Monday, November 26, 2018

Review: Xmas Elf: Secret Agent by Aaron Frale



Genre: Christmas

Description:

“As one of Santa’s Elite Fixers, Jing spends most of his time waterboarding greedy toy manufacturers or responding to terrorists holding Rudolph for ransom. While not on the job, he relaxes in the North Pole, a paradise where he can forget all the killing and bloodshed and curl up to some Christmas music and hot cocoa.

Until a rogue group of elves betrays Santa and threatens what should have been a pleasant Christmas.

Every time a bell rings, an elf gets his Glock.”

Author:

“Aaron Frale writes Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy usually with a comedic twist. Time Burrito is the audience favorite. He also hosts the podcast Aaron's Horror Show and screams and plays guitar for the prog/metal band Spiral. He lives with his wife, his son, and two cats in the frozen tundra of Minnesota.”

Appraisal:

Imagine a hardcore book or movie of some kind. Maybe a mashup of spy story and something with a crime family like The Godfather. Then swap out most of the characters with Santa, Mrs Santa, a few reindeer, and elves. Last, make it funny. (Yeah, that step with the elves pretty much got you to funny already.) What you’ve got is Xmas Elf: Secret Agent. After reading this, you’ll never view Santa and Christmas the same.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

I believe the version I received was an advance reader copy that might (and should have) received additional proofing prior to publication. Given this assumption I can’t judge the final version and my rating doesn’t take any proofing issues into account. I hope additional proofing was done. If not, those sensitive to homonym errors will especially be cringing.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 50-55,000 words

2 comments:

Vicki said...

This sounds like a hoot. Certainly a different take on a Christmas take. :-)

BooksAndPals said...

It sure did it's part to get me in the Christmas spirit, Vicki. :) Not like any Christmas story I've ever read.