Claus: Rise of the Miser (Claus Universe)

Claus: Rise of the Miser (Claus Universe)

SOMETIMES THE BIGGEST THREAT TO CHRISTMAS IS THE ONE TRYING TO SAVE IT. A seven-year-old boy writes to Santa. Not for toys, not for video games, but for something far bigger: a gift for his mother and, if possible, a quick ride in the sleigh. The letter is short, honest, and mailed the old-fashioned way. That should've been the end of it. Instead, it's read. By a mother, who cries. By a network, hidden behind screens. By someone who hasn't believed in magic for decades... and someone who never stopped. What begins with a single wish lands Kandi, a brilliant but broken girl, and her widowed father on a luxury Christmas vacation they didn't ask for. The destination? A tropical island where ornaments float, holograms dance, and the snow is absent. There are no phones. No guests. Their mysterious host is cloaked and just a little obsessed with Christmas. She's prepared every detail. Too perfectly. But as heat rises and technology glitches, paradise begins to unravel. The island isn't just a resort. It's a stage. At its center is a hidden tower, and inside it, a legend is waking up. Confused. Powerful. The most famous Christmas figure of all, pulled into a game he doesn't understand. And their host? She has plans. Big ones. The kind that will rewrite Christmas itself. Claus: Rise of the Miser is a bold, surreal holiday adventure packed with illusions, secrets, and sentient machines. At its core is a girl desperate for answers and a mother desperate for redemption. Magic meets technology, wishes collide with reality, and Christmas will never look the same. Because sometimes the greatest gift comes wrapped in chaos. "Another fun-filled ride that kept the book in my hand for six straight hours. I couldn't put it down and read through the night." Tony Bertauski began his writing career with magazine columns, landscape design textbooks, and a gardening column for the Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina, before turning fully to fiction. Influenced by a grandfather whose shelves overflowed with classic science fiction, his work explores consciousness, identity, and what it means to be human. In 2008, he won the South Carolina Fiction Open for his short story Four Letter Words. He is best known for the Claus Universe and the Socket Greeny Saga, writing stories that emphasize momentum, emotional connection, and unexpected twists, always with entertainment at the forefront.