The sixth Odd Thomas thriller from the master storyteller. Our reluctant hero is drawn once more into a strange encounter with the lingering dead. Later that morning, when I walked downtown to buy blue jeans and a few pairs of socks, I met a guy who offered to neuter me with a .45 pistol. In a sinister encounter with a rogue truck driver, Odd - who has the gift of seeing the dead and the soon-to-be dead - has a disturbing vision of the slaughter of three innocent children. Across California, into Nevada and back again, Odd embarks on a road chase to prevent the tragedy. But he is to discover that he is not up against a single twisted sociopath but a mysterious network of evil men and women whose resources appear supernatural. Luckily, in this world that Odd finds so beautiful and full of wonders, and deeply odd as well, he meets a collection of like-minded eccentrics who will help him to take the next giant step towards his destiny.
Praise for the Odd Thomas series: 'One of his finest books, and Odd himself is a superb character Independent
'Odd Thomas is a page-turner ... A read-at-a-sitting novel with a terrific final twist' Observer
'Humour, humanity and horror, the classic Koontz concoction' The Times Praise for Dean Koontz:
'Dean Koontz is not just a master of our darkest dreams, but also a literary juggler' The Times
'A terrific pursuit story ... clever, up-to-the-minute, and riveting' Guardian
'There's surprise after surprise, including a killer finale ... a read-in-one-go novel' Independent on Sunday
'Psychologically complex, masterly and satisfying' The New York Times
Author
About Dean Koontz
Dean Koontz was born and raised in Pennsylvania. He graduated from Shippensburg State College (now Shippensburg University). When he was a senior in college, Dean Koontz won an Atlantic Monthly fiction competition and has been writing ever since.
His first job after graduation was with the Appalachian Poverty Program, where he was expected to counsel and tutor underprivileged children on a one-to-one basis. His first day on the job, he discovered that the previous occupier of his position had been beaten up by the very kids he had been trying to help and had landed in the hospital for several weeks. The following year was filled with challenge but also tension, and Koontz was more highly motivated than ever to build a career as a writer. He wrote nights and weekends, which he continued to do after leaving the poverty program and going to work as an English teacher in a suburban school district outside Harrisburg. After a year and a half in that position, his wife, Gerda, made him an offer he couldn't refuse: "I'll support you for five years," she said, "and if you can't make it as a writer in that time, you'll never make it." By the end of those five years, Gerda had quit her job to run the business end of her husband's writing career. Dean and Gerda Koontz along with their dog, Trixie, live in southern California.
His books are published in 38 languages, a figure that currently increases more than 17 million copies per year.
