Police chief Wyatt Porter arrives and speaks to Odd, getting the whole story, including Odd's communication with Penny. Odd fights with the young man and keeps him restrained until the police arrive. The killer takes off and Odd chases him through his neighbors' backyards until finally the killer breaks into a family home and hides in their child's bedroom.

Odd meets the killer on the street and tells him that he knows about Penny, about the cloth with Penny's blood on it that he keeps in his pocket to remember their time together. Odd sees her killer coming his way, a young man his own age with whom he went to school. Odd communicates with Penny, not through speech, but through some sort of telepathic communication that leaves him aching for the horror young Penny experienced before her death. Odd is sidetracked by Penny Kallisto, a beautiful young girl, who was tragically murdered. Odd Thomas wakes on a normal Tuesday morning ready to enjoy the challenge of making pancakes for the many customers of the Pico Mundo Grille. Odd Thomas is a novel that is at once humorous and filled with terror that will leave even readers new to Koontz's unique style begging for more. Odd never wanted to be a hero, especially not at the high price he is forced to pay. Odd puts himself in danger to save the innocent. Odd feels a sense of responsibility to stop whatever tragic events are about to unfold, so he puts aside personal concerns in order to uncover the coming darkness and stop it. When Odd sees these bodachs around a stranger, he knows that trouble is coming to his hometown of Pico Mundo, California. Odd Thomas is a fry cook who can see dead people and shadow-like forms he calls bodachs. Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz is the story of a young man, who, through circumstances out of his control, finds himself in a position to save the lives of hundreds of his friends and neighbors.

Odd thomas series in order