'Alias Hook'

Clap if you believe in fairies!

And I did!  I clapped while reading 'Peter Pan'.  I clapped while watching the movies (but drooled while watching 'Neverland' with Johnny Depp).

But I didn't while I was reading 'Alias Hook', the new novel written by Lisa Jensen.

I did later on, but not for Tink.  Nope.  Not her.

This is a quite unusual story, written from the p.o.v. of James Benjamin Hook, a.k.a. 'Captain Hook'.

And it's for adults.  Not in a 'Fifty Shades...' way.  It's just full of adult perspective; longing, despair, sorrow, things not present in our childhood version of Peter Pan.  If you are a fan of the television series, 'Once Upon a Time', you'll have an instant connection to this story, although 'Alias Hook' goes a bit deeper into the legend.

Lisa Jensen has woven a wonderful tale about the villain who is stuck in a game of 'cat-and-mouse' with a not-so-innocent Pan.

Captain James Benjamin Hook is a witty, educated Restoration-era privateer cursed to play the villain to a pack of malicious little boys.  James was once a dashing youth, a betrayed fiance, and finally, a bitter outlaw seeking revenge.  But after a brief affair with a voudon priestess, a curse has sent him to Neverland, where he is stuck forever in a pointless, never-ending war.

But when Stella Parrish, a grown woman, dreams her way into Neverland (which gives her more opportunities than Hook could ever dream of), she finds a very complex, intriguing man than the one she had only read about. Together, she and Hook find a connection, and seek escape before Pan and his boys can find them and drag Hook back into their never-ending game. But freedom begs a sacrifice, something that Hook can barely consider.

Author Lisa Jensen

Every character from the 'Pan' book makes an appearance, and, because of Pan's rules, they are forbidden to take a step out of line. Hook and Stella's exceptional courage put a new light on the 'legend', and the ending is a bit heartbreaking.

But I loved it.  

And I won't clap for Tinkerbell anymore.







'Alias Hook', published by Thomas Dunne Books (an imprint of St. Martin's Press), is available at your local library and independent bookstore!  ISBN 978-1-250-04215-6