Review - Innocence by Dean Koontz

Innocence by Dean Koontz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Kindle Version, 338 pages

Published December 10th 2013 by Bantam (first published 2013)

Source: Own copy

Synopsis:
'He lives in solitude beneath the city, an exile from society, which will destroy him if he is ever seen.

She dwells in seclusion, a fugitive from enemies who will do her harm if she is ever found.

But the bond between them runs deeper than the tragedies that have scarred their lives. Something more than chance—and nothing less than destiny—has brought them together in a world whose hour of reckoning is fast approaching.' 

My Thoughts:
So, at first I was really excited to start reading another Dean Koontz novel as he is definitely up there as one of my favourite authors of all time. Unfortunately, Innocence was a bit of a let down to me in the end and all I seemed to experience from the start was frustration with how slow the story moved along.

The main character, Addison Goodheart, is apparently a hideous looking boy who no-one can stand looking at without wanting to kill him. He has to live alone in a bunker and only ventures out at night when he can keep well hidden. This was my first port of frustration as we keep being told time and time again how hideous he is and how he needs to keep himself hidden, but there is never a full explanation or description of what his deformities actually are and what makes people want to kill him.

The next major frustration to me was the mix between current events and flashbacks of the past. This got very annoying at times and seemed to make the story feel extremely disjointed and also made it seem like the story was taking forever to develop.

There were also some supernatural elements mentioned quite a few times within the story that were never really expanded on and on reflection seemed to just be paragraph fillers and not really helpful in developing the story in any way.

Lastly, the ending just made me go 'What the?' It seemed way too rushed in my opinion and again felt very disjointed and even a little confusing. I definitely think the ending could have been expanded on a lot more to explain how things came about to round the story off in a much nicer manner (maybe some condensing of the story in the middle could have made way for more of an ending?) but I guess we'll never know.

I do have to admit that Koontz definitely has some wonderfully poetic writing in this book and it was very similar to read in some parts to the Odd Thomas books. It was such a shame that it just didn't have that excitement I was after or any real sort of page turning suspense.

Review - Forever Odd by Dean Koontz

Forever Odd by Dean Koontz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Mass Market Paperback, 432 pages

Published July 1st 2006 by HarperCollins

Source: Own Copy

Synopsis:

'Every so often a character so captures the hearts and imaginations of readers that he seems to take on a life of his own long after the final page is turned. For such a character, one book is not enough-readers 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.' 

My Thoughts:
I mainly read this as a challenge to myself because I have so many series reads I have started and not finished and I really want to complete at least one this year.

Even though I didn't really enjoy the first book as much as I wanted to because of all the people out there who think Odd is just so great, I went into reading this instalment with an open mind as I have seen a lot of great series start off with a bit of a bland first book but then surprisingly get better and better as they go along. I now have to admit that I am pleased that I persevered as I really enjoyed this instalment much more than I did the first one.

Yes, the story is a little bit far fetched and some of the plot developments are quite handy considering the situation that Odd has himself in, but hey, I don't read books to be reminded of reality, I read them to be entertained and taken away into another world for a little while. Therefore, I found that once Forever Odd really got going around halfway, I almost couldn't out it down.

Personally I think that Odd is a much stronger and interesting character in this book compared to the first one where I found him to be a bit whiney and annoying. I'm hoping that this development within him continues as the series goes along and I'm actually looking forward to starting the next one.

If this is the way the Odd books continue then I can definitely see why they are talked about by so many people and defended by regular Koontz followers everywhere.

Links:
Amazon