Date: 25 May 2015 00:40 Title: San Francisco, 2255
Well, as you know already, Mac, I have a soft spot for your Gary Mitchell series anyway. This one had some truly fine moments, which made it one of the finer of the Mitchell series stories, and also a truly fine Christmas piece.
Having Mitchell trip over the bag was very believable, and my first thought was "who left the bag there?" That question isn't answered for us, and I sort of expected it to be since the Mitchell series usually deals with solving mysteries. Maybe the answer is a companion piece to this one, a sequel of sorts, where Gary sets out to find out who left a bag in Golden Gate park, containing gifts addressed to each of the current children in a particular orphanage.
That, for me had a sinster feel to it, and I wondered who would do such a thing, and why--whether they wanted to simply remain anonymous or if it was for some nefarious purpose. That said, I'm so glad nothing bad came of it.
I love that Mitchell took the trouble to return the bag, and that he didn't give up, even though there was a problem with the train and then the transporters, so he had to rent a boat and walk the rest of the way. I like that he got Kirk involved with the project, and that they decided to stay once they arrived at the orphanage.
I especially liked that Mitchell thought he heard Santa during the night. All in all, this story has everything a good Christmas story should have--family themes, warm fuzzies, and just a touch of mystery and imagination. Well done.
Not sure how I've missed this before now, except that I haven't been able to read as much lately as I'd have liked. I've been up to my ears in work, but I'll definitely be looking forward to more.
Author's Response: Firstly, my thanks for reviewing. I was quite surprised to get a review on it or anything to be honest!
It's funny, but I guess this does have a sinister feel to it. I intended it to be humourous but it could be seen to have that edge of darkness to it. Writing this kind of story where accident follows accident was taken from those episodes of sitcoms where it happens (I think Cheers' equivalent might be where Sam is locked out of Cheers and tries to get sleep in various homes before ending up at Cliff's) or old TV shows. Need to improve on that aspect I think.
Maybe soon I'll get more Mitchell's up.
Though I know who left the bag and I'm not sure a sequel would work...just yet :)