The title comes from an idea shared by Tyler and Regan who both enjoy licorice. The idea of black stained kiss marks (from the licorice) denoting love reminds me a bit of the black mark of death from the pirate movies.

Tyler and his mom, Anita, are struggling with the drowning death of Vince (Tyler's father and Anita's late husband). Tyler has nightmares, and Anita blames God. Regan enters the picture in two capacities: he's the fire safety inspector who needs to approve Anita's school and he's Tyler's Big Brother. Regan is struggling with loss of his own. His wife and daughter died in a fire and several years later, his grandmother dies on the same date.

Regan and Anita both struggle with feeling disloyal to their first spouses . Anita does recommit her life to God, but I wonder how strong her faith is because she doubts again when Tyler is kidnapped. Also, I was surprised that no one brought up that God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only, beloved son as a test--Abraham chose God over his son--God spared the son. It seems a story to perfectly fit a the scenario, but it never comes up. Instead, they go to Isaiah. ( )