Wise Guy: A Christmas Tale

by Joseph Bottum

The twelve crimes of Christmas: Bart Sagan is a thief, yes, but more or less a good guy—at least, he wouldn’t rob an orphanage if he didn’t have to. Not at Christmastime, anyway. But then the local crime boss Harry King loses a shipment of drugs and orders Bart to burglarize the twelve addresses to which it’s been accidentally sent.

Can Bart and his ragtag band of independent criminals keep their Christmas spirit while breaking and entering at the behest of a drug lord? Can they keep their lives if they don’t?

A comic crime caper for the holiday, “Wise Guy” retells the story of Balthasar, one of the three Wise Men who followed a Star from the East for the first Christmas. Or as much of Balthasar, anyway, as a confused and slightly hangdog minor thief can manage. As much of a Wise Man as a Wise Guy can be.

Genres: Christmas

52 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2012

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mix up a batter of the melancholy of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" with "Ocean's 11," then sprinkle on the wisdom of "It's a Wonderful life," and you have this literary confection. Like "A Christmas Story," it's become an annual Yule tradition that always reveals a little something new with each reading.

[Darryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun little story. I’ll read the next few stories next year.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having enjoyed Bottum's previous Kindle Singles I grabbed this one to see how he handled fiction. I have to say I wasn't blown away. There are some gems of description as always and the story is a quick read but it is rather disjointed and never quite comes together. I don't think we know enough about the main character to really care or see the world with his eyes. An interesting hook but doesn't fully deliver.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was free ebook so I thought I'd try it. it had a interesting storyline of good criminals and really bad criminals. The author has a few values to be learned from the story. I really wanted for the author to be more descriptive on getting each packet back. Overall, an enjoyable fast read for the holidays.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had all the fast elements of a fairy tale, but was set in the company of thieves and criminals. A Christmas turnaround got the really bad guy in trouble and the others off to a new start. :)

[Peg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a Kindle Single so a very quick read; just something fun to read at Christmas.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and short, heartwarming Christmas Story.

[Miles Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but charming modern re-telling of the story of the Magi Balthazar.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun short retelling. Great Christmas read