable yet compelling yarn that kept me turning the pages, like watching an accident that just won't let you look away.

The only reason I am not giving "Blue Rose" the full 5 stars is that the ending just ... happens.  Time jumps, and the final chapter is told in the form of a letter from Harry to his girlfriend.  That letter touches on some of the elements of the main story, describes some of the consequences, but only as a sort of aside.  Otherwise, this reader was left thinking, "Well ... I guess it's over."

But overall, "Blue Rose" is a compelling, quick read.  I recommend it for a 1 to 2 day experience.