For those who have had their fill of sweet stories about jolly old St. Nick, McCoy offers something quite a bit different. The main character in this edgy holiday tale is a nervous little boy who is so obsessed with Santa monitoring his behavior that the child is undergoing counseling (from a psychologist or psychiatrist who remains hidden in his wing-backed chair). The boy confesses that he sees the same Santa character everywhere: at the movies, the zoo, the fair, with a biker gang, even getting a tattoo, and the final page reveals that even the counselor is one of the ubiquitous Santa characters. The cartoon-style illustrations portray this rather disturbing Santa figure as morbidly obese, with a bulbous nose, huge beard and large mouth, wearing a different outfit in each illustration. Adult readers will get a chuckle out of the cover illustration, portraying the little boy in mid-shriek on a bridge, echoing The Scream, but they may also want to scream at the thought of Santa getting a tattoo or smoking a cigar. (Picture book. 6-9)
