Before he became Captain Hook, the darkness of Neverland broke his bond with Peter Pan.
Before Neverland became a battlefield of pirates and lost boys, it was a sanctuary for two boys running from the weight of the world.
Young Peter is a motherless child fleeing the cold factories of London. James is a lonely, overworked academy student drowning in his father’s relentless demands.
When their paths cross in the forgotten corners of Kensington Gardens, an unlikely brotherhood is born over an intriguing, mysterious riddle. Together, they step through the green veil into Neverland—a hallucinatory world of both paradise and violent reckoning.
But Neverland mirrors their deepest fears, and the idyllic dream begins to fracture. Deep within the island's waters hides the Oroclen—an impossibly dangerous sea monster tied to the riddle and the relentless march of time.
A bond of brotherhood carelessly severed, a missing hand, and a shadow deep in the sea transform childhood companions into mortal enemies—setting the stage for a tragic descent from innocence into obsession, and turning James into the notorious Captain Hook.
Captain Hook and Peter: The Days Before is a richly atmospheric, dark fairy-tale origin story that subverts classic Peter Pan tropes with a morally gray hero and sympathetic villain origin. Perfect for fans of Gregory Maguire, Christina Henry, and dark, character-driven retelling fantasy.
