I finished the newest release by Dean Koontz this weekend. It is titled Odd Hours and, as usual, it was a pleasure to read! I loved it! And, to make it even better, the genius that is Dean Koontz did something that I would never have imagined. Ok, maybe he has done it before but, I never noticed it. I can't be sure! But, if he hasn't, he just topped himself in my mind and, I really hope he follows through! What was it that he did that has my tongue wagging so much? He eluded to another character. Odd Thomas is one of two of my favorite serial characters from the masterful imagination of Dean Koontz. The other one, as I know I have mentioned in other blog entries in the past, is Christopher Snow. So, here is a brief description of both. Odd Thomas has an unnatural ability. Well, really, he has a few unnatural abilities. He can see and interact with spirits of the deceased. He can also see other supernatural entities that are of a less kind quality. His gift forces him to help as the spirits that visit him tend to need him to right a wrong and to bring justice to the perpetrators of their deaths, or to protect others from their own deaths. Odd moves from place to place and, while he has friends, he tends to need to rely on himself to get the tasks he is charged with, done.
Christopher Snow is confined to the shadows of the night as he has a disease called Xeroderma Pigmentosum which means that his skin can not regenerate after any ultraviolet exposure. None at all. So, he conducts any and all business at night when he can leave the comfort and safety of his home. But, he is also tasked with fighting evil and saving others. He, however, has some help. He has close friends that have been able to stand up and fight with him.
So, the thing that has me so psyched, is the possibility that Dean Koontz may be gearing up to weave these two characters' lives together. In Odd Hours, Odd is questioned about a shirt that he is wearing with the words "Mystery Train" on them. And, he also dons a sweatshirt with the word "Wyvern" on it. Those are two very specific and very key pieces to the Christopher Snow puzzle. Christopher has a hat with the words "Mystery Train" on it and, he learned a little bit about the story behind that train in the last book in this series. And, Wyvern is where Christopher Snow lives. Well, more to the point, it is Fort Wyvern where his mother conducted experiments that were nearly God like in nature and has lead to a very dangerous world that Christopher finds himself fighting for the safety of all humanity. For Odd to have these two specific items that references key pieces of Christopher's world, is epic! There might be one more factor from Christopher Snow's world that was masterfully entered into Odd Thomas' world. Coyotes! It may be a part of that experiment-gone-horribly-wrong at Fort Wyvern that Christopher's mom was in charge of. I won't go into great detail. I'll just say that animals are a big part of Christopher's world. And, not just animals. Genetically engineered animals. And, a large pack of coyotes were one group of those animals that had a role towards the end of the last book in Christopher Snow's series. And, I think they showed up again in Odd Thomas' world in Odd Hours!
If Dean Koontz's plan is to weave these two characters together...he has gotten off to a magnificent start! I don't know how he will do it. The last Christopher Snow book was written 10 years ago in 1998. And, he started another one titled Ride The Storm but, thus far, he hasn't finished it and, he says that it insists on "setting its own pace". So, the question is, will he insert Odd Thomas into Christopher Snow's world inside the pages of Ride The Storm or will he insert Christopher Snow into Odd Thomas' next adventure? Either way, I hope they do meet as it will be epic! I can't wait!
