Santa’s Twin
By Dean Koontz
It’s Christmas eve, but this year instead of a jolly fat man decked out in red swooping down chimneys to deliver gifts to good girls and boys a psychotic fat man decked out in red shall be breaking in and switching the gifts to things that no one, no matter how bad, deserve to be gifted with and causing random acts of vandalism. Santa’s twin brother is the complete polar (no pun intended) opposite of his brother and it’s going to be up to two brave little girls to stop this madman, free the real Santa Claus, and set Christmas right.
Like the famous story, The Night Before Christmas, Koontz’s Santa’s Twin is a narrative poem, and Koontz does an excellent job of keeping the rhyme scheme together without sacrificing the tale in the least.
The heroines of this tale, Charlotte and Emily, are snug in their beds on Christmas eve when they sense that something is wrong. They awaken from their slumber and head downstairs only to find an evil looking Santa Claus in their living room swapping out gifts. They attempt to apprehend him, and with some luck and Bob Claus’ complete lack of grace and balance, the girls succeed. With the help of the reindeer, who were forced to assist the bad Claus for fear of what he would do to their families, they set off for the North Pole to rescue Santa Claus and set things right before Christmas morning arrives.
The tale is clever, witty, and most importantly, highly amusing. Writing “Poo!” on a child’s art work? Indeed, quite the dastardly thing to do. And stuffing a microwave with ten pounds of popping corn? Those are just a few of the hilarious and clever prank’s Koontz’s evil Claus orchestrates. The story’s accompanying illustrations, by Phil Parks, are well done. They fit the story and add to the excitement of reading this holiday tale. In fact, upon completion of the story there is a note at the end of the book inviting readers to go back and take a second look at the images, because in each picture there is a snowman lurking around. Some are easy to see and some are so well blended in that had you not been invited to hunt for them, you likely would never have noticed them.
What I found to be the most amazing however was the fact that Koontz managed to write and tell this story in such a manner that readers of all ages would enjoy it. It’s a light and fun read, with just a hint of darkness, that will make it a suitable bedtime story the tykes, and at the same time it’s engaging and comical enough that older readers will find themselves amused and entertained rather than put off. Santa’s Twin more than deserves to be considered a holiday classic to be cherished and pulled out to be read annually alongside other timeless classics.
Joana’s rating: 
(5 out of 5 stars)
