‘Not Alone at Home’ is comic tale of holiday gone wrong

Don’t eat the mashed potatoes. That’s one takeaway from “Not Alone at Home,” second in a series of holiday-themed comic novellas by Wooster author Bob Adamov.

Like 2024’s “Alone at Home,” which Adamov said is a “senior citizen version” of “Home Alone,” “Not Alone” is set in coastal North Carolina, home of grumpy octogenarian George Ivers and his wife, Charlotte. In that first book, Ivers is looking forward to a solitary Christmas when Charlotte goes out of town. Instead, his shenanigans backfire on him.

In “Not Alone,” George learns that Charlotte’s sister will be joining them for Thanksgiving dinner, despite his best efforts to thwart the plans (including trying to convince Charlotte that Thanksgiving “is postponed this year.”) George sabotages the guest room and bath with rubber snakes