Another twisty, fast-paced mystery from the always reliable Lisa Unger. This one focuses on the owner of a bookshop who, as a teen, was a victim of one of the most highly publicized crimes in the area. But was the right man arrested for the crime or could there be an accomplice still out there stalking women?

Unger does a fabulous job of characterization, building suspense, and well-placed red herrings until the surprising ending. I love that Unger always has feisty heroines who fight back and who you always want to root for. This book has two such women and the ending is a great payoff.

At times gripping as well as chilling, <i>Christmas Presents</i> is a page-turner. Set during the days leading up to Christmas, the holiday is actually more a part of the setting than the plot – a clever juxtaposition (as is the title!) With an interesting and varied cast of characters, Madeline Martin, the owner of a successful independent bookstore, stands out. She struggles to put the grisly attack she survived as a teen in the past. But Harley Granger, a true crime podcaster/author arrives in the small town of Little Valley, New York intent on unburying the cold case from ten years ago.

Overall, this was a quick, engaging read that held my interest. The first, of two, weak areas was the transitions between timeframes. At times they seemed a bit choppy which then made the story a bit disjointed. Second was the somewhat predictable culprit. Most readers will figure out the ending in advance but this is still a satisfying read right to the last page.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Calling all thriller lovers!! Looking for a Christmas book that ISN’T a romance? Christmas Presents is the book for you!

This novella had me gripped from the very beginning. A ten year span after a traumatic experience at a high school party that left Madeline scarred, her best friend dead, and two others missing. Her boyfriend has spent those years in prison. But is there more to this story? Why are other women still going missing?

It all take place within the 5 days before Christmas, so think snow, cold, and of course, presents. I loved the fact that the MC owns the cutest little bookstore in town.

This is told from multiple POV in different timelines, and my only complaint is I wish each chapter was labeled. It alway took me a hot minute to figure out whose perspective I was reading.

Overall great book. I really enjoyed it!

Thank you NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for this ARC in return for my honest opinion.

Pub date: 24 Oct 2023

This novella is CHILLING to say the least. I was hooked from start to finish and I would definitely recommend to any true crime fans!

Thank you for allowing me to read this book as an ARC.
While I usually love Lisa Unger's books, this one fell flat for me. It was ok but I did not find it very exciting or a nail-biting thriller.. it seemed very predictable and there were no twists or turns that made the book wanting to continue reading. The characters were honestly a little boring and I did not enjoy the switch back and forth on some of the characters as it made the story confusing.
Overall, it was a quick and ok read and I give it 3 🌟.

I have always found novella's to be too quick and not detailed enough. Well let me correct myself. This is the second novella I've read recently that blew away that opinion.

It IS possible to write a really good novella. And Lisa Unger did it.

Many years ago Madeline along with her friends were attacked at a party. Her best friend is dead and two others are missing. A suspect is charged and jailed. Justice is served. Or is it?

When a true crime podcaster shows up to investigate all these years later, Madeline is dismayed that it is all being brought up again.

Packed full of twists and turns and guesswork. Did the police get it right all those years ago? What was Madeline's relationship with the convicted killer? Read it and find out. It is a quick but satisfying read.

Thanks to netgalley and Penzler Publishers, Mysterious Press for the arc.

Attacked by classmate Evan Handy and left to die 10 years earlier, Madeline Martin, owner of The Next Chapter Bookstore, has tried to put her traumatic past behind her. When true crime podcaster Harley Granger shows up one evening in her store announcing that he plans to reopen the investigation as part of his newest podcast, Maddie is reluctant to help. Until the news of a young woman’s disappearance puts everything she thought she knew into question.

Set during the Christmas season, this cozy psychological mystery thriller is a good, quick read perfect for the coming colder days. This was my first time reading Lisa Unger but it will not be my last.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penzler Publishers (Mysterious Press) for providing a advanced digital copy in return for an honest, unbiased review.

This book was brilliant, but then again everything Lisa Unger does is perfection.

This one was a quick read, following Madeline as a true crime podcaster comes to town. Madeline is a survivor of Evan Handy, He murdered her friend and left her for dead. Now the podcaster is in town, looking to dig up the tragedy from 20 years earlier. But did they have the story right 20 years ago? Or were they wrong?

This book was sooo good. I couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting. The kids even had cereal for supper because I couldn't be bothered to do real life stuff. Anytime this author puts out a book it's a auto purchase for me, this one was so good and I cant wait to add it to my collection.

It turns out that in spite of what it says in the lyrics to a recently popular song, you can indeed do evil deeds in a small town. At least that is the case in Lisa Unger’s latest novella, Christmas Presents. A tale of two not-so-festive Noels, this story examines what happens when our first love is the worst possible choice we could have made.

Madeline Martin (not the popular author!) just wants to close her store. It’s late, she’s been on her feet for hours and thanks to it being the official Christmas shopping season, The Next Chapter Bookshop has been busy all day. The man currently browsing lackadaisically among the stacks will be her last sale of the evening. If he actually buys something. Which he finally does. It is a popular mystery, not to Madeline’s taste, but she is happy to wrap it beautifully and show him the door

However, he has no intention of letting her show him the door. Harley Granger didn’t come into The Next Chapter Bookshop at closing time for a best-selling thriller. A true crime podcaster, he has built a living from solving cases the police can’t. He doesn’t want to leave until he gets what he really came for – her story, not some silly made-up suspense novel. Ten years earlier, Madeline’s then-boyfriend Evan Hardy allegedly murdered her best friend, Steph, kidnapped two other girls, and left Madeline battered, bleeding, and moments from death on the banks of a frozen river. She was found by another friend, Steve (subsequently referred to by his nickname ‘Badger’), but has only vague recollections of the events surrounding her assault because Evan had drugged her at the start of the evening. While her father, Sheriff James Martin, had continued to search for the missing teens before the stroke that left him immobile and nonverbal six months ago, Madeline has always done her best to put it behind her. But Harley is convinced that somewhere in Madeline’s foggy memories lies the answer to what happened to the missing girls. He has come to the store seeking Madeline’s input, although he assures her he will go forward with or without it. Madeline firmly tells him it will be without it.

Juxtaposed with Harley and Madeline’s discussion of her adventures in a (not) Winter Wonderland is the story of Lolly, a topless dancer at a local club. She’s getting ready to go home for the holidays and figures she will probably make the move permanent. Dancing at a strip joint was never what she wanted for her future and she needs to get out before it becomes a way of life. When an extremely handsome customer asks her to meet at a local diner after her shift, she thinks why not? It’s only a meal and they will be in a very public place.

When Lolly goes missing, it makes Madeline reconsider what her father had said all along: Evan Hardy might have had a partner. A partner who is still making their idyllic small town his hunting ground. Will Madeline, Harley, and Badger be able to do what the police could not? Will they be able to find the guy who has hidden in the shadows for ten long years?

This is a romantic suspense story and all I can say is that while Lisa Unger writes great mysteries, the romance portion of the tale doesn’t really work. Not only does it go in a direction I didn’t expect, but it’s also tacked on to the ending and, given the resolution to the crime, creepy as all get out.

Fortunately, the investigative portion of the story is interesting; the writing is smooth and the pacing brisk. Since the bulk of the narrative is about the crimes, that means most of the story is actually really good. Madeline and Lulu make excellent dual heroines, both of them women determined to rise above whatever challenges are thrown at them. Madeline fought for her life against Evan and won, and when Lulu goes missing, Madeline is determined to fight for her and win that battle, too. Meanwhile, Lulu is also determined to survive. Which she has a shot at since her captor is pretty much a hapless idiot. In most novels, I would have found that unbelievable but I think this story underlines an interesting point about small-town investigations. It’s hard to believe that people we interact with regularly have a truly dark side, something that winds up crippling the search for the culprit in this tiny community. Evan was handily caught because he had been an outsider preceded by a bad reputation. Our new (or possibly also old) perpetrator, although he is a fool who works in his own backyard so to speak, hasn’t been caught because no one would want him to be guilty.

Another duality between Madeline and Lulu, beyond their strength and intelligence, is the danger women are often put in by seemingly ordinary decisions. Going to a diner or attending a boyfriend’s Christmas party shouldn’t be events fraught with peril but it is often while ladies are doing the ordinary that the extraordinarily horrific happens to them. It’s good to see their rather mundane lives juxtaposed with the evil they encounter while living them.

I liked how Harley is depicted as being both something of an opportunistic slime and yet also a man who works hard to get the job done and give his listeners the true story. There is a very human side to his drive for success that makes him understandable if not always likable.

Coming in at under 300 pages, Christmas Presents will be a nice start to the holiday for the author’s many fans and for those looking for a standalone suspense tale that will make for a quick and easy read amidst the hustle and bustle of the season.

I'm a sap for the holidays and I search for good Christmas books to read during this time of year. Searching and finding are very different things. Finding a good Mystery book set in the holidays is like finding a needle in a haystack. There just aren't that many and that is why I'm reading "Christmas Presents". This is a mystery/suspense book set at Christmas, not a sweet, fun Christmas read. From the prologue the sinister tone is established and only gets more sinister as the book progresses. I'm not a fan of multiple timelines, my feeble brain has trouble keeping track of one let alone three. As these different plot lines ebb and flow we see how they weave together and the resolution, while a tad convenient, is satisfying.

It is Christmas week and Madeline Martin, owner of The Next Chapter Bookshop, is crazy busy with customers when in walks Harley Granger a wildly successful true crime author and podcaster. He is in town researching Madeline's worst nightmare from ten years ago. But as a businesswoman she makes nice with him, his presence could be good for business, if not for Madeline personally. Ten years may seem like a long time but when you live with almost dying it can seem like yesterday and Harley wants Madeline to relive the night that Madeline's best friend died, two other girls went missing and left Madeline scared forever.

Harley Granger is in town to be close to his ill father, even though they haven't been close for years. He has bought the Wallace house and is looking into the events that led to murder and the disappearance of the Wallace girls and put a scar on Madeline Martin's face. He also knows that other girls have gone missing in the ten years since Evan Handy was sentenced to life without parole. Is there a connection? Could Evan be innocent?

My thanks to the Publisher and the Author for providing a complimentary digital Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this novel via NetGalley. This is my fair, honest and personal review. All opinions are mine alone and were not biased in any way.

A CHILLING Christmas novella.

I'm a novella skeptic, but I was really impressed at what Lisa Unger was able to do. A full cast of characters, a past/present storyline, a real plot, and a LOT of creepy suspense.

I really enjoyed the small town setting, and though I had my theories about who the killer was, I enjoyed watching it all play out. I was really on the edge of my seat the whole time!

My review will go up November 8!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Christmas Presents
Author: Lisa Unger
Source: NetGalley ARC
Pub. Date: 10/24/23
🎄
Christmas Presents isn’t the kind of Christmas story you will find at Hallmark. It is, however, set during the Christmas season. The story weaves back and forth between the ten years that passed when two young girls went missing, another one was found dead, and another one rescued but with her face badly cut and disfigured after a raucous party. The guilty party was captured and is serving life in prison but wants to prove his innocence. A true crime podcaster arrives in the small town to figure out this cold case, find the two missing girls, and interview the one living witness. There is little to be jolly about in this story, and finding out the “truth” is the best part. In the meantime, the search is on for a new missing girl. I love a thriller, and this one does not disappoint. I am always amazed that writers can weave our current addiction to actual true crime murder podcasts into a great story. Well done, Ms. Under. The book was released yesterday, Oct. 24th. A good read. #mystery #thriller #murder #missingGirls #podcast #killer #cold #smallTown #ChristmasPresents @launger @netgalley  #podcast #penzlerpublishers #fiction #chiller #OneWrongDecision @mysteriouspress
🎄

I received a complimentary copy of this ARC. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Thank you to Mysterious Press and the author for the opportunity to read this novel. Pub. Date: October 24, 2023.
🎄

#book #books #bookAddict #BooksOfInstagram #bookstagram #bookstagramer #bookshelf #reader #booklove #bookreader #reader #reviewer

Christmas Presents had a lot of elements that drew me in - thriller set at Christmas, true crime podcast looking into an old case, main character working in a bookstore - all catnip to me! Unfortunately the execution really wasn’t there. This was a quick read so I finished but I didn’t believe the relationships between characters and the plot just felt tired. I will have forgotten this book entirely by the end of the day. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ebook to review.

I was intrigued by Christmas Presents: a thriller novella, set at Christmastime.

And it starts off pretty engaging, though I'm afraid the suspense doesn't persist. This is a serviceable thriller; by which, I mean it's one that'll occupy your time but otherwise isn't special or remarkable in any way. Books don't have to be, to be worth one's time - it's all a matter of what you're looking for. So if you're in the mood for something shorter with Christmas vibes, this might be for you.

Personally, I wanted a little more from the overarching plot (the book was somehow too long and a bit repetitive, while not giving me enough plot-wise). The main character owns an indie bookstore; I most enjoyed scenes set there. 2.5 stars rounded up.

This novella was completely gripping and yet another hit by LIsa Unger. Set at Christmas in the small town of Little Valley, Madeline finds one of her favorite true crime authors buying a present for his father in her bookshop. However, the author actually wants to speak with her because Madeline is a final girl, a survivor of serial killer Evan Handy. The author explains that women have continued to go missing since Hardy was sent to prison. Told in a dual timeline with perfect pacing, this read was suspenseful and tension-filled. Thank you to NetGalley and Mysterious Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. I highly and enthusiastically recommend!

Christmas Presents
By Laura Unger
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you to @NetGalley, @penzlerpub, and @mysteriouspress for an advance copy of CHRISTMAS PRESENTS in return for my honest review.

“Be vicious. Be fast. Don’t hold back. Scream. Be a bad girl. I tuck myself into the darkness and wait for Santa” 🎅

Madeline Martin is the successful owner of The Next Chapter bookshop in her hometown in rural New York.

True crime writer and podcaster Harley Granger is taking a second look into the case of a convicted killer. He’s looking for help from the killer’s only surviving victim… a small town bookshop owner. 😱

💭 If you’re a fellow thriller lover, you’ll agree that there aren’t enough Christmas books out there for us!
So THANK YOU Lisa Unger for this festive psychological thriller just in time for the holidays 🎄

In under 250 pages, this Novella got my pulse racing, my head guessing, and my heart fully invested in this intriguing cast of characters.

This 👏 Book 👏 Has 👏 Everything!

📚 Cozy bookshops
🎙️ True crime podcasts
🌲 Atmospheric settings
💪 Badass female survivors
🔪 Serial killers
🕵️‍♀️ Amateur detectives
💕 Friends to lovers
🎅 Scary Santas!

I won’t say too much, other than this is a must read for all my #thrillerfans out there. CHRISTMAS PRESENTS is exciting, nerve wracking, and unpredictable. I will definitely be buying a physical copy!

A quick mystery set at Christmas time. Maddie has (mostly) healed and moved on from a tragic, violent event in her past. Her former boyfriend has been in jail many years for the crime that left her badly injured, her best friend dead, and two other girls missing. A famous true crime podcaster shows up and starts asking questions. Is Maddie’s ex really to blame or is there still a killer roaming free in their small town? I would have liked more Christmas content, but I guess this one remains readable all year.

Novella length reads must grab the readers attention, build the story, then show us the solve all within limited chapters. Lisa Unger is well known for being an expert in this craft. She again proves herself of holding a top ten spot on my followed authors list.

Christmas spirits are always tempered by the thoughts of those we have lost along the roads of life. But when those lives were lost to violence, there's an added dimension and many, many scars. As a teen, Madeline survived an attack where her friend was killed. Two other young women went missing the same night and have never been found. Madeline's father, the sheriff at the time, never stopped looking for the young women, even after Madeline's boyfriend was convicted and imprisoned. Madeline has worked hard to hide her scars, but the story is now the subject of a popular podcast where they are investigating the missing teens and three more young women who have gone missing since. More clues will come to light as pressure builds on the town to tell all of their secrets.

Another excellent read by Lisa Unger. Her thrillers are what most of us look for in a book.

Enjoyed this Christmas thriller, a nice contast to all the Christmas rom-coms that come out at this time of the year.

It had some fun elements for sure. The main character, a bookstore owner is the sole survivor of Evan Handy who attacked her and is the presumed perpetrator of the disappearances of two of her friends. He is in jail, but a true crime podcaster who often cracks cold cases is investigating the crime and suspecting that there may be a second perpetrator at large.

Overall this was a solid thriller, but a few of the twists just didn’t work for me personally.

Thank you to Penzer Publishers and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book to read and review.

The time is Christmas and the setting is a small town called Little Valley. The description of the town makes it seem like an idyllic place to visit, until you learn that one teen girl was murdered there, two are missing and the survivor is defaced and barely holding her life together. The incidents that put Little Valley in the news happened ten years ago, but Madeline, the survivor, still believes that her two missing friends are alive somewhere. So when podcaster Harley Granger comes to town set on investigating the crimes, Madeline reluctantly cooperates. There are a lot of complex twists in this dual timeline suspense novel and they made the story for me. The narrator may or may not Nobel reliable, so I found myself second guessing what Madeline was telling me. I also thought her father, the former sheriff, was an interesting addition. He continued to work the disappearances until he had a stroke and he seems to know more than he is currently able to communicate. The relationship between best friends Badger and Madeline borders on obsessive dependence. This story has a lot of elements that are woven together seamlessly in a way that makes the take edgy, intricate and mesmerizing. I had difficulty putting the book down because I was afraid of what trouble the characters would get into while I was away! Seriously, they were that realistic and believable! The plot moves along at a good pace, speeding up to super sonic speed as the revelations begin. This is a must read book for anyone who enjoys suspense, mystery, a few thrills and a lot of surprises.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”