What drew me into this book was Madeline - as the owner of a small town bookstore taking care of her father, plus the approaching holiday season, it felt cozy in a sense. Overall, great story idea.

I struggled with: The POV not being super clear at the beginning of each chapter. This in addition to time jumps made my head spin a bit.

I also felt there were some characters and plot pieces (such as the Christmas Gifts!) we could have used more development, while there is some information that seemed irrelevant (the podcasters girlfriend, for example). With a little more depth in the right spots, this would have easily moved to a 4+ star book.


Thank you to NetGalley and Penzler Publishers for the ARC of this title.

This 226 page novella by Lisa Unger may take place in the five days leading up to Christmas but it is not all Santa's and Candy Canes it is chilling. I found it well written just would have wanted more from it because it would be a great novel with further development rather than novella. Madeline barely survived a horrifying attack that happened over ten years ago. Her best friend was murdered and two more friends disappeared without any trace. Evan, her boyfriend at the time, was convicted of the crimes and sentenced to life in prison. Now a decade later, she has learned how to move forward with her life and is the owner of The Next Chapter Bookshop in her small town. When a famous true crime podcaster comes to town to reopen the cold case it causes Madeline to revisit the events of that tragic night. Simultaneously, another woman goes missing. Very Haunting and relevant in today's world.

Thank you NetGalley and Penzler Publishers, Mysterious Press and the author.

Christmas Presents was presented as a novella but it felt like the perfect length at just over 200 pages. I love holiday themed books but the majority are romance and Hallmarkish. This was a nice change of pace. And speaking of pace I thought it was paced really well but a little predictable in the end. Still a good whodunit thriller with lots of suspense. Thank you to NetGalley and Penzler Publishers- Mysterious Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. 4 stars.

Christmas Presents is a totally unnerving, wildly suspenseful holiday thriller!

Madeline's carefully constructed life is shaken up when true crime podcaster Harley walks into her bookshop and starts digging at her past; she's the survivor of Evan Handy who murdered her best friend Steph, and most likely two of her other friends as well. Evan Hardy is in jail, but three other girls have gone missing in the time he's been there. Madeline starts to wonder if Evan is actually guilty or if someone else was behind the murders the whole time. With a blizzard on it's way, Madeline and her childhood friend Badger must face what they remember about their pasts to discover who is behind the murders.

This is a fast paced, creepy story that's perfect for the wintry holiday season!

This was a solid, fast paced and enjoyable thriller.

Ten years ago, Maddie's boyfriend murdered her best friend and tried to murder her. On the same night, two other girls went missing from the party they were all at, and he has never confessed where the bodies are. Maddie has tried to move on with her life, until a well-known cold case investigative podcaster comes to town, looking to reopen old wounds. More women have gone missing since that night, and the podcaster is convinced the case isn't as open and shut as people believed it to be 10 years ago.

I will say that I figured out the plot twist very early on, almost in the first few chapters when they were introducing the characters, so that was kind of a bummer. It was super predictable, but I enjoyed finding out how the main characters were going to reach the conclusion.

Some of the book was a little unrealistic. When Maddie's father, the retired lead officer on the original case figures it out, he immediately has a stroke and can't communicate. It just felt a little too convenient.

Without giving a spoiler, there is a point in the book where someone gets shot, and unless I missed it, I don't think it was ever explained. It was completely unclear who shot this person and why.

Overall, I am being somewhat nitpicky, but I really did enjoy this one.

NetGalley Review — my rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

“Christmas Presents” by Lisa Unger is a spooky novella with an amazing story to tell about Madeline Martin, a survivor of a vicious attack at 17 years old.

She’s still living in the same small town that was the scene of her attack as well as the death of her best friend and disappearance of two others. She’s just trying to survive and live her life.

Enter a Harley Granger: true crime podcaster looking to stir up the past. The man that went to prison for the crimes is still in jail, yet women are still disappearing.

Who’s telling the truth?

I really enjoyed this one! I anticipated the twist in this one but still really liked how Unger weaved this story together.

Just in time for the holidays, this one comes out next week! October 24! Definitely give it a read!

Big thanks to @penzlerpub for the ARC!

#netgalley #lisaunger #christmaspresents #arc

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: October 24, 2023
Madeline Martin was the only survivor of a violent attack that left one of her friends dead and two missing. Now, she owns the local bookstore and is caring for her father, the local Sheriff who suffered a stroke six months ago. True crime podcaster and novelist, Harley Granger, comes to Madeline’s town to investigate the crime that put Evan Handy away for life. Madeline tries to ignore Harley and put the past behind her for good, but Harley is in town because more young women have gone missing and, with Evan in jail, Madeline’s life may once again be in danger.
Lisa Unger’s novella, “Christmas Presents” is not your average Christmas story, with caroling, small town charm and saccharine romance story lines. Instead, “Presents” features a murderer in a Santa mask and a bookstore owner on the run for her life. This is the kind of Christmas story that only Lisa Unger can deliver.
Madeline is brave, as a young woman who struggles to overcome the tragic night that changed her life, relatable for her desire to start over and her passionate love of books and gentle, as she cares for her ailing father. As a protagonist, she is immediately one to root for, and I connected with her from the jump.
There are as many unexpected twists as you can get in a novella, with enough shady suspects to keep a reader guessing. I found the reveal to be a little rushed though, as the perpetrator seemed to be discovered out of nowhere. There was no lead-up, no tiny hints dropped, and I felt like I had missed something as all of a sudden, Madeline is on the hunt for the man who I (literally) did not see coming. However, I really enjoyed Unger’s choice for the murderer, and the Santa Claus mask was a hilarious touch.
Short, gripping and engaging, “Christmas Presents” was an unexpected treat from phenom Lisa Unger. Although I wanted more, Unger did pack a whole lot of entertainment into two hundred and twenty pages. The perfect holiday read for those of us who prefer the horror of Halloween to the snow-covered twinkling lights of Christmas.

👻🎄 Instead of presents this Christmas, a true crime podcaster opens up a cold case in Lisa Unger’s chilling novella, “Christmas Presents” 🎄👻

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

Madeline Martin is a SURVIVOR and is doing her best to move on with her life. She owns and operates an indie bookshop and is caring for her father who is recovering from a stroke.

Ten years ago she escaped death by someone she thought she loved. But Evan Handy was an EVIL person … and not only did he stab her in the face and leave her for dead outside in the December cold, but also murdered her best friend and possibly two more friends who are still missing to this day.

In the present days leading up to Christmas, true crime podcaster Harley Granger shows up to reopen the case. Two more women have gone missing from town, and Harley is certain that both cases are CONNECTED. But how?? Will Santa be bringing out the TRUTH this holiday season?? Or is the truth too close to home??

Lisa Unger can do no wrong!! I absolutely devoured this novella so quick and was desperate for more!! It’s chilling, dark, atmospheric and suspenseful! A twisted holiday treat for thriller lovers!

Thank you kindly to Lisa Unger, Mysterious Press and Netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This bone chilling novella releases on October 24, 2023!

A pretty standard, but nonetheless satisfying, maybe-the-serial-killer-wasn’t-caught-after-all thriller.

When Maddie was 18, Evan Handy - good looking, broody, and all the appeal of the rebellious bad boy - transferred to her high school. Of course she fell for him but it all goes horribly wrong at a party he holds in his remote house while his mother is away and one girl is dead, Maddie is an eyewitness and is grievously injured, and two girls are missing.

Now Maddie still lives in her small town, owning a bookstore, and caring for her dad who’s recovering from a stroke. Enter Harley Granger, true crime podcaster who thinks that there’s more to this case than came out at the time.

Maddie is torn - she doesn’t want to relive the past but there are some loose ends that were never addressed and now some local women have gone missing. And every year, she gets a tiny and thoughtful anonymous Christmas present that she believes jailed Evan Handy is somehow getting to her.

Not quite a full length novel but maybe a bit more than a novella, this moves along at quite a click with not a jot of fat on the plot. Maddie’s past and present is spliced with the terror of Lolly, one of the missing women, which brings some urgency to the story. The author throws in several possible suspects for us to plump for as well as the requisite roadblocks to stop us getting to the truth.

The characters are nicely sketched in, particularly Harley Granger, the amoral and opportunist podcaster (is there any other sort?) though the Christmas small town setting is a bit cursory. I’ve never really seen the point of season-specific thrillers and I suspect the author doesn’t either but was happy to go along with it.

Overall, I didn’t feel I wasted my time reading this and if women-led small town thrillers are your thing, you probably won’t feel that either.

Thanks to Penzler and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

When a famous author comes to Madeline's bookstore he's not really there to buy a book but to find out from her about her best friends killer and her near death experience from her ex-boyfriend. Although the case is closed there are still a lot of questions going around about the disappearance of two sisters in the same place and same night. Their are some people who would rather not have it investigated for a true crime podcast. Then it's discovered that since that time others have gone missing over the years but how can they be connected when the killers in jail?
This is another winning story by best selling author Lisa Unger. The story is tense and full of suspense. The pages fly as you wonder what's going to happen next and the ending leaves you satisfied. Thanks to Netgalley and Mysterious Press for the opportunity to read this best seller to be.

Christmas Presents needs to be on your radar this holiday season! This is a unputdownable, super fast paced thriller novella by Lisa Unger and it is one you will probably read in one sitting!

Told in days until Christmas in two timelines & pov's (past & present) this is the perfect holiday read!

We follow our main character who was a survivor of a murder by her ex-boyfriend. Not only that but her best friends who also went missing the same night. We follow our character as she is approached by true-crime podcaster and author to help investigate what really happened which caused Madeline to really look back and remember what happened, especially since someone else has gone missing coming up on the 10 year anniversary.

This book is thrilling and it has the usual tropes a thriller will have, and it was honestly one of my favorites recently!

Another great story by Lisa Unger - I found it hard to put down and read it in one sitting . I do wish it was a longer novel instead of a novella as the end felt a bit rushed

I really enjoyed the story - the various perspectives were really well done ; but I do wish it was a bit longer ( I rarely wish for a book to be longer !) as I felt like the ending was a little rushed and I wasn’t ready for it to end yet !

The plot idea was interesting but execution was lacking. It seemed to dwell extra long on the events of 10 years prior at the expense of time to explore the characters and events of the present. It was fairly obvious early on who was responsible for the abductions and murders.

Thanks to NetGalley and Mysterious Press for the ARC to read and review.

Love Unger's books and this was a surprisingly dark one for Christmas but so good! Bookseller, Madeline meets podcaster Harley when he comes in for a book signing and is intrigued by him as he's unusual and not someone she'd usually be attracted to. Then we have Lolly, a topless dancer who meets an unnamed man and agrees to go to dinner with him. Of course these plots intersect as we go back in time and see "bad boy" Evan who is now in prison but is connected to the plot in ways we didn't imagine! It's full of surprises and shocking behavior that we've come to expect from Unger. Even so it's a delight to read!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

A very deceptive title - no heavenly, mistletoe, sugar plum sweetness of Christmas here. But this is a very well executed murder mystery that requires thought and at times a suspension of belief. Dealing with things that don’t want to be remembered,” the aftermath of trauma, of victimhood” of the actual reality and whether it can be revisited while maintaining your sanity. Lisa Unger is a pro at this. She easily explains how life, much like fiction, can be “dense, complicated, slow, meandering…” and she wraps all that into this story. Even the transparency and not so surprising reveals were fairly satisfying when everything is wrapped up in a tidy Christmas package.

Thank you Penzler Publishers, Mysterious Press andNetGalley for a copy.

“Christmas Presents” by Lisa Unger follows Madeline, a women with a traumatic past. She now owns a bookstore and finding a way to cope with life, when podcaster Harley comes in. Harley tells her he wants to reopen the case from her past and to look at things from another light.

For all my thriller friends that need a good read that takes place during the Christmas season- pick this one up! I loved everyone moment of this book, and while I was able to predict the ending, I was so satisfied and can’t wait to read more from this author. Thank you to publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

This was a good read! It did a good job of showcasing some of the possible darker aspects of true-crime podcasting. This one had a happy ending and that makes me happy! Lisa Under is on my list of always read authors for a good reason!

#ChristmasPresents
#NetGalley

Rounded up from 3.5
Madeline, a bookshop owner, is surprised when Harley Granger, a failed novelist turned true crime podcaster, shows up to her shop in the days before Christmas, intent on digging up events that Madeline would much rather forget...
This is a suspense/mystery that drew me right in! It's a very quick read (under 250 pages), and despite it's title and the fact that it does unfold during Christmas time, it's not what I would call a Christmas story and can be enjoyed at any time. The story is told in dual timeline, what happened then and the investigation now, but I find that the distinction between the past and the present is sort of blurry which makes it hard to follow. Maybe it's because it's an ebook. Maybe it's because the layout is not completely done yet (I read this as an ARC), so maybe there's some fine-tuning that needs to be done, and hopefully, it will be done when it's published. Or maybe the author is just trying to confuse us. In which case, well done. Was the twist mind-blowing? No, but I do read a lot- a loooot- of thrillers, so my mind is very good at predicting the twists. Someone who is less well-versed in the thriller genre will probably be surprised.
I received an advance review copy of this book for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. I generally like Unger’s books and I thought a Christmas thriller sounded interesting. It ultimately was just ok. I figured out who the killer was about 30% into the book and there were some annoying holes/details that need another edit. Like why did the killer go back in the house to get a sledgehammer when two sentences before that he was dangling the keys outside the truck window???? I think the whole thing felt a bit sloppy and hurried. I’m not sure why it had to be a novella? I think I was even on the long side for a novella, so why not add another 75-85 pages and have it be a better developed story?