November 26, 2018
Format: Kindle
Edition
This really was an
enjoyable book, chock full of captivating stories. Scary? You bet! But there
were also moments of gut-busting humour, as well as tenderness that touched the
soul, like only the very best literature can do. The following are my thoughts:
1) A Corpse For Christmas (T.K. Geering): I’m just like everyone else in that,
in most stories, I feel elated when the villains finally get their cocoa. This
isn’t one of them. With Geering’s well written, sympathetic characters, it’s
not that I didn’t sympathise with the police, it’s just that I sympathised with
the villains just a little more. On a personal note, I’m off to England soon,
and was looking forward to their tasty meat pies. But, you know what? If it’s
all the same to everyone, I think fish & chips are just as good, really.
2) Gabriel (Elaina J. Davidson): In a sense, where one story leaves off,
another begins – in a charming old (and I do mean old) cottage in the country.
What an enchanting tale! Prepare for the unexpected because that’s what
Davidson delivers. The tension is perfect – not so strong that it didn’t prevent
a gasp of surprise, or a full-bellied laugh, throughout the story, and not so
soft that I could stop reading until I’d reached the end at 4:00 AM.
3) The Sins of the Season (Richard Rhys Jones): Wow, talk about your seven
deadly sins; I really must take up the violin! This was a great story, and
Jones told it very well indeed – the narration fit the period to a tee, and the
dialogue was excellent. Good characters I could either loathe, or feel sympathy
for with equal passion. Not to mention the ending was a real surprise.
4) Stocking Killer (Jillian Ward): By the time I was finished reading this
story I had an abiding hatred for Christmas carols; but then, apart from the
very young, and those who think life is just one long uninterrupted Disney film,
who doesn’t? Life, real life, isn’t like that, and with this story, the proof
is in the pudding. Well written, in a way that will have you laughing in one
breath, only to be brought up short by the severity of the drama unfolding in
the next, as fiction goes, this is about as real as it gets. Great ending, too!
5) Christmas Nerd (Joanne Sexton): I was moved by this story. Sexton took the
unimaginable - the coldblooded murder of a family (and on Christmas day at
that!) – and made it real. That’s not all: she wrote Kaley, the sole survivor,
so sympathetically that every bone in my body yearned for her happiness, and
dreaded the appearance of the unknown obstacle, that every drama requires, that
would put everything in peril. I wonder if it’s because so much of the story is
so believable?
6) On the Twelfth Day of Christmas (Paul Rudd): This story was a pleasure to
read. Like Stephen King said (and I paraphrase) – Have you ever had friends as
close as when you were fourteen? That’s what Rudd delivers here, and does it
well: dorky, basically loveable teenage kids, with a lust for adventure, or
just plane lust, both in spades. Oh, and love, too; and when was love any more
pure than at that age?
7) The Secret of Hungry Summit Mountains (Hannah Ferguson): This story also
begins with a teenager, only there’s nothing dorky about her, and her tale not
at all endearing. In sharp contrast, it tells a darker story that is all too
believable, because it happens far too often, and continues on for the span of
a lifetime or longer. It’s a heart-breaking story that Ferguson tells very
well. The ending is nothing less than exquisite.
8) And finally, but by no means least, “The Whispers of Christmas” by Poppet:
What a perfect tale to end the book, I loved it! With her unerring skill Poppet
takes us from the dark depths of the human experience, to a brighter promise.
She guides us through the shadows of cold reality and leads us to where there’s
a precious seed of hope cradled in a manger. All that’s required is to choose
to believe … and maybe some Christmas pudding from your local chemist. Yes,
that will definitely help, too. (wink).
So that's it, what else can I say? Highly, highly recommended.
