Son of Santa

A Novel

By: Dave Chadwick

Narrated by: Colette Thomas

Santa Claus is real. Sure, the story has changed a lot over the years, but all the hard facts point to the undeniable truth of his existence. People don't want to accept it, so they stop believing. But Santa still visits those who keep believing, despite what they tell their friends at school and fancy parties. Not everybody knows the deeper secrets of the Santa Claus tale.

You see, "Santa Claus" isn't really a single person; it is more of a title that is passed from father to son. It has been a Kringle family tradition for generations. Jack Kringle didn't want to be the next Santa Claus, so he left the North Pole for New York City. There he found success and wealth as a scheming businessman, often times trampling on the "little guy" to get what he wanted. Suddenly, his twin brother, Dale, appears in New York on a secret mission that may just teach Jack the true meaning of Christmas.

©2007, 2009, 2010 J. David Chadwick (P)2022 Dot Info Publishing

A fresh and funny take on a classic Christmas trope!

We all know the story of A Christmas Carol, but what Mr Chadwick has done is take that story, mash it together with other Christmas elements and his own unique style, tropes and humor, and you get Son of Santa. Set in New York in 2007, the story follows Jack Kringle, the titular son of Santa, as he learns what Christmas is really all about. Colette Thomas is also an amazing debut talent you can’t miss! Definitely worth a credit.

Great Story that's Hard to Define

I became familiar with Dave Chadwick through the True Blue Riffcast and Twitter. Despite all that I still went ahead to give Son of Santa a whirl.
This is a really good story (not for kids), but it's hard to define. At times it's a lighthearted comedy, but then it frequently dips into dark comedy. There's genuine drama in Son of Santa alongside deeper truths. I also appreciate that Chadwick's writing doesn't venture into predictable troupes - the story and characters are wholley original.

Colette Thomas does an extraordinary job narrating (I'm an award winning audio producer). She captures the essence of the tale.

I am really hoping we get a sequel. Soon.
No later than next Christmas.

The writing is astonishingly bad

Mixed tenses, Lazy reliance on cliches and tropes instead of actual characters. An almost laughable deployment of outdated and offensive stereotypes. No narrative flow. Stilted, ridiculous dialogue. A primary narrative perspective that was just unpleasant.

This read like a bad satire a sophomore frat boy made up for his buddies. It was one long, flat joke - the kind that usually ends with “I guess you just had to be there.”

I’m writing this review because for some inexplicable reason, this book had a 5-star rating on Audible and I don’t want anyone else to waste their time or money.

I stopped after about 5 hours of listening because there was no conceivable conclusion that would be worth spending any more time on this. Maybe it got like super awesome in the last 3 hours.

But probably not.