Odd Apocalypse

June 18, 2012
At the start of bestseller Koontz’s wry, offbeat fifth Odd Thomas novel (after 2008’s Odd Hours), short-order cook Thomas, who has prophetic dreams and can “see the spirits of the lingering dead,” has a vision while he’s a guest at a California retreat known as Roseland—of a blonde woman in a white nightgown on a black horse. Though unable to speak, this ghostly woman is able to communicate that her son, who’s also at Roseland, is in danger. Thomas embarks on a quest to avenge the woman’s death that will involve brutish piglike creatures that walk erect and travel in packs as well as secret discoveries by the legendary Nikolas Tesla. This supernatural thriller surely ranks as one of the series’ funniest. Even as Thomas fights the forces of darkness, he observes, “Of course, one must always remember that although The Sound of Music is the most feel-good movie musical of all time, it is crammed full of Nazis.”