Samantha Downing recommends 6 books with unsavory narrators

When you make a purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission.
Samantha Downing's new thriller, For Your Own Good, features a teacher at an elite school who's determined to turn all his students into better people. Below, the author of the best-seller My Lovely Wife recommends six other books with unsavory narrators.
Perfect Days by Raphael Montes (2016).
Teo is convinced that he and Clarice belong together. She just needs a little persuading to see things his way, and there's nothing he won't do to achieve this. Yet he's so engaging, so pure in his belief, that you can't help but follow along on this harrowing journey. Buy it here.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll (2015).
Ani is an ambitious, materialistic young woman with an eating disorder. She's a hard woman to like, and the type I wouldn't want to sit next to in the office. But she's also had a difficult past, which is slowly revealed throughout this heart-wrenching novel. Buy it here.
Tampa by Alissa Nutting (2013).
Celeste is a teacher who preys on her 14-year-old male students. This story is a dark tour through a sociopathic mind, but Nutting has achieved something special. Tampa is a brilliant test of how sympathetic (or not) you find a female predator as opposed to a man — such as Humbert Humbert in Lolita. Buy it here.
The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud (2013).
Nora is a single woman, the quiet neighbor no one thinks much about. What people can't see is how angry she is, and she's about to act on it. Nora becomes obsessed with the Shahid family and starts inserting herself into their lives in increasingly disturbing ways. This novel is a master class in obsession. Buy it here.
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn (2009).
No list of unlikable narrators is complete without one from Flynn, who specializes in creating complex women who are hard to like. Libby is depressed, broke, and has never held a job. Now she's running out of money and tries to cash in on the triple murder of three family members, an event from her childhood that has shaped her entire life. Buy it here.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You by Caroline Kepnes (2014).
This novel spawned a series of follow-ups, as well as a Netflix series. Joe is a stalker, a sociopath, and not someone you should date. As disturbing as this story is, Joe is so compelling — and charming — that it's impossible to put down. Buy it here.
This article was first published in the latest issue of The Week magazine. If you want to read more like it, you can try six risk-free issues of the magazine here.
-
Interest rate cut: the winners and losers
The Explainer The Bank of England's rate cut is not good news for everyone
-
Quiz of The Week: 3 – 9 May
Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
The Week Unwrapped: Will robots benefit from a sense of touch?
Podcast Plus, has Donald Trump given centrism a new lease of life? And was it wrong to release the deadly film Rust?
-
One great cookbook: 'I Dream of Dinner (so you don't have to)'
The Week Recommends The endless ease and versatility of a painless dinner
-
5 refreshing books to read this May as you hop your way across spring
The Week Recommends A look at womanhood in the digital age, an ode to second chances and more
-
Colum McCann's 6 favorite books that take place at sea
Feature The National Book Award-winning author recommends works by Ernest Hemingway, Herman Melville, and more
-
5 immersive books to read this April for a brief escape
The Week Recommends A dystopian tale takes us to the library, a journalist's ode to her refugee parents and more
-
One great cookbook: 'Snacking Cakes'
The Week Recommends Modest baking with big impact
-
5 books to read this March to reset your existence right in time for spring
The Week Recommends Another 'Hunger Games' prequel, a eye opening look at lives of the 'working homeless' and more
-
5 absorbing books to read this February to help you escape the chaos
The Week Recommends Bill Gates' first memoir, a Booker prize-nominated book debuts stateside and more
-
5 books to read this January that will take you on adventures real and imagined
The Week Recommends A metafiction about artificial intelligence, a battle over land ownership in the American West and more