Dying for Christmas: A Novel

Tammy Cohen

Nov 2016 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

A novel full of twists, surprising turns, and suspense, Dying for Christmas is Tammy Cohen's most disturbing psychological thriller yet.

Out Christmas shopping one December afternoon, Jessica Gould meets the charming Dominic Lacey and impulsively agrees to go home with him for a drink. What follows are Twelve Days of Christmas from hell, as Lacey holds Jessica captive, forcing her to wear his missing wife’s gowns and eat lavish holiday meals. Each day he gifts her with one item from his twisted past—his dead sister’s favorite toy, disturbing family photos, a box of teeth. As the days pass and the “gifts” become darker and darker, Jessica realizes that Lacey has a plan for her, and he never intends to let her go.

But Jessica has a secret of her own . . . a secret that may just mean she has a chance to make it out alive.

Ratings and reviews

Jessica Gold has been doing some Christmas shopping when she meets a stranger.. the very charming Dominic Lacey. She agrees to go with him to his apartment. Why? you might ask. Jessica's live-in boyfriend and she are not getting along well. He's spending more and more time away and she .. well, she just wants something different. And different is something she gets in spades! Dominic holds her hostage, forcing her to sleep in a dog crate, wear his missing wife's clothes, and eat lots of disgusting food. He wants to spend the Christmas holiday with her ... all 12 days of Christmas. Each and every one of those days, he gifts her with a wrapped present. It's always an item from his past ... a box of his baby teeth, his dead sister's favorite toy. Each day the gifts get worse, accompanied by his telling her of his childhood and beyond. She finally gets the message .. he is never going to let her go. Part One of this book is all about Jessica's abduction and the time she is held captive. Part Two of the book deals with the aftermath. Part One just blew me away ..... just when you think Dominic couldn't get any more evil or manipulative, he'd pull a rabbit out of his hat and do something so vile, it would make you want to put the book down ... but like looking at an accident on the side of the road, you have to keep reading. There are so many twists and turns and surprises ... much like the Energizer Bunny, they just keep coming and coming and coming. This had so much potential to be an outstanding book... and it was for the most part. There was one glaring fault but I remain silent so I don't give anything away. Reading through many reviews, I do not see this mentioned anywhere. So I will leave it for other readers to see if they can see what I did. Except for this one area, it was well-written. I can't say I liked any of the characters at all, from the victim, to her boyfriend, to her abductor, to her family, to the cops who were investigating. Many thanks to the author / Pegasus Books / Netgalley. The opinion expressed here is unbiased and entirely my own.

About the author

Tammy Cohen (who also writes as Tamar Cohen) is a freelance journalist writing for national magazines and newspapers. After a late start, she has now written seven novels - The Mistress's Revenge, The War of the Wives, Someone Else's Wedding, The Broken, Dying For Christmas, First One Missing, and When She Was Bad - all published by Doubleday/Black Swan. She is a member of the Killer Women crime writing collective and lives in North London with her partner and three (nearly) grown children, plus one very badly behaved dog.