Violence against women perpetrated by men is a central theme. It is not exactly sexual, but is often obsessive, personally targeted, and creepily intimate. There are multiple instances of stalking. When one major character was 16, she became very close with a police officer who saved her life from a brutal attack. He was her crush and her hero. When she was 18 and he 41, he saved her life again and then seduced her into an emotionally manipulative relationship. (He was already married.) He took advantage of her emotional vulnerability to exploit her personal traumas for his financial gain. In the present day, when she is an adult, he ends up directly supervising her while she is in jail.