Christopher is back! On the case investigating home grown terrorist white supremacists that are planning something big. His boss won't believe him or help him but he connects with Special Agent Andrew Jackson who is helping put together seemingly unrelated murders that cross with Chris's investigation into kidnapping and US Customs. Gathering information they find dead bodies as the brotherhood is eliminating people in their cells. After performance they are taken out by the next person. Chris follows leads and finally comes face to face with the terrorist group on a jam packed Thanksgiving weekend. Trying to focus on his job, the suspects, and preventing a catastrophe he has to balance his job along with his family who is in harm's way. His precious daughter is still having nightmares from last Christmas's horror and Chris has to decide if he's still going to be in the FBI or take care of his family ( )

FBI agent Christopher Miller is dealing with his daughter's psychological "anniversary reaction" to her frightful experience with a gun-toting Santa impersonator in the previous installment of this series. (This is the second book in the series, not the first as another reviewer stated.) Now a white supremist brotherhood of neo-Nazi skinheads and redneck bigots, headed by an ultra-right-wing minister -- which seems to be using Al Quaida's organizational methods -- has gotten hold of a rocket launcher just in time for Thanksgiving. It's sure to mean hell for another holiday season. Unfortunately, Miller's superiors are so fixated on Islamic terrorist threats that these American right-wing terrorists don't register as a major concern.

This didn't quite work for me. I like the protagonist and his family, and there were lots of twists and turns and double-crosses, but there was something in the writing style that fell flat. Odd, since I love Grabenstein's John Ceepak series. This one reminded me of James Patterson's style -- I think Grabenstein has worked with him recently, so maybe Patterson's writing characteristics are rubbing off and ruining a previously good author.

It was a quick read, though. Even at almost 400 pages, the chapters were very short, so there was lots of white space on pages along the way. It was perfect for my current attention span. ( )

There's nothing like a murder mystery set around Halloween and Thanksgiving to get the blood flowing. This fast paced thriller keeps you guessing from beginning to end. Highly recommended. ( )

First in a series featuring an FBI agent. This is darker and deadlier than the Ceepak books, but no less entertaining ( )

http://lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com/2007/12/hell-for-holidays.html ( )