Forever Odd by Dean Koontz

I had such a hard time finishing Odd Thomas that I was a little leery of starting the next book in the series, Forever Odd. Within a few pages it was clear that Odd was in a melancholy place. I was sick at the time (third of the three recent) and just not sure I was up for sad.

However, whereas Odd Thomas was about avoiding a mass murder, Forever Odd was on a much smaller and more personal scope. The ghost of the father of one of Odd's close friends appears to him one night. While investigating, he discovers that his friend Danny is missing. Burned by deaths in the previous book, Odd feels that he must pursue this himself and tracks his friend using psychic magnetism.

It's your basic outline for a thriller really. Except I really found the villain chilling. She was so incredibly bizarre and yet oddly believable in a broken way. I just had to keep reading, so Forever Odd ended up being the only book I made it through over the long weekend. (I was really sick and I think it gave me weird dreams)

Over all, I think the narrative voice was stronger and more consistent. Koontz juggled fewer characters in this book and I think that helped iron out some pacing issues. This is a stronger narrative than the first book but I miss some of the beautiful expository passages from the first book; Odd was funny and witty despite the darker events of the novel. This is almost absent in Forever Odd. Hopefully the tone will recover in the third book.