A Small Town in Massachusetts - Present Day

Skylar O’Boyle’s one wish for this Christmas holiday is to have peace in her family, but already her husband David and her eldest son Frazier are bickering over decorating the tree. Frazier’s twin sister Kat is always the peacemaker, and she intervenes, trying to keep the means' tempers from exploding into a full scale war. And finally, even in the midst of all the arguments, the tree is decorated, and youngest son Jaime and Skylar’s Uncle Paddy, have joined them to gather around the kitchen table on this frozen Christmas Eve. The angry blizzard outside has intensified, but so far, the electric lights are still burning and their isolated country home is warm and cozy. And as Kat runs upstairs to find another chair, the bickering begins again, this time between David and Uncle Paddy.

Quinton Lark and Scooter Blane are racing down the road toward the O’Boyle’s house. They’re on their way to New York, determined to leave this small Massachusetts town behind them as quickly as possible. The old man who runs Hudson & Son’s jewelry store is dead. The fool shouldn't have tried to stop their robbery, but that didn’t matter. His mistake was just being there. Quinton’s one clean shot through his skull guarantees there's no longer a witness to identify them. Killing the old man doesn’t bother Quinton, he just did what he had to do. He might even decide to finish taking out their new partner who's lying in the back seat. Something about Craig Devon gets Quinton’s dander up -- he just doesn’t trust the man. That’s why he disabled Craig’s gun and knocked him out. And now, as if he doesn’t have enough trouble, Scooter's managed to drive their car into a snowdrift. No problem. They’ll just invite themselves into that house around the corner and steal a car. Whoever lives there won’t need it. They’ll be dead.

Kat is looking for an extra chair on the second floor when the doorbell rings and her father invites the two strangers out of the cold and into the house. Now, guns are drawn and her family is held hostage in their living room. Out of sight, Kat listens and tries to think of a plan to save her family. These men don’t know she exists. And her family isn’t telling. The weather is against her, the phones are out, and her cell battery is dead. All that’s left is prayer.

THE LAST NOEL is a frightening story of a home invasion at Christmas time. Quinton and Scooter have made a name for themselves in the area, robbing small town jewelry stores after hours when there's no one around to identify them. But tonight, when they find Mr. Hudson, Quinton just shoots the old man, then escapes into the night. Now they have the O'Boyle's held hostage. Quinton wants to warm up and wait out the blizzard inside the O'Boyle's home, and Scooter just wants to have a taste of the family Christmas he never had. Their new partner, Craig Devon, is more of a third leg in their operation than a help. He just sits around, knocked a little woozy from Quinton's pistol whipping. But what these thugs don't know is that the O'Boyles' daughter Kat is hiding upstairs, trying to find a way to stop them and summon help for her family. And when Kat recognizes Craig as an old lover, she wonders if her family is in more danger than she imagined.

There are few secondary characters outside of the ones mentioned here, and rather than reveal key plot points with their mention, I will omit them. However, each and every character is dynamic and all are a crucial elements to this story, bringing it to it’s startling and terrifying conclusion. You will not put this book down once you start it. It's a sure winner!

Diana Risso