worth your time

Let me preface this with the information that I am pretty easy to please as an audiobook listener, and I am also hopelessly hooked on the character Odd Thomas. Having said that, I found it necessary to write this in response to some of the other reviews. Although the story line in this installment is a little less globally catastrophic and a little more locally tragic, it's still engaging, entertaining and believable. It also serves as the perfect vehicle for the next book in the series, Brother Odd. The narration is carried out impeccably by David Aaron Baker. Yes, I agree that the female villain's voice is disturbing, irritating and grates on one's brain like sandpaper. It was supposed to, and every time she speaks she becomes all the more vile. Don't let that little tidbit deter your from listening to this well crafted tale. There isn't that much of it, and by the time she meets her end, you will hate her badly enough to really enjoy it. Finally, I have to agree that his first book in the series, Odd Thomas, was a tough act to follow; Forever Odd has a little different feeling, a little different pace, but it's still worth your time.

19 people found this helpful

Detailed Koontz

This book could have used a little more uumph (if you know what I mean).
I always forget how far Mr. Koontz can go with his descriptions of a scene or a memory or a person or just about anything he gets started on.
I accidentally put this audio book back a chapter and was throughly reminded of the excessive details Mr. Koontz feels compelled to convey. It became clear how incredibly, mortifyingly long it took for anything to happen in this book. It's a good story but it needs something more thrilling or urgent to compensate for the meandering ultra-descriptions.
The reader is very good except for his attempt at the voice of the female villan. The voice and inflection he gives her are terrible. She sounds like a stupid, valley-girl, mall-rat, goth attempting an immitation of a smokey-voiced lounge singer. Not to put all of that on the reader, that character is written very poorly too. Just not as intimidating as a villan in her place could have been. She was almost funny, thoroughly irritating, and absolutely not scary.
Other than that, Odd Thomas is still a unique and interesting character. It was nice to see a little more of his life but it seems like he could have shared a little less description and a little more suspense.

25 people found this helpful

Great narration, disappointing story

I enjoyed Odd Thomas (the first of the series) and David Aaron Baker's narration of both novels. But Dean Koontz isn't up to his normal superb story-telling with this tale. Most disappointing is his ending which reminds me of the cop-out we all learn in high school writing class when our hero is trapped beyond escape ... "and then he woke up."

Koontz can do MUCH better and we, his readers, deserve MUCH better.

19 people found this helpful

Solitary Odd

I really enjoyed the first book principally for the characters and situations. This book has most of the original cast, but Odd is very introspective this time. Very little interaction with the surrounding cast, except for the villains. Still, the story holds together and keeps you interested.

5 people found this helpful

It's Odd, but . . . .

. . . . first of all I want to say hi to my Audible neighbor Gail! I graduated from El Cajon Valley High a long time ago. Now to the book. Based on other reviews, I did Forever Odd last. Odd Thomas was perfect! Brother and Hours were also very good. But Forever was not engaging, and the reviews are all over the board in support of that opinion. I cannot remember an author throwing so much mundane detail at the reader/listener as in the descriptions of the burned out casino. It came across as fluff or filler . . . trying to get sufficient pages written so as to satisfy the publisher. It certainly didn't satisfy me. Additionally, a few of the exchanges between Odd and villainess Datura are just plain pulp fiction . . . borderline pornographic and not necessary in order to instill our hatred of her. If you are just discovering Odd Thomas, enjoy #s 1, 3 and 4 and leave Forever Odd for last. You will not miss a thing! Odd Thomas is the kind of young man you WISH you actually knew . . . a wonderful character in every sense of the word. David Aaron Baker did his usual stellar job of narration. DK is unique in the genre, but his sophomore offering in this series is just that.

10 people found this helpful

Odd

It was an enjoyable sequel but I did find myself rolling my eyes throughout it due to a bit too much repetion. Or it could have been that I really hated how the reader read the woman. A man reading a woman as a seductress with a 'hissing' voice can become obnoxious FAST.

9 people found this helpful

Weak middle

I really enjoyed Odd Thomas, but this didn't live up to it.
I liked the character enough to read Brother Odd and that is a great read. My advise is to skip Forever Odd -- there really isn't anything in the book you need to know to enjoy Brother Odd.

25 people found this helpful

Who is responsible for your choices in life?

Second book in the Odd Thomas series continues to please all my senses. It's really difficult to say much about the story in this book without giving too much of it away. Odd Thomas is definitely different, as he sees and talks to unsettled dead people, and he's drawn to trouble that only he seems to know about in advance. The sherif is the only one in his small town who knows about his gift or curse, depending on how you look at it. In this book he goes in search of a good friend who is missing, but finds evil in his path.

Generally, this would not be the type of book to interest me. Ghosts and such are not my favorites, but Koontz uses this subject to discuss some very serious themes, while adding huge interest through suspense, a bit of terror, and lots of humor. Free will is his subject in this book, and he handles it so creatively that you are taken on a journey without really knowing why till the end of the book.

I love Koontz's writing and strange thought processes. After saving lots of people from death in book one, people in his town now consider him a hero or an angel. One quip in the story has Odd saying that maybe it would be good to be an angle because then his halo would always provide a light for his book reading. Of course, he even says that thought so much better than I do. I listened to this book on Audible and found the narration to be eerily spectacular. Highly recommend the Odd Thomas books!!

3 people found this helpful

Loop Me In!!!

Would you consider the audio edition of Forever Odd to be better than the print version?

Both are excellent. I prefer audio edition because I can enjoy my book while doing other things. And, because the performance bring characters alive in my mind.

What other book might you compare Forever Odd to and why?

Odd Thomas....because the story line, characters and, of course, the performance.

Which character – as performed by David Aaron Baker – was your favorite?

Odd Thomas

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me cry. It also made me have deep thoughts about life, innocence, pretences, and death.,

Any additional comments?

Looking forward for more books in this series, and to explore other Dean Koontz books.

3 people found this helpful

Not as good as OddThomas

I guess after "Odd Thomas", I had big expectations. A found a lot of the descriptions of Odd's surroundings boring and not quite easy to picture in the mind's eye. I was hoping for the "Bodocks" and other interesting characters that was in "Odd Thomas."

This is the first Dean Koontz book that I've listened to that I didn't like.

15 people found this helpful