Secret Santa

 

I won a print copy of Secret Santa by Andrew Shaffer in a goodreads giveaway.

First, Secret Santa is not really a Christmas story per se, Christmas is the vehicle to present a pretty good horror story. I don't point this out as a negative, merely to say don't expect a lot of ho, ho, ho. 

Do expect a slow burn kind of horror tale. A good mystery involving an old german toy. Kind of made me think a bit as my wife owns some old german toys. Not a real secret or spoiler to share that the toy is central to the story, but how and why are. 

Set in a publishing house with many secrets, we get Lussi (pronounced like Lucy) an editor tasked with finding the next Stephen King. Her task is hampered by a less than friendly group of coworkers.

Lussi is the story teller so we get the full effect that the nefarious goings on impact her. I liked this approach, it engaged me quickly. The author does an admiral job of painting a sufficiently gloomy and terrifying  setting. His description of the publishing house has a kind of House of Usher vibe to it. It keeps the reader figuratively looking over their shoulder while reading. The cast of characters are truly as an eclectic eccentric group as one could wish for. 

Secret Santa is a good horror mystery. The authors use of very short chapters kept me reading longer than I might have because each chapter was only a few pages long so I'd think; okay one more and wind up reading several. All in all a goody quick creepy read. Enjoy!

Mike