Ever wonder where the esteemed Captain James Hook came from? Well, long before the hook, the crocodile, Neverland, and a certain boy who could fly, there was just James Matthew, the bastard son of an English lord, a young man starting his scholastic career at Eton. Arrogant, overconfident, vindictive and proud, he wastes no time in making enemies of the upperclassmen, including one who’ll be his nemesis for a long time to come, a boy named Arthur Darling. James Matthew’s no ordinary boy. With his yellow blood and quick healing, keen mind and affinity for spiders, and elegant long black curls, he stands out both physically and socially. Quickly defying every tradition and custom Eton has to offer. He’ll challenge a queen, romance a Sultana, lead his compatriots to victory and glory, steal a ship, escape arrest, and leave his mark upon the buildings and inhabitants of Eton, and that’s just the start of a legendary journey. By the time it’s over, James Matthew will be dead, and Captain James Hook will be born. Along with his best friend and sidekick, Jolly Roger, he’ll become an anti-hero and a pirate, and history will never be the same.
Acting as a prequel to Peter Pan, this is another one of those “what if?” scenarios that seeks to both humanize and explore the origins and motivations of one of literature’s most enduring and notorious villains. Where this book deviates is in its attempt to make Hook a hero in his own mind, and his own right. He’s evil, yes. He’s cunning, yes. He’s a killer and a rogue, a pirate playing his own game, yes. But he has just as many positive qualities: loyalty, honor, strength, resourcefulness, and a willingness to challenge unfair authority. It’s easy to see the young man as someone with the best of intentions, who only loses them later in life, and it would be fascinating to see how Hart takes the young Hook and fully transforms him into the one-handed hunter of Lost Boys we’re more familiar with. I do have to question the choice to give Hook his unusual healing ability, since I don’t recall Barrie’s Hook having such qualities as yellow blood or unnatural healing. But apart from that, this was a highly enjoyable read, one which almost ranks with Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson’s Peter and the Starcatchers for Peter Pan prequels. I hope we’ll see more, since it’s obvious the story isn’t finished yet.