First published 2009
Quentin P. walks free from prison, a sex offender with dark fantasies that consume his thoughts. The parole system releases him back into society, but Quentin carries urges that prison failed to cure. He moves through his new life as a free man while his mind fixates on control and possession of others. His sexual crimes were just the beginning. Quentin's obsessions grow more violent and elaborate as he plans his next moves. He studies his potential victims and develops methods to dominate them completely. The gap between his public face and private desires widens as he escalates from his previous offenses. Quentin's transformation from rapist to mass murderer unfolds through his own perspective, revealing the calculated steps of his descent. Oates takes readers inside the mind of a predator who sees other people as objects for his twisted experiments. The story exposes how Quentin rationalizes his actions while pursuing increasingly deadly fantasies.
Genres: fiction, crime, horror, psychological-thriller
Vibes: dark, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: descent-into-madness, unreliable-narrator
192 pages · Paperback · Ecco
Content warnings: abuse, graphic-violence, mental-illness, pedophilia, sexual-assault