To start with do not read this book until you have read "Odd Thomas" (Which I highly recommend!). If you have not read "Odd Thomas" stop reading this review and go buy it now. If you have read "Odd" then continue on. "Forever Odd" Takes the reader back to Pico Mundo California, and its most celebrated and strange citizen, Odd Thomas. Odd has the gift of being able to see, feel, and speak to the dead (but for some reason they can't speak back?).
This time out Odd meets the ghost of Dr. Wilbur Jessup who has been murdered and has Odd come to his home, where Odd discovers the doctor's dead body! Jessup is the father of Odd's best friend Danny who is afflicted with a disease that makes his bones brittle. Danny is missing from the home! Odd uses his "Psychic Magnetism" to try and tract Danny down. I don't want ruin any of the surprises, but Odd soon finds himself the quarry of a beautiful but evil advisary who wants to use Odd for her own evil purposes!
This is a quirky story---The Ghost of a melancholy Elvis is still hanging around Odd---that combines a number of genres suspense, terror, adventure, mystery. and even some humor. The story moves along at a rapid pace and is a quick read compared to some of Koontz's other stories. Overall a good sequel to the original book, but it does not have the emotional impact, though it is still very entertaining!
If you like stories that combine genres check out the underground hit: "Tourist in the Yucatan" a thriller/adventure/Mystery wrapped in the mystery of the Maya!
