Have you read any books with despicable characters who you 100% dislike … but love the book? Here are 5 of our favorite books told from the point of view of serial killers – books that we hate that we love!
The Shining Girls, Lauren Beukes
Harper is a truly evil villain. He sees girls that have something special about them – he calls it “The Shining” – and he kills them when they’ve grown up. But this story is not as straightforward as it seems, and there are a lot of twists and a lot of sides to the story. It’s a detailed web of a story, a very gruesome at times, but well worth the read.
In Depression-era Chicago, Harper Curtis finds a key to a house that opens on to other times. But it comes at a cost. He has to kill the shining girls: bright young women, burning with potential. He stalks them through their lives across different eras until, in 1989, one of his victims, Kirby Mazrachi, survives and starts hunting him back.
End of Watch (Bill Hodges #3), Stephen King
The first two books in the Bill Hodges series by Stephen King were more of your traditional mystery novels. But in the 3rd book, we got a little more of the King weirdness that we’re used to, and got it from the killer’s point of view. And boy was this book a thriller!
In Room 217 of the Lakes Region Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic, something has awakened. Something evil. Brady Hartsfield, perpetrator of the Mercedes Massacre, where eight people were killed and many more were badly injured, has been in the clinic for five years, in a vegetative state. According to his doctors, anything approaching a complete recovery is unlikely. But behind the drool and stare, Brady is awake, and in possession of deadly new powers that allow him to wreak unimaginable havoc without ever leaving his hospital room.
Zombie, Joyce Carol Oates
Quentin P is one of the most unforgettable characters in books I’ve read. He is undeniably crazy, and there is nothing redeeming about him. To be inside his mind, as the author takes us through his thought process, is so unnerving that I almost wish I could unread this book. And that’s what makes this story so bloody good. Damn you JCO, for being such a good writer.
Meet Quentin P., an unbelievably terrifying sexual psychopath and killer. “The author deftly puts you inside the mind of a serial killer–succeeding not in writing about madness, but in writing with the logic of madness.”
I Hunt Killers, Barry Lyga
This book is interesting because it’s told from the point of view of Jasper Dent, the son of a world famous serial killer.
Jasper “Jazz” Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say. But he’s also the son of the world’s most infamous serial killer. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could—from the criminal’s point of view. In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret—could he be more like his father than anyone knows?
The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson
If you’re interested in the analysis of true crime, this book is for you.
Author Erik Larson imbues the incredible events surrounding the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. The book tells the stories of two men: Daniel H. Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair’s construction, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer masquerading as a charming doctor.
Have you read any of the books we mentioned? Or any books by those authors? What other types of books do you hate to love?
// Comments //
Resh Susan
Oh wow. Great list. I have not read any of these. I can’t think of despicable main characters, but I have definitely come across despicable side characters and still enjoyed them for the character sketch. Serial Killers sound scary
Tanya Patrice
@Resh reading a book from the serial killer’s point of view is really creepy.