Naughty & Nice

Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. #3.5

by Kevin J. Anderson

Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. finds himself tackling a bizarre Christmas case when Santa Claus himself becomes a client, hiring Dan to recover some very precious stolen North Pole property. If you like werewolves, vampires, evil elves, zombies, as well as a lot of belly laughs, curl up with this story and some eggnog.

Genres: Mystery, Fantasy, Zombies, Urban Fantasy, Horror, Humor, Christmas

43 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 28, 2013

About the author

Yes, I have a lot of books, and if this is your first visit to my amazon author page, it can be a little overwhelming. If you are new to my work, let me recommend a few titles as good places to start. I love my Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. series, humorous horror/mysteries, which begin with DEATH WARMED OVER. My steampunk fantasy adventures, CLOCKWORK ANGELS and CLOCKWORK LIVES, written with Neil Peart, legendary drummer from Rush, are two of my very favorite novels ever. And my magnum opus, the science fiction epic The Saga of Seven Suns, begins with HIDDEN EMPIRE. After you've tried those, I hope you'll check out some of my other series.

I have written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and I'm the co-author of the Dune prequels. My original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series and the Nebula Award-nominated Assemblers of Infinity. I have also written several comic books including the Dark Horse Star Wars collection Tales of the Jedi written in collaboration with Tom Veitch, Predator titles (also for Dark Horse), and X-Files titles for Topps.

I serve as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest.

My wife is author Rebecca Moesta. We currently reside near Monument, Colorado.

Reviews

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Santa Claus has come to the Unnatural Quarter, and he's enlisted Dan Shamble's help in tracking down his stolen Naughty and Nice list. One of the prime suspects is an oddly garish elf in a rhinestone studded jacket and blue suede shoes named Elfis, who plans to undercut Santa by delivering gifts to all children, both naughty and nice, and do it much earlier too, by Christmas Eve Eve. Dan is sure that Elfis is behind the stolen list, as well as all the children that have recently gone missing in the Quarter, all he has to do is prove it in time to save Christmas for Santa!

This short holiday story comes between books 3 and 4, Hair Raising and Slimy Underbelly, in the Dan Shamble, Zombie PI series. At only 43 pages, it's a quick read, but fast paced and fun nonetheless. :)

[Sarah-Grace (Azrael865) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dan Chambeaux (aka Shamble) is a private Investigator. During one case he is murdered, but that isn't enough to stop him. He comes back as a Zombie and continues his investigations.

In this short story, Santa Claus hires Dan to find his stolen Naughty & Nice list. Santa cannot do his Christmas night job without it. At the same time children are going missing, little werewolf, vampires and humans alike.

As Dan starts asking questions he discovers that the missing list and the missing children are connected in a surprising way.

[Storm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collected in A Fantastic Holiday Season: The Gift of Stories. Santa Claus hires Dan Shamble, Zombie PI to find and recover the Naughty and Nice list, without which he can't choose which children will get gifts and which will miss out, putting Christmas in Jeopardy! So Dan and his trusty assistant girlfriend get cracking on the case. These 2 are #relationship goals.

Not only is Sheyenne extremely smart, competent, and efficient, she's beautiful on all counts. She's also my girlfriend. On top of that, she happens to be a ghost, murdered in the same case that saw me dead. But even through all that, we stuck together. It's a testament to the strength of our relationship.

Dan doesn't have to look very far to find the prime suspect, Elfis, who snickers.
"You must mean his list. Anal-retentive, if you ask me ... And you think I had something to do with it? Why in the world would I need a list like that? I explicitly don't discriminate. I give presents to all kids, without scoring them on social behavior. What gives Santa the right to make a subjective decision about who's Naughty and Nice? Judgmental jerk, if you ask me." He sniffed. "I plan to take discrimination out of Christmas gift-giving, make it equal for all. What would be my motive for stealing the list?"

Wow, giving Gifts despite bad behavior? Way to incentivize bad kids. Clearly he hasn't thought about how much harder this make every parent's job.


Overall, this is a great Christmas story, full of Christmas related sayings, with some philosophy hidden under the entertainmnet and puns so terrible they actually reach the level of awesome.

[Mo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of the three Dan Shamble shorts I've read, this one is by far the best. Thoroughly enjoyed all the amusing xmas related quips, clever use of Christmas carol song lyrics, and the fun premise of Santa being challenged by a competitor.

Elfis as the thief of Santa's Naughty & Nice list, using the naughty kids in his 'sweat shop' and one-upping Santa by guaranteeing to deliver gifts on Christmas Eve Eve was a fun idea to vicariously experience, heh.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dan Shamble stories, despite their somewhat silly exteriors, often contain very dark tales of exploitation and crime. This was one such tale, where our beloved protagonists were eventually saved by Santa ex machina.
But it was a good read.

[Charl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. It doesn't have the charm of the other stories.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite in the Dan Shamble series, but still a fun quick read.

[Laurel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of the anthology:
A Fantastic Holiday Season: The Gift of Stories

[John Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christmas stories are always cute

Like this one. Lots of Santa and Elvis jokes in this one. Not brilliant like some others but well worth the effort to read.

[Joan Lloyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally dopey, silly and unbelievable as usual with this series. And they are fun to read as a total change of pace.

[Sue Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

A zombie private detective in a city where all your worse nightmares are real. A great idea and written with a sense of humour that makes this series work so well.

[Natalie aka Tannat · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing like a good undead Christmas story.

[Dale Rosso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Dan Shamble P.I. Christmas story, well worth a read or listen.

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming holiday story using characters I suspect Anderson has introduced in earlier works, though it's not necessary to have read those to enjoy "Naughty & Nice". Anderson deftly and lightheartedly merges the noir-ish black comedy world of the zombie private investigator and his ghostly companion with some comfortable holiday tropes. Obviously intended more as a service to existing fans than a standalone work of substance, but it's more than worthy for a holiday reading list.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fun little story here, would be 5* but some of the ending had a out of place and rushed feel. Still well worth the little times it takes to read it.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, and of course, it's always good to see our favorite zombie pi again. A good read, I liked it.

[Elizabeth Olson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Santa needs help, and only a zombie detective will do!

[☀Rachael☀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick fun read!

[Panda99 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet zombie story. I've really enjoyed these books, lots of fun.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming little Christmas vignette. If you're in the mood for largely mindless entertainment then the Dan Shambles books and stories fit the bill nicely.

[Krista D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, silly novella about Santa hiring a zombie PI.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun as is the case with all these Dan Shamble stories. Hardly mind stretching but sometimes stories should just be read for fun and this series certainly fits the bill.