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(Exposition)
At the beginning of the novel it talks about Odd meeting Penny Kallistos ghost. Odd goes into detail about his gift which allows him to see and talk to ghosts. He can touch the ghosts as if they are really there. Occasionally his psychic magnetism pulls him towards something important. -
This novel takes place over a span of 4 days. The beginning is talking about the past.
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(Exposition)
Later that day, A swarm of bodachs come rushing out of the room and after that Odd enters the room again. This time the room is not dark and we find out it's actually Bob's office.The most important thing in this room is a filing cabinet that is full of articles on serial killers involved in many crimes. The room also has an office chair and a plain metal desk. -
(Exposition)
Odd returns to work like normal but notices bodachs along the way. Bodachs are ghost-like creatures that show up when something bad is going to happen. At work he sees a man who he labels as Fungus man, who we later find out is Bob Robertson, with a huge entourage of bodachs. This is foreshadowing for a bad event. -
(Exposition)
As Odd ventures further in the house he finds a black room. He notices that the room is so dark, the light from the hallway doesn't even shine into the room at all. When he walks into the room he is suddenly transported back in time a few minutes. He then figures out the room is some kind of time machine. -
(Rising Action)
When Odd gets home that night he walks in his house and sees a gun in the middle of his living room. After deciding to not touch it he checks all the rooms in his house. When he arrives at the bathroom he notices something is wrong with it. He then finds Bob's dead body with a bullet hole in his chest. Bob has this strange blank stare which scares Odd. -
(Exposition)
Penny Kallisto came to Odd for his help pursuing her rapist and killer. As Odd chases Harlo, the killer, throughout town they end up in a woman's house who then calls the police. Harlo is put in jail but Odd is let go because of his connection with the police chief. This connection will help Odd throughout the book. -
(Exposition)
Odd being suspicious of Bob follows him to his house. When Bob leaves, Odd sneaks in through a back door. Bob's house is a mess and covered with nude magazines and romance novels. The weirdest part about the room is that it's freezing inside (which is rare in Pico Mundo), and he can't hear any noises that he should be hearing in the house. -
(Exposition)
Stormy & Odd are having dinner at the church they always go to and Bob shows up and flips them off. Them fearing Bob run from the church and hear him tearing apart the church. At the time Odd thinks Bob is still alive doing this, but he later finds out this was his ghost all along. -
(Rising Action)
Knowing he needs to move rather quickly Odd wraps Bob in a sheet. He decides he will use Rosalias car to drive out to an abandoned quonset hut and leave Bob's body there. Odd, having a respectful conscience, puts Bob in a closed room that way the coyotes won't get at Bob's corpse.
"Robertson had been a monster; I remain convinced of that; however, regardless of what he might have done, I couldn't consign his remains to the indignity that Granny Sugars had feared.." (Koontz 273) -
(Rising Action)
Wanting to know more, Odd goes to examine Bob's body again. This time he notices a tattoo that matches the black meditation card. He also remembers Officer Varner had a similar tattoo. Now we know Officer Varner is Bob's accomplice and who Odd needs to find and stop. -
(Rising Action)
After disposing of Bob he drives to the chiefs house and finds out by other policemen that the chief was shot earlier that night. Odd thinks that either Bob or his accomplice had something to do with it. Odd also realizes that this is probably a setup for him. -
(Rising Action)
At the hospital Odd goes through the things he found in Bob's pockets. The strangest thing was this little black card with some kind of inscription. He later finds out it is a meditation card and it says "Father of lies" in braille. "Father of lies" is another name for the Devil. "Shamus said. 'The Father of Lies, Father of Evil, His Satanic Majesty. What's the story, Wizard?'" (Koontz 317) -
(Climax)
Now knowing who he's looking for, Odd finds himself at the Green Moon Mall. When he walks in the back door he finds Officer Eckles with a gun. Odd knocks him out with a bat then continues into the mall to find Office Varner. When he finds Varner he has already shot a few people. With some hesitation Odd somehow shoots Varner dead. After all that he somehow finds a bomb in a truck and shuts it off. He is sent to the hospital after passing out. -
(Falling Action)
When he wakes up in the hospital he thinks Stormy is still alive and asks for her to come in. Odd has not realized that he is talking to Stormy's ghost and that she died that night at the shooting. He goes back to her house after being let out and talks to her for a long time as if she is there. -
(Resolution)
Odds friends come to Stormy's house to tell him he needs to let her go. He has been pretending to be talking to her for far too long. This is when Odd finally figures out he has been talking to her ghost the whole time. This is how the story ends. "Taking my hand, Little Ozzie said, 'You know you've got to let her go, dear boy.' I nodded, for I could not speak". (Koontz 443)
