Name: 25 Days
Author: Per Jacobsen
ISBN: 9781668209592

Adam - Beth’s husband
Beth - Adam’s wife
Abby - Adam and Beth’s daughter, 15
Chloe - Adam and Beth’s daughter, 9
Bill - Owner of the cabin
Bumbleball - The bunny Chloe get attached to

Dec 1: At the cabin, the family tends to small animals - bunnies, chickens, and piglets - during their stay.
Dec 2: The first stocking gift is a slide for a projector - a photo of the land they’re staying on.
Dec 3: In the stocking is another slide of the same scene but a little closer.
Dec 4: In the stocking is a third picture even closer up.
Chloe explores an old bomb shelter behind the cabin and discovers a device that can project the slides from the stockings.
The family look at the three slides they’ve received and realize that they were taken in the last few days while the family has been at the cabin.
Dec 5: Adam checks the stocking and finds bloody chicken feathers.
Adam throws the stocking away
Dec 6: No new stocking appears
Dec 7: The stocking returns - this time containing one of Bumbleball’s feet.
Adam throws the stocking away again.
The family tries to leave but the car is dead.
Dec 8: No stocking.
Dec 9: Adam and Beth make preparations for the family to hike down the mountain the next day.
Dec 10: Several hours into their hike down the mountain they spot Bill’s SUV on the road - the passenger door is open and there is a day or two’s worth of snow on it.
There is a stocking hanging on the rearview mirror - in it is one of Bill’s fingers.
Beth sees someone off in the distance who shoots at the family with a rifle.
The family escapes into the woods where they spend the night.
Dec 11: The family sleeps in the woods again.
Dec 12: The family ends up at the edge of a canyon.
The stalker shoots Adam in the leg, sending him tumbling into the canyon.
The stalker approaches the girls on his snowmobile and subdues them.
Dec 13: Adam is alive but in bad shape and he slowly climbs his way out of the canyon back to where he left the girls.
When he gets there he sees snowmobile tracks leading away from the canyon.
Dec 14: Beth is locked in a concrete room with a metal door.
Dec 15: Abby and Chloe are tied up in some kind of engine room with high ceilings.
The abductor drags a man through the engine room and through another door, Abby recognizes the man as Bill and he’s missing nine of his fingers.
When the abductor returns the girls see Bill lying dead on the floor in the next room.
Dec 16: Chloe is able to free herself and Abby encourages her to go find help.
Dec 17: Adam very slowly follows the snowmobile tracks, desperate to save his family.
Dec 18: Chloe can’t find her way out but she finds Beth.
Beth finds a sign that tells her they are in an abandoned radio outpost.
Chloe takes Beth to where Abby is but the door is locked from the outside.
Chloe crawls through a grate to get back into the room and opens the door for Beth.
Beth moves toward Abby but is struck by a tranquilizer dart.
Dec 19: Beth, Abby and Chloe are all now tied up in the engine room.
The abductor gathers his tools, threatens to hurt the girls if Beth doesn’t comply, and then cuts off two of her fingers.
Suddenly, Adam appears and attacks the abductor.
The abductor starts choking Adam and Beth stabs him in the shoulder with a branch cutter.
The abductor laughs and walks out of the room.
Dec 20: Adam frees the girls from their bindings and the family heads back out into the woods.
Dec 22: Beth spots a road.
Dec 23: The family walks along the road until they come to the gas station where they met up with Bill on day one.
It’s closed so Adam breaks in and they enter to look for a telephone.
A man confronts them and when they explain what happened he lets them use his phone.
As Beth dials 911 the man gets shot in the head and they see their abductor standing in the doorway.
As the abductor forces the family outside, they manage to ignite the gas station - trapping him in the flames.
Dec 24: The family is getting treated in the hospital.
Dec 25: One year later
Abby and Chloe open presents while Adam and Beth watch.
The doorbell rings, and Adam finds a stocking hanging on the front door.

If you're looking for a horror novel that throws you right into the deep end and doesn't let up, this is definitely it. It's an intensely suspenseful read that will keep you glued to the page.
This book is really fast paced with short chapters. It's meant to be read as an advent, one chapter a day, but I devoured it in one sitting. Every chapter just hooks you and it makes it hard to put the book down.
Overall, this is an awesome piece of horror. It's fast, gripping, and genuinely suspenseful. It's the perfect book for a dark night when you want a story that will grab you and not let go.

Adam - Alive - Shaken and fearful after discovering the stocking on the door at their home
Beth - Alive - Appears to have recovered, though she remains self-conscious about her missing fingers
Abby - Alive - Adjusted well and behaving normally after the ordeal
Chloe - Alive - Back to her usual self, showing no signs of lasting trauma
Bill - Dead - Captured and tortured by the abductor
Bumbleball - Dead - Killed by the abductor

Confinement
Child abuse
Torture
Blood
Death
Violence
Animal death
Gun violence
Fire

Dark/Bleak

Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books

ISBN: 9781668209592

Publication Date: September 30, 2025

Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.

25 Days

Contribute Your Spoils