Title:	Dying for Christmas: Tis the Season to be Dead
	Author:	Tammy Cohen
	Published:	November 22, 2016, Pegasus Books
	No. of Pages:	400
	Cover Price:	$25.95 Hardcover, $12.99 Kindle

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Jessica Gold is doing a bit of last minute Christmas Shopping when she stops for a coffee and meets the charming Dominic Lacey, who persuades her to go with him for a drink. Tammy Cohen’s novel, Dying for Christmas opens as Jessica is being held captive and is barely staying alive after being tortured and abused by Lacey. He tells her that he is celebrating the Twelve Days of Christmas and gives her strange gifts from his past for each of the days, i.e. a box of his baby teeth, his dead sister’s favorite toy, among other bizarre things. He makes her binge on rich food which makes her feel sick, and chains her to a dog kennel for sleeping; if she misspeaks or misbehaves, she doesn’t even get a blanket in the kennel. They play chess with pieces carved from the bones of his dead wife. Of course Jessica knows that she will be dead upon opening the last of the gifts.

Cohen does an amazing job of introducing her characters, and while doing so, builds the suspense to an edge-of-seat read. The book is divided into two parts, the first being Dominic and Jessica, and the second explaining things from a different point of view. The second was a bit confusing at first, and went a bit slower than the previous part of the book. However, once it becomes clear, the dénouement is an unexpected shock.

While Dying for Christmas is not a feel-good Christmas novel, it is certainly entertaining. The writing is good, the story is good, and the novel is quite unique.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this novel.

This book may be purchased at Amazon:
Dying for Christmas: A Novel