He is a companion and compatriot of Kell who is a crafty, imaginative fella who always has a plan to get money. Through the course of the story we learn of Jamie's past, from his life as a sailor / pirate (in some ways) and as an adventurer.

The story revolves around Jamie who finds himself in a mental hospital in 1965. Hinton's writing style in this story, the character driven story-telling, the growth of the characters, the touching quality of the story itself. Hawkes Harbor in some ways is light years away from The Outsiders but at the same time you can see S.E. I'd seen a review of the book by a member of my Goodread's book group and it sounded quite interesting. Since that time I've not read any others of her books until recently when I tried quite a different novel, Hawkes Harbor. The movie based on the book was also excellent, one I can watch again and again. I've read it 4 or 5 times over the years. Hinton's The Outsiders has long been a favorite book of mine.

If the captor had been a military torture expert, the young man a captured soldier, the plot may have worked, but a vampire.that's just silly. I realize that the theme of this book is redemption. Weird and corny!Īs I read this book, I kept laughing aloud, because the premises of the story were so ridiculous. Although the vampire originally had total control over the young man, threatened to kill him if he didn't do what he was told, by the end of the book, the vampire becomes the young man's best friend. The vampire becomes human again (through some rituals never fully explained to the reader). It's as if Hinton was trying to think of some gimmick to make this book popular in today's market and realized that vampires are popular, so decided to go that route.īut it gets even dumber. Then the vampire shit starts!Ī vampire? Are you kidding me? I couldn't believe it. The story is spun out slowly, in a series of flashbacks. The handsome young man is in a mental hospital. Who is this guy she's still obsessed with? Her father? Her brother? Her first love? Whoever he is, he's still on her mind. She's still basically writing about the same character: handsome young man difficult childhood no parental figures lives rough and takes care of himself gruff, but with a good heart. She was all grown up when she wrote this one, so I don't know what her excuse is.

Hinton some slack, as she wrote The Outsiders when she was 16. I appreciate it for what it is, but I can see its faults too.

Ok, I am no longer under any illusion that The Outsiders is great literature. The woman who wrote The Outsiders wrote this mess of a novel.

Hawkes harbor book