This was a pleasant surprise. I had hopes but was not really expecting much. Guess that means I was expecting to be disappointed. This generally describes my mood around the holidays. Thankfully this is anything but a holiday book. Instead of just rolling out some bad guy into the already existing Christmas mythology, Brom re-invents the holiday and it’s denizens. Everything is ominous and a lot more interesting. Krampus who prefers to punish children over rewarding them actually comes off more sympathetic than Santa Claus who’s dirty dealings have kept Krampus imprisoned for ages. Entertaining minions and vile action keep this mostly rolling along. Would loved to have rated this higher but there is a rather long dull patch in the middle of the book--but after that it packs a wallop.