Review: Hook’s Tale

 

 

 

Synopsis:

A rollicking debut novel from award-winning playwright and screenwriter John Pielmeier reimagines the childhood of the much maligned Captain Hook: his quest for buried treasure, his friendship with Peter Pan, and the story behind the swashbuckling world of Neverland.

Long defamed as a vicious pirate, Captain James Cook (a.k.a Hook) was in fact a dazzling wordsmith who left behind a vibrant, wildly entertaining, and entirely truthful memoir. His chronicle offers a counter narrative to the works of J.M. Barrie, a “dour Scotsman” whose spurious accounts got it all wrong. Now, award-winning playwright John Pielmeier is proud to present this crucial historic artifact in its entirety for the first time.

Cook’s story begins in London, where he lives with his widowed mother. At thirteen, he runs away from home, but is kidnapped and pressed into naval service as an unlikely cabin boy. Soon he discovers a treasure map that leads to a mysterious archipelago called the “Never-Isles” from which there appears to be no escape. In the course of his adventures he meets the pirates Smee and Starkey, falls in love with the enchanting Tiger Lily, adopts an oddly affectionate crocodile, and befriends a charming boy named Peter—who teaches him to fly. He battles monsters, fights in mutinies, swims with mermaids, and eventually learns both the sad and terrible tale of his mother’s life and the true story of his father’s disappearance.

Like Gregory Maguire’s Wicked, Hook’s Tale offers a radical new version of a classic story, bringing readers into a much richer, darker, and enchanting version of Neverland than ever before. The characters that our hero meets—including the terrible Doctor Uriah Slinque and a little girl named Wendy—lead him to the most difficult decision of his life: whether to submit to the temptation of eternal youth, or to embrace the responsibilities of maturity and the inevitability of his own mortality. His choice, like his story, is not what you might expect.

Rating: 5-stars

Review:

Hook’s Tale by John Leonard Pielmeier is one fantastic read. Fans of Peter Pan stories will fall for this book as much as I have. This is a story of the villain, Captain Hook. The viewpoint was from him. His story is much different than I expected. So good, entertaining, and beautifully written. I was hooked. The imagination flew wildly in this tale. I felt like I was there experiencing it all. An insider’s guide to the real Captain Hook. I still wonder if this was truly Captain Hook’s story. It makes me as a reader wonder more and more about it. Could it have been? What what the story behind this villain? A villain who no longer felt as a villain but as a mere human. His journey was a sad yet beautiful one from the beginning to end. Overall, I recommend this novel to all readers.