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Odd Is on Our Side |  | Authors: Dean Koontz, Fred Van Lente
Creator: Queenie Chan
Publisher: Del Rey
Category: Book
List Price: $10.99
Buy New: $7.41
as of 9/7/2010 03:53 CDT details
You Save: $3.58 (33%)
Seller: Amazon.com
Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 1124
Media: Paperback
Edition: Original
Pages: 192
Number Of Items: 1
ISBN: 0345515609
Dewey Decimal Number: 741
EAN: 9780345515605
ASIN: 0345515609
Publication Date: October 5, 2010 (In 28 Days)
Shipping: Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Not yet published
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Product Description
When things get scary, it’s nice to know that Odd is on our side.
The one and only Odd Thomas is back—in his second edgy and enthralling graphic-novel adventure from #1 New York Times bestselling suspense master Dean Koontz.
It’s Halloween in Pico Mundo, California, and there’s a whiff of something wicked in the autumn air. While the town prepares for its annual festivities, young fry cook Odd Thomas can’t shake the feeling that make-believe goblins and ghouls aren’t the only things on the prowl. And he should know, since he can see what others cannot: the spirits of the restless dead. But even his frequent visitor, the specter of Elvis Presley, can’t seem to point Odd in the right direction.
With the help of his gun-toting girlfriend, Stormy, Odd is out to uncover the terrible truth. Is something sinister afoot in the remote barn guarded by devilish masked men? Has All Hallows Eve mischief taken a malevolent turn? Or is the pleading ghost of a trick-or-treater a frightening omen of doom?
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 14
 Odd Thomas in manga form! August 27, 2010
Deborah Wiley (Winter Haven, FL)
Odd Thomas can see ghosts. Unfortunately, he also can see bodachs and one is now one is in his hometown of Pico Mundo, California. What evil is the bodach attracted to? And can Odd and his girlfriend, Stormy Llewelyn, stop the evil in time?
ODD IS ON OUR SIDE, like its predecessor IN ODD WE TRUST, is a prequel to the Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz. Readers should note that it is a manga novel and may not appeal to all of the Odd fans out there. The illustrations by Queenie Chan are simplistic but capture the overall essence of the characters. In fact, that is part of the joy of this particular manga series- the illustrations aren't so overdone that they detract from either the story or the characters themselves.
ODD IS ON OUR SIDE will appeal to Odd Thomas fans who want to see Odd in a different format. The notes at the end regarding how the character illustrations and the storyline were developed add a nice touch to the book. Enjoyable and easily recommended!
I love these Odd stories September 1, 2010
Margaret Dybala (Pearland, Texas United States)
Well, if truth be told, I could read a hundred of these stories about Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas and still not be sated! I, along with many other people, love the character. He is so good natured, earnest, honest, and true, which is a rarity in fiction these days.
The book, "Odd Is On Our Side," is a graphic novel. The story comes basically from Koontz with the storyboarding and scripting from Fred Van Lente and the illustrations by Queenie Chan. Fans of graphic novels will recognize those names as strong contributors to the genre, and they do a great job here.
The story is, as was the first Odd graphic novel, a prequel to the first Odd Thomas novel. We find the usual characters, i.e., Odd, the sweet fry cook only a year or so out of high school, his best friend Stormy (and those of you who have read the first regular novel in the series will especially welcome her addition here), the Pico Mundo novelist Ozzie Boone, and others. These are charming, fine characters who find themselves in what is a perfect little halloween book. A bit spooky, a bit scary (after all, Odd does see dead people!), as Odd tries to figure out why he senses that something very, very bad is going to happen.
As I mentioned when I reviewed the first Odd graphic, these are light reading, but really very pleasurable and a definite must read for any fan of Dean Koontz! But do read the novels, too!
Another great Odd Thomas story in graphic novel form September 2, 2010
Brian Reaves (Anniston, AL USA)
If you read "In Odd We Trust" last year, you'll be prepared for this next chapter in the story. If you've only read the novels featuring Odd Thomas, then you might be a little confused coming into this. For one thing, these stories occur before the book "Odd Thomas", which explains a major character you'll see in the story who's dead in the current storyline. Other than that, this is the same feel and flavor as any other Odd Thomas story you're familiar with.
Odd Thomas can see dead people, but they don't talk to him for whatever reason. In this story, Pico Mundo is getting ready for the annual "Safe Halloween Celebration", but Odd's talents let him see the gathering of bodochs and that is never a good thing. As Odd races to unravel the mystery of what will happen and who will be responsible, the clock ticks on toward the gathering of innocent children and parents. Their lives are in Odd's hands...here's hoping he can figure it all out in time to save them.
If you are into the manga art style, you'll find a lot to like in this. If you are a just a casual Odd Thomas fan awaiting Koontz's final chapters in Odd's life, this will tide you over and show you more about Odd's relationship with Stormy before that first book came out. It's written by Koontz and even though it's a graphic novel I found it just as enjoyable as Dean's regular novels. Odd speaks with that same polite yet intelligent timbre from the novels. It's easy to see why Dean loves the character so much. Highly recommended.
Not what I expected. September 3, 2010
Mental Mommy (Portsmouth, VA United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I had no idea Odd was a comic strip. The book is page after page of comic strip-style writing. That's fine, just totally not what I had expected. I've never read the "Odd" books, so this was a first for me. Overall, entertaining. The first few pages explained this guy's ability to see things others can't, which was nice. You aren't wondering if he's just crazy the whole way through the book, which was a plus for me. I don't think I will read any more "Odd" books, just because I felt like I was missing something. I felt like I needed note to explain to fill in places, not because there were plot holes, but because I am not accustomed to reading things in boxes with pictures, or at least not 100+ pages of that. Good story, cool stuff goes on... Wasn't a waste of time, just not my thing.
Snuggling and flapjacks and pumpkin rolls and screwball repartee - Odd Thomas's very haunting world August 28, 2010
H. Bala (Carson - hey, we have an IKEA store! - CA USA)
Odd Thomas is a young guy who certainly lives up to his name. He resides in sunny Pico Mundo, California and he is an exceptional fry cook. Odd can also see dead people, and in his world the dead are silent. This doesn't stop them from trying to communicate with Odd, because sometimes there's a desperate need that calls from beyond the grave. In one of the series' best conceits, Odd is also regularly haunted by the ghost of Elvis Presley, and the King plays an integral part in this graphic novelization. So the supernatural elements certainly fit the criteria for what's odd. But it's equally surprising that for someone with one foot stuck in the spirit world, Odd Thomas is a pretty even-keeled guy. In fact, he's sort of a boy scout. Odd is a natural do-gooder, out to help people and this very much includes the spectral Silent Majority.
Our fry cook has got a nose for the weird, yeah. His girlfriend Stormy calls it his psychic magnetism. To be specific, Odd can, by merely wandering around randomly, hone in on whichever person he's looking for, usually within half an hour or so. This comes in handy. One Halloween Odd Thomas alarmingly observes a bodach, and a bodach is this ominous, shadowy harbinger of death and disaster. Odd gives chase but loses the bodach, which means that he's got his work cut out for him now, trying to find the site and source of whatever trouble is coming. Later Odd sees the ghost of a sad little girl, and that sense of disquiet only grows. It sucks that Elvis Presley turns out to be pretty horrible at charades, because Odd just cannot interpret his clues regarding the impending catastrophe. But, really, how bad can it be on All Hallow's Eve? Heh.
Odd ranks fourth on my list of favorite Dean Koontz characters ever, after Einstein (WATCHERS), Christopher Snow (FEAR NOTHING and SEIZE THE NIGHT), and Jim Ironheart (COLD FIRE). So I'm not about to turn down any chances to catch up with Odd Thomas as this guy is absolutely one of the most appealing characters Dean Koontz has ever plucked out of his skull. Odd's bump of decency and unflagging faith and optimism are actually pretty friggin' inspiring. And then there's that whole gothic cool "I see dead people" spin.
So I say so what if ODD IS ON OUR SIDE is in fluffy graphic novel format? And so what if illustrator Queenie Chan's black & white manga renderings take a bit of getting used to? There's enough quirk and wacky in Odd Thomas's world that Chan's art style does eventually suit the narrative. Comic book scribe Fred Van Lente handles the writing honors, with Koontz I guess ever peering over his shoulder, and Van Lente comes close enough to the spirit of the series that I actually lost myself in the story and sort of lost that sense of "Hey, this ain't Koontz writing this." But by no means is ODD IS ON OUR SIDE as rich or dark or as rewarding or immersive as the Koontz novels. This is a rapid read and lightweight stuff, but fun. And the writer throws in several neat bits of misdirection and it's partly because Odd ends up misreading his psychic magnetism. Like its graphic novel predecessor IN ODD WE TRUST, this story takes place before the life-changing events in Koontz's first Odd Thomas novel. Meaning that we get to soak in that terrific screwball banter between Odd and Stormy, just before things went distressingly dark for the "griddle boy" (as Stormy calls him, with love). Despite the peril involved, this is a stage in Odd's life in which he's probably at his most happy and contented.
Maybe the best thing about ODD IS ON OUR SIDE - and IN ODD WE TRUST, for that matter - is that it just may lure unwary young readers into checking out Dean Koontz's books. That's a far cry from being disastrous, and the bodachs can then go suck it.
Oh, and pumpkin slides down the hill on Halloween? I am so down with that!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 14
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