He wants revenge, but he wants her more...
Hooked is the first dark romance novel in the Never After series written by Emily McIntire in 2021, based on Peter Pan.
After having killed his abusive uncle and escaped, James "Hook" Barrie helps run a shady trade operation alongside his mentor Ru. His reason for this is to find the man who caused his life to go to hell - Peter Michaels - and get his revenge. When he hears his nemesis has moved in town, he makes plans to carry out his vengeance.
Moving in a new town with her family, Wendy Michaels is unhappy at the absence of her wealthy yet distant father, with her only support being the love of her brother Jon. When she is convinced to visit a bar called the Jolly Roger by a friend, she encounters the mysterious James and strikes a relationship with him.
However, James has plans for Wendy once he finds out her connections with Peter...
Not to be confused with Hooked (2022), another novel based on the Peter Pan mythos.
Hooked contains the following examples:
- Adaptational Name Change: George Darling becomes Peter Michaels thanks to being a Composite Character.
- Adaptational Villainy: Peter Michaels is much worse than either of the characters he's adapted from.
- Adapted Out: Michael, Wendy's youngest brother is absent.
- Affectionate Nickname: "Little shadow" was Wendy's nickname from her father because of how she used to follow him around like a shadow.
- Age Lift: Peter and Hook swap their usual age range.
- Babies Ever After: The story concludes with James and Wendy having two children of their own.
- Calling the Old Man Out: While attending a party Peter is at, Wendy doesn't miss the chance to call out her father on emotionally neglecting her and Jon to the point he didn't bother checking whether she ever got home safely.
- Captive Date: Type 4. James takes Wendy to a party her father is attending, which he uses to mess with Peter. He gets a surprise when Wendy uses this to call out her father's lack of attention on his children (not that James minded that).
- Chocolate Baby: Jon is revealed to actually be the child of Wendy's mother and James's father because of his black hair color, which makes him James's younger half-brother.
- Composite Character: Peter Michaels combines Peter Pan and George Darling.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Ru's body is discovered by James at the rendezvous point brutally slain and macabrely displayed.
- Dark and Troubled Past: James's parents died in a plane crash with him as the only survivor. He was taken in by his uncle, who only abused him for years until James worked up the guts to kill him and escape, subsequently joining Ru in his illegal activities.
- A Deadly Affair: Peter's explanation for the death of Wendy's mother is because she had an affair with someone else, which resulted in the birth of Jon. In retribution, he had the lover killed in a plane crash and possibly had her eliminated.
- Erotic Asphyxiation: Wendy is turned on when she restricts her air supply, which James discovers for himself during their relationship.
- Evil Uncle: James had one known under the criminal name "Croc", who horribly abused him for years.
- Fantastic Drug: Peter has been running a smuggling operation selling and distributing an illegal substance called "pixie dust".
- Green-Eyed Monster: Tina Belle hates that Wendy has the attention of Peter Michaels despite the fact Wendy is Peter's daughter.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: Ru has been James's mentor in the illegal trade operation and has been trying to teach James to keep his temper and vengeful thirst in check while running the Jolly Roger. He meets a terrible end while trying to make negotiations with Peter's drug trade.
- Missing Mom: Wendy's mother died when Jon was only an infant. Peter had a hand in her death because Jon was actually not his biological son.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: James's criminal name "Hook" is this because of his trademark murder weapon, a hook knife.
- Parental Neglect: Wendy and Jon rarely have any interaction with their father after the death of their mother to the point he prioritized his work over their wellbeing.
- Patricide: Wendy shoots her father to stop him from killing James and in anger at the part he played in her mother's death.
- Promotion to Parent: Wendy has been taking care of her brother Jon when their father has grown more emotionally distant after the death of their mother.
- Related in the Adaptation: The Peter Pan equivalent is now Wendy's father.
- Rescue Reversal: When James gets himself into serious danger trying to retrieve Wendy, she breaks out of Tina's grasp and takes this chance to kill Tina and her own father.
- Shout-Out: James is named after James M. Barrie, the writer who created Peter Pan.
- Surprise Pregnancy: Discussed by James. Neither he nor Wendy were aware that, somewhere down the line, Wendy had become pregnant by James.
- Trauma Button: Hearing the sound of a ticking clock triggers James's trauma, causing him to do whatever it takes to make the ticking stop.
- Unknown Relative: Smee is actually the son of "Croc", James's abusive uncle, who James killed without knowing he even had a cousin.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Wendy wanted the love she sought from her father, who became more distant and inattentive of her and Jon since their mother's passing. She grows out of it throughout her encounters with James.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Downplayed. Wendy isn't too fond of being out in the water, but it's mainly because she isn't accustomed to being out on the water.
- You Killed My Father: Smee's motivation for getting involved with James and sabotaging him and his operations is because he wanted to avenge his father's murder.
