Looking for villainous heroes/heroines

[Charybdis]

I would like to read more books where the protagonist isn't the regular good person fighting evil, but is the bad person him-/herself. Like Tom Ripley, Dexter Morgan, Ariana Osgood and Beatrice Lacey.

I love looking into their minds and think it's exciting to read how they plan and commit crimes without getting caught and still remain likeable and make the reader want to identify with them.

Can anyone recommend more of those books to me?

[Penfeather]

I found a thread on another forum about books with evil protagonists, but it's not specific to the Gothic genre:

http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/f38/...17826.html

It's an interesting question. I consider it a formidable feat for a writer to pull off a compelling story with an immoral or amoral hero. Those who have succeeded are exceptionally skilled. Pretty much anything by Patricia Highsmith -- what a virtuoso!

[Charybdis]

Thank you. They recommend Fantomas and I remember having loved the Fantômas movies with Jean Marais. I had a total crush on him in my teens after watching "La belle et la bête".
So I think it'll be exciting to find out how the books turn out. Will report later!
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Nope, Fantômas doesn't qualify. He isn't the protagonist but just a villain the police are after all the time. He gets some scenes in various disguises but you never know what's in his mind. I've skipped several parts of the book but as I understand it his motive is plain simple greed. How ordinary.

[sara]

How about Perfume by Patrick Suskind? A mix of historical, romance and horror, it’s superbly written and genuinely chilling in parts. I found the character Grenouille one of the most intriguing gothic anti-hero’s since Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein’s monster.

Another book I’ve enjoyed, this time featuring the morally ambiguous heroine familiar to Dark Shadows fans, is Angelique’s Descent by Lara Parker.

[Charybdis]

Thanks for the recommendation! I found both books on IRC and they're my next to read. Really looking forward to them!!
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I just finished reading "Perfume" and Jean-Baptiste Grenouille most definitely is number five on my list of villainous heroes. A great book!

[Bellatrix Lestrange]

Perfume was fantastic! If you really want to get into the mind of a creep, you can't get better than "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov. Its written from the perspective of a pedophile/poet who falls "in love" with a really young girl. Its really weird because the reader ends up sympathizing whith him for a long time and it forces you to question your definition of good vs perverse. Its quite interesting and psycological.
Crime and Punishment is technically written from the villain's point of view, but it's quite heavy.

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Thanks for the recommendation! I found both books on IRC and they're my next to read. Really looking forward to them!!
..................
I just finished reading "Perfume" and Jean-Baptiste Grenouille most definitely is number five on my list of villainous heroes. A great book!

Perfume was fantastic! If you really want to get into the mind of a creep, you can't get better than "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov. Its written from the perspective of a pedophile/poet who falls "in love" with a really young girl. Its really weird because the reader ends up sympathizing whith him for a long time and it forces you to question your definition of good vs perverse. Its quite interesting and psycological.
Crime and Punishment is technically written from the villain's point of view, but it's quite heavy.

[Charybdis]

Perfume was fantastic! If you really want to get into the mind of a creep, you can't get better than "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov. Its written from the perspective of a pedophile/poet who falls "in love" with a really young girl. Its really weird because the reader ends up sympathizing whith him for a long time and it forces you to question your definition of good vs perverse. Its quite interesting and psycological.
Crime and Punishment is technically written from the villain's point of view, but it's quite heavy.

Thank you! I will try to read both of them. I've never read one of the Russian classics because of the daunting size, but I'm reading so much these days, I think perhaps it won't take as long as back in the days when I still had to go to work and stuff.
I'll report later, also on "Angelique's descent", which I haven't started yet.