#Wicked #Villain Depends on Point of View #WickedWednesday by Stephen B. King

WICKED WEDNESDAY

I know you're going to enjoy my guest today, Stephen B. King. He really knows how to create a villain for a great wicked read.

I’m thrilled to be a part of Brenda’s Wicked Wednesday to talk about my latest release: Glimpse, Memoir of a Serial Killer. So what does wicked mean to me? I thought I’d check the definition.

Wicked: Definition via Google:

1.      Evil or morally wrong.  2. Intended to or capable of harming someone or something.  3. Extremely unpleasant.  4.  Playfully mischievous.  5 excellent, wonderful.

     

In Glimpse, Memoir of a Serial Killer, I’m afraid not all of the above definitions listed apply to the murderer PPP. I thought it might be interesting to look at each in turn. We can all sleep at night, knowing he is no longer at large.

1.      Evil or morally wrong. This is subjective. To us ‘normal’ people, and his victims it’s a no-brainer, of course it’s true. But to him he is normal; we are the ones at fault. Patricia Holmes diagnosed him as a narcissistic sociopath; totally devoid of emotions, therefore he has no morals, either right or wrong.

2.      Intended to, or capable of harming someone or something. PPP was raised by a troubled father who came back from the Vietnam War not the same man who went away. His mother, he believed, abandoned him to a man who became steadily crueller, and from there his life got far, far worse. As an adult, he craved fame and thought he could achieve it by becoming the most prolific serial killer in Australian history. When he discovered the cop who he thought had wronged him as a child is the very one hunting him for the sensational ‘Body in the Suitcase’ murder, PPP abducts a woman, and threatens to send the cop a part of her body every day he remains uncaught. Yes, he was very capable of harming. 

3.      Extremely unpleasant. Another subjective term. HHowever, in this case, it is true to say that everyone who meets Paul Rankin does not like him. PPP reminds me of the type of person that when you read of a murderer in the papers, and see his picture, everyone thinks – Yep, he looks like someone who would be a killer.  It’s funny though, that neighbours of those sorts of people always say things like: “he was always so quiet….”

4.      Playfully Mischievous. Rankin thinks he is hilarious; sadly, he isn’t. He is the sort of man who asks his victim if they are having fun yet, when they are in abject terror. In taunting the police he offers them a hand to catch him – literally, a victim’s left hand. Even in his planning, which he does very well, he has a sense of misguided fun as evidenced by the disguises he wears. Of all of the descriptions here, this is the one closest to how PPP sees himself. And that, to me is the scariest thing of all. As Pat says to the cops hunting him: “Genuine sociopaths are rare. They do not experience guilt or remorse, no feelings at all. You can’t plead with him, he doesn’t understand mercy, you can’t threaten him, he doesn’t feel fear, or worry about consequences. You can’t hurt him, either; he has been hurt all his life.” 

5.      Excellent, wonderful.  When I saw this definition, I was reminded of modern English comedy TV shows, where a youth might say “dat is well wicked, in it?” A line made famous by Sasha Baron Cohen, playing one of his alter egos Ali G. So if playfully mischievous best described my villain, Excellent, and wonderful least describes him.

Here’s what the book is all about:

In Perth, Australia, 1999, Sergeant Rick McCoy investigates the murder of a woman found butchered and packed inside a suitcase, left at the Midland Dump.

The Killer then abducts another victim and threatens to dismember her slowly and send Rick a piece of her each day he goes uncaught. Rick's life is further complicated by a marriage in tatters after an affair he had. With the approaching end of the millennium, and the threat of computers shutting down due to the Y2K bug, his wife Juliet relents and forgives him.

Frustrated at every turn in his investigation, he is paired with glamorous Criminal Psychologist and profiler, Patricia Holmes, and the mutual attraction is instantaneous.

While trying to rebuild his marriage, he finds himself in a desperate race against time to free the victim and fight his desire for his new partner. They are pitted against a narcissistic sociopath, capable of extreme cunning and strategical planning, who seeks revenge against Rick for a wrong in his troubled childhood.

Available at Amazon: http://a.co/d/1uPIKNt

Thanks so much to Brenda for hosting me, I wish you a  ‘well wicked Wednesday’ and not the other kinds

http://www.stephen-b-king.com
twitter: @stephenBKing1
Facebook: @stephenbkingauthor
Forever Night
Domin8
The Vigilante Taxi
Burial Ground
Repo
Published by The Wild Rose Press:
Thirty Three Days
The Deadly Glimpses Trilogy:
Glimpse, Memoir of a Serial Killer
Glimpse, The Beautiful Deaths
Glimpse, The Tender Killer

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