‘The Christmas List’ by Richard Paul Evans

  It just wouldn’t be Christmas without an uplifting novel of the season from author Richard Paul Evans. Best known for his best-selling debut novel, “The Christmas Box,” Evans has released a new Christmas story each year since.
  This year’s offering is “The Christmas List,” a fascinating story of one man’s attempt to turn his life around during the holiday season.
  Real estate magnate James Kier has been a cold, ruthless businessman all his adult life, caring for no one but himself and getting rich any way he can, no matter who he hurts.
  But one day while away on a trip, Kier opens the paper to find his photo on the front page with his obituary. It was a case of mistaken identity, as it was another James Kier who died, but Kier soon discovers what people really think of him as he reads the comments that accompany the obit online. He is shocked at how many people think of him as being a mean, miserable man.
  Attending the visitation for the “other” James Kier, the “alive” Kier is struck with how beloved the other man was, an ordinary man, but one blessed with a wealth of friends and family who were mourning his loss. It is then and there that James Kier decides to make amends to the many people he's hurt over the years.
  Having his shocked secretary make a list of people she felt he had done wrong, Kier sets out to right the wrongs he had made, but nothing prepares him for the wide range of emotions he will come across along the way. From a punch in the face to dismay at a former friend’s new aggressive nature, Kier forges on, each encounter leading him back to the same place where all the damage began — his own family. Will he be able to reach them before it’s too late to find forgiveness.
  A modern day take on the Dickens classic “A Christmas Carol,” Evans once again has created a beautiful story with a moral lesson that is destined to take its place among his beloved as well as best-selling novels.