Book Review: Hell for the Holidays by Chris Grabenstein (Christopher Miller #2)

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Story, characters

Cons: Racial epithets used by villain

The Bottom Line:

Thanksgiving thriller

Engaging fast paced story

Don't stay up all night

Hold on to Your Holidays

Before we begin, I must issue a WARNING. This review (and the book it is about), spoil parts of the climax of the first book in the series. So if you think you are interested, start with Slay Ride.

Having gotten that out of the way, it's time to look at Hell for the Holidays, the second book in the Christopher Miller Holiday Thrillers. Chris is an FBI agent with a reputation for getting it right. And he'll need that reputation since a batch of homegrown terrorists are planning an attack on US soil this holiday season.

It's been almost a year since Chris' daughter was held captive by an evil man disguised as Santa. As normal as things have become, it is obvious that the upcoming anniversary and Christmas season will bring those issues to the forefront.

As much as Chris would like to focus on her, he's found himself caught up in another terrorist plot, this one perpetuated by The Brotherhood, a group of white supremacists with cells all over the country. It starts with the kidnapping of a neighbor's son on Halloween, but soon the chatter makes it look like something big is going down on Thanksgiving. With very few leads to go on, Chris turns to the FBI for help, only to be shot down. They are more concerned with Arabs than the next Timothy McVeigh. Only when a big piece of the puzzle falls into his lap is he taken seriously. Is it too little too late? Or can Chris once again save the day?

Considering how utterly vile I found the villain in the first book, I almost didn't return for this one. But I gave it a shot, and I'm glad I did. The villain was still plenty evil here, but it never went over the line with torture and gore like the first book did. Instead, the villain used every racial and homophobic epithets in the book. That did wear on me as the story progressed, but since it was the villain, I could deal with it.

And, frankly, I'm glad I did. The book started out fine, but the pace only increased from there. The multiple view points only added to the increasing tension until I was turning pages as quickly as I could to reach the climax. I hadn't realized just how into it I was until I had to take several deep breaths at the end to calm my racing heart.

The book is filled with characters, but it focuses on half a dozen or so. As a result, I never had a problem remembering who each one was. Even though there really is nothing redeeming about the villain, he still didn't come across as a shallow one note character. And the heroes are definitely well developed. The sub-plot with Chris' daughter really adds to his character's appeal. My only problem with that is it seemed a little too easily resolved.

The writing is sharp and crisp, making it easy to race through to the climax. In fact, I found it an easier read than most of my novels. As I mentioned earlier, the point of view switches just about every chapter, but it all fits together seamlessly.

If you enjoy a good thriller, don't wait for the next holiday. Get Hell for the Holidays now and enjoy.