It’s often the stranger things that make life so interesting. Penguin Random House certainly thinks so, as their Del Rey imprint’s line of ‘Stranger Things’ tie-in novels is now in full swing! The first novel in the series, ‘Suspicious Minds‘, only just arrived in stored, but the publisher already has the next installment lined up. And if, like many of us, you’ve been feeling starved for new ‘Stranger Things’ stories, this one will also arrive before the third season kicks off in July.
The second novel will be titled ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town’, and like ‘Suspicious Minds’ before it, it serves a prequel to the hit Netflix series. However, where ‘Suspicious Minds’ focuses on Eleven’s backstory (or rather, her mother’s), ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town’ has concerned itself with connecting the dots of Hopper’s past.
Based on the official summary (which can be found below, after the cover image), the book will deal with Hopper’s the time Hopper spent in New York following his service in Vietnam. Specifically, it will focus on a 1977 incident from his time in New York that is described as “the last big case before everything changed.” Based on the timeframe, it stands to reason that it will also deal with Hopper’s family life, and given what we know about the circumstances of his return to Hawkins (and the fate of both his daughter and subsequently, his marriage)… Well, things could get heavy.
Penned by Adam Christopher of ‘Empire State’ and ‘The Burning Dark’ fame, ‘Stranger Things: Darkness on the Edge of Town’ is available for pre-order on Amazon now and is due to be released on June 4, 2019 – a full month before the third season arrives on Netflix.
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.
