Dr. Deadly was fortunate to receive a new release, FLESH OF ALL SORROWS by Jeffrey J. Mariotte. A fast-paced, compelling read! But the focus here is how its villain left a big impression.
The novel features Danny Mansfield, the brand new Chief of Police in his own hometown. Years ago, Daniel Sr. was the Chief who put away the Bookbinder, a heinous serial killer with a literary bent. Or…did he? Because the Bookbinder seems to be back, and Danny opens up bad history in his town and his family to go after the killer.
Ah, the killer. This one stood out, and lingers in my mind. Sympathetic villains have become popular, but this one doesn’t exactly fit the mold. He’s got some redeeming moments, like when he saves a kitten, but two seconds later my heart deflated when he lost his patience and spoke rudely to it. And then…I was intrigued.
The writing captures a sad reality of violent behavior: it’s not necessarily that people have soft spots fully partitioned off from the violent side, and these areas are reliable and easy to map. The killer in Flesh of All Sorrows saves the kitten, but this impulsive moment of empathy and compassion doesn’t carry through to a definable pocket of goodness. In other words, he doesn’t run a cat sanctuary in between his criminal activities.
It happens repeatedly throughout the novel. We witness him having emotions and thoughts that are more empathic, or fair-minded, or vulnerable. And then something angers or frustrates him, and his negative or defensive reactions kick in…which, for him, are intense and violence-oriented. I found it to be a realistic and sobering take on the sympathetic villain motif.
By the end, I couldn’t say the killer was likable, but I did find him strongly sympathetic. I grieved for the person he could have been, if he’d been raised differently, if he’d decided to make a better life for himself, if he’d been able to regulate his emotions enough to keep sight of his healthier instincts. The portrayal of this killer was a large factor in this book resonating more as a psychological thriller than a police procedural for me.
Think back over your literary villains, dear reader. Were any “high-impact” for you, leaving a larger impression? Can you identify why?
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