Hooked: A Dark, Contemporary Romance

The fact that both James and Peter share a general life pattern from poverty to criminal enterprise supports the ongoing theme of The Fine Line Between Criminality and Villainy. Like Peter, James grew up without wealth, turning to crime as a means of survival. Now, Peter owns an airline, while James owns or operates a variety of businesses in town. Although James is working on a much smaller scale than Peter, the critical difference between them is James’s association of honor or trust in business, which is contrasted with Peter’s murder of James’s family. At this stage of the novel, the narrative implies that James is not so much a villain as he is a criminal, while Peter is both a criminal and a villain.

Furthering James’s characterization as a criminal with a sense of honor (however twisted it may be) is his deepening connection with Wendy, which is also designed to delve more deeply into the theme of violent sexual encounters in dark romance. Though their sexual relationship is largely characterized by James’s somewhat violent advances and Wendy’s stated desire to be choked, these chapters also present two new elements to their developing relationship. The first is Wendy’s trepidation at the prospect of having vaginal intercourse (i.e., “losing her virginity”). However, this sentiment is countered by her equally strong feelings for James. The significance of Wendy’s status as a virgin is twofold in her mind, for although it constitutes an element of safety, it also serves to reinforce an unwanted image of innocence that she has grown to resent. Wendy is afraid of the regret she might feel at shedding her status as a virgin in her sexual interactions with James. However, after the fact, Wendy notes that “James took that fragile girl and threw her somewhere I can’t find” (135), and she revels in her new status as a woman with sexual experience, “basking in [the] absence” (135) of the virgin she used to be. The personification of Wendy’s virginity as a “fragile girl” highlights a different angle of the novel’s larger theme of Women’s Struggle for Independence in a Patriarchal World: Despite Wendy’s glee at supposedly achieving a degree of experience (and therefore independence) within the sexual sphere, her newfound sense of self-esteem is inextricably linked to James, who wields an increasingly powerful and arguably toxic influence over her life and identity. Thus, Wendy’s decision to shed the virgin label with James in a consensually violent sexual encounter reflects the inherent danger in their growing relationship, once again illustrating The Problematic Portrayal of Violence as a Virtue in Dark Romance.

For James, the metaphor of throwing away the “fragile girl” that is Wendy’s virginity would likely be satisfying at first, given that James has relished the violent sex acts that they have shared in the past. However, upon waking with her the next day, even James is surprised to find that he is no longer aroused by the “thought of her in pain” (136), and this moment therefore indicates a deeper shift in James’s character. His relationship with Wendy is crystallizing into something in which violence and control are no longer entirely necessary, and in this way, McIntire shows a glimmer of hope for this inherently violent character, for his contemplations reflect a new willingness to consider building a more equitable relationship with Wendy. The balance between control and love is also shown to shift somewhat when he and Wendy bring Jon to Rockford, for in this scene, James uses his dominating personality on the headmaster and secretary in an attempt to protect his newfound charge from future harm or mistreatment. Thus, instead of exerting overt control over those he cares about, he chooses to use his urge to control in order to achieve benefits on their behalf. While this is not an ideal behavioral trend, it is at least a step in the right direction, and from a narrative standpoint, this series of events indicates a broader change in James’s character. While he originally reflected elements of both criminality and villainy, just like Peter, his overtly solicitous behavior toward Wendy and Jon now stands as a direct contrast to Peter’s ongoing neglect. Wendy, Jon, and James all agree that Peter should be there for his son in this moment, but the fact remains that James is there instead. Thus, McIntire uses this moment to illustrate the fine line between criminality and villainy once again, subverting the villain stereotype as James uses his “villainous” power to help someone else.

Additionally, Peter’s absence in Jon’s life gives James an opening to develop a quasi-fatherly relationship toward the boy. This interpersonal development becomes all the more significant when Ru is horribly murdered, for Ru’s death denies James access to the humanizing influence of a father figure and best friend. When Ru’s life is brutally cut short, this tragedy will force James’s own violent tendencies to surge forth once more as the theme of Revenge as a Cycle reasserts itself. In developing this plot point, the author uses both Ru’s death and James’s suspicion of Wendy’s involvement in Peter’s plans to create a dramatic setback to his burgeoning romantic relationship with Wendy. Ru was the only person with whom James was specifically close, and Ru’s death signals an immediate reaction of loneliness for James. The symbolic use of the lighter inscribed with Ru’s advice also serves to highlight the importance of this loss. As with the loss of his parents, James sees Peter as the obvious culprit, but because Wendy has become another major factor in James’s life, the possibility of her complicity with Peter’s plans also arises. Though the narrative makes it clear to readers that Wendy is not involved with Peter’s plans, James operates under the assumption that he is in competition with Peter for Wendy’s allegiance. From a more pragmatic storytelling standpoint, McIntire also uses this scene as a cursory (if woefully insufficient) explanation for the brutal kidnapping, imprisonment, abuse, and psychological trauma that James subjects Wendy to in the next section, thus taking the problematic portrayal of violence as a virtue in dark romance to a whole new level.