I have been very lax in blogging as of late and REALLY lax in the Audiobook reviews. One of the main reasons that I had started this blog was for a place to post reviews of Audio Books that I have completed. I’m going to try to remedy that as i finish them now.
I listen to my Audiobooks exclusively in the car. Previously I would load a book on the IPod and use it. For my birthday last year, I got the CDA-9856 CD Receiver. This unit has a really nice interface with the IPod. Not just an auxiliary jack, but a cable that allows control and view of the Ipod interface through the acual head unit. The CD also will play MP3’s. So, now when I listen to a book, I will burn it (in mp3 format ) to a CD. Pop the CD in the car. This may seem to be the hard wa to do it, but it works really well. When the Audiobook resides on the IPod, there is no way to “bookmark” the track. Sure you power off the Ipod, it picks back where you left off. Before, I would lose my last little bit of charge at the worst moment, therefore losing my place in the book. Now, with the Audibook on CD, switching inputs marks my spot. There are days when I’m coming home after a hard day’s work and desperately need a volt of Three Cord power rock to get me home. In this case, I just change the aux to the IPod. When Im ready to get back to the book, aux it back to the CD, where it picks up where it left off. The only drawback to this would be if the wife got in the car and I had left it on CD.
On to the review. I have always enjoyed Dean Koontz. He seems to always have a positive message. Odd Thomas is the first in a series (three currently). The main character, Odd (Yes that’s his first name) Thomas, is a 20 year old short order cook, in the fictional town of Pico Mundo. Odd has a gift, and to focus on this gift, Odd’s goal in life is to simplify. He doesn’t own a car, has a low paying job, and lives in an efficiency apartment above a garage. He lives like this because he wants to be able to focus on his “gift”. Odd sees dead people. He can communicate with dead people (though, they cannot speak to him). Odd’s lot in life, is to help these restless spirits find peace so they can leave this world and go on to the next life. Sounds exactly like The Sixth Sense doesn’t it? And I think that’s a major reason that I can recommend this book. When the plot was being fleshed out, I was ready for a cardboard cutout rip-off. The un-original plot was made spellbinding with his pacing and a GREAT cast of characters.
Things pick up when Odd starts seeing an usually large number of “Bodachs” (a supernatural harbinger of bad things) roaming the streets and around various spots about town. Odd realizes that something big is about to happen in the little desert town of Pico Mundo. The greater part of the book finds Odd racing against the clock to find out exactly what is going to happen, and to try to save as many people as he can before the deadly incident takes place. As the book reaches its crescendo, I will admit the ending truly surprised me. I should have seen it coming, but alas I was too involved with the characters.
As always the key to a great Audiobook is the actual performance. David Aaron Baker (a reader that I had not heard up to this point) conveyed the character well, subtly naïve, but always seemingly in control with purpose. The best thing that I can say about this Audiobook, is the fact that, on multiple occasions, I found myself sitting in the driveway, or the parking lot at work for “5 more minutes!” because I had to know what was going to happen next. I highly recommend it.
I listen to my Audiobooks exclusively in the car. Previously I would load a book on the IPod and use it. For my birthday last year, I got the CDA-9856 CD Receiver. This unit has a really nice interface with the IPod. Not just an auxiliary jack, but a cable that allows control and view of the Ipod interface through the acual head unit. The CD also will play MP3’s. So, now when I listen to a book, I will burn it (in mp3 format ) to a CD. Pop the CD in the car. This may seem to be the hard wa to do it, but it works really well. When the Audiobook resides on the IPod, there is no way to “bookmark” the track. Sure you power off the Ipod, it picks back where you left off. Before, I would lose my last little bit of charge at the worst moment, therefore losing my place in the book. Now, with the Audibook on CD, switching inputs marks my spot. There are days when I’m coming home after a hard day’s work and desperately need a volt of Three Cord power rock to get me home. In this case, I just change the aux to the IPod. When Im ready to get back to the book, aux it back to the CD, where it picks up where it left off. The only drawback to this would be if the wife got in the car and I had left it on CD.
On to the review. I have always enjoyed Dean Koontz. He seems to always have a positive message. Odd Thomas is the first in a series (three currently). The main character, Odd (Yes that’s his first name) Thomas, is a 20 year old short order cook, in the fictional town of Pico Mundo. Odd has a gift, and to focus on this gift, Odd’s goal in life is to simplify. He doesn’t own a car, has a low paying job, and lives in an efficiency apartment above a garage. He lives like this because he wants to be able to focus on his “gift”. Odd sees dead people. He can communicate with dead people (though, they cannot speak to him). Odd’s lot in life, is to help these restless spirits find peace so they can leave this world and go on to the next life. Sounds exactly like The Sixth Sense doesn’t it? And I think that’s a major reason that I can recommend this book. When the plot was being fleshed out, I was ready for a cardboard cutout rip-off. The un-original plot was made spellbinding with his pacing and a GREAT cast of characters.
Things pick up when Odd starts seeing an usually large number of “Bodachs” (a supernatural harbinger of bad things) roaming the streets and around various spots about town. Odd realizes that something big is about to happen in the little desert town of Pico Mundo. The greater part of the book finds Odd racing against the clock to find out exactly what is going to happen, and to try to save as many people as he can before the deadly incident takes place. As the book reaches its crescendo, I will admit the ending truly surprised me. I should have seen it coming, but alas I was too involved with the characters.
As always the key to a great Audiobook is the actual performance. David Aaron Baker (a reader that I had not heard up to this point) conveyed the character well, subtly naïve, but always seemingly in control with purpose. The best thing that I can say about this Audiobook, is the fact that, on multiple occasions, I found myself sitting in the driveway, or the parking lot at work for “5 more minutes!” because I had to know what was going to happen next. I highly recommend it.
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