Review: Only one chapter long
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 11 8, 2013
I had just finished The Santa Shop yesterday and was eager to read this alternate ending.  I bought it for $0.99, knowing it would be short (37 pages). What I didn't realize was that part of the 37 pages were the last two chapters of previous Santa Shop book, the one "Hollywood Ending" chapter, and an excerpt from another book by the author, Bones in the Tree.  Not only was the Hollywood ending chapter short, I found it to be not as well-written as the rest of the Santa Shop book.  It definitely had the feel of an afterthought, dashed off in a hurry, and was very anticlimactic. That being said, the excerpt from Bones in the Tree was very good, enough to make me consider buying the book.  Therefore, I can only deduce that the author's real purpose for The Hollywood Ending was to get people interested in buying The Bones in the Tree, rather than adding to the ending of the Santa Shop.  I felt like I had been the victim of the bate and switch tactic used by several department stores.  This was not at all the Christmas feeling I had left with after reading the original Santa Shop book.  If this had been free, as was the original Santa Shop when I downloaded it, I don't think I would have felt so duped.  I realize it is only $0.99, but the idea bothers me enough to make me hesitant about buying another book of his, just on the principal of the thing.