Jules's Reviews > Dying For Christmas

This is a dark psychological thriller.

It is written in two main parts. The first covers Jessica's traumatic ordeal at the hands of a very creepy and disturbed Dominic. This part feels very claustrophobic, but is also very interesting as you learn about Dominic’s awful past through the daily gifts he gives to Jessica.

Here’s a little insight into the way Dominic’s mind works:

“In the end it came down to this. What is worth more, the pain of losing someone I loved, or the pleasure of inflicting pain on the people I hated?”

As part one comes to a close, you're left feeling that the story could almost end there. However, the author has other ideas, and would rather play with your mind in part two. Just when you think you’ve got the story straight, something else happens to throw you completely off course.

This is a very cleverly put together plot, that has so many twists and turns you won’t remember what direction you’re going in. I did predict a couple of the outcomes in advance, but it still had me guessing at other times, and generally not trusting my own predictions.

As for the very last lines of the story, I don't know what to say or think, I think I may have been hallucinating by that stage, and imagined them. Please tell me I imagined them.

On a lighter note, I did love Jessica’s fear of buttons. I sell novelty buttons for a living, so reading “The small ones are scarier” did make me giggle.

I’m very impressed by this novel, and would definitely consider reading more by this author.

I would like to thank the publisher, Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for allowing me a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.