Last year, Jade and Gloria were embroiled in a bitter conflict to win back their throne and their ancestral home. This year, Queen Jade and Princess Gloria want to host the biggest and best Christmas party ever in their palace. They invite all their friends to come and bring guests. Not even the birth of Jade’s heir just before Christmas will stop them.
The guest list includes most of Britain’s complement of super-powered crime-fighters, their families and friends. What could possibly go wrong?
Gatecrashers, unexpected arrivals, exploding Christmas crackers and a kidnapping, for starters.
Far away in space, the Constellations, a cosmic peacekeeping force, have suffered a tragic loss. They need to recruit a new member to replace their dead colleague. The two top candidates are both at Jade and Gloria’s party. The arrival of the recruitment delegation on Christmas Eve is a surprise for everyone; but their visit means one guest now faces a life-changing decision.
Meanwhile, an alliance of the enemies of various guests at the party has infiltrated the palace; they hide in the dungeon, plotting how best to get rid of the crime-fighters and the royal family once and for all. Problem is, they all have their own agendas and differences of opinion on how to achieve their aims.
Not to mention that this year, the ghosts who walk the corridors of the palace on Christmas Eve will be as surprised by the living as the living are by them.
General Information
Pages: 143
Published: 12 November 2016
ISBN: 978-1540314543
Themes
- Christmas
- Superheroes
- Reunions/parties
- Life choices
- Shocking surprises
- Mistaken identity
First page
The prison officer walked through the gate, his boots crunching on the fast-settling snow. He gave a cheery wave to the security guard on duty. Whistling Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, he doffed his cap to the man and called out, ‘A very merry Christmas to you, Sir!’
‘Same to you,’ countered the guard, looking carefully at the officer. He couldn’t place his face, but the staff changed frequently. Judging by the smartness of the uniform, this officer must be new. The officer resumed his whistling and walked on.
Several blocks away from the jail he stopped in a quiet street. After making sure nobody had followed him, the prisoner turned off the illusion he’d been maintaining, that of a prison officer, and took on instead the form of a white-haired businessman in a smart winter coat.
It was good to be free, he mused as he spent the last of his canteen money on a copy of The Times. It was good to use his power again after all this time. So good. He thanked providence for sending a new officer that day, who hadn’t been told the true purpose of the handcuffs they’d put on him.
Reasons not to read it
- It’s a bit short. You could probably read it in one sitting.
- Most of the action takes place at a Christmas party. In a palace.
- It’s all about Christmas but there doesn’t seem to be a schmaltzy moral message.
- There are a couple of babies and some small children in it – and one nearly gets eaten.
- Santa appears in it, but he isn’t really Santa.
- Superheroes. Again.
- Not to mention a whole bunch of super-villains. Again all new ones and not the ones we know from Marvel or DC.
Gallery
Julie Howlin Author 