In Odd We Trust

(Del Rey)  220 pgs. $10.95 June 2008

Creators: Dean Koontz and Queenie Chan

ISBN: 9-780-3454-9966-0

Age Rating: Teens and up

ICv2 Stars: 4 out of 5

The pairing of Dean Koontz with Australian manga-style artist Queenie Chan was a match made in graphic novel heaven.  Together, they tell a great story in a genre halfway between Psyche and Nancy Drew, with marvelous dialogue.  “I’ve got a gun, you’ve got a spatula… he doesn’t stand a chance.”  Since this is being spoken by the girl “sidekick” and love interest of the main character, who is a fry cook/psychic detective, you get a lot of bent clichés as the story progresses.  The investigation is aided by the ghosts that Odd Thomas can see.  Or, he could be imagining the whole ghost thing, since none of the ghosts ever make noises or move things around…

The only weaknesses in the story are the police, alternately clever and stupid, tough and gullible.  The reader gets the feeling that you distract them and pick their pockets by saying “Look, over there!”  The main characters, Odd Thomas [the central character in some of Koontz’s prose novels] and his girlfriend/sidekick/bodyguard Stormy, are a delightful pair, and their romance, troubled by things from her past, is a good side plot.

For teens and adults, due to violence and threats against children.

This review originally appeared in ICv2 Guide #55:  Graphic Novels.

--Nick Smith