Our Picks For Fascinating Psychopathic or Sociopathic Characters

Posted on by mycoulee

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In the spirit of Halloween and our fun new clip art, Norma and I decided to start a discussion post with chilling and unsettling aspects to books that have made our skin crawl or send chilling shivers up our spines.  For our first post let’s talk Psychopathic and Sociopathic characters and what makes them so fascinating and appealing to us readers.

Brenda:  The ones that are most fascinating for me are the characters that draw me right into their manipulating mind games.

Norma: Unreliable sociopathic &/or psychopathic characters are my absolute favorite characters and I find their manipulative, cunning, obsessive behaviour and twisted ways so fascinating and entertaining to read.  The more unbelievable a story is the better for me.  I like my fiction to be just that fiction!

Each of these titles has something brewing – it might be terrifying, harrowing and it might even be thrilling but it will most definitely be fun.  So come join us on this journey through some unexpected doors to places in the world of Psychological Thrillers and a few other genres and see if some of these characters will make your skin crawl.

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Norma and I just recently finished reading a psychological thriller, LYING IN WAIT by LIZ NUGENT and after finishing this book we both thought wow that was one of the best psychopathic/ sociopathic characters we have ever read.  So it got me thinking about what makes for a fascinating psychopathic/sociopathic character? And what are some other books that we thought were the best ones that we have read.

Here are a few of our favorite psychopathic/sociopathic characters described in 5 words or less:

Lying in WaitLying in Wait by Liz Nugent

This title releases in Canada November 27, 2018

Psychological Thriller

Character Omitted Purposely:  Sociopathic / manipulative, cunning, controlling, and callous.

Through this door we found img_6561safe from anything too disturbing and unsettling and img_6561fun and entertaining cupcakes to consume after reading this one.

Truth and Lies (DI Amy Winter, #1)Truth and Lies by Caroline Mitchell

Crime Thriller

Lillian: Psychopathic serial killer / manipulative, terrifying mind games.

Things get a little more disturbing through this door and Lillian hides some of those cupcakes from us only allowing us to find img_6562safe from anything disturbing and unsettling along with img_6561entertaining cupcakes.

Watch MeWatch Me by Jody Gehrman

Psychological Thriller

Sam: Sociopathic character /  intense, obsessed, unnervingly aggressive and chilling.

Through this door, things became quite chilling and Sam was obsessed over keeping those img_6563 cupcakes safe from us but we found img_6561entertaining cupcakes when he wasn’t looking.

Into the Black Nowhere (UNSUB, #2)Into the Black Nowhere by Meg Gardiner

Suspense Crime Thriller

Character Omitted Purposely:  Psychopathic character / charismatic, cunning, arrogant with a sense of self-importance and twisted.

Through this door, I stepped into a fascinating game of cat and mouse to find img_6564safe from anything dark and disturbing.  Our psychopath here has a few elements that make them fascinating but very disturbing and a bit different from some of the other darker minds I have read with their charming and dangerous ways.  For a fascinating character, I found all the cupcakes however we cross over to more darker elements than entertaining and I found img_6563for entertainment.

Best Day EverBest Day Ever by Kaira Rouda

Psychological Thriller

Of course, we have to add Paul:  Sociopathic character / controlling, unlikable narcissist, deceptive and highly entertaining.

Through this door, Sam shared  img_6561safe and entertaining cupcakes with us.

The Line That Held UsThe Line That Held Us by David Joy

Literary Fiction / Crime Mystery

Dwayne:  Psychopathic character / damaged, unpredictably dangerous, and vengeful.

Some of us reading this one were very cautious stepping through this door.  Once through this door though things get quite violent and disturbing and we found no safe cupcakes here.  I won’t describe this one as entertaining, however, Dwayne gets  img_6563for a fascinating psychopath.  David Joy even managed to make me feel some empathy for him.

Eeny Meeny (Helen Grace, #1)Eeny Meeny by M.J. Arlidge

Psychological / Crime Thrillers

Some of the most fascinating psychopaths that I have read came from the Helen Grace Series.  There are seven books to this series and with the newest one being recently published in the UK.  Each psychopath has a very different, disturbing and entertaining one.

Through all these doors things are pretty dark and disturbing so no safe cupcakes were shared with us, however, all theimg_6561 cupcakes for entertaining were.

The Night BeforeThe Night Before by Wendy Walker

Expected Publication Date:  May 14th, 2019

Psychological Thriller

Character Omitted Purposely: Psychopathic character /  charming, obsessed, pathological and manipulative.

We just recently finished this one and even though we wouldn’t say our psychopath was one of the most fascinating characters, however all the characters combined here in this intense mystery were.

Through this door, we didn’t find anything dark and disturbing with our psychopath in this story.   img_6561were shared with us for our safety and entertainment.

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Let’s talk!!  What do you think makes for a fascinating psychopathic or Sociopathic character?  What are some of your favorite characters and why?  Join us in sharing your favorite and describing them in 5 words or less.  Drop us a comment!  We would love to hear from you.

Published by mycoulee

23 thoughts on “Our Picks For Fascinating Psychopathic or Sociopathic Characters”

  1. I think our fascination with these characters comes from our inability to connect with them. They are creatures so different from our own makeup and they frighten us silly. We want to make sense out of them but that’s really impossible. That makes them stand out and, well, fascinating.

    I very much agree with you about Lying in Wait. Nugent’s Unraveling Oliver has an even more complex sociopath, too. But my all time favorite is Joe Goldberg in You by Carolyn Kepnes. Wait until you meet him. I’m watching the TV adaptation and they’ve absolutely gotten everything right. Highly recommend.

    Great post!

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Thank you, Jonetta! I love how you said it comes from our inability to connect with them. That really makes sense!

      I will have to put Unraveling Oliver on my list. I just bought it and was hoping to read it and then watch the show, however, we don’t have here in Canada! I do want to read it soon still

      Liked by 3 people

      3. Jonetta, I probably overspoke about You. It might be on cable TV. I am not sure I don’t have cable TV and its been forever since I have, so I am not sure what channels you can get here in Canada. On Canadian Netflicks it has the trailer on there so I holding on to hope that it will be available on there soon.

        Liked by 3 people

    2. My favourite psychopath if you can call them would have to be Gretchen Lowell from Archie Sheridan series I’ve decided on her because she’s the one you can’t quite believe because she is a woman and also it would probably change with every new book I read 😌 she’s
      1: a women, 2: she’s supposed to be a beautiful woman (I’m not bitter) 3: she manipulative 4: she just good old twisted oh and 5: she’s clever and was going to be a surgeon but I think we are drawn to these characters because they’re not the kind of people you meet every day (well I don’t think I do 😨 ) and we can’t connect with them and they are just exciting to read about .

      Liked by 2 people

      1. I think women psychopaths can be a bit more fascinating sometimes. Maybe a bit more unexpected too! Yes I thinks so too, they fascinated us because we can’t connect with the way they think. Thanks for stopping by to comment Jess!!

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  3. I love me a good psychopathic or sociopathic character. I especially like books where the character appears quite normal on the outside or even where the character thinks he/she appears that way. A couple of my favourites are Jake from I’m Thinking of Ending Things (Iain Reid) and Joe from You (Caroline Kepnes). I just finished Best Day Ever and couldn’t agree more about Paul. Some of these books are already on my TBR list but I see I’ll be adding some of the others!

    Liked by 2 people

      1. I will have to take a closer look at Jake. I do have You and hope to get to it soon. Its one of those one everyone is recommending to me and I need to read so I should listen and read it. lol

        I am so glad to see you read Best Day Ever and agree. Paul was probably more the entertaining ones I have read.

        Thank you for dropping by with your comment. I enjoyed reading it!!

        Liked by 2 people

    1. Thank you for dropping by with your comment T! I think you could read Best Day Ever and get a good look at a sociopath without anything disturbing at all. He could really be your next door neighbor, well not your real one. lol .

      Liked by 2 people

  5. I absolutely love this fun, thought-provoking topic!! For me, I just love a good villain! Someone who is so manipulative and has a distorted view of the world that they justify their abhorrent behavior. And I loved Lying in Wait as well! I’m so glad you both loved it, Brenda and Norma!!! 💕

    Liked by 4 people

    1. I am so glad to see you loved Lying too Mackenzie! I was so behind on the discussion for that one. I haven’t popped into final threads yet but I am looking forward to seeing everyone’s thoughts.

      Liked by 3 people

    1. Thank you, Christina! You have made me smile. I just love the graphics and so glad to see you think they are cute. I can’t get enough of them. We keep getting more and more of them. lol
      By the way, your character’s name is Zara. lol.

      Liked by 3 people

      1. I am cheering and smiling!!! I am so glad you do too, Jonetta!! I will have to pick a character out for you too. Do you have blond hair or brunette?

        Liked by 3 people

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