Looking For Books of a Certain Genre.

robman60

I'm not exactly an avid reader, and my reading rarely extends beyond National Geographic Magazine and Internet articles. As I have some free time over the summer months, I've decided to read a little.

Anyway, I'm looking for some titles that are quite dark, perhaps including a psychopath or someone who feels incredibly alone and isolated/suicidal. I'm not into fiction much at all. I just don't find a book/film as interesting when it's not based on truth, so I'd prefer if the book had at least some element of truth in it.

I've seen the film "Ben X" which is based on the book "All He Said Was Nothing" and it's exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for. Also, if you could include a bookshop where the book(s) is/are available, that would be great.

Thank you.

Emiko

The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer has a psycho in it.

The Exexcutioner's Song will keep you going, if you want something a bit longer.

I'm guessing most shops would have either of them.

chasmcb

Edna O'Brien's 'In The Forest' is closely based on the Brendan O'Donnell /Imelda Riney murder case.

Eoin McNamee has written several novels inspired by real-life murders such as 'Resurrection Man', about the Shankill butchers, and 'The Blue Tango' about the 1950s murder of Patricia Curran, a case which caused a huge sensation at the time.

The Princess Bride

Hi OP.
Might I suggest you join a library and at least if you try a book and don't like it, you won't be out of pocket.Thereafter,if you find an author who interests you,then it would make sense to buy their work.
I would recommend books by Keith Ablow- he is a psychiatrist,quite famous in USA, he writes fiction but is very close to the bone because of his psych. history.

The Mad Hatter

From Hell by Alan Moore is about as close a look inside the mind of a psychopath as you're ever likely to get. It's a reconstruction of the Jack the Ripper case which deals indirectly with ideas like the birth of the twentieth century, and while it is inclined to get a bit metaphysical and spiritual at times, it's still an excellent, though highly disturbing and grim, read.

Denerick

I could probably suggest 'Tender is the Night' by F.Scott Fitzgerald, though its a bit dry and sappy.

Try 'Turn of the Screw' by Henry James or maybe even 'The Little Stranger' by Sarah Waters. Both are 'ghost' stories but mainly contain themes of madness. I take it you were looking for an 'unreliable narrator'?

robman60

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I'll take a look at some of the suggested titles in Eason's soon hopefully.

dr gonzo

Without a doubt what youre looking for is the wasp factory by Ian Banks, i think it ticks all your boxes by the sounds of it.

Very good book im told but what little i read leafing through it it seems exceptionally dark and violent.

Dades

The only book I've read in the last few years that sounds bleak enough for you is Atomised, by Michel Houellebecq.

Bearhunter

By Reason of Insanity by Shane Stevens. A brilliant serial-killer yarn that echoes the Caryl Chessman case.