Nick Pappas is a San Diego police officer who was involved in a shooting that injured a young girl. Currently under investigation for his role in the shooting, Nick is finding the holidays to be anything but cheery. When he receives a call from an old friend who is the Director of Security at a local mall, and is offered a job helping to stop muggers who are terrorizing shoppers, Nick reluctantly signs on as a mall Santa.
Over the course of his assignment, Nick is plagued by holiday shoppers, pushy parents, crying kids, and an all-to-cheerful elf. The elf is his main helper and her constant joyful spirit grate on Nick’s grumpiness. The elf’s infectious attitude begins to make Nick realize there might be more to Christmas than he’d thought. His helper even talks him into fulfilling two challenging Christmas wishes from children.
One of the wishes is from a young girl who wants Santa to know he missed her the previous year and she desperately wants to see him this year. The only thing Nick has, however, is the girl’s first name. The other wish is from a dying boy who wants to see it snow in San Diego.
Nick knows he can’t change the weather. He also realizes that finding a girl named Laura in a city the size of San Diego will be nearly impossible. Nevertheless, he takes on both assignments, all the time wondering if he will succeed or fail.
“St. Nick” is filled with emotional highs and lows. It’s the kind of story that fits beautifully with the holiday season, filled with impossible wishes, including Nick’s own, that of personal redemption.
Thanks for this review. I got a copy of this book at Bouchercon. Once I finish The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries it will be next on my reading list.
Sounds very interesting
Hi Karin, I found this to be a good read for the holidays. The mall Santa parts are very authentic, too!