Crime Fiction Alphabet 2011: K is for Koontz

It's been awhile since the last time I participate in CFA, I feel ashamed of myself but there were - and are - so many things happened in my life and have taken quite amount of my time. For this week's entry, I present: Dean Koontz.
Dean Koontz was born on July 9, 1945. His first novel is Star Quest, which was published in 1968.Then in the 1970s, he begun to grow a publishing of suspense and horror fiction; some using his name, some using pseudonyms. His breakthrough novel was Whispers and this success was followed by his other books.

Because I haven't read his other books, I would prefer to discuss his writing on Odd Thomas. Below is the summary of Odd Thomas, the first on the series:

A mysterious man comes to town with a voracious appetite, a filing cabinet stuffed with information on the world's worst killers, and a pack of hyena-like shades following him wherever he goes. Who the man is and what he wants, not even Odd’s deceased informants can tell him. His most ominous clue is a page ripped from a day-by-day calendar for August 15.
Today is August 14.
In less than twenty-four hours, Pico Mundo will awaken to a day of catastrophe. As evil coils under the searing desert sun, Odd travels through the shifting prisms of his world, struggling to avert a looming cataclysm with the aid of his soul mate and an unlikely community of allies that includes the King of Rock 'n' Roll. His account of two shattering days when past and present, fate and destiny converge is the stuff of our worst nightmares—and a testament by which to live: sanely if not safely, with courage, humor, and a full heart that even in the darkness must persevere.

I borrowed this book from a friend, or should I say she suggested this book to me when she learned I like mystery/suspense/thriller. When I started to read it, I didn't expect myself to be captivated by the life of Odd Thomas. Unless several characters in Agatha Christie or Lisbeth in Larsson's trilogy, I rarely care that much into a mystery novels' character as much as I care about Odd. The way he reluctant but still doing it makes me like him so much. He's not the hero type nor anti-hero; in some way he's an average guy. I think Koontz manage to portrayed the regular small city guy perfectly who actually extraordinary without making him too standout among the crowd. He fits perfectly in his little town with all his quirkiness. Perhaps the ghost element will turn off some of the mystery lovers but not me. I'm okay with that (perhaps because I'm also a huge fan of fantasy) as long as it presented in somewhat logical way and keep me trying to what guess will happen next and who's the bad guy and how it will ended.

Lynossa

Crime Fiction Alphabet 2011: K is for Koontz