• Forever Odd

  • An Odd Thomas Novel
  • By: Dean Koontz
  • Narrated by: David Aaron Baker
  • Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (8,397 ratings)

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Forever Odd  By  cover art

Forever Odd

By: Dean Koontz
Narrated by: David Aaron Baker
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Publisher's summary

Every so often a character so captures the hearts and imaginations of listeners that he seems to take on a life of his own long after the final chapter. For such a character, one book is not enough—listeners must know what happens next. Now Dean Koontz returns with the novel his fans have been demanding. With the emotional power and sheer storytelling artistry that are his trademarks, Koontz takes up once more the story of a unique young hero and an eccentric little town in a tale that is equal parts suspense and terror, adventure and mystery—and altogether irresistibly odd.

We’re all a little odd beneath the surface. He’s the most unlikely hero you’ll ever meet—an ordinary guy with a modest job you might never look at twice. But there’s so much more to any of us than meets the eye—and that goes triple for Odd Thomas. For Odd lives always between two worlds in the small desert town of Pico Mundo, where the heroic and the harrowing are everyday events. Odd never asked to communicate with the dead—it’s something that just happened. But as the unofficial goodwill ambassador between our world and theirs, he’s got a duty to do the right thing. That’s the way Odd sees it and that’s why he’s won hearts on both sides of the divide between life and death.

A childhood friend of Odd’s has disappeared. The worst is feared. But as Odd applies his unique talents to the task of finding the missing person, he discovers something worse than a dead body, encounters an enemy of exceptional cunning, and spirals into a vortex of terror. Once again Odd will stand against our worst fears. Around him will gather new allies and old, some living and some not. For in the battle to come, there can be no innocent bystanders, and every sacrifice can tip the balance between despair and hope. Whether you’re meeting Odd Thomas for the first time or he’s already an old friend, you’ll be led on an unforgettable journey through a world of terror, wonder and delight—to a revelation that can change your life. And you can have no better guide than Odd Thomas.

©2005 Dean Koontz (P)2005 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Forever Odd is a fast and exciting read.... [the climactic scenes are] fraught with tension."—Rocky Mountain News

"The nice young fry cook with the occult powers is [Dean Koontz's] most likable creation. ... candid, upright, amusing and sometimes withering, especially when thinking about the state of contemporary popular culture."—The New York Times

"Inventive.... It's refreshing to come across a character as good-hearted as Odd.... [Dean Koontz is] an interesting writer with a voice all his own."—Washington Post

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What listeners say about Forever Odd

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Weak middle

I really enjoyed Odd Thomas, but this didn't live up to it.
I liked the character enough to read Brother Odd and that is a great read. My advise is to skip Forever Odd -- there really isn't anything in the book you need to know to enjoy Brother Odd.

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26 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Detailed Koontz

This book could have used a little more uumph (if you know what I mean).
I always forget how far Mr. Koontz can go with his descriptions of a scene or a memory or a person or just about anything he gets started on.
I accidentally put this audio book back a chapter and was throughly reminded of the excessive details Mr. Koontz feels compelled to convey. It became clear how incredibly, mortifyingly long it took for anything to happen in this book. It's a good story but it needs something more thrilling or urgent to compensate for the meandering ultra-descriptions.
The reader is very good except for his attempt at the voice of the female villan. The voice and inflection he gives her are terrible. She sounds like a stupid, valley-girl, mall-rat, goth attempting an immitation of a smokey-voiced lounge singer. Not to put all of that on the reader, that character is written very poorly too. Just not as intimidating as a villan in her place could have been. She was almost funny, thoroughly irritating, and absolutely not scary.
Other than that, Odd Thomas is still a unique and interesting character. It was nice to see a little more of his life but it seems like he could have shared a little less description and a little more suspense.

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

worth your time

Let me preface this with the information that I am pretty easy to please as an audiobook listener, and I am also hopelessly hooked on the character Odd Thomas. Having said that, I found it necessary to write this in response to some of the other reviews. Although the story line in this installment is a little less globally catastrophic and a little more locally tragic, it's still engaging, entertaining and believable. It also serves as the perfect vehicle for the next book in the series, Brother Odd. The narration is carried out impeccably by David Aaron Baker. Yes, I agree that the female villain's voice is disturbing, irritating and grates on one's brain like sandpaper. It was supposed to, and every time she speaks she becomes all the more vile. Don't let that little tidbit deter your from listening to this well crafted tale. There isn't that much of it, and by the time she meets her end, you will hate her badly enough to really enjoy it. Finally, I have to agree that his first book in the series, Odd Thomas, was a tough act to follow; Forever Odd has a little different feeling, a little different pace, but it's still worth your time.

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21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Great narration, disappointing story

I enjoyed Odd Thomas (the first of the series) and David Aaron Baker's narration of both novels. But Dean Koontz isn't up to his normal superb story-telling with this tale. Most disappointing is his ending which reminds me of the cop-out we all learn in high school writing class when our hero is trapped beyond escape ... "and then he woke up."

Koontz can do MUCH better and we, his readers, deserve MUCH better.

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20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Sophomore Curse-Skip it.

After I finished listening to Forever Odd, I had to go back and listen to Odd Thomas just to see what it was that made me want to listen to Forever Odd. Then I thought maybe I had inadvertently downloaded an abridged version of Forever Odd, without the characteristic convolutions and engaging enigmas of a typical Koontz novel, but it really was just a short, flat, uninteresting book about some really interesting characters. If Koontz revisits Odd in a third book, go straight to that one from Odd Thomas.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Not as good as OddThomas

I guess after "Odd Thomas", I had big expectations. A found a lot of the descriptions of Odd's surroundings boring and not quite easy to picture in the mind's eye. I was hoping for the "Bodocks" and other interesting characters that was in "Odd Thomas."

This is the first Dean Koontz book that I've listened to that I didn't like.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A very worthy sequel!

"Odd Thomas" was amongst the best stories that Dean Koontz has ever written. The characters are fascinating, the story is quirky, and the plot has enough depth to be something other than just a slasher story.

"Forever Odd" is a very worthy sequel! This story picks up 16 months after the events in "Odd Thomas", and all of the interesting characters are back. The style of the story telling, the atmosphere painted by Koontz, and the style of plot are all very recognizable from the first book. David Aaron Baker does an amazing job with the all of the characters, but especially with Odd himself.

This is one of those stories that will have you sitting in the car in the driveway after your drive home, hoping to hear just a little bit more.

Very very highly recommended!

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

It's Odd, but . . . .

. . . . first of all I want to say hi to my Audible neighbor Gail! I graduated from El Cajon Valley High a long time ago. Now to the book. Based on other reviews, I did Forever Odd last. Odd Thomas was perfect! Brother and Hours were also very good. But Forever was not engaging, and the reviews are all over the board in support of that opinion. I cannot remember an author throwing so much mundane detail at the reader/listener as in the descriptions of the burned out casino. It came across as fluff or filler . . . trying to get sufficient pages written so as to satisfy the publisher. It certainly didn't satisfy me. Additionally, a few of the exchanges between Odd and villainess Datura are just plain pulp fiction . . . borderline pornographic and not necessary in order to instill our hatred of her. If you are just discovering Odd Thomas, enjoy #s 1, 3 and 4 and leave Forever Odd for last. You will not miss a thing! Odd Thomas is the kind of young man you WISH you actually knew . . . a wonderful character in every sense of the word. David Aaron Baker did his usual stellar job of narration. DK is unique in the genre, but his sophomore offering in this series is just that.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Stay Away!

I was utterly disappointed with this linear & twist-free story. There are no surprises, no interesting revelations about Pico Mundo, Odd Thomas or any of his cohorts. I enjoyed the quirky world in the original Odd Thomas but Forever Odd fell flat.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Poor Sequel

Odd Thomas is an extremely likable character. He is one of the most harmless people you would ever meet. He is kind, generous, giving, and just an all out nice guy. The events in the first book are exciting, adventurous, and amusing. The endinging is sad and touching. This book does not measure up to the first book in any way. It is a simple chase book with little of the charm of the first book. Odd's odd abilities are almost an afterthought in this book as he tries to foil some one dimensional evil woman whose disregards all reason to her own destruction. I was sad as I was so looking forward to another great Koontz book but this is not worth the listen.

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9 people found this helpful