Hooked: A Dark, Contemporary Romance

Now that the kidnapping has been resolved, Wendy and James progress further in their relationship, but significant obstacles to true intimacy remain, for although James admits to himself that he loves Wendy, he does not communicate this to her directly. Even when Wendy tells James that she loves him, he is not able to respond in kind, and this reluctance further develops the theme of The Fine Line Between Criminality and Villainy, for James’s status as a criminal and even his recent villainous behavior is now somewhat mitigated by his willingness to show his vulnerability with Wendy, although confessing his love for her is just a bit too far outside his comfort zone for the time being. As James continues to relinquish control over Wendy in increments, he also adjusts to the idea of equity that Wendy envisions in their relationship, for he declares that he would stand by her if she were to commit crimes. Wendy interprets this statement as an indication that James sees her as a competent, independent person. However, James is still fighting the urge to take a more dominant role in the relationship, just as he is fighting on multiple fronts to maintain control of the operation of his criminal enterprises. For example, the diamond choker that Wendy agrees to wear actually contains a GPS tracking device, representing James’s continued desire to control Wendy even when she is not in his physical presence. However, it can be argued that the choker also serves the purpose of protecting Wendy, for if she were to go missing or become captured by James’s enemies, the choker would allow him to find her. Nonetheless, control for the purpose of protection is reminiscent of Peter’s method of controlling Wendy, in which he claimed that his distance from his family was designed to keep them safe. In either case, any degree of control or protection by James demonstrates his belief that Wendy—and, by extension, any woman—is not entirely capable of caring for herself, thus representing a more repressive angle on the theme of Women’s Struggle for Independence in a Patriarchal World.

A critical development in Wendy and James’s relationship is Wendy’s ability to calm James down from his rage after Starkey shoots Tommy. James clearly has an anger issue bordering on a trauma-induced psychosis, which is spurred in this case by the mention of the crocodile-and-clock tattoo and Starkey’s impulse to kill Tommy. In moments such as these, it is clear that Wendy can step in and bring James back to reality. However, this action represents a risk on Wendy’s part, and it also explores yet another aspect of The Problematic Portrayal of Violence as a Virtue in Dark Romance, for it idealizes and almost celebrates Wendy’s willingness to serve a placating role—the “beauty” to James’s “beast.” Thus, this interaction reinforces her unhealthy tendency to play a submissive role in the face of his overt aggression, even when it is not directed specifically at her.

Amid these interpersonal issues between Wendy and James, the issues between James and his business continue to gain prominence in the narrative as the novel nears its climax. James’s decision to forgive Starkey is founded on loyalty, a trait that is becoming increasingly scarce in James’s organization. Likewise, Moira’s behavior is also growing increasingly more agitated, and Starkey’s “accidental” murder of Tommy shows that James’s inner circle is beginning to fall apart. The pattern of closeness in the text has therefore shifted from James’s tendency to show the most closeness with other criminals, such as Ru and Starkey, to his new tendency to gravitate toward “innocent” characters such as Smee and Wendy. This shift further develops the theme of the fine line between criminality and villainy, for the increasing amount of consideration that James begins to show toward his subordinates indicates his desire to shed the attributes of villainy that he frequently embraced. For example, the fact that James thanks Smee for his hard work indicates a major shift in James’s worldview, as he has largely ignored Smee up until this point, though the origin of Smee’s employment indicates a general goodwill on James’s part. As James becomes less of a villain, it raises the question of whether James might also prefer to build a more honest life with Wendy rather than pursuing his criminal life with people like Moira and Curly.