2.75 stars. a quick, straight forward, gory christmas horror to pass the time. the writing was decent enough, and i actually laughed out loud at that afterword by the author (extra points for saving the dog i guess), but there's just nothing else to say? you can't really expect much. there's very little build up to the plot or insight into the characters other than basic facts about their backgrounds and personalities, although i do wanna compliment the eerily intelligent and human-portrayal of the visitor, but other than that? yeah, there's no beating around the bush, it almost immediately heads right into aliens and death. so if you're looking for that plus a really quick and short pace that won't take up much of your time, then this right here is a great book to put on a christmas tbr.