Product Description

On Christmas Eve in snow-covered Santa Fe, New Mexico, tens of thousands of pedestrians admire the festively decorated streets. Among them is Paul Kagan, a spy on the run trying desperately to protect a special package that just might be the key to a lasting peace in the Middle East. He is pursued closely by three extremely dangerous men, members of the Russian mafia whom he has just betrayed. Attempting to elude his hunters, Kagan seeks refuge in a seemingly deserted house on the outskirts of the town. But inside is a woman and her 12-year-old son, hiding from other evils and whom he has now put in mortal danger as his hunters manage to track him down. In the following tense hours, Kagan tries to calm the woman and the boy by telling them the spy's version of the traditional Nativity story. All the while, he sets traps through the house in preparation for the attack that he knows will soon begin.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #154579 in Books
• Published on: 2008-11-11
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
Yuletide in Santa Fe, a good spy beset, and what's this about a very special baby? The charismatic religious leader has promised that, if accepted wholeheartedly as the miracle he is, his just-born could be the harbinger of world peace. While a glorious prospect to most, this is of course viewed with alarm in certain quarters. A depressed market and widespread joblessness loom for mercenaries and similar savage folk. Prominent in this unlovely subset is the Russian Mafia, hired by terrorists for $3 million (paid in advance) to kidnap the world-peace baby. This mission stays on track for a while, and then suddenly it's derailed. Tossing the monkey wrench is Paul Hagen, known to Mafia men as their admirably unprincipled and vicious colleague, Pyotyr; Paul/Pyotyr is in actuality a double agent planted by American intelligence. He's so good that he has fooled even the highly placed Andrei, who's inordinately fond of Pyotyr the terrible. So the chase begins. Having kidnapped the peace baby from the kidnappers, Paul is on the run. Wounded and desperate, he stumbles on the Brody household and seeks shelter there, little knowing that Meredith and her son Cole are in desperate straits. Meredith is a battered wife, 12-year-old Cole a helpless, frustrated bystander, Ted Brody the alcoholic brute of a husband and father they plan to escape. Enter Paul and the baby, hotly pursued by Andrei and his coterie. For all concerned, it's a whole new way to experience the Christmas season. --Kirkus Reviews

Customer Reviews

a cracking read
this is a good book to read whilst travelling,or just kicking back.i really enjoyed this book,it moves along quickly,and keeps you interested in what happens.

The Spy Who Came For Christmas
This was my first David Morrell novell and I was most dissappointed. After reading several reviews of his previous novels, I began to wonder if this was the same author? I found the story line very shallow and there was a distinct lack of pace and credibility. The suspense element just didn't work for me and it's content certainly didn't merit the title's suggestion that this is book about a spy. Any research the author did into the Russian Mafia must have been done in a hurry and unfortunately, the book appears to have been written in a hurry.

Alan Wilson