***

John Pickett is frustratingly obtuse in this novella as he stumbles about cluelessly when, after hitting his head, he finds himself somehow in an an alternate reality where he doesn’t exist. After stubbornly indulging in Denial regarding his peculiar, unfortunate and unlikely circumstances for far too long, John pointlessly chooses to muddle about playing idiot-in-shining-armor instead of trying to figure out how to somehow return to his original, mostly happy life. Needless to say, I found this one a tad disappointing, though mercifully short. Still, if one loves John Pickett and likes Christmas-adjacent themes a la ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, it’s not absolutely terrible. I’m giving this 3 stars – I’ve read far worse but I’ve also read better. I must confess, though, that I much prefer the usual clever, mystery-solving John Pickett to the hopelessly addled prat I met in this book. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.