What do you do?

I wasn't even sure about writing a review for today.  I haven't decided how I feel about the book I'm reviewing, and I haven't finished it yet.

About 2 weeks ago, I read a graphic novel called In Odd We Trust,by Dean Koontz  and  Queenie Chan, based off of the Odd Thomas series of novels by Koontz.  I've never read anything Koontz had written before, but I really enjoyed this story, and the premise of it.  Odd Thomas is a boy who sees dead people and helps them bring their murderers to justice.  Sort of Sixth Sense when the little boy grows up.  Since I really enjoyed this story, I requested Odd Thomas  from my local library, what I believe to be the first novel in the series, and it came in on Monday, so I've been reading it.  So far I'm not impressed.

I'm still really interested in the plot, I like the characters, and the premise in general is interesting.  Not only does Odd use his "talent" to solve crimes, the police often rely on him to do so.  It's rare in any kind of story for the police to believe in this sort of thing, never mind using it as a resource.

What I'm torn by is the narrative.  I really just do not like Koontz's writing style.  He uses flowery language and imagery that seem out of place with his story, and he keeps recalling events that have nothing to do with the current issue.  It is putting me off, but I really want to see where this goes.

As an example of the kind of writing that's driving me crazy here, I randomly flipped pages open.  Here's a random paragraph:

                     "The real name of the pinchpenny in question was Spinker, but he earned the secret name we gave him (Sphincter).  Regardless of the total of his bill, he always tipped a quarter.

Bob Sphincter fancied himself to be two and a half times more generous than John D. Rockefeller, the oil billionaire [don't use references you have to explain, sometimes trust your reader to a)know what your talking about or b)be willing to look it up if they don't].  According to legend, even in the elegant restaurants of Manhattan, Rockefeller had routinely tipped a dime."

This novel was published in 2003.  There are probably clearer references for Odd, a twenty year old, to use, never mind the fact that most people in their twenties aren't routinely using the word "pinchpenny" to describe someone who's cheap either.  I'm finding a lot of the language Koontz is using to be really distracting as I try to read.

I am really torn on finishing this novel.  I'll let you know next week how I made out.