Adrik Wilder, the hero of Christina Dodd’s Into the Shadow, is so hard and fierce in the beginning of the novel he seems more like the villain, albeit a very sexy one! Cursed with the ability to change in to a panther, Adrik abandons his family and embraces the darkness. He becomes a powerful mercenary, known only as Warlord, in the desolate landscape between Tibet and Nepal. He crosses paths with Karen Sonnet while she is overseeing construction of her father’s hotel. Adrik desires her immediately and kidnaps her to use for his own selfish reasons. Karen’s passion and courage win Adrik over and make him wonder if he can be saved from his family’s curse. In time he must choose whether to continue his path in darkness or be redeemed by the power of love.
Christina Dodd graciously took the time to answer my questions about Adrik. A big RNTV welcome to Christina!
Gannon:
Hi, Christina! Thanks for being part of our Duke of Slut week. We reviewers each chose our favorite bad boy and I chose Adrik because he is about as bad as they come.
Christina, when you came up with the concept for the Darkness Chosen series, did you have a clear picture of Adrik at that time? Was he meant to be the black sheep (or black panther) of the Wilder family all along?
Christina:
This is very cool, Gannon. Thank you for picking me. Because I’ve always wanted to be a Duchess of Slut.
Because the lure of being a panther or a hawk or a wolf was so strong, I knew it would be difficult for the boys not to shape-shift. Who wouldn’t want to race thru the dark forest or fly thru the blue skies? And families being what they are, I knew one boy would fight his father’s command to avoid temptation. Adrik was a middle child, the youngest boy, and a natural rebel, so of course he was the one gave in to dark side (so to speak), seized the power and ran with it.
Gannon:
Christina, not many can be part of such an elite group like the Duchesses of Slut. Maybe I should refer to you as Your Grace, from now on. 
When I first began reading INTO THE SHADOW, I thought Adrik seemed more like a villain. He was sexy, to be sure, but incredibly dark and unforgiving. Did you think to yourself, “Uh oh. How am I going to redeem him and make him into a likable hero?”
Christina:
I’ve often suggested people call me Your Grace. I don’t understand why it hasn’t caught on.
One of the nice things about being the writer is that I’m the one who got to make him a villain in the first place, so of course I knew I could redeem him. The trouble with Adrik was that he had no excuse. He wasn’t raised on the streets or abused by a step-father; he had a great family and he was sternly taught the difference between right and wrong. He knew what it was like to live a good, honorable life, and he had deliberately turned away from it. He knew that with every mercenary act of cruelty, he was sending himself to hell. The memory of his life as a Wilder also meant when he saw in Karen a light in the darkness, he grabbed her without compunction, like a spoiled child grabs a toy, and if they had stayed together, he would have destroyed her, his last chance at salvation. Luckily for him (and her), he wasn’t paying attention to business and fate in the shape of the Varinskis intervened. He was captured, taken to the darkest depths of the earth, and worked like a slave. He lost the men who trusted him, he suffered torture and pain, and the only thing that kept him from death and despair was the memories (were they memories?) of Karen. He had to go all the way to the brink before he came back … He was and is a dangerous man, capable of the most heinous crimes, and Karen could, if she chose, lead him around by the nose. Works for me.
Gannon:
Maybe we should make a “Duchess of Slut” shirt for you or business cards. Then perhaps that Your Grace title would stick.
As the writer, of course you would realize you could redeem Adrik, but as a reader, I thought you really had your work cut out for you. But you pulled it off beautifully–never doubted you for a minute! Adrik did go to hell and back, before he could feel worthy and his connection to Karen was an essential part of his survival, IMHO. So, did you feel it was necessary more for Adrik’s sake or Karen’s, that he had to fall so far before he could find redemption?
Christina:
It was for me and the reader. He had to really get his ass kicked before anyone was going to buy him as a hero.
Gannon:
Thanks again, Christina, for taking the time to share your feelings about Adrik and how you went about turning him into a very worthy hero. I will hereafter refer to you as Christina, Her Grace, The Duchess of Slut. *VBG*
So readers, have you ever read a book where the hero seemed so bad that you weren’t sure how he would ever be redeemed?
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Buffie
on Mar 17th, 2009
@ 11:29 am:
Great interview Gannon!! I soooo loved Adrik. He is definitely one bad guy and always up to the half way point in the book I wasn’t sure if Christina could turn him around. But she can work some magic with her bad guys!! Adrik’s book was my favorite in this series.
Laura
on Mar 17th, 2009
@ 11:55 am:
Although I am a huge fan of Your Grace Christina, Into the Shadow was not one of my favorites. I loved the first two though, and have reread them. I think my reasoning behind that is you can only go so far with making a really bad boy believably good. Now Jasha, hmmm. I couldn’t get enough of him, but he wasn’t a really bad boy.
PJ
on Mar 17th, 2009
@ 12:08 pm:
Great interview Gannon and Your Grace!
I still remember reading Into the Shadow for the first time and wondering how Christina was ever going to redeem Adrik. Of course, I knew she’d pull it off but halfway through the book I still had no idea how she’d manage to do it. I loved Adrik and his story. He’s my favorite Wilder hero and his story is my favorite of the series.
PJ
on Mar 17th, 2009
@ 12:08 pm:
Pssst…hey, Gannon. Does this mean we have to bow to Christina when we see her in DC?
Christina Dodd
on Mar 17th, 2009
@ 1:09 pm:
PJ, luckily for you, I”m not going to DC. But the answer is no, there’s no need for you to bow. The candy is enough.
Everyone else has to bow.
Almost everyone loves Adrik the best, but man, when they don’t! Laura’s response is the most civilized I’ve heard. Usually the “I vote against Adrik” emails contains a lot of exclamation points and vows never to buy me again. But the emails pretty much ran 20 to 1 for him.
You can tell I loved the guy. I wouldn’t have him in a million years, mind you, but he was a great hero to write. And, er, fantasize about.
Christina
http://www.christinadodd.com
Christina Dodd
on Mar 17th, 2009
@ 1:11 pm:
Also forgot to say Laura — I dearly love Jasha, too. There’s something about a guy who turns into a wolf and chases me into the forest during a thunderstorm and has his wicked way with me that works big time. That was probably the most fun I’ve ever had writing a scene.
Whew.
Christina
http://www.christinadodd.com
PJ
on Mar 17th, 2009
@ 1:18 pm:
I have to agree with the wolf/thunderstorm/forest/wicked way scene. I was doing some serious fanning of self during that one!
Laura
on Mar 17th, 2009
@ 1:31 pm:
I was a little leary of telling my true feelings, I didn’t want to sound judgemental or mean. So I’m glad I came across ok. The love scene during the thunderstorm should go down in history Your Grace. There are certain scenes in books that are unforgetable, and that one is definitly one of them.
Gannon, to answer your ?, I think it is a toss up between Adrik and Zsadist(Lover Awakened). Z seemed to be going nowhere until he met Bella. But like any good story, it’s the women’s undying love that can turn the beast within the man into a teddy bear.
Maria Lokken
on Mar 17th, 2009
@ 1:38 pm:
Christina – Your Grace – Your Wonderfulness – You have a way with men, what can I say.
Laura I think Z was bad – but he seemed more like a tortured hero to me. Oh – was he tortured.
I also think Bones in Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress Series was a BAAAAAD Boy. I’m always amazed at how these guys turn around.
orannia
on Mar 17th, 2009
@ 1:59 pm:
Great interview Gannon & Your Grace
And perfect timing (if I do say so myself) as I just finished reading Into the Shadow last weekend!
Adrik really had a long way to come back from, didn’t he? The one thing that I was surprised about was that Karen didn’t recognize Adrik Wilder as Warlord. I really thought she would… Am really looking forward to reading Into the Flame.
Oh, and I liked the Jasha and the thunderstorm scene too
*fans self*
Gannon
on Mar 17th, 2009
@ 3:12 pm:
Christina, Your Grace, thanks so much for stopping by!
Like PJ, I’m sad you won’t be in DC. 
And I was preparing to curtsy if I saw you, too. 
Oh, yes, Adrik is bad, but oh so good, if you know what I mean. I’m with the rest of you. The scene with Jasha in the forest…..whoa! *fanning myself, as we speak.
Laura, I agree with Maria, Z seemed more tortured than bad. And he is my favorite in the BDB series. The appeal of the tortured hero!
Maria, Bones was a very bad boy.
Borrowing Buffie’s line from this morning, but y’all need to make my picture smaller. I’m not used to seeing myself so “up close” on the internet. *shudder*
Buffie
on Mar 17th, 2009
@ 3:57 pm:
Gannon — I think your picture looks great . . . be then you always do!
Andrea
on Mar 17th, 2009
@ 5:43 pm:
Great interview, Gannon and Christina! Great picture, too, Gannon!
Stacy ~
on Mar 17th, 2009
@ 9:15 pm:
Hey Gannon, I’ve not read this one, yet thanx to you and this wonderful telling of Adrik’s story, I feel I must. Is it the first story?
GREAT picture, btw
Gannon
on Mar 17th, 2009
@ 9:33 pm:
Stacy, Adrik’s story, Into the Shadow, is the third in the series. It’s best to read them in order: Scent of Darkness, Touch of Darkness, Into the Shadow and Into the Flame. Enjoy! It is a fantastic series!!!