Our February theme for our Wicked Wednesdays is Love Kills. So Wickeds have your ever rooted for a killer in a book, TV show, or movie? Try to avoid spoilers or at least have a spoiler alert warning!
Sherry: I love Kelley Armstrong’s Nadia Stafford books about a police officer turned hit woman. This is what her website says about them: Law enforcement is in Nadia Stafford’s blood. She comes from a long line of police officers, and was one herself until the wrong case sent her over the line from dedicated cop to vigilante killer. I wish Kelley would have written more of them!
Edith/Maddie: I can’t think of any, although now I want to check out those Armstrong books, Sherry. But I have written several short stories of murderous revenge from the point of view of the killer. She always believes herself justified, of course! Sometimes she gets away with it…and sometimes she doesn’t.
Liz: Right now I’m reading Billy Summers by Stephen King. Billy is a hitman but he only kills “bad guys.” I’m only halfway through the book but I am definitely rooting for him!
Barb: I recently interviewed S.A. Cosby for the Friends of the Key West Library. (You can listen to the interview here.) In Razorblade Tears, Cosby manages to get you to root for and have sympathy for a man who was previously convicted of manslaughter, and that only because the charge was plead down from murder. Lots of people get killed in this book, but I resist labeling the protagonists as “killers.”
Julie: Rooting for the killer is a tough thing, but I’ve definitely rooted for people to get away with it. Murder on the Orient Express is a great example of that. When someone does a good job of creating motive, and makes the victim particularly vile, it’s often tough to root for them getting caught.
Jessie: I always love the notion of comeuppance and so I would have thought that rooting for the killer would be a part of that. But, somehow I cannot think of any that I quite feel that way about. I would say that I often read books with killers for whom I feel a great deal of empathy or compassion. I find I often write villains that tug at my heart strings too!
Readers: Have you ever rooted for a killer in a book, TV show, or movie?