Forever Odd, the second in the series of Odd Thomas books, doesn’t quite live up to the first. For one thing, there’s a noticeable lack of the 400 pound, six fingered man named Ozzy who, along with his evil cat Terrible Chester, is one of the better characters. He’s in this one for about half a scene, and no one blows up his cow this go around. Also, the bad guy in this book has come specifically to hunt down Odd because she wants him to show her a ghost, and she’s so over the top ridiculous that she’s not nearly as scary as the group of bad dudes from the first book.
“The things we worry about the most are never the things that bite us. The sharpest teeth always take their nip of us when we are looking the other way.”
Like the first Odd Thomas book, this one basically takes place in one evening. Assisted by the ghost of the victim, Odd stumbles across a murder scene — his friend Danny’s stepfather has been killed, and Danny has gone missing. Danny suffers from osteogenesis imperfecta, a.k.a. brittle bone syndrome, and Odd knows that if someone kidnapped Danny, his life is in serious danger. Using his psychic magnetism, he follows his gut to an abandoned casino in the desert, where one serious loony bitch holds Danny hostage.
Despite the silly bad guy (or maybe due to), it’s still a good read and Odd’s slightly sarcastic view of the world remains a fun narrative. Things get a bit dark at the end, although not quite as badly as in Odd Thomas, and I think the tone of the next book might be wildly different. Starting it now!
I just finished the fourth one of these and decided not to write a review. I couldn’t think of anything to say besides “I like Odd himself, but…eh.” I think I’ll wait and see what you think of #5 to see if I should keep going.
I just finished the third (the monastery one) but haven’t written it up yet. I am determined to finish the series, but I do hope they start getting better (like the first) — this one kind of sucks.