Odd Thomas

I'm looking for suggestions on reviews, but until then I suppose I'll continue from my personal library.

Odd Thomas, by Dean Koontz, is phenomenal. One can dispute the seeing dead people concept's originality, yet Mr. Koontz finds a way to make it his own. The book follows a 20-year old man whose name is used -shockingly- for the title, and his life lives up to his name: Odd. I went in to the story skeptical as can be since my past foray into Koontz's work left me bitter and biased against anything he wrote...Odd Thomas changed my mind.

The characters are rich, though not numerous, and incredibly well-developed. From Little Ozzie to Rosalia Sanchez, you get an interesting and eclectic crew that really should not work, yet the small world that is Pico Mundo somehow makes sense and feels real. Then you factor in the ghosts, yet even they are so intricately crafted that they too feel real. Odd sees the dead, as well as having a few other slightly related gifts; however, he doesn't seek attention, nor is he particularly interested in being rich. All Odd truly wants is to live in relative peace with his soul mate Bronwyn "Stormy" Llewelynn, and maybe a change of jobs from a fry cook to something in the tire business.
The lingering dead complicate his life, but they also enrich it-- Elvis is often found loitering nearby when Odd has time to kill. Elvis, by the way, is given plenty of coverage and, even if you don't like his music, Koontz's version of his silent spectre is lovable for his support and general goofyness. I won't go into the plot very deeply, since it's terrific, but it's a race against time and exhaustion for Odd in an attempt to stop/minimize an event of intense violence. Of course, he's the only one who can for two reasons. 1)He's the protagonist; 2)his gifts give him the foresight and means to stop it.

I could write pages on why this book(as well as its sequels) are superb, but I won't; instead I beseech you to go buy them. They're worth every penny.