In Odd We Trust

November 1, 2008
Gr 10 Up-Koontz moves into the medium of comics with this prequel to his massively popular supernatural thriller series "Odd Thomas" (Bantam). Nineteen-year-old Odd's day job is working as a fry cook and serving up the best pancakes in Pico Mundi, CA. But he also holds supernatural powers that allow him to see and talk to ghosts. When a stalker starts terrifying the town by murdering small children, Odd decides to use his power to help solve the case before anyone else gets hurt. Although lacking the dark terror of the original novels, this story is still filled with plenty of creepy moments as Odd tracks down and confronts this all-too-human monster. Fans of the novels will be pleased to see the light touches of humor that have made the series so distinctive. They will also enjoy seeing the slightly younger, less experienced versions of other familiar characters, like Odd's gun-toting girlfriend, Stormy, and Police Chief Porter. Chan's black-and-white artwork is not too different from her work in her own series, "The Dreaming" (Tokyopop). Heavily inspired by mangacomplete with large eyes and visual metaphors like sweat drops on the headthe artist has created a nice visual match for the difficult balance of humor and terror in the story. The volume closes with some character sketches by Chan and a sample chapter from the original novel "Odd Thomas" (Bantam, 2003) that started it all."Matthew L. Moffett, Pohick Regional Library, Burke, VA"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2008
The popular novels in Dean Koontzs Odd Thomas series tell the story of small-town fry-cook and medium Thomas, who becomes embroiled in various eerie exploits thanks to his unusual psychic gifts. Koontz assisted in the creation of this original graphic novel installment, which requires no foreknowledge of the cast or situations, and could easily serve as an introduction to the Odd Thomas novels. Thomas, driven by his ability to communicate with the deceased, joins with his gun-toting, take-no-prisoners girlfriend, Stormy, to track down a child murderer who has chalked up one death and promises several more. The bright, high-energy manga style and sunny, small-town setting are at odds with the creepy (and occasionally grisly) subject matter, and the sometimes stilted dialogue can be distracting. The story moves fast, however, and the stalker himself proves disturbing in a genuinely Koontzian way. For larger collections, this book is a light, diverting read that has the advantage of being a manga that isnt a part of a multivolume series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)