The Newest "Dark Shadows" Novel.......

Is now available, and being advertised and reviewed with considerable enthusiasm.

The problem is: Nothing about the title or the reviews will give you so much as a hint that it's a Dark Shadows book.

S.E. Hinton, author of acclaimed novels such as The Outsiders and Rumble Fish has written her first book in 15 years, entitled Hawkes Harbor

Nowhere on the book jacket, or in the blurbs, is any mention made of Dark Shadows.  None of the names will have the slightest ring of the familiar.  But if you're a Dark Shadows fan, and, in particular, a fan of the character of Willie Loomis, it won't take  long for you to realise that S. E. Hinton has written the story of Willie's life.

Beginning with his early childhood traumas (the death of a parent, his placement in the Orphanage from Hell) and on to the tales of his years at sea with his friend Kell, Jamie Sommers lives the life of Willie Loomis, in detail not even the most devoted fan would have conjured up.

We learn about his years among pirates and thieves in the South China Sea, the rich and famous off the coast of France, and especially with his Irish gun-runner friend, Kellan.  Or is his name really Jason Maguire?

But we know where this young man is headed, and what (make that who) lies in wait for him.

At first, I thought I'd finally over-dosed on Dark Shadows.  I've just been to my first Fest and I spend an awful lot of time on this forum.....   I kept thinking.."okay...now you're seeing Willie Loomis in a novel by one of the best known authors in America."

But after Jamie ends up in a Psych Ward.....and we learn about his encounter with a Vampire.....well, I knew who Jamie Sommers really was, and so will you.

It will amuse you to recognize characters in spite of their unfamiliar names.  Believe me, you'll have very few doubts about the major figures.  You'll also recognize incidents from the beginning of the original storyline that lead to the arrival of 'Grenville Hawkes', and the direction Jamie's life takes from there.

And if you read the novel carefully, you'll notice the only time a name from the series appears in print.....but if you're not looking for it, it might slip right past you, it's so short.  Almost as if S. E. Hinton was playing a game with fans of the show, to see if anyone caught on to the joke.

Imagine my astonishment and delight, to have purchased the book on a whim....knowing almost nothing about it at all.....only to find the ultimate "fan fiction" retelling of  the relationship of Willie Loomis and Barnabas Collins.

Which leaves me wondering.....why on earth didn't any of us know about this already? 

Which leaves me wondering.....why on earth didn't any of us know about this already? 

There had been a news item floating around online some time ago that Hinton would be writing the next DS novel, but nothing more was said about it, and talk turned to Lara Parker's efforts to write her second novel.

Guess Hinton didn't abandon the project after all.

I'm interested in looking up this book.  Hinton is a major figure in young adult fiction, though I've never read anything by her.  I'd be curious to know if her new book is also YA fiction (I'll find out soon enough by checking amazon).

I remember the announcement that she was writing the next DS novel, which conflicted with previous announcements that Lara Parker was working on her second DS novel for HarperCollins.  I can't remember the details now other than reading that Hinton's book had been rejected (whether by DCP or by HarperCollins, I forget).  Sometime later it was reported that Hinton's outline had been rejected because of explicit sexual content.  Don't remember who reported that and maybe it wasn't accurate, yet for some reason her project was dropped.  Or was it wrongly reported in the first place - it's hard to understand how both Parker and Hinton could have been officially touted as writing the second DS novel for HarperCollins.  I think Mark Rainey would know the background of this.
 

Hinton is a major figure in young adult fiction, though I've never read anything by her.  I'd be curious to know if her new book is also YA fiction (I'll find out soon enough by checking amazon).

The review on the front page of today's Calendar (entertainment) section of the L.A. Times indicated that this was her first adult novel (and her first published book in 25 years?!).  The opinion of the reviewer, who is a huge fan of Hinton's young adult lit, is summed up by the article's title:  "A taste for blood taints Hinton's new venture."  Obviously, some people don't appreciate horror.  :-

it's hard to understand how both Parker and Hinton could have been officially touted as writing the second DS novel for HarperCollins.  I think Mark Rainey would know the background of this.
 

I'm sure you meant the 3rd DS novel.  Mark co-authored the 2nd.

i'll have to check this out rainey as i'm going to the book store today thanks
(after the treadmill that is started back this week have to lose those 15 lbs! )

jennifer

The review on the front page of today's Calendar (entertainment) section of the L.A. Times indicated that this was her first adult novel (and her first published book in 25 years?!).  The opinion of the reviewer, who is a huge fan of Hinton's young adult lit, is summed up by the article's title:  "A taste for blood taints Hinton's new venture."  Obviously, some people don't appreciate horror.  :-

The reviewer had praise for all parts of the book with the exception of the "reformed vampire." And, not being a fan of horror or vampires, she obviously did NOT get the DS connection. Too bad.

The last portion of the review reads:

"If readers prepare themselves, they may be able to encounter the novel on its own terms and embrace once again the voice of a fabulous writer. Hinton is an author whose work -- vampires aside--I'll forever revere."  :-

Bette

Check out page 108 where the character opens the vampire's coffin...

"What year is it?"

Guess I figured out what I'm reading on my next bus trip to Canada!  Thanks, Raineypark, and all the others who have commented on this.

I've been thinking about Willie's backstory as I have been watching the very first batch of Willie episodes; the ones with James Hall.  The character got a radical retooling once Karlen "the Boss" took over.

It's weird to watch the early scenes between Jason and Willie.  The dynamic between the two seems s-o-o-o slashy.  I just found an interview with Dennis Patrick (taped a little over ten years ago, I guess) where he said he liked to play it as if Willie was "his" and he and Karlen had a lot of fun spicing up their scenes together.  He also said that JK kept sliding into the brogue when they were rehearsing and DP would say, "Now, Johnny, *I* do the brogue and *you* do the vampire bites!"  funny stuff...

G.

I don't know many details about what transpired officially with S. E. Hinton. I know there was talk about her doing the third book, but it wasn't long after Dreams of the Dark came out that HarperCollins ended up selling their entertainment division. (This was not due in any way to shortcomings with the sales of Dreams; in fact, HC indicated great pleasure with its performance.) So that closing in effect killed Hinton's potential slot as the next author in the series.

There was talk of the line moving to Tor, but the word came down from the powers-that-be that, if there were to be any more DS books on the menu, they would be written only by the stars of the show. (Don't get me started on this kind of "celebrity book = success" mentality; selling a name rather than a writer is a personal bugaboo of mine.) However, their "research" indicated that none of the DS stars really had enough of a name draw to warrant continuing the line. Tor did agree to publish Lara's next Dark Shadows novel (as a trade paperback); and I know that the deal is still available to her, but I don't know if and when she'll turn in the book.

Anyway, I haven't read Hinton's novel (yet), but I definitely will. I think it's great that she was able to pull off a kind of work-around to see that her book got produced. I briefly entertained the idea of doing something along the same lines, but I abandoned it quickly simply because I have too many of my own "things" that I want to do. The only way I'd do a Dark Shadows project is as a Dark Shadows project. However, I will say that in my most recent novel (The Lebo Coven, now out in hardback from Five Star Books), I've included a few subtle -- I guess you'd call them "playful" -- links that would be evident only to fans. For example, the main character's family comes from Maine, and there's a reference to "Grandma and Grandpa Collins." That sort of thing -- just enough of a nod to be gratifying.

--M
http://home.triad.rr.com/smrainey

For what it's worth, "Hawkes Harbor" was published by Tor Books.

For residents of LaLaLand, SE Hinton will be signing Hawkes Harbor at

Dutton's Brentwood Bookstore on Wednesday, Sept. 29 at 7 p.m.
11975 San Vicente Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90049
Tel: (310) 476-6263

http://www.duttonsbrentwood.com/septembercalendar.html#Hinton

I found the review posted on collinwood.net (announced by Stuart in another thread) very informative and helpful ... I'm happy to be passing on the book.  I'm not exactly a prude, but I know in this instance this book wouldn't be to my tastes.

I found the review posted on collinwood.net (announced by Stuart in another thread) very informative and helpful ... I'm happy to be passing on the book.  I'm not exactly a prude, but I know in this instance this book wouldn't be to my tastes.

There doesn't appear to be a review on collinwood.net.....I believe you are referring to the jacket blurb provided by the publishing company.

I've read the book.....and that blurb tells you nothing significant at all....especially if you're a Dark Shadows fan. There's no mention of the connection at all.

 And the reference to sexual content is mis-leading.  The book might have more sexual content than any previous Hinton book....but that's to be expected since all her previous books were written for the Young Adult market.  The sexual encounters in this book are not particularly frequent, bizarre or detailed.  They are, for the most part, romantic.....or sad.

There is a review on Collinwood.net.

It's at:

http://www.collinwood.net/features/review/hawkes.htm

Thanks for that link, Darren--I hadn't spotted that.

Boy, there sure are a lot of spoilers in that review!

Think I'll wait to borrow the library copy of this book.

G.