by Dean Koontz
First published 2014
Odd Thomas and Stormy Llewellyn walk through a state fair as teenagers, drawn to the carnival games and spinning rides around them. They enter a dark tent where the Gypsy Mummy waits, a mechanical fortune teller that promises to reveal what tomorrow holds. The strange device tells the young couple they will be together forever, but Odd senses something darker beneath the prediction. The fortune hints at a future filled with mysteries and shadows that neither of them can imagine. Odd will become more than a fry cook in their small California desert town. He will hear the voices of restless spirits and chase dangerous secrets that others cannot see. Stormy will remain at the center of his world, even as fate pulls them toward events no carnival machine could predict. This brief glimpse into their past shows how their love story began, before the supernatural forces that would define Odd's life made themselves known.
Genres: romance, supernatural, paranormal
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fate, love-story, supernatural-abilities
Setting: California, State Fair
Period: Teenage Years
34 pages · Kindle Edition · Bantam