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.

The narration of this book - was okay. Parts seemed spot on amazing and other parts I didn't connect with at all.

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

A thriller novella set at Christmas time!

When Madeline was a teenager, she survived an attempt on her life by her boyfriend, who is now in jail for the crime. But her two best friends disappeared, and now some other girls in town have gone missing. Podcaster Harley Granger has come to town and wants to explore the case and see if the man arrested really did it, and how it is tied to the current disappearances.

I honestly figured out who the villain was right away, so that was a little disappointing. Although this is a decent, straightforward thriller, a novella doesn't allow for as much character development as I would have liked and the pacing was a bit uneven. The ending felt somewhat rushed to me, but it was mostly wrapped up in a satisfactory way.

I listened to this as an audiobook and it was entertaining. I did have to speed it up as the narration was a bit slow, but overall it was engaging. If you're looking for a thriller novella, this is a good choice.

Oh how fun this little popcorn thriller was. This is a one sitting, one listen type of book. Once you start it you won't be able to put it down. Only thing, I wish it was longer, it was really good !! I loved every single page of this thrilling, chilling Christmas thriller.

I loved the whole setting, everything was chilling and eerie. Loved the vibes. Perfect for spooky season with christmassy vibes. Chapters were short, plot is super fast paced, switching from past to present everything to keep you hooked.

The narrator for this was great, I really loved her tone and intonation, she was great at making you feel the emotions and how scared the girls were.

Overall it was a great read, it kept me intrigued and wanting more at all times. Although a bit predictable it's still great.

✨️Thank you to @netgalley, @highbridgeaudio & @lisaunger for my free ALC in exchange for an honest review.

The main complaint was that I wanted this to be longer to allow for more character development. I found that there were some places where I got confused because I didn’t feel I got enough info on the characters.
With that said, this was still an enjoyable read and an interesting premise with a great twist at the end.

Starts great, but ends abruptly

This starts with the story of a stripper who is kidnapped. Then it goes to a bookseller who was attacked in a slowly revealed event where one friend was killed and two others disappeared. An author/podcaster wants to interview the bookseller and the man imprisoned for the attack to see if there was more to the story and to find the missing girls. It had me rushing through my projects so I could squeeze in a little more reading. Then it was over. There was a pretty random shooting at the end that just didn't make much sense and suddenly the good and bad people are identified. It felt like 3/4 of a book with the last chapter tacked on. The title also doesn't really fit, There are some Christmas presents in the plot and the original attack and this story happen at Christmas time, but the holiday or presents aren't a big plot point. This was a strong 5 star for me until the very end.

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for the audio Arc Christmas Presents. This novella was quick and suspenseful. I requested this book because Lisa Unger is a well-known author for thrillers. I am excited to read more of her books.

This is a slow burn thriller that I finished in a day. It’s a good book and once started I couldn’t put it down. This book flips back and forth from present to past. It’s about a bookstore owner that doesn’t want to give a podcaster the interview he desperately wants. It didn’t have all the twists that I enjoy in a thriller but ending was a bit of a surprise.

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.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced audiobook. I have just recently started reading some of Lisa Unger’s books. This was a short novel and I was able to read it in one sitting. I enjoy the dual timelines.

True crime junky here just writing a review on Lisa Unger’s audiobook, Christmas Presents. It held all the allure I look for in a good mystery crime novel. It had a bookstore, authors, podcasts and a kidnapping. Well told, I couldn’t put it down. Jennifer Pickens narrated it and she was perfect. The town is haunted by a murder and missing girls! Well done. 4.5⭐️
Thanks HighBridge Audio via NetGalley.

A Christmas thriller!! Yes!

This has a dual timeline and goes between the present and 10 years prior where one girl is killed, one is attacked, and two go missing.

There is one person in jail but things someone just went missing which makes people think maybe he’s innocent!

A writer/podcaster is trying to get more info about the case because with more women going missing.

It was a quick read and we learn about what happened that night 10 years ago along with the current disappearance from another girl that’s currently missing. You will be surprised by the ending in this one!!

This was a solid, fast paced and enjoyable thriller.

I had the opportunity to read along as I listened to the audiobook. Ther narrator didn't stand out to me, but I had zero complaints.

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.

Madeline Martin survived an attack by her high school boyfriend, Evan Handy, who also killed her best friend. Two other friends went missing that night. As an adult she helps care for her father, who suffered a stroke, and owns a small bookstore. A true crime podcaster named Harley Granger shows up a few days before Christmas. He has moved to town to revisit the crime and help find answers to what really happened that night, and where the two missing girls are.

This was a short and fast-paced listen. I didn’t realize it was a novella and I do think it could be developed more and become a full-sized novel. The ending felt a little rushed. I loved the setting and the characters, especially Madeline and her friend Badger. The killer was not a big surprise, I wish there had been more suspects and speculation around that.

The narrator was easy to listen to and did a great job differentiating between characters and evoking their current emotions.

Overall, a solid quick little thriller from Lisa Unger. This is the third book of hers I have read and will continue to read books by her.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to author Lisa Unger and HighBridge Audio for providing me the ALC in exchange for my honest review. The title will be published on October 24, 2023.

Christmas Presents is a fast, tightly-written mystery. Madeline Martin has been trying to recover over the past decade since the night her high school love Evan Handy revealed his monstrous self. True-crime podcaster Harley Granger busts into the small-town community of Little Valley to dredge up the past. Elsewhere, a young woman gets abducted.

Unger deftly weaves in and out of POVs. The entire plot was easy to follow and never lost its way pacing or story-wise. I especially liked the way characters were written. I appreciated that Unger allowed Harley to be unlikeable and self-interested; instead of the well-meaning journalist, we got to see the unethical attention-craver, social media addict, and thrill junkie sides of him. We also got family and relationship details (particularly surrounding Madeline's character) that made the story and the town feel real.

NARRATION by Jennifer Pickens was solid. I listened comfortably at 2.5x and could understand everything. Pickens' performance enhanced the solemnity and severity of the certain moments and helped maintain the tense tone.

My only complaint is that I did not feel the specific happy endings written into the story were earned or warranted. Based on how the main characters and their relationships were previously set up, I would have appreciated something more ambiguous but hopeful. However, since this is being marketed as a Christmas read, I guess the choices make sense.

I found this to be an incredibly propulsive, engaging mystery if a little predictable. I recommend.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. Great audio book that had me staying in my car long after I arrived home. Kept me guessing and trying to figure it out who done it.

This story was way too choppy. I didn't think it flowed smoothly, and I had a hard time paying attention with the narrator's voice. It seems like the author just rushed this story. Why not slow down, develop it better, and make is a novel vs a novella. The potential was there for a good christmas book, but I feel like it was just too rushed.

This book combined 3 of my favorite things - Christmas, true crime podcasts and a thriller novel! Haunting Christmas presents left at the main character's door every year after she survived an attack that took her best friend's life. This was a quick listen - I listened in one afternoon!

Lisa Unger does it again. I absolutely devoured this novella. Picturesque settings and a twits-y plot allows immediate envelopment into this story. You truly never know which direction it is going to go over the course of the story and I will say the final reveal was satisfying but not completely shocking. Harley and Madeleine's dynamic is intriguing to say the least and contributed greatly to the unsettling tension that surrounded the book as a whole. I found myself wanting more and only wished it would have been a full length novel. I feel like it could have been explored so much further and that the plot had so much potential, I could have read it for another 200 pages. 3.5/5 stars rounded up.

A solid read that flew by! Readers who enjoyed Secluded Cabin by Lisa Unger, or are looking for reads with similar plots to Ruth Ware or Holly Jackson may enjoy this. There is more romance and unrequited love than I anticipated, but that's not a bad thing in a wintry novel!

Full disclosure - saw this on Netgalley and only briefly skimmed the description. I saw Lisa Unger (love her), novella, Christmas and bookstore owner/setting. Disregarding the normal Unger aesthetic, I assumed a delightful off-brand romp around the holidays in my favorite bookstore location and a fun way to spend my Saturday listening as I went about my day.

Boy was I wrong. Christmas Presents was so much bigger than a novella - at more than 5.5 hours this was fleshed out and developed as well as many of the current mavens of social media who spit out 6 hour books nearly monthly and have a Beatles-like cult buying everything. In fact, I'd say this novella was better than many books I've read in the last few months.

Loved the characters, loved the childhood trauma with a town full of lifelong friends. The narrator, Jennifer Pickens, did a great job voicing each character and bringing them to life.

Yes, it had Christmas as the backdrop, but this one is bigger than a novella and well worth your time.