I started seeing a cover image for Secret Santa on social media pages. I assumed it was another gimmicky independent thing. Dashed off, short, and not particularly well written. Then I saw that a friend had read Secret Santa, and liked it. Looking into it, I saw that Secret Santa is published by Quirk Books. I know Quirk has done really nice editions of Grady Hendrix books.
I realized that Anthony Shaffer did those Obama-Biden mystery books. I wasn't about to read that. Before knees start jerking, I would be even less likely to read a novel with Trump and Pence as heroes. Talk about a gimmick.
I thought Secret Santa would be kind of like a Hendrix novel. Somewhat funny, kind of scary, hip and genre savvy. At fourteen bucks at Amazon, I figured, why not?
Secret Santa goes down pretty easy. This is lightweight stuff. The writing is professional enough, and I liked the protagonist. Shaffer tries a bit too hard to be clever, and that grew a little tiresome here and there, but mostly Secret Santa is a fun little time waster.
It's the 80's (of course) and Lussi Meyer in the publishing trade is looking for new employment. She gets a job, through rather unusual circumstances, at a stuffy, traditional literary publisher. Her background is in horror, and she is tasked to produce a new Stephen King to pull the company out of debt.
The existing employees are strange, to say the least. Meyer is not made to feel welcome, and is the recipient of what seems to be mean pranks. She receives a bizarre little totem figure as a secret santa gift at the company Christmas party. Things start to get really weird, and Meyer gradually becomes convinced that more than workplace jealousy is at work. A lot more.
As I said, Secret Santa is light, easy reading. The best parts of it are the Lussi Meyer character and a British horror author friend of hers. He, in particular, is a wonderful creation.
Don't expect a whole lot and you might enjoy this gift to horror fans. Like most secret santa presents, it might not be exactly what you were hoping for. It is, however, worth a laugh or two. The novel isn't as sharp as a Grady Hendrix book, nor does it have the emotional resonance Hendrix brings to the page, but it's better than a Patchouli scented candle.
Written by Mark Sieber
I realized that Anthony Shaffer did those Obama-Biden mystery books. I wasn't about to read that. Before knees start jerking, I would be even less likely to read a novel with Trump and Pence as heroes. Talk about a gimmick.
I thought Secret Santa would be kind of like a Hendrix novel. Somewhat funny, kind of scary, hip and genre savvy. At fourteen bucks at Amazon, I figured, why not?
Secret Santa goes down pretty easy. This is lightweight stuff. The writing is professional enough, and I liked the protagonist. Shaffer tries a bit too hard to be clever, and that grew a little tiresome here and there, but mostly Secret Santa is a fun little time waster.
It's the 80's (of course) and Lussi Meyer in the publishing trade is looking for new employment. She gets a job, through rather unusual circumstances, at a stuffy, traditional literary publisher. Her background is in horror, and she is tasked to produce a new Stephen King to pull the company out of debt.
The existing employees are strange, to say the least. Meyer is not made to feel welcome, and is the recipient of what seems to be mean pranks. She receives a bizarre little totem figure as a secret santa gift at the company Christmas party. Things start to get really weird, and Meyer gradually becomes convinced that more than workplace jealousy is at work. A lot more.
As I said, Secret Santa is light, easy reading. The best parts of it are the Lussi Meyer character and a British horror author friend of hers. He, in particular, is a wonderful creation.
Don't expect a whole lot and you might enjoy this gift to horror fans. Like most secret santa presents, it might not be exactly what you were hoping for. It is, however, worth a laugh or two. The novel isn't as sharp as a Grady Hendrix book, nor does it have the emotional resonance Hendrix brings to the page, but it's better than a Patchouli scented candle.
Written by Mark Sieber
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