What do you think?
Rate this book
The Spy Who Came for Christmas
Amid thousands of Christmas tourists in snowy Santa Fe, a terrifying hunt is in progress. Wounded and on the run, spy Paul Kagan frantically seeks a haven for himself and a precious bundle he conceals under his coat.The bundle is a baby with the power to change the world. The pursuers are three ruthless enemies who will stop at nothing to get their hands on the child.When Kagan takes shelter in what seems to be a deserted home, he discovers an abandoned woman and her young son. As death lurks outside the house, these three unlikely allies prepare for a siege that will change their lives forever and perhaps the lives of millions of others.In The Spy Who Came for Christmas, David Morrell retells the Christmas story against a background of espionage and action. Dramatizing the strength of the holiday spirit, he again shows the inventiveness that prompted the International Thriller Writers organization to give him its prestigious ThrillerMaster award.
258 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2008
45 people are currently reading
667 people want to read
About the author
David Morrell
217 books1,673 followersDavid Morrell is a Canadian novelist from Kitchener, Ontario, who has been living in the United States for a number of years. He is best known for his debut 1972 novel First Blood, which would later become a successful film franchise starring Sylvester Stallone. More recently, he has been writing the Captain America comic books limited-series The Chosen.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 203 reviews
December 24, 2022
holy faith
Christmas thriller! 3.5⭐
On Christmas Eve, an undercover Agent Paul Kagan is on the run with a precious baby he's trying to protect from the baddies. Shot and bleeding, Kagan waded through the crowd of revelers on Canyon Street in Santa Fe. An abused mother and a twelve-year-old boy took him in. During the night, Kagan shares a retelling of the wise men, what if they were spies? ✨
The Spy Who Came for Christmas has good action and unique clever plot with a Christmas theme. I struggle with the pace a bit in the middle but overall an interesting spy story with good characters you can root for. A perfect holiday read for espionage genre fans.
Thank you Todd for bringing this book to my attention!🤩
🎧Great audiobook with David Colacci.
April 18, 2018
A Christmas story which contains another wrapped up in a gritty undercover operation - very slick & well done. Morrell places it along Canyon Road in Santa Fe which is known for the Farolito or Christmas Eve Walk. Plenty of action & also a tense domestic situation full of drama. Very satisfying & I liked this version of the Nativity.
The only downside was a personal one. I kept trying to relate this to his Mortalis trilogy & wondering where it fit in. It doesn't really, so don't try. Same universe, completely different players. I should have read my review of The League of Night and Fog before reading this & then I would have known it wasn't "THE ABELARD SANCTION".
The only downside was a personal one. I kept trying to relate this to his Mortalis trilogy & wondering where it fit in. It doesn't really, so don't try. Same universe, completely different players. I should have read my review of The League of Night and Fog before reading this & then I would have known it wasn't "THE ABELARD SANCTION".
May 25, 2022
Really enjoyed Morrell's De Quincey series but didn't care for this quick read offering.
November 1, 2022
Finished stronger than it started. Dialog felt a little odd or stilted at times. Lots of action along the way. My first Morrell and I think I'll try more of his books.
December 17, 2018
Yet more proof that simply being a "NY Times Best Selling Author" means very little. Nothing shown that the author can't tell instead. Readers are never trusted or even given an opportunity to draw their own conclusions. The characters' personal histories are given report-style whenever it strikes the author's fancy, but I don't actually care about any of them. Oh, sure, I'd prefer the protagonist and his unwilling allies make it through the night to Christmas, but everything and everyone is so 2 dimensional that I really can't get too excited about it. I'm about 2/3 of the way through and probably will not finish.
The sole interesting thing about the entire book is the protagonist's story suggesting that the "Three Wise Men" were, in fact, spies from Persia attempting to foment political unrest by tweaking Herod, a known paranoid, into chasing phantom "Jewish Kings" around Judea. Unexpectedly finding support for their wild tale in Bethlehem, they eventually become true believers who sheepishly help Joseph and his little family escape the storm they themselves set off, but had no more intent of finding and worshiping a real king at their journey's outset than Herod himself.
It's rubbish, of course, but it's at least reasonably unique rubbish. And now that you've seen this bit in the review, you can skip the rest of the boring, one-of-a-thousand spy story.
The sole interesting thing about the entire book is the protagonist's story suggesting that the "Three Wise Men" were, in fact, spies from Persia attempting to foment political unrest by tweaking Herod, a known paranoid, into chasing phantom "Jewish Kings" around Judea. Unexpectedly finding support for their wild tale in Bethlehem, they eventually become true believers who sheepishly help Joseph and his little family escape the storm they themselves set off, but had no more intent of finding and worshiping a real king at their journey's outset than Herod himself.
It's rubbish, of course, but it's at least reasonably unique rubbish. And now that you've seen this bit in the review, you can skip the rest of the boring, one-of-a-thousand spy story.
July 24, 2024
Ir sanācis izlasīt samērā padaudz Deivida Morela grāmatām (gan sēriju par Tomasu de Kvinsiju, gan arī citus autora darbus, piemēram "Ložņas" vai "Rozes brālība"), tādēļ, šī grāmata man lika nedaudz vilties, jo autoru zinu kā labu spriedzes romānu/trilleru rakstnieku. Kas nepatika konkrētajā darbā? Pirmkārt, samērā plašā "lēkāšana" pa laikiem (no notikumiem Ziemassvētku vakarā, uz Pola ģimenes atmiņām un pieredzēto izlūkdienestā). Otrkārt, iespējams autors nedaudz par daudz vēlējās ielikt vienā stāstā. Proti, gan Jēzus Kristus stāsts (lai gan atzīšu, ka šī daļa man likās savdabīga un interesanta), gan paši romāna tagadnes notikumi likās nedaudz par daudz. Treškārt, nobeigums. Sorry, bet man personiski nobeigums nelikās līdz galam nostrādāts.
December 26, 2023
Really fun, quick, Christmas spy thriller.
December 4, 2025
Very original way to look at the Christmas story!
December 30, 2018
Atmospheric. The Three Wise Spies. Check out our full review on our podcast - https://theinsideflap.com/2018/12/16/...
April 10, 2024
Поредното класно изпълнение от Дейвид Морел. Романът е увлекателен шпионски трилър с доста библейски препратки и приятна динамика, която води до бързо прочитане. По принцип не съм най-големия фен на "хепи енд"-а, но в случая не ме подразни.
December 16, 2017
Much better than last months book club choice. Easy read and intriguing enough.
October 20, 2015
So, I made it about halfway through this book when it suddenly occurred to me: I've read this before.
I haven't actually, but I may as well have, because it's like ever other book of Morrell's I've ever picked up, so it's pretty much this:
Basically, we start off with an able-bodied white dude who has some form of combat training and a dark past. He gets caught up in some weird shit with some other people, most of whom are suspicious of the main character's encyclopedic knowledge and skills with firearms. The main character then proceeds to do a terrible job of making them less suspicious.
The love interest is a pretty white woman with long blond hair and blue eyes, whom the lead saves from some sort of bad situation, usually from an abusive SO. She's suspicious of him too, but at some point in the book, the lead does something that makes her look at him 'as if just seeing him for the first time'.
Somebody will receive a significant injury which the lead will have to dress 'in the field'. If there is a first aid kit available, he will slather on antibiotic cream, bandage it, and seal the bandage with duct tape. It doesn't matter how well stocked the kit is - it will never have any safety pins or tape, and tying knots is for suckers so we have to use the duct tape.
If a kit isn't available, the lead will seal the wound with some duct tape.
Why duct tape, you ask?
Because a) it's manly! and b) when the plot begins to get dull, Morrell can liven things up again by addressing the possibility that the injured party will develop gangrene.
Other things that are typical of Morrell novels, of which I am nearly certain I would have encountered yet again if I kept reading are as follows:
The lead will fly a plane. A Cessna, actually, because those are the only planes that Morrell has ever heard of. He'll also use a specific kind of pocket knife that I can't remember the name of, but it's a one-handed knife and can clip onto the lead's pants.
The comic relief will be killed off much too early in the story, along with any minority characters, because otherwise you might notice that none of them have actual been developed. They'll generally have interesting backstories though, which just makes this all the more frustrating.
Eventually, everyone will die except for the main character, his love interest, and a lower level baddie. These three will have to team up to face the real bad guy, and the lesser baddie will get offed in some gruesome way before the final fight.
The final fight will occur, and there will be very little, if any, closure. The lead will say a line, and then the book will end.
Honestly, The Shimmer is the only one of Morrell's books that I've read that didn't follow this formula perfectly, and that's pretty much just because the love interest was a redhead and I don't recall her being saved from an abusive situation. (I wouldn't really rec that book either though, because it's basically a mystery, but you never actually get to find out what the mystery is.)
I mean, I guess the book itself isn't terrible, but if you've already read Morrell's other stuff, don't even bother.
(I'm also just really confused why a person would hire members of the Russian mob to go undercover for them in Santa Fe. I honestly think the Middle Eastern guy might have blended in better with the locals himself.)
I haven't actually, but I may as well have, because it's like ever other book of Morrell's I've ever picked up, so it's pretty much this:
Basically, we start off with an able-bodied white dude who has some form of combat training and a dark past. He gets caught up in some weird shit with some other people, most of whom are suspicious of the main character's encyclopedic knowledge and skills with firearms. The main character then proceeds to do a terrible job of making them less suspicious.
The love interest is a pretty white woman with long blond hair and blue eyes, whom the lead saves from some sort of bad situation, usually from an abusive SO. She's suspicious of him too, but at some point in the book, the lead does something that makes her look at him 'as if just seeing him for the first time'.
Somebody will receive a significant injury which the lead will have to dress 'in the field'. If there is a first aid kit available, he will slather on antibiotic cream, bandage it, and seal the bandage with duct tape. It doesn't matter how well stocked the kit is - it will never have any safety pins or tape, and tying knots is for suckers so we have to use the duct tape.
If a kit isn't available, the lead will seal the wound with some duct tape.
Why duct tape, you ask?
Because a) it's manly! and b) when the plot begins to get dull, Morrell can liven things up again by addressing the possibility that the injured party will develop gangrene.
Other things that are typical of Morrell novels, of which I am nearly certain I would have encountered yet again if I kept reading are as follows:
The lead will fly a plane. A Cessna, actually, because those are the only planes that Morrell has ever heard of. He'll also use a specific kind of pocket knife that I can't remember the name of, but it's a one-handed knife and can clip onto the lead's pants.
The comic relief will be killed off much too early in the story, along with any minority characters, because otherwise you might notice that none of them have actual been developed. They'll generally have interesting backstories though, which just makes this all the more frustrating.
Eventually, everyone will die except for the main character, his love interest, and a lower level baddie. These three will have to team up to face the real bad guy, and the lesser baddie will get offed in some gruesome way before the final fight.
The final fight will occur, and there will be very little, if any, closure. The lead will say a line, and then the book will end.
Honestly, The Shimmer is the only one of Morrell's books that I've read that didn't follow this formula perfectly, and that's pretty much just because the love interest was a redhead and I don't recall her being saved from an abusive situation. (I wouldn't really rec that book either though, because it's basically a mystery, but you never actually get to find out what the mystery is.)
I mean, I guess the book itself isn't terrible, but if you've already read Morrell's other stuff, don't even bother.
(I'm also just really confused why a person would hire members of the Russian mob to go undercover for them in Santa Fe. I honestly think the Middle Eastern guy might have blended in better with the locals himself.)
November 22, 2008
It’s a snowy Christmas Eve in Santa Fe, but among the revelers on Canyon Road, a decidedly unholy scene is taking place. A desperate man, dressed all in black, feverishly seeks refuge for himself and the squirming bundle he holds tightly against his breast. Agent Paul Kagan’s bundle is a baby who has the power to change the course of global events. His pursuers are his former colleagues—members of the Russian mafia who will stop at nothing to accomplish their mission. Now Kagan is a spy on the run—he must ensure this baby’s survival, even if it will cost him his own life.
Just a short distance away, Kagan will find an unexpected pair of allies—a mother and her young son, who huddle together after a horrible episode of domestic violence leaves them home alone, with no means of transportation.
And so, with the exquisitely honed skills of his profession and the help and good faith of a weary woman and a disillusioned boy, Kagan must take on forces that will stop at nothing. In the course of a wild and violent night, the unlikely trio learn lessons of generosity, courage, and selflessness, discovering within themselves the luminous strength of the true Christmas spirit.
Not exactly my typical holiday type of read, but still enjoyable. This book has a good amount of suspense, great cover art and was just over 200 pages. In addition, the story has a touching theme about family and redemption.
Just a short distance away, Kagan will find an unexpected pair of allies—a mother and her young son, who huddle together after a horrible episode of domestic violence leaves them home alone, with no means of transportation.
And so, with the exquisitely honed skills of his profession and the help and good faith of a weary woman and a disillusioned boy, Kagan must take on forces that will stop at nothing. In the course of a wild and violent night, the unlikely trio learn lessons of generosity, courage, and selflessness, discovering within themselves the luminous strength of the true Christmas spirit.
Not exactly my typical holiday type of read, but still enjoyable. This book has a good amount of suspense, great cover art and was just over 200 pages. In addition, the story has a touching theme about family and redemption.
November 30, 2018
If you are having a difficult time getting into the Christmas spirit this year, then consider this my gift to you. (Seriously, if I could purchase a physical copy for everyone, I totally would - it's that good!)
This book is a spy thriller/siege story, chock full of action, that jumps back and forth with an interwoven "espionage" tale of the Three Wise Men. This book will definitely put you in the Christmas spirit!
This book is a spy thriller/siege story, chock full of action, that jumps back and forth with an interwoven "espionage" tale of the Three Wise Men. This book will definitely put you in the Christmas spirit!
March 7, 2010
"Listened" to this book. Very suspenseful...kept you engaged...for a suspense story that has activities of the Russian mob and mob-like treatment of people, it also had a storyline of love hope and peace....a very interesting contrast making for a very interesting book
March 31, 2014
I just couldn’t decide whether I liked tho book or not. In the end I came down in favour for its bizarre retelling of the christmas story (which I think was my favourite bit) and the wife-beater who comes good (but does he....)
November 28, 2015
Enjoyable. This is a Christmas story but told from the perspective of a spy thriller. The author had an interesting way to describe the Three Wise Men, I may always think of them in a slightly different light now. It's a different type of Christmas tale.
December 17, 2018
I really enjoyed this book. It had action and a great version of the Spies Christmas Story, a version of Christ's birth from a spy's stand point. It was a quick page turner, I really couldn't put it down. If you want a Christmas story with some action, this is the book for you!
December 18, 2018
Started reading this book and was thinking that it was very average, and then by the middle, well this is pretty good. At the end, excellent. A great read for the Christmas season with a very clever plot.
December 1, 2013
Definitely a different kind of a CHRISTMAS story!! Maybe that's why the strange mystery is such a fun read.
August 9, 2020
My copy is so hard to read, like single-spaced text. If I increase the font size the lines would literally overlap I'm forced to read it in a not-so-comfortable size.
November 24, 2020
The Spy Who Came for Christmas by David Morrell (father of the modern action novel) is a fast-action spy story of Russian mafia stealing an Islamic baby boy in Santa Fe New Mexico on Christmas Eve. Yes, it truly is. Well, the protagonist, while a Russian spy, is also a perverted, vicious, nasty guy, who is really an American spy--a double agent. They (three other Russian spies) are in Santa Fe, which is apparently famous for its Christmas festival on Canyon Road, because for some reason a famous Islamic leader who wants to make peace has chosen to go there to celebrate. The spies plan on and do kidnap his baby, but one of the spies, Pyotyr-Paul, decides that after all the horrible things he has done to people, stealing a baby is too much, so he grabs the child and tries to run off. He meets a woman with a young crippled boy whose husband has beat her, and together they try to save themselves from the other Russians who use the code names of the three wise men as they attempt to enter the woman's house, kill the occupants, and steal the baby. While they are barricading the house, Paul tells them his version (the spy's version) of the three wise men, who were really spies who helped Mary and Joseph avoid Herod.
It is an exciting quick read, and has an intriguing premise. The tying together of the spy story and the Christmas story is unique and thought-provoking. This is hardly great literature, but it is fun and different, and actually a rather interesting new type of Christmas story. I'm glad I read it.
It is an exciting quick read, and has an intriguing premise. The tying together of the spy story and the Christmas story is unique and thought-provoking. This is hardly great literature, but it is fun and different, and actually a rather interesting new type of Christmas story. I'm glad I read it.
December 17, 2021
If you are in the mood for a Christmas novel, that does is not traditional in terms of romance or regency mystery, then you want to turn your attention to David Morrell’s The Spy Who Came For Christmas. He took a thriller and wrapped it up in a Christmas story, and it works!
Pul Kagan is among the thousands of people who flock to Santa Fe, New Mexico on Christmas Eve to see the light show. He is no mere tourist. He is wounded, being hunted by a team of men who want what he is carrying: a child of peace. The child he carries can bring about peace in the Middle East. There are people who do not want this to happen. Peace will interfere with a multi-million dollar business. Kagan is the only hope this child has to fulfill his destiny.
He comes across a house and finds a mother and son inside. After a lot of persuasion, they agree to help him. Especially after he promises to make sure her abusive husband will never harm her again. But the three wise men are closing in. Success is not certain, and in the darkness, he tells the mother and child the Christmas story, with a twist.
This book was a highly entertaining read. It is also a fast read. If I had an issue with it, it is that there are parts that seemed repetitive. Otherwise, this was an easy thriller to get into and enjoy.
I give it 4 bookmarks out of 5
Pul Kagan is among the thousands of people who flock to Santa Fe, New Mexico on Christmas Eve to see the light show. He is no mere tourist. He is wounded, being hunted by a team of men who want what he is carrying: a child of peace. The child he carries can bring about peace in the Middle East. There are people who do not want this to happen. Peace will interfere with a multi-million dollar business. Kagan is the only hope this child has to fulfill his destiny.
He comes across a house and finds a mother and son inside. After a lot of persuasion, they agree to help him. Especially after he promises to make sure her abusive husband will never harm her again. But the three wise men are closing in. Success is not certain, and in the darkness, he tells the mother and child the Christmas story, with a twist.
This book was a highly entertaining read. It is also a fast read. If I had an issue with it, it is that there are parts that seemed repetitive. Otherwise, this was an easy thriller to get into and enjoy.
I give it 4 bookmarks out of 5
March 25, 2024
I loved this book! It is everything I love about classic Morrell--the spy craft, the espionage--but with an added layer of hope and the power of Christmas. He doesn't just use Christmas as a setting, but weaves it into the whole plot, reimagining the story of the Magi from the Bible, and yet without making the story "too Christian". In fact, the story revolves around a Muslim child! Morrell shows through the details that he has done his research on spycraft, weapons, injuries, even childcare. This is an example of an expert storyteller and I will definitely make this a part of my yearly Christmas reads.
December 1, 2024
This is a fantastic, quick Christmas thriller. Paul Kagan has been forced to do some awful things while working undercover to foil a Russian mafia Gand. But he snaps when told to kidnap a baby, steals the baby from his gang and runs. Shot, he takes cover in a house with a mother and her son, where he tells them the spies version of the Christmas story while he waits for the gang to charge in. Dab I’d Morrell tells a quick, slick tale that charges from the exciting chase at the start to the violent end of the siege. In terms of Christmas stories, although one of the characters references It’s a Wonderful Life, this is more like Die Hard.
November 23, 2017
A real Christmas story, a holiday book I read for another book club. Actually a pretty horrible story of a spy that I hope is not the way spies are trained or how they.live undercover. As the spy tries to save a baby, he tells a boy the story of the Magi from the point of view of the Magi being Persian spies against Herod, and it actually made sense. Being Jewish, I never paid much attention to the story, and I didn't know the family escaped to Egypt or that Herod killed a lot of babies. So spies in Santa Fe kidnapping an Arab baby. Quite a story.
January 1, 2023
I've loved Morrell's storytelling every since I discovered him, and although it took me some time to get into this particular book...the further I got into it, the more I couldn't stop. And, as usual, Morrell surprised me with where he took the story and characters, and I loved every moment.
I'm not much for holiday-themed fiction, so I'm not surprised it took me a bit of time to be sold on this one. The fact that I *was* sold on it by midway through means that much more.
Absolutely recommended.
I'm not much for holiday-themed fiction, so I'm not surprised it took me a bit of time to be sold on this one. The fact that I *was* sold on it by midway through means that much more.
Absolutely recommended.
December 28, 2017
I found the first half of this book to be better than the second, which is a shame; this is one of those books that builds momentum, so when the second half starts to drag and the climax isn’t quite as intense as it might have been, the whole book suffers for it. I think the attempt to give the book a feel-good, Christmas-spirit ending got in the way of the story.
Of course, these are just my opinions. Your mileage may vary.
Of course, these are just my opinions. Your mileage may vary.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 30, 2020
I really liked the premise for the story and the gritty narrative of two spies trying to outwit each other on Christmas Eve. Although the author tells us more than he shows, I read the book as more of a confessional from the main character hoping for salvation on the holiest of nights. It’s a Christmas story and a thriller. Can’t go wrong with that.
Jeffrey Miller, The Day the Earth Swallowed Louis
Jeffrey Miller, The Day the Earth Swallowed Louis
Displaying 1 - 30 of 203 reviews