Reading & Blogging about a book a week.
The third installment in Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas series, this one was my favorite. This one comes in where there sequel leaves off--Odd Thomas retreats to a monastery for solitude following his traumatic experiences in the 1st two books (can't say too much or I'll plot-spoil the previous stories). But ghostly murder manages to find him holed up with an eclectic collections of monks and nuns.
2nd in the Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz. The story returns to the misadventures of Odd Thomas, the "I see dead people" hero of Dean Koontz Odd Thomas series--think Encyclopedia Brown meets The Sixth Sense. A Little creepier than the 1st--still quirky (if not a little pretentious at times) but the character is very likeable and the story is fun.
For the first time I feel a little like I'm cheating in my desperate attempt to close out the year with all 52 books. This one is actually more of a short story the author attached to the end of Ex-Patriots (the second book in what is sure to be a superhero/zombie trilogy). BUT you can buy it independently as a stand-alone book on Amazon, so here it is.
This isn't the same story as the "ex" series. It is a sort of zombie story but it's more of a crazed violent not all there human type zompoc. Again, it takes place in L.A. and again, the style is a non-linear style, and again there are some quirky twists and turns, ...and again I get the distinct impression that I'm digging in below my reading level... Not nearly as good as the authors other books (14, the "ex" books) but enjoyable enough. If it comes withe one of those, you might wanna give it a try, otherwise, you can find something better to do with a couple of hours.
When you have multiple sclerosis, it's recommended that you challenge your mind daily, reading demanding prose, doing crossword puzzles... In general things that exercise your brain and stave off inflamation and significantly mitigate the symptoms of M.S. So if you have M.S., this book will do NOTHING for you, but, like baby shampoo on a bouncy castle slip and slide, it does make the ride down more fun...
Following on the heels of the first-in-the-series, Ex-Heroes, Ex-patriots picks up at the next logical iteration of the zompoc plus superheroes story: the ARMY gets involved. Just as the swollen group of survivors begins to reach critical mass in their expanding compound in L.A., having folded in a steady flow of zompoc survivors and the remnant of the once antagonist gang from the first book. Seemingly in the nick of time, the compound is discovered by another group of survivors, this one led by a group of super-soldiers (think a bunch of Capt Americas). But as a contingent of heroes head out to liaise with this new group, it soon becomes clear that things are not as they seem on the new post.
Like the first book, the sequel is told in the non-linear "then/now" style. And again, the author does a great job of carefully unfolding the details, meticulously preserving the continuity of both books and drawing and later either tying off or teasing out loose ends from both stories. To much fun to put down...
Imagine, if you will, that the world has fallen to devastating virus that kills and reanimates human beings as mindless, flesh-eating, un-dead corpses... ...again... What's that you say? where's the originality? 2 words: superhero zombies! Yep! Suddenly, a handful of people around the globe find themselves endowed with super-human abilities. Then, just as these folks are getting used to said abilities and falling into their rolls as vigilantes, crime-fighters, or even super-villains, the zompoc hits. And the superheroes learn quickly that they are not immune to the zombie infection. Now humanity, with the help of super-humanity, finds itself fighting for survival in a post zompocolyptic L.A. (not all that different from present-day Hollywood...). To make matters worse, not everyone's on the same team. While many of the remaining humans have banded together to fight off the zombie hordes (or "ex's"--short for ex-humans), a rouge L.A. street gang has seized the opportunity to take control of the city. So the small but determined band of heroes struggle to hold the only known remnants of humanity together against both the quick and the undead.
Told in a non-linear story line ("then" and "now"), the author weaves a comprehensive, page-turning roller-coaster ride of a story laid out in an eclectic mix of humor, violence, irony, and bone-jarring "butt"-kicking. He does a really good job of maintaining continuity, developing a number of characters, and slowly, deliberately unfolding twists and turns of the story. Fun, fun, fun... However, there are a few scenes of gratuitous sex and violence. I shouldn't be surprised given the genre (pure, unrepentant, delicious pulp fiction) but they do give the nagging impression that there's an outside chance that the author's target audience is young adults and comic nerds...
Please direct your criticisms of the reviewer's taste to the department of I Know You Are But What Am I at www.whateverIhavecancer.com...
Some stories are great in their broad observations of a time and/or place but others are delightful in their detail. This book is the latter of these. Troost chronicles he and his wife's time on a small atoll in the pacific. Note here many have spent time on small ISLANDS but few people have actually lived on an ATOLL--let's just say the 7:30 show is COMPLETELY different from the 9:00. For one thing, an atoll is much smaller. For another, islands typically receive services such as regular mail, transportation, and general support from a mainland of one sort or another; not necessarily so on an atoll. But the authors dryly humored, clumsy--in a stranger-in-a-strange-land way, and good-natured relation of the events make this story hilariously interesting. The best way to think of it, I believe, is to relate it to scuba diving. Once you've settled into the neato idea of breathing underwater, you start to take your time on small sights as opposed to the reef itself. As you do this, you'll notice the longer you spend on, say and anemone, the more you will find it teaming with life and notice that there's a lot of interesting stuff on a small piece of real estate. Great read; highly recommend it!
