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Forever Odd
''Forever Odd'' is a 2005 novel by Dean Koontz, and the sequel to '' Odd Thomas''. The plot takes place six months after the events of ''Odd Thomas''. Plot summary After Odd Thomas discovers that his childhood friend Danny has been kidnapped and his step-father brutally murdered, he assumes that Danny's birth father, who was recently released from prison, has kidnapped him. Because of this belief, Odd starts to investigate, and is led through a water tunnel and into an abandoned hotel by his "psychic magnetism," an ability of Odd's to track down who, or what he is visualizing. Inside, Odd finds his friend tied up and strapped to a bomb. Danny informs Odd that his dad did not kidnap him. Instead, Danny recounts that, because of his loneliness from a debilitating bone disease, he called a phone sex line and spoke with a woman named Datura. Danny, having been seduced by this woman, had eventually given up the information of Odd's "gift." Once this registered in her mind, she kidnap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dean Koontz
Dean Ray Koontz (born July 9, 1945) is an American author. His novels are billed as suspense thrillers, but frequently incorporate elements of horror, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and satire. Many of his books have appeared on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list, with fourteen hardcovers and sixteen paperbacks reaching the number-one position. Koontz wrote under a number of pen names earlier in his career, including "David Axton", "Deanna Dwyer", "K.R. Dwyer", "Leigh Nichols" and "Brian Coffey". He has published over 105 novels and a number of novellas and collections of short stories, and has sold over 450 million copies of his work. Early life Koontz was born on July 9, 1945, in Everett, Pennsylvania, the son of Florence (née Logue) and Raymond Koontz. He has said that he was regularly beaten and abused by his alcoholic father, which influenced his later writing, as also did the courage of his physically diminutive mother in standing up to her husband. In h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Datura Stramonium
''Datura stramonium'', known by the common names thorn apple, jimsonweed (jimson weed), devil's snare, or devil's trumpet, is a poisonous flowering plant of the nightshade family Solanaceae. It is a species belonging to the ''Datura'' genus and '' Daturae'' tribe. Its likely origin was in Central America, and it has been introduced in many world regions. It is an aggressive invasive weed in temperate climates across the world. ''D. stramonium'' has frequently been employed in traditional medicine to treat a variety of ailments. It has also been used as a hallucinogen (of the anticholinergic/antimuscarinic, deliriant type), taken entheogenically to cause intense, sacred or occult visions.Schultes, Richard Evans; Albert Hofmann (1979). ''Plants of the Gods: Origins of Hallucinogenic Use'' New York: McGraw-Hill. . It is unlikely ever to become a major drug of abuse owing to effects upon both mind and body frequently perceived as being highly unpleasant, giving rise to a state of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2005 American Novels
5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on each hand. In mathematics 5 is the third smallest prime number, and the second super-prime. It is the first safe prime, the first good prime, the first balanced prime, and the first of three known Wilson primes. Five is the second Fermat prime and the third Mersenne prime exponent, as well as the third Catalan number, and the third Sophie Germain prime. Notably, 5 is equal to the sum of the ''only'' consecutive primes, 2 + 3, and is the only number that is part of more than one pair of twin primes, ( 3, 5) and (5, 7). It is also a sexy prime with the fifth prime number and first prime repunit, 11. Five is the third factorial prime, an alternating factorial, and an Eisenstein prime with no imaginary part and real part of the form 3p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saint Odd
''Saint Odd'' (2015) is the seventh and final thriller novel in the '' Odd Thomas'' series by American writer Dean Koontz. The book was initially released on January 13, 2015 by Bantam Books. Plot Odd Thomas returns to Pico Mundo only to find himself immediately under attack from surviving members of the satanic cult he encountered in previous books. As he rides the back roads on a heavy motorcycle, he survives the first attempt on his life by evading a large SUV. Odd travels off road and tricks the driver of the SUV into driving into a deep gully, killing anyone inside as the SUV explodes. Odd first travels to the mall where Stormy and 18 others were murdered, narrowly avoiding three cultists who, coincidentally or through Odd's psychic magnetism, are visiting the mall where the cult's members nearly caused hundreds of deaths. Odd takes the bike to a safe house run by the same organization he helped in the last novel after meeting Mrs. Fischer. The safe house is run by an ol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deeply Odd
''Deeply Odd'' (2013) is the sixth thriller novel in the '' Odd Thomas'' series by American writer Dean Koontz Dean Ray Koontz (born July 9, 1945) is an American author. His novels are billed as suspense thrillers, but frequently incorporate elements of horror, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and satire. Many of his books have appeared on ''The New Y .... Plot summary About a month after the events detailed in Odd Apocalypse, Odd Thomas encounters a demented truck driver. During this encounter, when he touches the trucker, Odd suddenly has a vision of three children being burned alive by someone wearing a red suit, black shirt, and black mask. At that moment Odd knows that the trucker experienced the same vision and is actually the person torching the children. Immediately, the trucker tries unsuccessfully to kill Odd. Because Odd knows he must help the children, he goes after the trucker even though the man tried to kill him. Knowing that he needs a vehicle, Odd stea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Odd Apocalypse
''Odd Apocalypse'' (2012) is the fifth thriller novel in the '' Odd Thomas'' series by the American writer Dean Koontz. Plot summary Odd Thomas and his traveling companion Annamaria have been invited by a reclusive billionaire to be his guests at his sprawling, pristine estate, Roseland. However, something is deeply wrong within the walls of the sprawling property. The few staff there harbor malice to anyone from the outside world, and as Odd explores the estate, the land and buildings seem to flip between static beauty and a hell on earth... which he finds is influenced by machinery designed by a genius from the past. Odd can't just gather his friend, their dogs (one alive, one a ghost) and escape. Despite the warnings, Annamaria, who has mysteries of her own, has hinted to Odd that Roseland has secrets far more sinister than just an unusual state of preservation. He needs to find someone hidden within the unhappy preserve who is going to need all his help. Characters Odd Tho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Odd Hours
''Odd Hours'' is the fourth novel in the Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz Dean Ray Koontz (born July 9, 1945) is an American author. His novels are billed as Thriller (genre), suspense thrillers, but frequently incorporate elements of horror fiction, horror, fantasy, science fiction, Mystery fiction, mystery, and satir .... It was released on May 20, 2008. Plot summary After leaving the monastery in the previous book, Odd found a place to stay in Magic Beach with a retired actor. While out for a walk one morning, he finds a woman whom he had been seeing in his dreams; a young, pregnant woman who calls herself Annamaria. After being assaulted and nearly killed by a large man with two henchmen in tow, Odd is separated from Annamaria, though he uses his psychic magnetism to find her. Once he finds her they decide they need to leave immediately, but while making preparations to do so they hear a car door slam. They manage to find a spot to hide until after the men who had been chas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haitian Vodou
Haitian Vodou is an African diasporic religion that developed in Haiti between the 16th and 19th centuries. It arose through a process of syncretism between several traditional religions of West and Central Africa and Roman Catholicism. There is no central authority in control of the religion and much diversity exists among practitioners, who are known as Vodouists, Vodouisants, or Serviteurs. Vodou revolves around spirits known as '' lwa.'' Typically deriving their names and attributes from traditional West and Central African divinities, they are equated with Roman Catholic saints. The lwa divide up into different groups, the ''nanchon'' ("nations"), most notably the Rada and the Petwo. Various myths and stories are told about these lwa, which are regarded as subservient to a transcendent creator deity, Bondye. This theology has been labelled both monotheistic and polytheistic. An initiatory tradition, Vodouists usually meet to venerate the lwa in an ''ounfò'' (temple), run ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brugmansia
''Brugmansia'' is a genus of seven species of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae. They are woody trees or shrubs, with pendulous flowers, and have no spines on their fruit. Their large, fragrant flowers give them their common name of angel's trumpets, a name sometimes used for the closely related genus ''Datura''. ''Brugmansia'' species are amongst the most toxic of ornamental plants, containing tropane alkaloids of the type also responsible for the toxicity and deliriant effects of both jimsonweed and the infamous deadly nightshade. All seven species are known only in cultivation or as escapees from cultivation, and no wild plants have ever been confirmed. They are therefore listed as Extinct in the Wild by the IUCN Red List, although they are popular ornamental plants and still exist wild outside their native range as introduced species. It is suspected that their extinction in the wild is due to the extinction of some animal which previously dispersed the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Datura
''Datura'' is a genus of nine species of highly poisonous, vespertine-flowering plants belonging to the nightshade family Solanaceae. They are commonly known as thornapples or jimsonweeds, but are also known as devil's trumpets (not to be confused with angel's trumpets, which are placed in the closely related genus ''Brugmansia''). Other English common names include moonflower, devil's weed, and hell's bells. All species of ''Datura'' are extremely poisonous and potentially psychoactive, especially their seeds and flowers, which can cause respiratory depression, arrhythmias, fever, delirium, hallucinations, anticholinergic syndrome, psychosis, and even death if taken internally. Due to their effects and symptoms, they have occasionally been used not only as poisons, but also as hallucinogens by various groups throughout history. Traditionally, psychoactive administration of ''Datura'' species has often been associated with witchcraft and sorcery or similar practices in man ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suspense
Suspense is a state of mental uncertainty, anxiety, being undecided, or being doubtful. In a dramatic work, suspense is the anticipation of the outcome of a plot or of the solution to an uncertainty, puzzle, or mystery, particularly as it affects a character for whom one has sympathy. However, suspense is not exclusive to fiction. In drama In literature, films, television, and plays, suspense is a major device for securing and maintaining interest. It may be of several major types: in one, the outcome is uncertain and the suspense resides in the question of ''who, what, or how''; in another, the outcome is inevitable from foregoing events, and the suspense resides in the audience's anxious or frightened anticipation in the question of ''when''. Readers feel suspense when they are deeply curious about ''what'' will happen next, or when they know what is likely to happen but don’t know ''how'' it will happen. Even in historical fiction, with characters whose life stori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Osteogenesis Imperfecta
Osteogenesis imperfecta (; OI), colloquially known as brittle bone disease, is a group of genetic disorders that all result in bones that break easily. The range of symptoms—on the skeleton as well as on the body's other organs—may be mild to severe. Symptoms found in various types of OI include whites of the eye (sclerae) that are blue instead, short stature, loose joints, hearing loss, breathing problems and problems with the teeth (dentinogenesis imperfecta). Potentially life-threatening complications, all of which become more common in more severe OI, include: tearing ( dissection) of the major arteries, such as the aorta; pulmonary valve insufficiency secondary to distortion of the ribcage; and basilar invagination. The underlying mechanism is usually a problem with connective tissue due to a lack of, or poorly formed, type I collagen. In more than 90% of cases, OI occurs due to mutations in the ''COL1A1'' or ''COL1A2'' genes. These mutations may be inherited ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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