Darkness on the Edge of Town: An Official Stranger Things Novel (Stranger Things)

by Adam Christopher

Chief Jim Hopper reveals long-awaited secrets to Eleven about his old life as a police detective in New York City, confronting his past before the events of the hit show Stranger Things.  
 
Christmas, Hawkins, 1984. All Chief Jim Hopper wants is to enjoy a quiet first Christmas with Eleven, but his adopted daughter has other plans. Over Hopper’s protests, she pulls a cardboard box marked “New York” out of the basement—and the tough questions begin. Why did Hopper leave Hawkins all those years ago? What does “Vietnam” mean? And why has he never talked about New York?

Although he’d rather face a horde of demogorgons than talk about his own past, Hopper knows that he can’t deny the truth any longer. And so begins the story of the incident in New York—the last big case before everything changed. . . .

Summer, New York City, 1977. Hopper is starting over after returning home from Vietnam. A young daughter, a caring wife, and a new beat as an NYPD detective make it easy to slip back into life as a civilian. But after shadowy federal agents suddenly show up and seize the files about a series of brutal, unsolved murders, Hopper takes matters into his own hands, risking everything to discover the truth.

Soon Hopper is undercover among New York’s notorious street gangs. But just as he’s about to crack the case, a blackout rolls across the boroughs, plunging Hopper into a darkness deeper than any he’s faced before.

• ISBN10: 1984819062
• ISBN13: 9781984819062
• Publish Date: 28 May 2019
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Del Rey Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 432
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781984819062

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Darkness on the Edge of Town is the second tie-in novel for the Stranger Things series. Released 28th May by Penguin Random House on their Del Rey imprint, it's 432 pages and available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats.

I don't watch a lot of TV. I actually watch very very little TV (most people would say 'none', though that's not factually accurate, it's not far off). This is why, despite coming highly recommended from my friends, I've not yet actually seen Stranger Things. I am going to get around to binge watching it at some point, but in the meantime, I thought picking up the tie-in novel would be an interesting exercise and give me some background and introduction.

Author Adam Christopher is a prolific and capable author with several extant original series as well as tie-ins for a number of movie and comics franchises. He's quite a competent writer and his command of dialogue and character driven narrative is impressive. I had no problems following the story and in fact, feel a growing desire to turn on the TV and watch the series after having read the book.

This is a background novel giving some character back-story for Chief Hopper from 1977 as he's re-telling the stories to his adopted daughter, El. Not having actually seen the series, I am sure I missed out on a lot of nuanced content, but despite this, I felt that the story itself was easy to follow and well written. I remember the summer of 1977 (and I lived in the northeast Atlantic seaboard, not all that far from NYC), and the sense of time and place conveyed in the narrative is striking, especially considering the author himself was born in 1978.

Well written, readable, enjoyable even without being a (current) fan of the TV series.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes (less)

[kimbacaffeinate]

The story opens in Hawkins, 1984 and Hopper and Eleven first Christmas together. Let there be Eggos™! She wants a story, one about his past life and she pulls out a box marked New York. Hopper reluctantly shares his last case there. One that took place in the summer of 1977, one that forever changed him….

And I was hooked! Narrated by David Pittu I was quickly pulled into the boys’ club at the NYPD as Hopper and his new “female” partner are working a weird case of homicides only to have federal agents come in and pull their files. Hooper can’t let it go and once you open pandora’s box there is no going back. Street gangs, ties to the past, and strange happenings had me hooked.

Car chases, power outages, creepy vibes and sinister plots made for an entertaining mystery. The author brought the late 70s to life with pop cultural references and even successfully wove in the 1977 New York Blackout into the tale giving it a vibe of plausibility.

David Pittu narrates and does a good job with the characters, atmosphere and enhances the overall tale. This was a fun listen.

While it isn’t necessary to have watched Stranger Things to enjoy this story, I think fans will appreciate this and other stories between seasons when they are in need of a fix. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of Stranger Things: Darkness on the Edge of Town through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Stranger Things: Darkness on the Edge of Town is the second novel written as a tie in to the Stranger Things Netflix series. Like the first novel (Suspicious Minds) Darkness on the Edge of Town is a prequel. Unlike the first novel, it doesn't occur in Hawkins. Well, most of it doesn't at least.
Darkness on the Edge of Town tells the story of Jim Hopper. Everything takes place well before the adventures in the TV series yet. In fact, this happens before Hopper settles back in Hawkins. Before that he was a homicide detective in NYC. Yes, you read that right.
This novel occurs after Hopper's time in Vietnam, but before his daughter became ill. Just to give you an idea of where this fits in the timeline.
Don't go into Stranger Things: Darkness on the Edge of Town expecting it to read exactly like an episode of Stranger Things. Jim Hopper is there, yes, and there are even cameos from Eleven. But that is the extent of the connection.
This novel could be best described as a procedural crime novel, with hints towards the supernatural (but even then they're fairly slim, as they would be in any crime novel). If you go into this book expecting a crime drama, I think you'll enjoy the read. Or if you're hoping to learn more about Hopper. But if you're hoping for more along the lines of Stranger Things (or even Suspicious Minds), I think you'll be disappointed.


Stranger Things: Darkness on the Edge of Town was a fun read, on the whole. I really enjoyed learning more about Hopper's past. I knew that he had gone through hell, but I don't think it really hit me just how much he had actually gone through. So this novel did a great job of reminding me that this character had a life and past well before the events in Hawkins.
I enjoyed seeing Hopper back in the days where he seemed to still be truly invested in doing good. When he still had hopes and dreams for his career. It's a refreshing change (though one can argue that this spark was reignited for Hopper as the Netflix series went on).
The way they tied Hopper's past and present was really quite clever. This whole novel was essentially Hopper telling El about his past. Which is cute, when you stop and think about it. Though admittedly sometimes the breaks for El to talk did break the immersion.
The crime elements in this novel were fun and made me realize I should read more along the lines of this plot. I'm not sure if somebody that read a lot of crime novels would love or hate this novel. But I think it held up. My only complaint would be that it got a little meta in places – bringing real life events into the plot and trying to take credit (or blame?) for them.
I really liked Hopper's partner. In a way I think I would have loved to see the whole novel from her perspective. Okay, not really. I enjoyed Hopper's side of things. I just mean that she was a really interesting character, and a good mirror for Hopper's character.
I still maintain that you need to be aware of what type of novel Stranger Things: Darkness on the Edge of Town is. Because your expectations will set your experience, especially here. So please keep that in mind before picking this one up.


For more reviews check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks