"The dead don't talk. I don't know why." But they do try to communicate, with a short-order cook in a small desert town serving as their reluctant confidant. Odd Thomas thinks of himself as an ordinary guy, if possessed of a certain measure of talent at the Pico Mundo Grill and rapturously in love with the most beautiful girl in the world, Stormy Llewellyn. Maybe he has a gift, maybe it?s a curse, Odd has never been sure, but he tries to do his best by the silent souls who seek him out. Sometimes they want justice, and Odd?s otherworldly tips to Pico Mundo's sympathetic police chief, Wyatt Porter, can solve a crime. Occasionally they can prevent one. But this time it's different.

A mysterious man comes to town with a voracious appetite, a filing cabinet stuffed with information on the world's worst killers, and a pack of hyena-like shades following him wherever he goes. Who the man is and what he wants, not even Odd?s deceased informants can tell him. His most ominous clue is a page ripped from a day-by-day calendar for August 15.

Today is August 14.

In less than twenty-four hours, Pico Mundo will awaken to a day of catastrophe. As evil coils under the searing desert sun, Odd travels through the shifting prisms of his world, struggling to avert a looming cataclysm with the aid of his soul mate and an unlikely community of allies that includes the King of Rock 'n' Roll. His account of two shattering days when past and present, fate and destiny converge is the stuff of our worst nightmares — and a testament by which to live: sanely if not safely, with courage, humor, and a full heart that even in the darkness must persevere.

"[E]lectrifying tension....This is Koontz working at his pinnacle, providing terrific entertainment that deals seriously with some of the deepest themes of human existence: the nature of evil, the grip of fate and the power of love." Publishers Weekly (Starred and Boxed Review)

"One of the many reasons this novel works is Koontz's talent for creating richly drawn characters. Odd's oddness seems to arise partly from his estrangement from his family. But Koontz doesn't hit the reader over the head with that underlying psychodrama." Boston Globe

"In a cleaner, less congested style than he usually favors, Mr. Koontz builds an enveloping story....Odd Thomas walks a very thin line between the exploitation of horror and the feel-good religious optimism that transcends the darkness..." Janet Maslin, The New York Times

"[D]espite the lift he strives for, these pages go by on automatic pilot....With its tender surprise ending, call it It's a Wonderful Sixth Sense, built out of wet pulp and milk." Kirkus Reviews

"[O]ne of Dean Koontz's best novels....Packed with plenty of original surprises...Odd Thomas is a patchwork tale of borrowed and often gruesome parts that sometimes manage to hide the kind and humane heart at their center." Denver Post

"[A] corker of a new thriller, [Koontz's] best since Intensity....Koontz employs dry, goofy humor, often in daring counterpoint to the story's spikes in tension and horror." Booklist

"There's some fun horror in this book...and Odd Thomas, like Koontz's writing, is likable enough....But Odd Thomas is not up to Koontz's best....[It's] empty calories, sugar spun into a meaningless shell of horror-movie cliches..." San Jose Mercury News

"Koontz has once again set in motion a compelling combination of character and circumstance, tempered with his special brand of dark humor." Library Journal

"The rapid pace, eerie circumstances, and bizarre characters will keep readers turning pages....The last chapters are so powerful and heartrending that they should be read several times." School Library Journal

In this New York Times bestseller, Koontz delivers a haunting tale of love and terror, suspense and self discovery. Odd Thomas is an unassuming young man — a gallant sentinel at the crossroads of life and death who serves as the reluctant confidant of the dead.

When he was a senior in college, Dean Koontz won an Atlantic Monthly fiction competition. He has been writing ever since. His books are published in 38 languages; worldwide sales are over 300 million copies.

Ten of his novels have risen to number one on the New York Times hardcover best-seller list (The Husband, One Door Away From Heaven, From The Corner Of His Eye, Midnight, Cold Fire, Hideaway, Dragon Tears, The Bad Place, Intensity and Sole Survivor). Thirteen of his books have risen to the number one position in paperback.

Several of his books have been adapted into feature films and TV miniseries, including the highly rated “Intensity” on the Fox Network. The Husband is currently in development as a major motion picture by Focus Features/Random House Films.

The New York Times has called his writing "psychologically complex, masterly and satisfying." The New Orleans Times-Picayune said Koontz is "lyrical without ever being naive or romantic. [He creates] a grotesque world, much like that of Flannery O'Connor or Walker Percy ... scary, worthwhile reading." The London Times called him "a literary juggler," and Publishers Weekly recently stated in a starred review that Koontz "gives readers bright hope in a dark world. He is a true original."

Dean Koontz was born and raised in Pennsylvania. He graduated from Shippensburg State College (now Shippensburg University), and 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 he had been 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 live in southern California with their golden retriever, Trixie, who herself has written two successful books—Life Is Good and Christmas Is Good.