What do you think?
Rate this book
The Last Christmas Eve: A gripping and twist-filled festive psychological thriller
Not yet published
Expected 13 Oct 26Kindle Edition
Expected publication October 13, 2026
About the author
Nancy Savage
6 books71 followersNancy Savage writes psychological thrillers published by Bloodhound Books and Inkubator Books. She lives in a house overlooking the hills with her partner, their six kids, and two cats.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
Christmas Eve should be a night of warmth, family, and familiar rituals — but when Holly Martin brings her new boyfriend home, she walks straight into a house thick with old secrets and unspoken history. The tension is already simmering when a blood‑covered stranger appears at the door, and with a blizzard cutting them off from the outside world, the Martins are forced to confront the past they’ve spent years avoiding. By midnight, someone intends to make sure this family never sees Christmas Day.
What makes this thriller so gripping is the atmosphere — that claustrophobic, snow‑bound pressure where every room feels like it’s holding its breath. The Martins aren’t just dysfunctional; they’re fractured in ways that feel quietly dangerous. You can sense the weight of what they refuse to talk about, the way their silence has shaped the house itself. It’s a family portrait painted in shadows.
Holly’s perspective adds a lovely emotional thread. She’s trying to introduce someone new into a family that barely holds together on its own, and the discomfort of that is palpable. Her boyfriend becomes a kind of mirror — reflecting just how strange, brittle, and guarded the Martins really are. It’s not dramatic at first; it’s subtle, the kind of unease that creeps in slowly.
The arrival of the stranger shifts everything. Suddenly the house feels smaller, the storm louder, the secrets sharper. The book handles this beautifully — danger doesn’t explode; it tightens. Every conversation feels loaded, every glance a clue, every silence a warning. And because no one can leave, the tension has nowhere to go but inward.
What I enjoyed is how the story plays with the idea of family loyalty. Everyone is lying, but not everyone is lying for the same reason. Some lies are protective, some are selfish, some are born from fear. And as the night unfolds, those layers peel back in ways that feel both shocking and inevitable.
The psychological suspense is dark but not gratuitous. It’s built from character — from guilt, resentment, old wounds, and the kind of secrets that warp a family from the inside out. The twists land because they’re rooted in emotion, not spectacle.
By the end, the book leaves you with that lingering chill — the sense that the past never stays buried, that families can be both refuge and danger, and that Christmas Eve can be the perfect stage for truths that refuse to stay hidden.
A tense, atmospheric thriller full of family secrets, creeping dread, and the kind of twists that make you rethink every earlier chapter. Perfect for readers who like their holiday stories dark, intimate, and impossible to put down.
My thanks to Nancy Savage for the ARC
What makes this thriller so gripping is the atmosphere — that claustrophobic, snow‑bound pressure where every room feels like it’s holding its breath. The Martins aren’t just dysfunctional; they’re fractured in ways that feel quietly dangerous. You can sense the weight of what they refuse to talk about, the way their silence has shaped the house itself. It’s a family portrait painted in shadows.
Holly’s perspective adds a lovely emotional thread. She’s trying to introduce someone new into a family that barely holds together on its own, and the discomfort of that is palpable. Her boyfriend becomes a kind of mirror — reflecting just how strange, brittle, and guarded the Martins really are. It’s not dramatic at first; it’s subtle, the kind of unease that creeps in slowly.
The arrival of the stranger shifts everything. Suddenly the house feels smaller, the storm louder, the secrets sharper. The book handles this beautifully — danger doesn’t explode; it tightens. Every conversation feels loaded, every glance a clue, every silence a warning. And because no one can leave, the tension has nowhere to go but inward.
What I enjoyed is how the story plays with the idea of family loyalty. Everyone is lying, but not everyone is lying for the same reason. Some lies are protective, some are selfish, some are born from fear. And as the night unfolds, those layers peel back in ways that feel both shocking and inevitable.
The psychological suspense is dark but not gratuitous. It’s built from character — from guilt, resentment, old wounds, and the kind of secrets that warp a family from the inside out. The twists land because they’re rooted in emotion, not spectacle.
By the end, the book leaves you with that lingering chill — the sense that the past never stays buried, that families can be both refuge and danger, and that Christmas Eve can be the perfect stage for truths that refuse to stay hidden.
A tense, atmospheric thriller full of family secrets, creeping dread, and the kind of twists that make you rethink every earlier chapter. Perfect for readers who like their holiday stories dark, intimate, and impossible to put down.
My thanks to Nancy Savage for the ARC
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
The Last Christmas Eve by Nancy Savage is a thrilling and scary Christmas read that certainly isn’t the festive family gathering Holly was expecting.
When Holly invites her boyfriend Finn to spend Christmas with her family, she knows to expect some embarrassing moments because her family can be a little strange. However, she has no idea just how terrifying the night is going to become. Almost as soon as they arrive, things seem strange. Her mother is behaving oddly, her brother isn’t particularly welcoming, and before long, more and more weird occurrences begin to unfold. Will everyone survive the night, and who is responsible for what is happening?
The prologue immediately throws you into the horror of the night, leaving you wondering how everything could possibly have become this bad. From there, I was eager to find out exactly what was happening and, more importantly, why.
I particularly enjoyed discovering the secrets and lies surrounding the different characters and seeing how everything fitted together. As more was revealed, I wanted to understand what had really been going on and how all the different pieces connected.
There were a few times when I wasn’t completely convinced by the characters’ decisions. At times, a character would make one decision and then do something quite different shortly afterwards, which didn’t always seem to make sense to me. However, this didn’t stop me from being drawn into the story.
There was plenty of suspense throughout, along with strange and frightening moments that kept me hooked. The pace also made this an easy book to keep reading, and I found myself wanting to read just one more chapter.
Overall, The Last Christmas Eve is a great Christmas read for anyone who likes their festive stories with a darker and more sinister edge. With its secrets, lies, suspense and unsettling moments, it kept me engaged from beginning to end.
I received an ARC from Bloodhound Books for an honest review, thank you, and all thoughts are my own.
When Holly invites her boyfriend Finn to spend Christmas with her family, she knows to expect some embarrassing moments because her family can be a little strange. However, she has no idea just how terrifying the night is going to become. Almost as soon as they arrive, things seem strange. Her mother is behaving oddly, her brother isn’t particularly welcoming, and before long, more and more weird occurrences begin to unfold. Will everyone survive the night, and who is responsible for what is happening?
The prologue immediately throws you into the horror of the night, leaving you wondering how everything could possibly have become this bad. From there, I was eager to find out exactly what was happening and, more importantly, why.
I particularly enjoyed discovering the secrets and lies surrounding the different characters and seeing how everything fitted together. As more was revealed, I wanted to understand what had really been going on and how all the different pieces connected.
There were a few times when I wasn’t completely convinced by the characters’ decisions. At times, a character would make one decision and then do something quite different shortly afterwards, which didn’t always seem to make sense to me. However, this didn’t stop me from being drawn into the story.
There was plenty of suspense throughout, along with strange and frightening moments that kept me hooked. The pace also made this an easy book to keep reading, and I found myself wanting to read just one more chapter.
Overall, The Last Christmas Eve is a great Christmas read for anyone who likes their festive stories with a darker and more sinister edge. With its secrets, lies, suspense and unsettling moments, it kept me engaged from beginning to end.
I received an ARC from Bloodhound Books for an honest review, thank you, and all thoughts are my own.
September 5, 2026
I have read most of Nancy Savage's books, and enjoyed each and every one of them.
She is an amazing psychological thriller author. Twists and unpredictable events and endings.
Holly is going home to her dysfunctional family for Christmas. She is taking her new boyfriend, Finn, against her better judgement. After all, the previous Christmas, the boyfriend she introduced to her family never bothered to contact her again.
You really should read this book to get the full story, because I can't provide a summary in a few paragraphs. There is just too much happening in this book.
So many twists. Reveals that will knock your socks off. Seriously, I don't think even Freida McFadden can think up half of these twists!! And that is saying something - she is another of my favourite authors.
But I digress.
The suspense in this book builds up chapter by chapter. Twist follows twist, and there is heart pounding suspense.
I had several suspects in the murders, and was totally wrong.
The plot....... have you heard about the 6 degrees of separation? That is the idea that any two people on Earth are connected by six or fewer social links.
You will understand that after reading this book.
The Epilogue!! Absolutely horrifying. So chilling!!
No wonder I read this in one sitting, and refused to go to sleep till I had read to the last page!!
I don't want to give plot twists away, but this really is a major twist.
What more could you want? Emotions, murder, revenge, insanity, toxic characters. It is all in this book.
I am giving this book a 5 star rating. It IS that good!!
Do yourselves a favour, read the thrillers by Nancy Savage, you won't regret it.
It will take a lot for someone to top this seasonal Christmas thriller though. Absolute Genius.
Thanks to Nancy Savage for sending me this book to review. I appreciate it immensely.
She is an amazing psychological thriller author. Twists and unpredictable events and endings.
Holly is going home to her dysfunctional family for Christmas. She is taking her new boyfriend, Finn, against her better judgement. After all, the previous Christmas, the boyfriend she introduced to her family never bothered to contact her again.
You really should read this book to get the full story, because I can't provide a summary in a few paragraphs. There is just too much happening in this book.
So many twists. Reveals that will knock your socks off. Seriously, I don't think even Freida McFadden can think up half of these twists!! And that is saying something - she is another of my favourite authors.
But I digress.
The suspense in this book builds up chapter by chapter. Twist follows twist, and there is heart pounding suspense.
I had several suspects in the murders, and was totally wrong.
The plot....... have you heard about the 6 degrees of separation? That is the idea that any two people on Earth are connected by six or fewer social links.
You will understand that after reading this book.
The Epilogue!! Absolutely horrifying. So chilling!!
No wonder I read this in one sitting, and refused to go to sleep till I had read to the last page!!
I don't want to give plot twists away, but this really is a major twist.
What more could you want? Emotions, murder, revenge, insanity, toxic characters. It is all in this book.
I am giving this book a 5 star rating. It IS that good!!
Do yourselves a favour, read the thrillers by Nancy Savage, you won't regret it.
It will take a lot for someone to top this seasonal Christmas thriller though. Absolute Genius.
Thanks to Nancy Savage for sending me this book to review. I appreciate it immensely.
Review of advance copy received from Author
🍸 𝗦𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘁𝘄𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀. 𝗦𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗳𝘂𝗻.
I was hooked from the prologue, and from there I was completely invested. Everyone was lying, I trusted absolutely nobody, and I genuinely had no idea where this was going.
And then the twists just kept coming. Nancy Savage completely blindsided me more than once, including one that had me sitting there thinking, what just happened?!
This is everything I want from a popcorn thriller: intriguing, unpredictable, addictive and ridiculously entertaining. I had an absolute blast with it.
Thank you to Nancy Savage for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. All opinions are my own.
I was hooked from the prologue, and from there I was completely invested. Everyone was lying, I trusted absolutely nobody, and I genuinely had no idea where this was going.
And then the twists just kept coming. Nancy Savage completely blindsided me more than once, including one that had me sitting there thinking, what just happened?!
This is everything I want from a popcorn thriller: intriguing, unpredictable, addictive and ridiculously entertaining. I had an absolute blast with it.
Thank you to Nancy Savage for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. All opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Author
What should be a night of fun filled warmth and cheer is turned into a event that you will only see in your nightmares. The twists in this constantly blindsided me and I said "what the?" More than I can count. I had no idea where the author was leading but I felt destined to find out. It's the perfect festive setting for murder mystery and suspense intrigue.
September 12, 2026
As a family gathers for Christmas Eve, a series of events lead to disaster! Holly brings her new boyfriend to her family’s celebration. Along with her family, it begins as a wonderful, traditional Christmas Eve. However, things turn when a woman shows up at the door covered in blood.
This novel is a gripping and exciting story! Ms. Savage has created wonderful characters. Each one brings their own personality and history into the book. It is very fast-paced and easy to read. I definitely recommend it!
This novel is a gripping and exciting story! Ms. Savage has created wonderful characters. Each one brings their own personality and history into the book. It is very fast-paced and easy to read. I definitely recommend it!
Review of advance copy
4.5 ⭐️
August 31, 2026
What should have been a Christmas family gathering for the Martins turns into a holiday from hell. With some staggering twists and turns it is proper page turner.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
This was a good read and didn't expect that ending
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews