Brother Odd by Dean Koontz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Brother Odd is #3 in the Odd Thomas series and finds the titular character hanging out at an abbey in the California Sierras. When a few bodachs appear (smoky entities that only Odd can see that are harbingers of death) Odd knows trouble is a-coming and he works to protect the mentally and physically handicapped children under the care of the abbey’s monks and nuns.
While Odd remains a wonderfully self-deprecating character that Koontz could probably write in his sleep, the story this time is more out there, dealing with the quest to scientifically prove the existence of God and what happens when you start messing around with life on a quantum level (bad things, as it turns out). This may sound a bit odd (ahem) given the setting of the book, but it’s explained early when one of the monks in residence is revealed to be a former physicist who has bequeathed a fortune to the abbey and secretly continued his work while praying and meditating with his fellow monks.
As the number of bodachs grows, a blizzard sweeps over the mountain, effectively trapping everyone as the potential hour of doom nears. While it serves to increase tension, I was left with a feeling that the story has holes in it you could probably drive a monk-filled SUV outfitted with a snowplow through. Ultimately this only minimally detracts as Brother Odd is, despite its subject matter, not the kind of story you will ponder deeply afterward. It’s an entertaining popcorn read, exactly as I expected.