Darling by K. Ancrum

Set in contemporary Chicago, DARLING by K. Ancrum retells the tale of J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan and Wendy Darling in a way that readers will not expect. Wendy, just finishing high school, moves into the city and is surprised one night by a boy climbing in her window. Peter convinces her to join him and his punk ex-girlfriend Tinkerbelle as they head to a party. It turns into a wild night, with explosions, kidnapping, disguises, police chase, a bar with drag performances, a warehouse raid and much more. Wendy feels less and less safe as the night goes on, struggling to decide whom to trust. She meets several “lost boys,” (Curly, Nibs, and Fyodor, plus twins called First and Second) and another faction led by a brave girl named Ominotago who is Ojibwe and now in a relationship with Tink. Detective Hook is after Peter and there is a definite crescendo of fear and sinister happenings. As the publicity materials say, “you’ve heard this story before, but this time it won’t end the way you think …”