Review: Lost Boy by Christina Henry creates the evil Peter Pan that's not in the White House

No other creature on the planet is as evil as a pre-teen boy. Except maybe a full grown man in a position of total power whining about, well, anything. Anyway, Peter Pan was always the bad guy, right?

    When author Christina Henry asked the question "What's for dinner?" I'm betting someone said "zucchini" and she said "fuck that noise, cake." That's the right answer, anyway. Then she asked "what happened to Captain Hook as a kid?" and started writing. Because fuck zucchini.

    A long time ago in a land far away, a young boy named Jamie and his friend Peter live on an island and never grow old. Peter goes out and gathers other boys, whom Jamie takes care of, and the group goes on adventures. When Peter gathers a child that's a little too young, Jamie begins to think the fun could maybe sometimes end and not just in horrific death.

    In case you're wondering, yeah, Jamie is James Hook. An interesting twist here in making the "evil" pirate into the protagonist. It's not even a breaking bad type descent into villainy. From start to finish, Peter Pan is evil and Jamie is the good guy. Or at best, Peter is amoral and Jamie respects authority. Peter just wants to play and do so without consequences. There's been a version of this on the television show "Once Upon a Time," but Henry wins because her villain is not only devious but in a childish way.

    So, yeah, I loved this book. Read it.