Deeply Odd

The seventh and most recent entry in the Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz is entitled Deeply Odd. Back in the first novel in this series our hero dealt with a group of satanists (see Odd Thomas). In Deeply Odd, he is faced with them again. However, his first go-round with these cultists involved men who were, in a sense, playing at a game. In this book, these satanists are the real deal. They worship the dark lord, have pledged their lives to him, and carry out his evil bidding. In this story, Odd has just saved a number of cities across the U.S. from nuclear attack (see Odd Hours) and then stopped a developing rift in the space-time fabric (see Odd Apocalypse). As he lets his supernatural gift of psychic magnetism lead to him to where he is needed to stop evil and lift people up, he encounters a trucker who is surrounded by an aura of pure darkness. In this meeting, he has a vision of children being tortured and brutalized in unspeakable ways. He also comes to see that the universe has a much more complex and layered existence than he had come to understand.

This story follows Odd as he works to understand what this trucker is about, who he is in league with, and what they are up to. He learns that 17 children have been kidnapped with the purpose of being human sacrifices to Satan. Odd is assisted by two unlikely guardian angels. The first is an old woman who seems to know him and has insight into his spirit that goes beyond just mere humanity and worldly wisdom. She has unlimited resources and is plugged into some sort of good samaritan network. The second guardian angel is, strangely enough, a high profile film director whose spirit is able to interact with Odd in ways that other lingering spirits have not been able to. In order to save these children from what he has foreseen, Odd must enter into the very lair of Satan, and that is just what he does.

Now in this seventh installment of the series, Odd has been through so much in such a short period of time, that he has been affected. He feels that his soul has been stained, that he is taking on the timbre of those he has pledged to stop. Yet at each moment, Odd does what he has to do given what is available to him. He recognizes that what he has done is necessary, but that does not serve to reduce his anxiety and his feelings of guilt. Ultimately his spirit finds a measure of healing and peace, even if he does not find the answers to all of his questions. I look forward to the next release in this series from Mr. Koontz as Odd continues to make his way back home.