Would you read a book where.....

[Whereismyblind]

The main protagonist/POV is a serial killer who has killed in the past, but has committed to not killing any more because he knows it's wrong, and also he is finding it increasingly difficult to hide his double life from his teenage daughter and everyone else.

He meets a woman and falls in love with her, which is a huge revelation to him as he thought it was impossible for him to feel such depth of emotion.

Obviously, some form of truth will out in the end.

So, would you read something like this??

Post your own imagined book plot for feedback here too please

being raised in a religious cult, which he managed to escape from as a teen

That part sounds far more engaging than what you've said in your OP. I might buy a book where the focus was on the traumatic upbringing in a cult.

Probably not, because this: He meets a woman and falls in love with her, which is a huge revelation to him as he thought it was impossible for him to feel such depth of emotion would make me think it was some 50 Shades-style thing, and I loathe that for too many reasons to count.

The distinction drawn by a PP is relevant - does this guy kill for pleasure or some other reason? The film Grosse Pointe Blank is about a hitman who is trying to give up killing. His repeated assertion that "a psychopath kills for pleasure - I kill for money" is shown not to be the huge distinction he thinks it is.

I'm also reminded of a great short story by (I think!) Stephen King, called Catch and Release. It's about a serial killer who feels the risks are too high now he's older, so he doesn't kill any more. What he does is pick up women and give them lifts, whilst thinking about how he would kill them and enjoying the thought that he COULD kill them. And then he lets them go. It's stuck in my head as one of the most chilling things I've ever read. And that's the only plausible reason, I think, a sadistic/pychopathic killer might stop. If you look at the backgrounds of these men, they escalate, they don't mull things over, feel bad and stop.

And having had a quick Google, I can't find any reference to that story, so I must have misremembered the title or it's not by Stephen King Wonder what it was

Is it this book, IllDoIT?

www.goodreads.com/book/show/12110898-catch-and-release

It doesn't draw me, but I have actually enjoyed a few things that are similar. For instance I really love Grosse Point Blank which, as a pp has said, is very morally dodgy on the killing issue. There is also a really excellent sci-fi series by Martha Wells called The Murderbot Diaries which is along the same theme although based on a robot rather than a human.

Oh wow, Catch and Release sounds brilliant! I know what I'll be doing with my Sunday afternoon

I do suppose the religious cult/what makes a killer angle is far more interesting. Will see if I can build that out a bit 👍

The thing is, I DO want him to be morally dodgy, but I still want the reader to want him to redeem himself somehow 🤔

There's plenty of evidence that some serial killers do just stop fwiw. I would read it OP, not sure that's a great recommendation though since I'll read any old shite

Watch Fritz Lang's M for a compellingly sympatetic portrait of a serial killer. It might inspire you.

@Whereismyblind

The main protagonist/POV is a serial killer who has killed in the past, but has committed to not killing any more because he knows it's wrong, and also he is finding it increasingly difficult to hide his double life from his teenage daughter and everyone else.

He meets a woman and falls in love with her, which is a huge revelation to him as he thought it was impossible for him to feel such depth of emotion.

Obviously, some form of truth will out in the end.

So, would you read something like this??

Post your own imagined book plot for feedback here too please

No.

The film (NOT the book) of 'The Talented Mr Ripley' shows the eponymous serial killer in a sympathetic light.

No.
I really dislike a woman being the emotional saviour of a man. Yet again.

[quote ClariceQuiff]Is it this book, IllDoIT?

www.goodreads.com/book/show/12110898-catch-and-release[/quote]
It is, thank you! I have got that collection by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrontonio, so that'll be where I read it.

It has a very Stephen King-ish feel, in my defence

I don't mind stories where the woman is the emotional saviour of the man tbh, it happens all the time in real life (under more mundane circumstances usually), so I don't see why it would be avoided in literature

He could be gay? Then it’s not a woman who redeems him.

As over 100 women are killed in real life every year in the UK
Shouldn't we stop seeing femicide as entertainment?
Pls Google "Counting Dead Women" for facts on female homicide in the UK recorded from 2012 onwards...

I'm well aware of the female homicide figures, but I think your suggestion is a bit ridiculous tbh. Are we to stop watching/reading everything related to murder/war/violence? It's human nature to want to watch and read things that happen in real life, and for the vast majority of people, they consume this content as they want to see justice served.