Book Review: "The Candle Man" by Glenn Dakin

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

Theo spends his life in a huge mansion, with only a few individuals to keep him company. A dangerous illness keeps him from a life until one day he gets a message for a secret meeting. This meeting changes everything and suddenly he realizes nothing is what he thought it was, not even himself.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Theo is a sheltered young man, rather meek with only his curiosity pushing him. His knowledge of life is limited, which sometimes leads to silly observations. I found this aspect of him charming.

Dr. Saint is a supposed doctor who is in charge of Theo, making sure he gets treatment for his illness.

Mr. Nicely is the butler. He is rather subservient to Dr. Saint.

Tristus is a garghoul that seems to have his own agenda, while he watches over Theo.

Magnus is an older man who has been watching over Theo from afar.

Sam is Magnus' grandson. He is enthusiastic and eager for adventure.

Chloe is a young women who is sarcastic, bold, and cynical.

PACING

We get an introduction chapter where we see how sheltered and strange Theo's life is. On the second chapter things get more interesting, as Theo learns his caretakers have secrets and by the third chapter, Theo learn's that something really is wrong with him. So the story doesn't wait long to get started.

From then one we get plenty of action including multiple chase scenes. So the story isn't slow by any means. And there are some good cliffhanger chapter endings.

USE OF HUMOR

There are some very silly moments, more in the first portion of the book. Although some of jokes are hit or miss for me. Some of Theo's observations are disturbing while other succeed at being funny.

I had to smile when he thought of coffee as "the brown death". While his spouting that happiness was dangerous was disturbing. But I think the latter was supposed to express the more important teachings of his guardians.

TWO SOCIETIES

The story is about the fight between two groups, the Society of Good Works and the Society of Unrelenting Vigilance. The latter made to watch the former.

I found most of the scenes were Dr. Saint ranted about doing good deeds to be kind of silly. I didn't take him serious as a villain because I couldn't believe that he believed what he was saying. And sadly, I think it could have been done well, because what they want to do is take peoples freedoms to make a better world. They see individualism as dangerous. So their collectivists. No different then communists, socialists and marxists. Seeing how there is so much material to go off of, I was let down that it felt so cheesy.

And the idea is genius, even if its an exaggeration of what politicans already do. Call yourself the Society of Good Deeds. Use buzzwords that the masses have already been trained to respond to. Equality. Justice. Antiracist. Antibigotry. Who can be against those things? No one. And the fact that those who are using these words don't care about anyone but themselves and manipulating others' emotions to gain power, well, most people are too dumb to notice.

THE MERCY TUBE

We learn pretty fast that there is a mechanical device called the mercy tube that Theo has to use every night. It's for his illness. But he doesn't know exactly what his illness is and we aren't told why he believes he is ill. I guess he has just been told his whole life so he believes it.

Regardless, we do eventually learn what the real purpose of the tube is but there isn't any detail given to how it is supposed to work.

THEO & CHLOE

There interactions are funny at first, because Chloe knows all about him. She makes fun of the fact that all he knows are silly fairy tales as well as the fact that he thinks that Sam is dangerous because he wants to be happy and thows jelly beans into his mouth. That line made me laugh but in reality I wish Chloe had realized how screwed up that Theo was.

His reasoning skills are that of a child much younger than him. I eventually expected her to take him more seriously. But she only does that when she sees him use his skill to melt someone.

Theo is often confused by Chloe's behavior but he soon grows to respect her. He realizes the fact that she has been putting her life on the line and continues to do so, is amazing. But instead of this being a gradual process where he sees her actions and he expresses awe through his own he expresses it awkwardly, through his thoughts. And it felt kind of cheesy and overdone.

RELATIONSHIPS

I think one thing that is severely lacking in the story is relationships. The only real relationship that Theo has with anyone is Chloe. He has no real relationship with Dr. Saint, certainly there isn't any trust. Theo just goes along because he is naive and has no reason not to trust him.

Mr. Nicely could be considered more well intentioned, or at least more friendly. But still, not much of an actual relationship.

I guess what I am saying is that Theo can't be crushed about Dr. Saint lying, because Dr. Saint isn't a mentor or protector character. Theo is mad because of the lie of his life, not because he trusted anything Dr. Saint said or did specifically.

I wanted him to recall a moment of kindess between them, so he could feel betrayed. I understand that in order for the story to jump right in, there was time to form any deep relationship. But we could have flashed back a few times, making the truth all the more hard to bear for Theo.

It would have also been nice if Magnus had become a sort of mentor character as well. But he is barely in the story. Also i would have liked it if Sam had become a friend, and perhaps we could see the contrast between an opposite sex friendship and a same sex friendship. And how Theo handled these differences which he had never encountered before.

AWKWARD WRITING

The first time we meet Tristus, we don't actually meet him. Theo tries to get out a window only to be swept up into the air. The chapter ends, and in the next chapter, Theo is placed back on the ground. The writing it rather strange, as he gets about two seconds to think about the terrifying incident that just occured and that some sort of monster just swooped in.

And then he is busy being greeted by two strangers. And that's it for Tristus.

The lack of attention spent on this amazing incident baffled me. I wanted Theo to freak out, to scream, to faint, to do something. To speculate about what just happened to him and who or what just appeared and vanished. Because I wanted to do those things too. The importance of this scene was completly underplayed.

WHAT HAPPENED TO WICKLAND?-SPOILERS

We first learn about the previous candlman when Theo finds a secret room. One thing I found strange was that the photograph looked just like Theo. I get that it's later revealed that the previous candleman is an ancestor of Theo's, but wouldn't they merely have a slight resemblance, or none at all? How many of us look nothing like our grandparents?

After that, he and Chloe track down one of the burglars. He has information about the Candle man (it was mentioned when they first met Theo). Turns out his grandpa had a series of novels based opon the Candleman. It was as popular as Sherlock holmes. Then suddenly they stopped publishing them and all the old ones disappeared. Then the government made up some garbage and seized the books.

I found this explanation partly interesting, and partly vague. I kept thinking, that's nice. But where is the important part? Turns out it's a map they end up being given by the burglar.

THE ASCENDENCY

No one knows what the ascendency is. Eventually we learn it is merely Theo. I thought it was underwhelming and had hoped for more mystery.

A DECEPTIVE DEATH-SPOILERS

Turns out that a character supposedly died. I say supposedly because this character has a copy of her...so I didn't really believe they had died. So it ellicted no shock or anxiety from me.

NICELY'S CHANGE-SPOILERS

Near the end of the story Mr. Nicely turns against Dr. Saint, and tries to kill him. There are few hints that this may happen. But mostly its just Dr. Saint mistreating Mr. Nicely. But I kind of assume he has done this all of Theo's life. He doesn't exactly come off as a nice guy. I could understand someone realizing they had been brainwashed but the effort isn't done with Nicely. We just don't know him well enough or see this development.

THE MYSTERY OF TRISTUS-SPOILERS

We eventually learn that Tristus is a ghargoul that has been summoned by Dr. Saint. Tristus refuses to speak to the doctor and does his bidding begrudgingly. But we are not sure why. We get a few scenes here and there as Tristus hunts down Theo. And eventually Tristus becomes an ally and we get a short scene where he and Theo have a discussion near the end of the story.

But I felt the author was assuming they had some sort of relationship by that point. I mean Tristus does save Theo's life. But they don't even know each other. I feel the story was demanding to elicit emotions it wasn't entitled to because it hadn't been earned.

THE TRUTH ABOUT WICKLAND-SPOILERS

Dr. Saint reveals that the ghosts that Theo met earlier were people killed by the candleman. Turns out he killed innocent people quite often. So maybe he wasn't the hero he was made out to be in the books. But Theo realizes this doesn't mean he shouldn't stop Dr. Saint. But it might have caused him to realize he needs help with his abilities. And an unlikley person may be of assistance.

CLIMAX

Theo has to face Dr. Saint and overcome his fear. Throught most of the story he admits to himself that he terrified of facing him again. And when he merely hears the man's voice earlier in the story it terrifies him. So by doing so it's the end of his arc. He faces the dodo as well, and makes a bold move.

REDEMPTION-SPOILERS

Theo ends up asking for the Dodo to help him learn about his abilities since this man knows all about it. I honestly didn't know if Theo could help kill him. He killed others, but it always happened by accident or when he had little chance to stop and think about it. There wasn't any real debate about if he should kill him or if it was moral. That kind of bothered me.

Also as much as I had seen of the Dodo, I had little sympathy for him. So I honestly didn't care that he was spared. I wanted to be upset if he died or relieved if he wasn't. But I didn't feel much of anything. I think the point was that Theo had matured and after learning about the truth about his ancestor feared turning out like him.

CONCLUSION

I liked both Chloe and Theo, but was indifferent to the other characters because I learned next to nothing about them.

I felt the world held potentional with creatures like garghouls and smoglodytes exisiting, but not enough detail was given to exactly what they were. Or perhaps what was given was just dull. I only cared about Tristus because I was curious about him. And I never had my curiosity rewarded with answers. Although I get this was only the first in the series, I wanted something to reward my time.

The same goes for the dodo and the candleman.

As for the two societies, it would have been interesting to delve into their beliefs in a more serious manner, but they were both kind of jokes. And I understand this is a childrens' novel but I think it could have been handled with enough seriousness to make the villain threatening without being dull to kids.

The story isn't dull or slow paced, so I wasn't ever bored.

I give the Candleman" two and a half stars.

Book Review: "The Death Collector" by Justin Richards

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

Three Londoners get involved with a mystery after a man is killed at a museum. Eventually they are all brought together because of a piece of paper in a wallet. But they don't all get along, especially when one claims to have seen a monster.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Eddie is a fourteen year old pick-pocket with no friends and no family.

Liz Oldfield is a young woman who lives and takes care of her elderly father, the reverend. She loves the theater and dreams of acting.

George Archer is a nineteen year old man who works at a museum.

Sir William Protheroe is an older man who works with George at the museum.

PACING

The main characters are George, Liz and Eddie. Each character gets in introductory scene and then slowly each character runs into another until all of them confide in each other about their events. Even so the pacing isn't as fast as you would expect.

Usually when the narrator goes back and forth between characters, it really helps. I found it interesting in the beginning, but it doesn't keep shooting strange scenes like the opening. By page eighty-four the characters are all together out of a three-hundred and twenty page book.

TRUSTING LIZ

When George meets Liz its revealed that he can't help but trust her. He seems infatuated but it's not portrayed like that, instead it's revealed that he feels that “Liz has a keen intelligence and obvious beauty”. But why would that make her trustworthy?

It's as though the author is forcing these characters together, when in reality George would just take the wallet and leave. Or the more obvious answer, that he would see how pretty she was and would want her to stay and would share something about himself. But revealing that he witnessed a murder would come off as showing off and lacking sincerity. It would make George unlikable. Perhaps he would mention a vague summary of events without revealing the murder.

I feel as though the scene was meant to show how amazing Liz is. After all, George imagined a middle aged spinster and got a beautiful and smart young woman. Even so, he comes off as naive and slightly sexist while she comes off as far superior.

OPPRESSED LIZ?

Eventually we see that Liz lives with her elderly father and helps take care of him.

At first, I sensed no negative feelings towards her father. Simply respect and perhaps a slight affection. But later it's revealed that Liz loves acting and has argued with her father about the theater, which he sees as frivolous and evil. This seems like a cartoonish portrayal of a puritanical patriarch. Luckily it's only mentioned in passing (though that alone is odd, because it makes it hard to feel bad for Liz).

It would be believable if perhaps we saw a good side of her father. But we barely see him at all. And even his so called ignorant attitude is simply spoken of as something that happened in the past. So we never see Liz being abused in any way, nor do we see her being kind to her father and loving him even though she thinks she is wrong. Instead we get the idea that she believes herself to be oppressed, when in reality she seems treated well. To be fair, it could be a lot worse. Liz could have been called a feminist and her father could have been portrayed far worse.

THE SEANCE & JOKESTER LIZ

George and Liz end up going to séance in an attempt to contact the dead man Albert Wilkes. Neither of them believe in such a thing and were roped into going. Turns out the whole things is scam, and Liz being the smarter of the two (we kind of figured this out before as it seems the author's intent for Liz to be the smart one) realizes this right away.

Anyway, Liz decides to play along and seems to be enjoying herself. But I was instantly confused. Her character didn't seem like a jokster at all, she didn't even seem to have that much of a sense of humor. It was as though the author was suddenly inserting a new personality. It never came back by the way. Liz never makes any jokes after this or reveals any history of pranks.

Also, it turns out a ghost actually shows up and spells out 'ORIMO'. I don't know why it didn't start at the beginning of the name at least. But it's kind of obvious who it was spelling considering the death at the beginning of the book.

USELESS GEORGE-SPOILERS

The problem is that George kind of looks dumb in a few scenes. In fact, he kind of has to be dumb. When he witnesses someone die and say a name, he assumes that person is supposed to be able to help. Sir William has to point out that he was probably saying who killed him. And later Liz points out the importance of the paper and is mad that he didn't say that all the other pages of the diary were blank. She sounds annoyed at his stupidity and he submissivly takes her insult.

Now George does prove he is not an idiot as he helps make a plan to rescue two characters. It's just that he seems kind of dumb before this. And I think it was unnecessary to make him dumb in order to elevate Liz and for the plot (so we don't learn the obvious about last words and a death).

RELATIONSHIPS

George seems to have a crush on Liz but this is never explored.

Eddie points out that Liz is close to his age but her relationship seems more motherly towards him. A few times she worries about him when he is left behind or in trouble.

Sir William is a mentor character to all the characters.

Eddie doesn't like George when he first meets him and later I guess they get on okay. George just tells him in one scene that he likes him, but doesn't explain why and I didn't understand why either. He barely knew him. If anything, all he could feel was sympathy.

The real problem these relationships feel so shallow and never develop is because these characters don't really have a history.

HISTORY-SPOILERS

Eddie vaguely mentions he has no family or home. His mom died and then he left home and came back to find his dad gone and taken his sister. There is no more mention of it after that. I wish it had been explored more.

Liz takes care of her father but should probably be married or courting someone. Why isn't she? She is described as being beautiful and smart so young men must have tried to court her. How long has she been her father's sole caretaker? Did her mother recently pass?

George has even less of a history. I can't really tell you anything about him.

ROLES-SPOILERS

When it comes to character roles each character has a different one to play.

Eddie is streetsmart and ends up being a help. He causes a distraction for George and Liz to escape. He distracts the lackies for them on another occasion. He is the one who ropes them into a séance which ends up being helpful (kinda). He also sneaks around and finds out about tunnels that help them run and hide.

George works at a museum so he has access to it as well as being interesting in machines and this skill comes into play in the finale. Liz ends up finding about the dead body and the dinosaur bone because her father the reverend is contacted when the body is discovered and she is allowed to tag along.

Sir William is the the smartest and just tends to know things. Also he finds out about a traitor in the museum and leads them to the foundry where he speculates about their villain.

OUR VILLAINS

It's eventually revealed who our villain is but we mostly see his lackies thoughout the story. In fact there is only one scene with our villain before it is revealed that he is the villian. But it's not really shocking seeing how a character died.

I didn't really develop hatred nor did I feel like the villain was interesting. I get that he's power hungry and kind of crazy but I wish I had seen it slightly more before the finale.

DEAD MEN, DINOSAURS AND SCIFI-SPOILERS

There are interesting moments throughout the book that really make you curious. For instance, in the opening we see a dead man come home for tea and to take the dog for a walk.

Later we dig up said dead man and learn that his legs are broken and his bones replaced with some dinosaur bones. Things like this really caught my attention. Unfortunately none of it comes together like I would have hoped, that is, as puzzle pieces.

WILL EXPLAINS IT ALL-SPOILERS

Sir William ends up helping the characters alot, like when he explains about the Crystal Palace. This is important because we get a fragment of paper that says something about a crystal. He notes that word Crystal is capitalized like a name.

Near the climax, Sir William explains just what Lorimore has been up to. The fact is...I felt like I never would have understood if he hadn't. I didn't feel like there were nearly enough clues to figure it out. I couldn't have an “aha!” moment because I wasn't coming up with crazy ideas for the finale.

ALBERT & GEORGE-SPOILERS

There are a few scenes where George tries to get through to Albert. But it's hard to feel anything seeing how the reader never gets to see any relationship between them. Albert is dead to begin with and we don't get any flashbacks.

CLIMAX

Two characters end up getting caught by the villain while the others plan to rescue them. We finally meet the villain and here about his plan which is quite dramatic. Eventually they all manage to stop his evil plan.

CONCLUSION

The story idea itself is decent. It's just the characters are so lackluster that I found I didn't care about them. How could I, when I knew next to nothing about them? And sometimes they weren't even portrayed consistently, like Liz.

I found most of the ideas original and interesting. I just never felt like things came together well. The story kind of felt like it was best when it tried to be a mystery while the scifi element was kind of tacked on, inserted in certain parts without much detail.

I give "The Death Collector" two and half stars.

Book Review: "Capt. Hook" by J.V. Hart

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

Before Captain Hook was the character we all know, he was a young man attending Eton. There he faces bullying and falls in love with a beautiful young women. While eventually learning about life at sea.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

James is the bastard son of a wealthy man. He has never been close to anyone but his Aunt Emily. He makes no attempt to fit in and is portrayed as a victim rather fast.

Roger is a fellow student who ends up friends with James. There isn't any particular reason why they become friends. Roger doesn't see James as normal but he doesn't seem intimidated by him, like everyone else. But we don't know why because we never learn anything about Roger. There is no process of developing friendship and they are just instantly friends.

Ananova is the daughter of a sultan. She is beautiful and smart as well as athletic and graceful. We get the feeling that she has been oppressed most of her life. But we don't go into any details about it and how difficult it must have been for her to have been raised in the middle east.

Arthur Darling is an upperclassmen who sets himself up as the villain from the beginning, when he is rude to James' aunt. James overreacts but Arthur still comes across worse. He abuses James through most of the story through the legal system of upperclassmen disciplining lowerclassmen.

PACING

Pacing is slower some parts and faster in others. Mainly faster during the sports match, when James attempts a rescue, and near the climax. But the slower pacing isn't slow to the point where it bothered me. There were enough interesting things going on in between these action scenes.

STRUCTURE-SPOILERS

The story is set up like this, the first part is James introduction to school life, Arthur and Ananova.

Eventually we get a reprieve from school life when James attempts to rescue Ananova. Then we go back to school, James ends up having a climax with Arthur.

After that, James is sent to work as a cabin boy as punishment. This slowly leads to the realization about the cargo and a climax.

JAMES' FATHER

James father is mentioned briefly and appears in the the story about two times I think. He is set up not necessarily as bad, but as neglectful. James doesn't seem to know him well enough to hate him but he does seem to resent him.

The only moment where he laments his lack of a relationship is when he wins a game, and he wonders why his father wasn't there. Or it might have just been the narrators comments. Hard to tell.

ANANOVA & JAMES

James and Ananova as both portrayed rather shallowly. James is a victim, brought up in a world of wealth that he doesn't belong in and Ananova is forced to leave England against her will and forbidden to ever talk to James (because his father is so famous that even the Queen knows who James is).

Add this to the fact that they fall in love almost instantly and yet spend such little time together. So the reader can only assume they find each other physically attractive, and that's basically it.

Also, as far as we know, James has never had any real relationships with anyone his own age before Roger. But just like his friendship just happens, so does this romance. Is he prone to falling head over heels for pretty girls? Because there seems no precedence for this sudden sentimentality (unless you count his love for his aunt, which we never learn about).

Their relationship often doesn't make sense either, like Ananova magically knowing that James has come after her on her ship to rescue her...because they had one conversation. And only because She sees a small boat from far away and just knows its him.

So much of their so called relationship is James and Ananova telling us about it, instead of actually watching it happen.

THE FAILED RESCUE-SPOILERS

James and Roger go to see Ananova. James says he will kidnap her (I don't know why). There is no discussion about what will happen afterwards. Not with Roger or Ananova herself. So they get off the ship on a horse (I am assuming the water is shallow...even though the ship probably wouldn't be) and get to shore, and get arrested.

So there was no point to anything. And James doesn't even seem to think of it as a failure. He thinks Ananova must adore him and never apologize for his failed rescue.

Sounds more like a saint then a real person. If Ananova was as bold as they portrayed her, she would have roundly scolded James for getting her hopes up and then having no actual plan.

ANANOVA

The problem with Ananova is similar to James, we learn so little about her. And yet we are told by the author that she is a goddess. That's how the Queen thinks of her. That's how James thinks of her. It's kind of cheesy to have two different characters think the same thing (James might be lovestruck but a Queen would most likely not call a girl a goddess even if she knew her well).

Her main reason of existance is so that James can rescue her, even though he fails at that. So it would explain why she has no real personality or history to speak of.

WHO IS JAMES?

I found myself confused about who exactly James was. At first he was a victim, with a neglectful father and no real relationships to speak of his whole life, except for his aunt. But I never got to see his mistreatments as a child, so I was kind of taken aback at how out of proportion his reaction was to being slighted by Arthur in the beginning. I expected to learn more of his past and was disappointed not to.

Sometimes I think the author got that James might be slightly crazy (like when he bites arthur) but it was never really expanded upon. Why did he wish to plan the deaths of those who hurt him? Was he joking or serious? I didn't want to think he was serious, so he had to be mentally unstable. When he looked at the names on the bookshelf while being hit, I kept thinking that this was a coping mechanism that he must have always had, which meant he must have been abused before. But the author never reveals this.

For the most part this insane aspect of his personality was ignored, until it came out in full force when he fought Arthur. During this event, James comes off as sadistic and creepy. I might have not understood his motivations throughout the book but I always felt bad for him. But suddenly I didn't feel bad at all, I thought he was quite evil and Arthur was the one who was being abused far worse than he had ever abused James.

JAMES THE SADIST

There is bit about James telling Arthur to squeal like a pig that was extremly disturbing. I suddenly wondered who else James may have abused in his childhood. But the author is so oblivious he just kept pouring it on, as though the reader should have taken pleasure from the pain and humiliation that Arthur suffered. And that sadism was fine for James, so it should be fine for you too.

We all love seeing villains we hate receive their due, but the hero seldom enjoys having to kill the villain or hurt him. He just sees it as a necessary evil. And sometimes the villain is the one who ends up hurting or killing himself through his own anger and hatred.

THE SPIDER

James likes science and spends time in school laboratory. There he meets a spider who for some reason obeys him like a dog. And he later uses her spider web to make a vest that is nearly indestructable.

I think it was supposed to add some allure to his character but it didn't really make any sense to me. How on earth did he know how to make a vest, seeing as how he was brought up in wealth? It just felt like a clumsily put together concept designed to make James seem mysterious.

JAMES THE HERO-SPOILERS

In the last part of the book, James learns the truth, that the ship he is working on is picking up and delivering slaves from Africa (even though Slavery is banned in England). James is furious and seriously shaken to learn that his father is a slaver.

First of all, James shouldn't have been surprised, as far he knows, his dad could be the devil, because he never knew him. And he seemed to have little delusion that his father was moral. Perhaps it would have been surprising, but not earth shattering.

Even so, James seems to have no real moral convictions throughout the entire book, unless you count him being mad at Arthur for being rude to Aunt Emily. And that felt more like James being emotionally unstable than any real convictions.

He says “bad form” throughout the book but it has no real meaning, perhaps merely pertaining to appearing to have manners. After all, he thinks cheating is fine and even says so. And it's clear from the way he treats Arthur in the climax that he thinks he should do whatever he wants in retaliation if he feels abused.

JAMES' BELIEFS

Another confusing aspect is James' religious beliefs. He says in one breath that he believes Adam and Eve literally happened, but so did every other manner of mythology, including Greek myths. He doesn't seem to get the contradiction which is silly, seeing how he he lives in a culturally christian society.

And when the captain on his ship starts spouting scripture to justify slavery (never mind that it's illegal in his country of origin) James vows that no man should ever justify evil in the name of religion. This comes so out of the blue and feels so unlike James. He is not self righteous, certainly not in a religious sense.

SETTING UP NEVERLAND

There is no real explanation in how James discovers a magical island in the future, he just dreams about it a few times in the book. I kinda get that he felt victimized and wanted a place of all his own, so perhaps he could make up a place. Maybe coming from his mental instability (but that's never expounded upon, remember?).

So instead we are led to believe him wanting a magical place will lead him one day to finding not just any island, but the specific one he made up. So him and Ananova could live happily ever after or something.

It's vague and feels like it was thrown in last minute, as if the author forgot that this James should have a connection to neverland. So he went back in and inserted a few lines about daydreams that occurred.

CLIMAX

James ends up facing a new enemy at sea and becomse a hero and a captain. The story ends with hints that someday he will find a magical island. But no real idea how.

CONCLUSION

The story of James before he became a captain could be interesting. Unfortunately the author doesn't seem to know who James really is and never goes into his past. We only get a two dimensional view, and the same goes for his love interest, Ananova.

They have no real relationship, but fall in love in a matter of seconds. Nor does James have any real relationship with his only friend, Roger.

The story seems to meander around, not knowing where its going and events sometimes feel disconnected. Not that it's boring, it's not. I just kept waiting for pieces to come together, and they never did.

I give “Capt. Hook” one and half stars.