⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🔪 🎄 🎅
Happy Pub Day . Lisa Unger does it again. Santa is super creepy in this fast paced Christmas thriller. Madeline Martin is the survivor of brutal crimes committed at a high school party ten years ago. Several of her friends and classmates weren’t so lucky. One dead , two missing. She has spent her life trying to forget the Brutal attack. When true crime podcaster Harley Granger arrives in town, he’s going to drudge up the past and hopefully determine who really committing these crimes. A super quick read, only 226 fast turning pages. Thank you @netgalley and #penzlerpublishing for the ARC.

10 years ago, Madeline's best friend Steph was murdered and her other two best friends Same and Ainsley disappeared at a party at her boyfriend's house. Now, she owns an independent bookstore, where true crime novelist and podcast host Hardy Granger shows up, wanting to dig into her past and make a podcast about the murder and disappearances. Madeline is reluctant to go back to the past, urged on by her friend Badger to let the dead lie. But as new information turns up, Madeline is torn. Can they really figure out what happened to Sam and Ainsley and solve other cold cases along the way?

This was a short book, but it still packed in a lot of twists and turns, some of which I never saw coming. I really enjoyed it, zipped right through it. I'm failry new to Lisa Unger's books, but the more I read of hers, the more I know I need to keep reading her books, and read more of her backlist. Her writing puts you right there in the action, and keeps you wanting to know more.
My one critique is that there are two first person POVs, and it can be a little hard to tell which character is talking when they switch, and there are a couple of chapters where we switch between the 2 first person POVs.
Overall, I really liked this book, and if you like thrillers and want to read a seasonal one, this is a good one to pick up.

CHRISTMAS PRESENTS review

⭐️⭐️⭐️.25/5

🎄Tis the season for holiday reads?! I know it’s not even Halloween yet but as a huuuuge Christmas lover I couldn’t wait to dive into my holiday tbr. This one publishes today so if you’re also in the holiday spirit you can snag this one now!

🎄Here’s a summary of the plot:👇
Madeline has suffered a lot of tragedy in her life and now wants live a quiet life running a bookstore in her hometown. But when a popular true crime podcaster comes to town he starts to dig up parts of the past Madeline would rather forget. The killer has been caught years ago, so why are more women going missing? As Christmas gets closer, Madeline starts to wonder if the true killer is still out there…

🎄It was fun to read a Christmas thriller! The only other one I’ve read was The Family Game and I loved reading a spookier holiday book! I think I would have enjoyed this one more if it had been a full length novel instead of a novella. I felt like with the shorter story some of the storylines felt incomplete and I had more questions I wanted answered! Also I don’t love that soooo many thrillers lately seem to have a romance subplot included. Not every book needs a love story, especially when the main plot of the book is about finding a serial killer. 🫠 Parts of this book gave me the creeps and made me look over my shoulder as I was reading. 😂 Overall, I’d recommend this one if you want a quick, holiday thriller!

🎄Thanks @penzlerpub and @highbridgeaudio for my advance copy of this one! It publishes today!

For some people, the holiday season is a time of joy and togetherness—of food and gifts and parties with family and friends. But the residents of the small town in author Lisa Unger’s Christmas Presents have spent a decade trying to recover from a Christmas party that changed their lives forever.

Full review published on NightsAndWeekends.com and aired on Shelf Discovery.

"The past is alive. It lies, keeps secrets, taunts, invades our thoughts and dreams. It demands reckoning, even after we've tried to bury it, still breathing in the shallow grave of our subconscious. Ignore it at your peril."

"Funny how things work, the twisting path that life takes. How one thing leads to the next. How you make all kinds of vows to yourself about what you'll do and won't do. And then break them."

"Thats why they put erasers on pencils. Everyone makes mistakes. It's what you do next that counts."

Happy Pub Day to this gem!!!

This book may be set around Christmas time, but it is anything but a happy holiday book. This one starts off fast and doesn't let up throughout the entire book. This is considered a novella, but I also would say it's anything but. It is jampacked with a perfect atmospheric setting, with a well throughout plot and mystery, perfectly developed characters and plenty of twist and turns to have you flying through this one. I thought this one was such a fun read. This is literally everything that I want in thrillers, no lagging, the perfect amount of backstory with a great mystery and well-developed characters.

Christmas Presents is told in multiple POVs, throughout multiple timelines and also through bits and pieces of a podcast. I always enjoy when authors use a mixed media format, I find it to be very entertaining. I cannot say enough how fast paced this one is, once you start you aren't able to stop as you are sucked into the mystery of this story. I did manage to figure out how the ending was going to go about midway through but that did not stop from my enjoyment of this story. Everything about this story is wrapped up nicely in the end and I was super thrilled with how, dare is say - wholesome, parts of the ending were.
I was lucky enough to listen to this one via audio while also reading on my kindle. The narrator, Jennifer Pickens, was phenomenal. She managed to create voices for all of the characters that kept my ears glued to the air pods!
Huge thank you to NetGalley, Lisa Unger, HighBridge Audio, Penzler Publishers, Mysterious Press for the ALC and eARC in exchange for my honest review. Christmas Presents releases today and I highly recommend both the Audiobook and the print for a very fast paced, atmospheric, thrilling and gripping read.

A thrilling novella set at Christmas time! A cold case of a murder and missing girls being looked at by an author and podcaster. The story itself was definitely good. A crime committed years ago, someone already in jail for said crime, but when Harley Granger shows up to investigate, more details are revealed. We also get a dual timeline as the story unfolds which provided much needed details. This novella was surprisingly detailed and packed with action. The ending was something I didn’t see coming. A very enjoyable thriller!

I always love a Lisa Unger book and this one did not disappoint! Do not think because of the title that this is a sweet little Christmas story because it is not! It's a true Unger thriller!

Madeline Martin is trying to forget her past as she runs her bookstore; but true crime podcaster Harley Granger. comes to her store to purchase a Christmas present and in the process brings up the events of the past that Madeline does not want to revisit.

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher and author for my ARC !

This was a very quick read, and I enjoyed it overall. Although I quickly suspected where the story would go, it was worth reading and captured me until the end. I look forward to another suspenseful book from Unger in the future.
Thank you NetGalley and Penzler Publishers-Mysterious Press for an ARC of this novel.

Madeline still lives in her small hometown, where she was once attacked and left for dead, taking care of her dad and running the local bookstore. When true crime author, Harley, enters the store to let her know he is investigating the crime that left her disfigured, her best friend dead, and two of her other friend's whereabouts unknown still to this day.

I liked this story. I enjoyed the pacing of the book. While it was short, it never felt like details were missing or that the story/ending gets rushed based on the length. I appreciated that the story was straightforward without tons of added details. Some pieces were a little predictable, but that never took away from the big reveal. I loved Lolly and I thought Madeline was a realistic character.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If you are expecting a cozy little Christmas story, you are looking at the wrong book. This should be no surprise for fans of Lisa Unger. Lisa Unger once again writes a chilling mystery which revolves around a terrible occurrence that happened in a small little town named Little Valley. Little Valley was a small town where everyone felt safe and secure until one awful year when everything changed.

Madeline Martin is a survivor, literally. She is the sole survivor of a killer who she thought was her friend. Evan Handy is in prison for the murder of her best friend, Steph, and is suspected of killing two other friends that same night, although the bodies were never found. Madeline escaped with her life, but the memories haunt her daily when she looks in the mirror. She has established a successful bookstore, and is happy with her life until Harley Granger walks into her store one evening. Harley is a true crime podcaster, and he wants to reopen the wounds of that fateful night because he questions Evan Handy's guilt.

In true Lisa Unger fashion, you will be taken on a journey from the past and present as you tried to untangle the web of clues strewn about. You will read Madeline's thoughts from that time many years ago and what led up to that night, and then you will be brought back to the present. The true mystery is that three other women have recently disappeared. Evan Handy is behind bars and could not be responsible. This is what has peaked the podcaster's interest. Even though this book is written during the Christmas season, the only red you will see in this book is blood. It is a short book jam packed with a lot of mystery and intrigue. It was a expertly crafted mystery which will pull you from the beginning pages.

Thank you to Penzler Publishers and NetGalley for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A holiday read, a thriller AND Lisa Unger??? Yes, please!! This is the perfect holiday read for those of us that like thrillers and it did not disappoint! A girl who went to a party 10 years ago, one friend was murdered, 2 friends disappeared, she was injured and she can't remember what happened. Will she remember?? Great book!

4.5 stars rounded up

Lisa Unger has done it again! With Christmas Presents, she has written an immersive, suspenseful tale that is both plot-driven and inhabited by well-drawn characters.
The prologue is an immediate hook, with a young, homesick pole dancer working in a dingy bar resolving to reunite with her mother for Christmas, but not noticing the dark pick-up truck that follows her out of the parking lot at the end of the evening.
The meat of the story is narrated by protagonist Madeline Martin, an indie bookstore owner in Little Valley, a small town in upstate New York. Ten years before, at age 17, Maddie barely survived a brutal attack in which her best friend was murdered and two other girls went missing. Now, a decade later, a well-known podcaster, Harley Granger, wants to look at the cold case, and also figure out why several more girls in the area have gone missing since the original attack.
The plot is complex and has enough twists to keep raising questions about the killer’s identity and motivations, as well as challenging the veracity of the character’s memories and stories. The two timelines, present and 10 years before, work well as Maddie recollects her friendships, then and now. The small-town setting lends itself to a quasi locked-room mystery, as the reader sees how the residents evolved over the decade, and how that evolution informs their actions and motivations.
While the title “Christmas Presents” is apt, this is not a cheerful holiday tale. It is a tightly written suspense novella, with a mystery that unfolds and resolves in a short six-day timeframe. Unger’s writing is always atmospheric and beautifully descriptive of places, senses and feelings. She can imbue a dark topic with a deft touch of sensitivity.
I am happy to recommend yet another well-written psychological thriller by Lisa Unger!

Thank you to Mysterious Press and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.

This is a different Christmas story. If you are expecting a Hallmark book this is not it...it is better. Love a good story that is haunting, gripping and a thriller.
Madeline is a survivor of an attack that took place ten years ago. Her best friend was murdered and two of her friends disappeared. Madeline's boyfriend at the time is in prison for the crime.
Currently Madeline is the owner of a bookstore . She meets a crime podcaster that wants to reopen the case that Madeline was involved in. Another woman goes missing . Is this connected to the crime that took place 10 years ago?
Author, Lisa Unger is an impressive writer that can craft a story that will have you on the edge of your seat. Loved the unexpected ending.
Thank you NetGalley the opportunity to read and give an honest review.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is a great little novella read with a whole case of who-done-it and maybe things aren't what they seem. Turns out a lot of people in town are hiding secrets, secrets a well known podcaster tries to uncover. Perfect length for a cozy evening of reading.

A dark and thrilling novella that I plowed through. While it won't give Christmas cheer, it'll give plenty of chills and thrills...perfect for its October release date. I enjoyed this one better than her last two full-length novels.

Christmas Presents, Lisa Unger’s new novella, is a thriller exploring the tragedy of Madeline Martin. Years ago she barely survived a night that left one of her friends dead and two others missing, presumed dead as well. The culprit? Her boyfriend who is now locked away in jail. But when a new girl goes missing and with a true crime podcaster sniffing around, Madeline can’t help but think of that horrible night and worry that things aren’t over. Was her boyfriend working with someone else? If so, who. This is a quick, tight thriller. Thanks so much to Penzler Publishers, Mysterious Press and NetGalley for the eARC.

NYT bestselling author and master of suspense, Lisa Unger (favorite author) returns following Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six with one of the best Christmas crime thriller novellas, CHRISTMAS PRESENTS —It has it ALL! Everything you look for in an engrossing psychological crime WHODUNIT thriller! Top Books of 2023. 5 Stars +

It checks all the boxes!
~A bookseller
~A survivor with a scarred face
~An author/true crime podcaster
~A devoted father/cop with a stroke
~A cold case
~A serial killer wearing a Santa mask
~Mysterious annual Christmas presents to the surviving victim
~Atmospheric secluded winter setting: Little Valley/The Hollows (reference -love)
~Missing Girls
~A snow blizzard
~A remote lake house
~Two friends unite from the past crime to search for the missing girls
~A Countdown to Christmas

RIVETING and unputdownable! The past and present collide as it is closer to the anniversary date of the decades-old crime for an explosive, jaw-dropping, heart-pounding conclusion.

I LOVED CHRISTMAS PRESENTS. Of course, I am a long-time Lisa Unger avid fan and have read all her books!

Madeline Martin is a survivor and now owns The Next Chapter Bookstore. She cares for her father (ex-cop), Sheriff James Martin, who was working on the case and obsessed until he had a stroke.

Madeline is scarred for life (both physically and mentally). She still wears the star across her face, left for dead by the lake, but she lived when her friend Stephanie was not so fortunate - stabbed seventeen times and two other friends still out there, missing.

Harley Granger, a novelist turned true crime podcaster, walks into her store days before Christmas and wants to revisit the events from the past.

Madeline was the sole survivor of Evan Handy, whom she thought was her boyfriend (bad, rich boy) her father warned her not to see. But she did not listen. Evan is in prison, serving a life sentence, convicted of murder, which she helped put behind bars.

Her two other friends, Ainsley and Sam Wallace (sisters) have never been found for nearly a decade, and now there is another girl recently missing, Lolly. She does not want to relive the past, but at the same time, if she can help find Lolly, she will do what she can. These girls are being drugged and taken.

Did Evan have help that night, or is someone on the outside still working with him, taking young girls and women?

In addition, Madeline receives Christmas presents (thoughtful gifts) each year since the murders, but she has not told anyone. She suspects they are from Evan.

Lolly Morris was a college student who had dropped out and was a stripper at a local club and was heading home to the Hollows for Christmas. She went to the diner with some man and has been missing since. He was nice. But he turned out to be a monster. Her parents will be worried. (both lyrical and poetic, Lolly's thoughts and dreams of her parents and Christmas).

Time is running out. Madeline and her best friend Badger (who helped save her that night), along with Harley and the cops, must work diligently before it is too late to find Lolly before he kills again and the missing girls.

Five young women are missing in the same area in a decade. Are they connected? Was Evan Handy innocent after all? Or was there someone else there that night?

Lolly is fighting for her life, held captive by a monster psychopath dressed as Santa with a mask. She must find a way to escape. (I loved the car/forest/ice scene).

As Christmas draws near amid a blizzard, Madeline and Badger find her dad's files and maps in the basement, and they have a clue. Will her dad be able to speak? The danger is closer than they may know.

What a book! Nailbiting and heart-pounding CHRISTMAS PRESENTS is action-packed, beautifully written, and will keep you on the edge of your seat from the first page to the explosive conclusion!

CHRISTMAS PRESENTS is packed with sharp characters, psychological suspense, and gasp-worthy plot twists. As always, Lisa is a pro when it comes to creepy, unsettling settings and characters, both good and evil. Superb writing and twists you do not see coming.

Claustrophobic and haunting, I enjoyed Lolly's character, tenacious, a survivor. Spine-chilling! A perfect book for Halloween or Christmas true crime fans.

After reading and loving the book, I listened to the audiobook by Jennifer Pickens, and the performance was SPELLBINDING! A fantastic and engaging listening experience for all voices.

This is a must-read Christmas novella for Lisa Unger fans! Perfect for gift-giving and book clubs.

Thanks to Mysterious Press, Penzler Publishers, and NetGalley for an ARC and Highbridge Audio for an ALC for an honest review. I also purchased the hardcover copy for my home LU library!

UPCOMING: Put Lisa's 2024 book on your TBR list, The New Couple in 5B, Coming March 5, 2024.

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars +
Pub Date: Oct 24, 2023
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3.5 stars. A decent mystery novella. I think it could have been fleshed out a bit more and made into a novel for more impact. Also.....if Unger truly wanted to make it a Christmas mystery, I felt that she could have gone in more on the whole Christmas theme.

Looking for the rare Christmas mystery/thriller? Lisa Unger has written a novella - Christmas Presents.

"Madeline Martin just wants to sell books and be left alone. But true crime podcaster, Harley Granger, is looking at an old case. One where Madeline was the only survivor the night her best friend was killed and two others disappeared. Evan Handy went to jail for the crimes but other girls have gone missing since. Now Granger is dredging up old memories and looking at what really happened that night."

Mostly told through Madeline's POV, including the flashbacks when she is telling her story to Granger. Other times we get Granger's POV. And one from a missing girl. Unger keeps you guessing about what's happening and who the killer might be. I didn't guess. There's some creepy scenes with a Santa mask. And a wild ending.

I like this short form because the tension never lets up - there's always something happening.

Great pick for thriller fans wanting a Christmas setting.

True crime podcaster, Harley Granger, comes to Little Valley to question the townspeople about a crime that happened almost ten years ago. A party on December 23, 2014 ended in a death, two disappearances and Madeline Martin left for dead by a riverbank. The sheriff arrested Evan Handy for the crime. Evan insists he is innocent.

Madeline still suffers PTSD from that night. She just wants to be left alone to run her bookstore in town, The Next Chapter Bookstore. Now another girl disappears, a dancer from a local top less bar. Ten years ago the sheriff believed that a second person was involved but could never prove it.

This book is all about the ghosts of the past and how we move forward. It is a fast moving mystery told in two timelines. It is a quick read, a little longer than most novellas. It will keep you wanting to read to the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Mysterious Press, for an ARC. The review is my own.