Format: Review Copy
Source: Author via Goodreads
Publisher: H.D. Gordon Books
Publication Date: October 31, 2014
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
He shows up in a white box, with a bright red book under his arm... He wears a jolly grin and hat, a suit with gold bells and green yarn... He watches you for Santa, or so his red book claims... But though his grin is jolly, he's not here for fun and games... The children have been chosen, such precious little souls they are... And may the Gods be with them, if they wish to make it very far... For Santa's Little Helper does not say, but knows important things... He knows when you've been bad or good, and what monsters stalk your dreams... He knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you're awake...He's picking out his presents...He's got some souls to take.
My Thoughts:
At first, I was nervous for the read...just due to the fact that this was my first horror novel, but boy was I surprised and in a good way. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The twists...the turns...the evil.
I never thought that it was possible to be heart-broken from a horror book (but that is probably due to the fact that I haven't read one previously), though this book definitely broke my heart. I think the reason it did so is because the characters are so young. No, not teenagers, not ten years old, but five. I felt terrible for the kids in this book. I just wanted to jump into the book and save them because I knew their parents didn't believe them.
This book was beautifully written, although I just found one flaw. Not flaw, but just something that I did not particularly like. The way that the five year old kids spoke. Their vocabulary was very immaculate for their age and they seemed to say things that I, myself, would not expect a child that young to speak.
I loved the way that each paragraph changed perspectives. Whether it was one of the children talking, their parents, or their teacher -- each and every chapter brought something so wonderful to the book. At first, I was really curious as to why the children were chosen for the book, but then I made my conclusion as to why they were. I believe that each child was chosen because each one had a different background. My thought is that H.D. Gordon wanted us to see how evil effected a different variety of families and their way of life.
I would highly recommend this read, especially around the Christmas time. If you want a thrilling, adventurous, and frightful story this is the book for you. It isn't a book that will keep you up at night (well, for me it did because I didn't want to set the book down), but you will definitely receive sporadic amounts of goosebumps while reading this novel. H.D. Gordon does a spectacular job at grabbing your attention as well as allowing your heart to feel so many different emotions: anger, sadness and happiness...all intertwined with each page turn.
