The Child Thief. Review

Think about the whimsical tale that is Peter Pan for a moment. Flying. Powers. Staying young forever. Playing all day long with Peter and his lost boys. Okay. Now take away the whimsy of this classic tale. All you are left with a creepy young boy who befriends children, wins their trust, then lures them to a far off land never to be seen again. It's terrifying. 

There you have "The Child Thief" a retelling of Peter Pan by Brom. 

Honestly, I'm not sure how to review this book without giving away key elements of the story. For now, we'll just stick to the basics. 

You all know Peter's shtick by now. Taking Children off to a far off land In order to play with him. Well, what if there was something darker behind that? I won't give away the reason here, but it doesn't paint Peter as the playful scamp we have all grown to know. 

What if the Captain wasn't as bad as we thought? What if he were just a trapped soul wanting to go home? That is the case here. However, the Captain could have picked a better group of traveling companions. The captain is from the Crusade era. Eleminating those who don't believe in God. The captain's traveling companions happen to be made of priest zealots. Who are determined to rid this pagan land of the devil. should stop here and mention that because of the era these guys are, there is some torture in this story. The captain isn't actually "bad", just from a time of narrow mindedness 

and one track ideas. 

The Mist is the enterance between Peter's world and mankind's world. It is controlled by "The Lady", who actually is the life force behind everything in this world. At this point she has not been seen in years, Because of this the mist is becoming unstable and the world is dying. I have already given too much away here. 

Meet the kidnapped children. Most of them abused or abandoned by parents. Some are runaways. One is a murderer. I'm not going to give too much away about these kids. They each have their story and I'm not going to be the one to give it away. These are the second most intriguing characters in this story. 

Peter is actually the most interesting character. We learn a lot about his background through memories. You Understand why he is the way he is, and why he does things a little differently. This doesn't make his actions throughout the book excusable, but the background info makes it easier to understand his thought process. 

I wasn't expecting much from this novel when I started, but the further I got in to they story, the more I was drawn in to this world and it's people. This is a gory and dark book. VERY dark. Luckily, I dig that kind of thing. 

It you enjoy the darker side of classic story retellings, I suggest giving this a go. I don't often use this word to describe a book, but it is beautiful. Crass, but beautifully written. 

5/5