In Odd We Trust (Graphic Novel)

Odd Thomas Graphic Novel #1

by Dean Koontz, Queenie Chan (Illustrator)

“Meet a young man named Odd . . . who helps the dead get even."From the infinite imagination of #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz comes the suspenseful graphic-novel debut of a natural-born hero with a supernatural twist.Odd Thomas is a regular nineteen-year-old with an unusual the ability to see the lingering spirits of the dead. To Odd, it’s not such a big deal. And most folks in sleepy Pico Mundo, California, are much more interested in the irresistible pancakes Odd whips up at the local diner. Still, communing with the dead can be useful. Because while some spirits only want a little company . . . others want justice. When the sad specter of a very frightened boy finds its way to him, Odd vows to root out the evil suddenly infecting the sunny streets of Pico Mundo. But even with his exceptional ability–plus the local police and his pistol-packing girlfriend, Stormy, backing him–is Odd any match for a faceless stalker who’s always a step ahead . . . and determined to kill again?

Genres: Graphic Novels, Horror, Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery, Paranormal, Thriller

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 24, 2008

About the author

Acknowledged as "America's most popular suspense novelist" (Rolling Stone) and as one of today's most celebrated and successful writers, Dean Ray Koontz has earned the devotion of millions of readers around the world and the praise of critics everywhere for tales of character, mystery, and adventure that strike to the core of what it means to be human.

Dean, the author of many #1 New York Times bestsellers, lives in Southern California with his wife, Gerda, their golden retriever, Elsa, and the enduring spirit of their goldens, Trixie and Anna.

Facebook: Facebook.com/DeanKoontzOfficial
Twitter: @DeanKoontz
Website: DeanKoontz.com

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

In working my way through the Odd series, I discovered that there are 3 graphic novels right in the middle. I decided to check these out between Odd Hours and Odd Interlude. When I first picked up In Odd We Trust, I was surprised to find not the traditional graphic novel, but a Manga-style book.

The comics are prequels to the series. However, I think reading these after knowing the events of the first few books (publication order) adds to the experience by adding points of referrence. In fact, I kind of wonder what it would be like reading these first.

I enjoyed the artists concept of the characters. Not that I hadn't already had a picture of them in my mind, but it was cool to see someone else's ideas.

The story was typical Odd and had a lot of the same themes and explanations (every book, Odd interjects into the story background about himself and why things are happening around him the way they do). My biggest complaint is that I think trying to fit one whole story into one volume of graphic novel made the story feel rushed. When certain climatic points were reached I thought "wait, we can't be here already!?" I will be reading the next one soon, it will be interesting to see if the storyline from this one continues or if each volume in the graphic novel trilogy is a different story.

[Prabhjot Kaur · Rating 2 out of 5]

Odd Thomas has a supernatural ability, he can see the dead. When a seven year old child is murdered in his town, he wants to help the chief of police in finding the murderer. The child's dead body was found by the housekeeper, Sherry who happens to be Odd's girlfriend's best friend. On further investigation, Odd finds out that Sherry was being stalked by someone and that someone was leaving letters for Sherry and that the little kid, Joe just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Odd with his girlfriend, Stormy start to stakeout another house where Sherry works and they have a young girl who could be the next target. Joe's spirit helps Odd track down the killer but Odd wasn't able to actually catch him. We also find out that Odd has another supernatural ability called Psychic Magnetism which means that he can track down any person if he knows who the person is. They are able to find the killer but his target wasn't the little girl but Sherry herself. Odd and Stormy chase him down and are able to save Sherry and also the killer gets arrested.

I really liked the beginning of the book and I knew this was gonna be a 4 star read from me at the least but when they find the killer in the van and they let the supposed stalker and a child killer go, I couldn't enjoy the book after that. That's where I lost interest and I also found the plot afterwards really odd (for the lack of a better word). Before, there were times I was thinking that Sherry herself could be the killer and she fried up this whole rouse to throw the police away from her and I think that would have quite the twist but the killer turns out to be some random stalker. This was my first Dean Koontz book and honestly I am underwhelmed. I will read other books from him just because I have always heard great praise for his work and this is may be bad luck that I didn't like this book.

2 stars

[Nate · Rating 1 out of 5]

I liked Odd Thomas #1, had mixed but mostly positive feelings about the others, and am a fan of graphic novels, so I thought this would be at least decent. So wrong. Unnatural dialogue, lazy plot, stupid and unbelievable character reactions and attitudes.

I'll change some plot details slightly to avoid anything beyond mild spoilers.

1) Let's say there's a teenaged character whose father comes home. The father says, "Hey, how was your day?" The teenager responds, "Hello father. I had a satisfying day. I think that I may compose a letter to my aunt this evening." If that teenager is supposed to be an alien or robot, then nicely done. If that's supposed to be a normal teenager, that's absurdly bad dialogue-writing. And I don't think any of the characters in this book are supposed to be aliens or robots.

2) If both the characters and the police know who a child killer is, are on the lookout for him, and are aware that he plans to kill again . . . and then the characters find him sitting in the backseat of a car in front of a house, unarmed, with the ignition off and manage to get him at gunpoint, what do you think would happen next? If you answered, "They have some awkward dialogue and then inexplicably let him climb into the front seat and drive away before calling or yelling for the police (who, coincidentally, are already at that very house)," you're a winner!

3) When the characters arrive at a scene where a kid was just stabbed to death in order to comfort the babysitter who found his body, it's a little out of place for them to drawn as randomly smiling, laughing, and grinning.

4) Here is a rough outline of the plot itself. Warning, massive spoilers ahead - this plot is a twister, on par with The Usual Suspects. Bad guy is stalking good guy's friend. Good guy chases bad guy a few times, but bad guy gets away. Bad guy kidnaps friend. Good guy finds bad guy, beats him up, and saves the day. The end.

I'm just going to pretend this book doesn't exist, and hope he gets back on track with the next Odd installment.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was a let down because I was expecting so much more.

First, I was expecting nice glossy pages with color not a smaller than trade paperback sized book with regular paper pages and all black and white graphics.

Second, I was expecting a more complex story not just Odd Thomas, local cook who also sees ghosts, helping the police solve a crime. This could have been more complex but it the telling of the story both in narrative and in graphics was very simplistic.

Third, it being Dean Koontz, I was expecting a darker story with atmosphere not something that felt like a more serious version of Archie and Veronica. Not only that, the drawings were all black and white which does not really lend itself to creating ambivalence or atmosphere with the reader as there are no gray or shadowed areas because it's all black and white.

It read as a happy story about a local cook who sees the ghost of a recently murdered child and feels he must help the child move on by finding the killer. The seriousness of the crime is offset by the humor of the ghosts that Odd has seen in the past (among them Lyndon Johnson and Elvis, of course). And I thought that the police chief just showing up and telling Odd all the details of the case in the diner where he works was a bit farfetched.

So, overall--meh. Yeah, it made me want to actually read the first Odd Thomas book to see if what is in the graphic novel is the same as what is in the actual book and I'd probably read another graphic novel but it was nothing to get excited about. Would like to have given it 2.5 stars.

[Valerie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my second attempt at Koontz or third, I can't be sure. This one reminded me a little of the first I'd read. It had a regular guy who didn't want to be famous, doesn't want to live in a big city, or anything but possesses a gift. In this case he can see ghosts. There is a girl, she's pretty and tough. They been together for a few years I think. The only reason they haven't gotten married is because something in Stormy's past still prevents her.

The illustrations surprised me because it looks like animae; though my knowledge in graphic novels, comics, manga, and the like is very limited.

The whole 'we are one' thing between him and his girlfriend kind of sounded strange. I've heard of soul mates and stuff which I can understand it to an extent but in this graphic novel I just couldn't get a sense for it. I could maybe chalk it all up to having only limited amount of air time for the couple I guess.

The mystery itself was interesting I guess but I still didn't feel any suspense in it. I kind of felt like it was just saying this is what happened, and then this is what happened, etc. Although I did get a small sense of the characters' personalities I couldn’t really feel for them at all. My view of the characters is very apathetic.

I just wasn't invested at all. If I wasn't having a lazy day I might not have finished it at all. Usually I don't finish a book I would give 2 stars but it really was just okay for me.y

[Trisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first trip into the world of graphic novels. Having already been in love with the Odd Thomas series for a few years, it was a good place to start.

My favorite part of the whole book was being able to put faces to the characters and also getting a glimpse of the world of Pico Mundo, California where Odd and Stormy live. What took some getting used to was the simplicity of the writing and the over-the-top drama that's added to the dialogue. Keeping in mind that graphic novels are basically comic books on steroids, you accept the differences and even get used to them.

I hope that Koontz continues to add to the graphic novel series of Odd Thomas.

[Jonathan Echevarria · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was nice to read this book after reading the first Odd Thomas novel. This is another prequel story taking place before the first novel. Even though people could technically read this before reading the main novels, if you happen to skip over it you aren’t missing out on a whole bunch. One or two scenes briefly mentioned in the first main novel is shown here however. (Is was a nice treat for people who have read the novels.)

I would say that it is nice to see how the author struggled to describe to the artist how the main characters looked. There are some fun notes describing how the author and artist struggled to get Odd’s features just right. For me it was cool to see how the author envisioned his work and how he tried to convey that to the author. The artist definitely gets credit for going above and beyond here. I imagine if she was given time to work on more prequel stories she would of eventually nailed these characters.

Personally I would of preferred a more realistic look to the characters. (They went with a anime look which isn’t too bad but not great either.) of course that kind of realistic art style isn’t cheap either. Probably above the salary of a author and a small book publishing company taking chances on a new property. Overall I would say this graphic novel adaptation is a success. I am glad to own a copy and have read it.

If you are a big fan of the novels I recommend giving this one a shot.

[Tech Ninja · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book on goodreads is another that has an insane amount of troll negative reviews, this graphic novel, given its my first, was phenomenal. It was a quick read but it kept interest and made me want to read more of Dean Koontz's Odd thomas novels. Def a 5/5 and If you like supernatural type books and mysteries, I'd def check this out even if its your first graphic novel, def worth the time and money!

[Cristi-Lael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nope, didn't enjoy this at all. The art was good, but the story and dialogue were fairly lame. I haven't ever read any Dean Koontz novels before, and I have to say that this does not give me the desire to do so.

[Raelynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to give this 4 stars but I was definitely let down. I expected more from Koontz the "NY times multi best selling author". More mystery, more drama, more detail. He can write some pretty great 400+ page novels so what the heck happened here?

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a quick, fun read. Koontz's story fit seamlessly into Odd's universe, and Chan's illustrations were spot on. Odd and Stormy came out looking just as I imagined, and I enjoyed seeing her sketching process in the back. I'm eager to read the rest.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved that this was not just a rewrite of the other books but seemed more like a prequel, Though I prefer computer colored graphics this was still very well done, This was a Good Read.

[Siobhan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Odd Thomas series is one of my favourite series. Even though I’m not the biggest lover of graphic novels, I was curious about this one. After all, I wanted to see what it added to the series.

Unfortunately, this one did not work for me. It added nothing to the series and felt extremely awkward. It was predictable and a little cringey, and I had wanted so much more from it. I wanted a story that made me fall deeper for Odd and Stormy, yet I found myself wishing I had not read this story because it felt so out of place.

I know quite a lot of people enjoyed this, but it did not work for me.

[Millie Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was good to get back to Odd's life, even if it was just for a short time. I loved the books and it was nice to see him in graphic novel form. My heart had a little pang knowing that Anton Yelchin is gone, but that's a whole different animal, really. He was still Odd Thomas, but the one in the graphic novel did him justice.
Overall, I liked the story. There wasn't a lot to it, but it was a nice break to step back into his world.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Standard Odd Thomas with all the characters we know and love from the book series. Nice little story of good beats bad (mostly) with some help from the ghost of Elvis and a small boy.
Interesting to see the faces Koontz allowed for his characters and how they match to the ones I imagined.

[Walter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like Koontz books. I like comics.
So what's not to like.
Maybe a thin story line and poor graphics will do the trick.

[Alyson Mutch · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are a fan of the odd books then you should also read these three.

[Nicholas Jobe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not too sure what to say about this one. As I stated previously, Odd Thomas is a brilliant book, and one of my favorites. It’s had some good-but-not-as-good-as-the- original sequels. But now it’s traveled into new territory: the graphic novel. In Odd We Trust is a prequel to the first book, and fits into the same level as the sequels (not quite as good as the first).

The story here is that Odd Thomas, a young fry cook who can see the dead (though they don’t speak), who tries to help them either pass on or seek vengeance, gets caught up in yet another caper. A young boy gets brutally murdered, and it seems that some kind of crazy stalker/child-murderer is responsible. So now Odd, along with soul-mate Stormy Llewellyn, just has a few days to find and stop the man before he strikes again. But things aren’t looking that easy.

What was most interesting about the graphic novel was the fact that it had to give a face to what was, in essence, a faceless character. The novels are in first-person, and no description of Odd is ever really given, except that he’s handsome without being stunningly so and that he’s basically an everyman. The face given to him in this still doesn’t quite meet my expectations of how he’s supposed to look. Stormy, on the other hand, got really close. And while I didn’t dislike Chief Wyatt Porter’s look, he’s supposed to be older and fat. In this, he’s only older. And I was disappointed that Ozzie didn’t make an appearance. I would have loved to see him. But otherwise, the art style, while not original or groundbreaking (it’s basic manga style), is nice to look at (though sometimes awkward, as characters don’t look like themselves when at specific angles).

One of the key elements from the books is the humor. The books are very witty and really funny, most of the time because of the first-person narration (though from the dialogue, as well). Because this is a graphic novel, it was really hard to get that humor down in the same kind of way. The second half of the book did it a lot better than the first half. The first half seemed to be just cheesy and stilted. Even the normal dialogue seemed awkward and forced. It didn’t feel right or natural.

But the biggest issue with this graphic novel was the pacing. The pacing at the beginning was fine, but then every now and then, usually when the bad guy would show up, things would just start rushing before it abruptly ended. The ending also felt nearly anti-climactic. There’s all this build-up, and while the ending is funny, it just came off as (using writing terms) telling instead of showing. And I know that doesn’t exactly work with graphic novels, as you do see it, but you see it with a very brief, narrated flashback with short-detailed descriptions of what happened. It’s over in about one or two pages. Now maybe it’s just the form of the graphic novel that I’m not used to, but after I finished it (rather quickly, in a little less than 2 hours), I almost felt like “That’s it?” It could have used more bulk/meat to it, I thought.

There’s a great attention to detail from the books that otherwise wouldn’t even be noticed by those unacquainted with the series—for instance, the fortune teller’s fortune for Odd and Stormy on the plaque on Odd’s wall in the background. I really liked that. Overall, if you’re a fan of the books, much like the sequels, I’d recommend checking it out. However, if you’ve not read at least the first Odd Thomas book, I’d suggest reading that one before delving into In Odd We Trust (as it’ll add an entire other level of meaning, understanding, and/or emotion to this graphic novel. Not to mention it’s just better).

[JG (Introverted Reader) · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the small town of Pico Mundo, an unassuming fry cook by the outlandish name of Odd Thomas has a special ability; he can see the dead. They can't speak to him but they have their own ways of communicating. After the murder of a small boy, Odd sees his spirit wandering around. It's obvious the boy wants justice. His nanny, an old friend of Odd's girlfriend Stormy, is worried that the killer might be targeting her other charge, a young girl. Odd and Stormy vow to do what they can to help protect the children of the town.

Odd Thomas has come to the world of graphic novels. I like the idea but it didn't work out all that well for me.

I love Odd. He's so good and earnest but he still has that unexpected sense of humor and hope despite all the things he's seen. That Odd was in these pages, I just wanted more of him. I think the format limited him. In the novels, I think my favorite parts are his internal musings and it's got to be hard to bring that through in a graphic novel. There were bits here and there, just not enough.

I wasn't a huge fan of the style of the artwork either. In my ignorance, I'll say it looks like anime. Feel free to correct me nicely if there's a better word to describe it. Whatever it's called, I just don't generally care for it.

The story felt kind of--well, circular. They don't really get much of anywhere. It was the same basic events a couple of times and then a big "surprise" ending that wasn't really a surprise.

I will say that it was nice to see a beloved character from the first book who hasn't shown back up in the rest of them. I also like the title a lot.

And that's really all I have to say. More devoted fans of graphic novels may enjoy this more than I did. I'll be sticking to the regular books from now on.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not familiar with Dean Koontz, although I know the name and I know that some of my students have read things from this author, but when I saw another main stream author with a graphic novel, I figured now was a good time to check him out. (Other authors adapting a familiar character/series to graphic stylings: D.J. MacHale - The Merchant of Death: Pendragon Graphic Novel; Neil Gaiman - Coraline; Stephen King Gunslinger: The Dark Tower; Erin Hunter Warriors series).

This book introduced me to a young 19 year old named Odd Thomas, who lives in the small California town of Pico Mundo. Odd is a nonassuming fry cook at the local diner, but what makes him unique is that he sees ghosts. I must say, I found this book very enjoyable, and in fact I was so intrigued by this character, that I definitely will check out the full text version of these books. That, I think, is the reason why these authors make graphic versions of their books - to gain new readers to their already established series. Koontz gives the readers a full story. It doesn't end like Erin Hunter's graphic books where the books are serialized. This book could be your first and last encounter with Odd Thomas. However, the character is so fleshed out, the author notes and illustrator notes are intriguing and the sample chapter from the first novel just makes me want to spend a little more time with this character. I think it will do the same for other readers.

[Sofie Buynak-Casassa · Rating 2 out of 5]

"In Odd we Trust" we meet eighteen year old Odd. He works at a dinner and is known for his awesome ability for making pancakes and his gift of talking to dead people. Actually he can only see them since spirits can't talk. The town sheriff tends to talk to him about his murder cases and Odd usually communicates with the dead victims to catch the guilty party. Catching the murderer sets the spirits at peace and they are able to cross over. Odd is dating an Orphan named Stormy, who he has been dating since high school. Stormy always carries a gun with her and is his little sidekick in solving his cases. Stormy has a best friend named Sherry, she is like a sister, they have been together in the orphanage ever since she can remember. Sherry is a housekeeper/babysitter. A little boy she babysits is murdered by her stalker and the other little girl she cares for is being threatened. This is the crime that Odd and Stormy set out to solve.
I thought that both the characters and story lacked depth. We find out that a guy is stalking Sherry, but we never know why. It is just some random rich guy that has no connections to any other character in the story. The story also makes it seem like the police force is useless and these two teens are untouchable. We never get to the motives or even the slightest sliver of the criminals background. This is an hour of my life I will never get back.
Content wise it has a little bit of language issues, but nothing to strong.

[Desiree Brunelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

in odd we trust is about a guy " my name is Odd Thomas, and i see dead people" who also is a great fry cook that makes amazing pancakes in a dinner run by a women named terry who is very nice. the whole story is about a boy named joey who is stabbed to death by a stalker who leaves unmarked letters cut out with magazine letters. Odd's friend stormy is the one who keeps getting the letters because she is the one who is a baby sister for multiple kids. Odd, Stormy (odds girlfriend), Sherry (stormy's best friend) , and the chief of police are on a mission to stop a " child killer" from getting away with murder. odd is asked to help the police track him down, to help joey pass on to the next world. there are many twist and turns that appear in the story, such as who really the killer is after and what the killer does to trick the police in thinking his intention is to kill more and more but really its something else.
Odd and Stormy are frantic to save a life before its to late. odd follows all the clues he and his girlfriend find and go investigate. before the end there are a lot of twists that are to good to say, but there is a happy ending.

I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to read crime/ mystery, and scify/ fantasy. i thought this book was very good, the drawings are detailed and well drawn. the story was a quick read despite its size. i loved the plot and the twists it has in it., and the fact it had a happy ending was very nice.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read the first two Odd Thomas books, the first of which was intriguing and entertaining, and the second of which was quite disappointing. Nonetheless, I have the next two novels and will rad them. Picked this up at a used bookstore, and thought "Huh! Graphic novel!" So off I went to read it, which is set in the time before the end of the first novel (you'll see why), and entails finding the murderer of a young boy who enlists Odd's aid; the revelation of the murderer, his motive and the denouement are interesting but not outstanding. This being my first graphic novel (I'm a-gonna read the one of "The Dark Tower; The Gunslinger" sometime), I found that it reads fast (completed it in about an hour and a half) and of necessity compresses the story. Ms. Chan's depiction of the characters is fairly accurate as far as my own fantasized images of them, but she obviously has a background in Manga works , which made it somewhat less appealing (I'm not as attracted to such literature, but maybe my reading this will open a door). I know there's another graphic novel of Mr. Thomas out there, which I'll read also, but perhaps I'll get that one from the Library.

[Matt R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first graphic novel. Dean Koontz is one of my favorite authors which is the reason I decided to give a graphic novel a try. The story is decent but I prefer novels over comics. I enjoyed comics when I was younger but graphic novels are just not as interesting to me as a good novel. I know some would argue that a graphic novel is not a comic, but I don't see it. To me, the only difference is that a graphic novel has a bigger price tag. Glad I borrowed this one from the library. 3 stars because I like the Odd Thomas character and Dean Koontz.

[Christine · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was awful. I cannot believe I wasted an evening reading this graphic novel. The language was stiff and not what you come to expect from Dean Koontz. I am not sure who the target audience was for this but I felt the novel was dumbed down to the point of being unrecognizable. I will stick to Koontz's novels from now on!

[Nancy Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Odd Thomas books, so I thought that I would give this one a try. It's not the format that I am used to reading, but since my daughter is always buying these graphic novels, I thought I would give this one a try. I am glad I did. I really enjoyed the format and it was a nice change of pace from reading my usual novels.

[Karen B. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Big disappointment! Too much info left out to flow smoothly. Although I like graphic novels this one did not do justice to the regular Odd Thomas novels I have read. The artwork, other than Stormy's portrayal was poor. Odd looks like his head is on backwards. The dialogue is stilted. Most of all it cost way too much money!

[Lori]

A gift from a fellow goodreader (Thanks Mandy!)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was fun. I like the fact that Stormy and Odd are able to solve mysteries together - it's like we have a glimpse into a an alternate Odd Universe

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick enjoyable read.