Odd Thomas, by Dean Koontz
Odd is an average young man in many respects. He works as a fry cook in a diner, has a sweet girlfriend who understands him, and doesn't have much drive to leave his beloved small town of Pico Mundo, California. But he's also a peculiar young man. He survived a strange and traumatic childhood, and he sees and communicates with the lingering dead, ghosts who have a reason to stay in our world rather than pass on to the next, such as violent death or fear of what will follow. These dead come to Odd with mysteries to solve or messages to pass to loved ones, but they don't speak.
Bodachs are inky black, shapeless creatures of nightmare that only Odd can see, and who are drawn to death and destruction. When large crowds of bodachs begin sneaking and lurking around Pico Mundo, Odd realizes that his small world is headed for a huge disaster unless he can first find out where the danger is coming from, where it's headed, and what he and his friends can do to stop it. With the help of the empathetic police chief, an obese mystery writer, and a playful Elvis Presley, Odd attempts to discover and prevent the catastrophe bearing down on his bucolic world.
Fans of Dean Koontz will love the clear and descriptive writing and the supernatural tingle of the Odd Thomas books. Those who've steered clear of the horror and violence of some of Koontz's books will be wrapped up in the mystery and nail-biting excitement of this less gory series, and will fall in love with the cast of eccentric characters as well as the kind, honest, and humble Odd who never takes his gift for granted and who just wants the simple life with beautiful Stormy Llewellyn he was promised by a fortune teller.
The entire series is also masterfully read aloud by David Aaron Baker.
I loved this series - Odd Thomas is a funny, sweet, generous, lovable (and loving) young man, and the frightening situations in which he finds himself would make jelly of a lesser soul. Read the entire series, in order, and you'll be sorry to leave Odd's company.