Wednesday, November 10: Tune It Or Die!
CHEERING THE VILLAIN
by Rob Lopresti
Melodie’s recent column about the bad guys got me thinking about my favorite villains. Let’s start out by eliminating a couple of obvious candidates. Professor Moriarty has had a very interesting (after) life since he went over the Reichenbach Falls but let’s face it, he only appeared in one short story, and barely in that. So I eliminate him.
I have written here at far too great length about my affection for Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe series, but the arch-criminal in those books, Arnold Zeck, is no great shakes either. He is mentioned in three books and appears physically in only one, but more to the point, I don’t find him a great character.
So, who qualifies? Well, in Melodie’s column and comments we covered Gutman and Hannibal Lecter, so I will skip them here. But here are some of my favorites.
Ed McBain’s The Deaf Man. Now, here is an arch-villain with staying power. He appears in six 87th Precinct novels from The Heckler (1960) to Hark! (2004). He is a man of mystery (always using pseudonyms that refer to his alleged disability, like Mort Orecchio – “dead ear” in Italian); and he takes a special interest in the 87th Precinct boys, finding ways to use their investigations of him in his own elaborate crime plots. And while always defeated (and usually badly wounded) he somehow manages to hobble away to fight another day. Now that’s a great bad guy.
Thomas Perry’s Earl Bliss and Linda Thompson. This team of hitpersons only appear in Shadow Woman, one of Perry’s books about Jane Whitefield. But boy, they made an impression on me. What makes them memorable is a scene, obviously a ritual they engage in before each killing, in which they convince themselves that the target is a danger to them that they have to destroy. It is both a psyching-up and a form of foreplay, and it is scary.
Agatha Christie. I haven’t read her books in almost forty years, but two villains come immediately to mind: the murderers in Towards Zero and Ten Little Indians (And Then There Were None). You probably remember the latter (and if you have only seen movie versions you have missed the brilliant way the killer’s story is revealed in the book). But Towards Zero is a lesser-known stunner which qualifies as a twist ending, forcing you to rethink everything you saw the killer do throughout the book.
G.M. Ford’s Cast In Stone. My favorite novel in the Leo Waterman series, actually one of my favorite mystery novels, period. The Seattle private eye goes looking for a possible “black widow” killer and finds is a particularly nasty predator.
Stanley Ellin’s James Flood. Ellin was one of the all-time great writers of short mysteries, but Stronghold was the only one of his novels I really loved. Sections alternate first person narration by Marcus Hayworth and James Flood. Hayworth is a decent guy, a wealthy businessman, and a member of a modern Quaker community in upstate New York. Flood is a criminal who was raised and rejected by that group and now comes back with an elaborate plan of vengeance in mind: he kidnaps most of the women, including Hayworth’s wife and daughter. Flood is single-minded, bloody-minded, and too clever by half.
John le Carré’s Karla. The Russian master spy appears (sort of) in two books, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, and Smiley’s People. He never says a word, but he is, as Moriarty was described, the spider at the center of the web. In the first book George Smiley says that “Karla is not fireproof (invulnerable), because he is a fanatic. And one day, if I have anything to do with it, that lack of moderation will be his downfall.” But, in typical le Carré fashion, it is an unexpectedly human weak point, not his famous hardness, that topples Karla. By the way, it is a nice example of the quality of British TV that they hired for Karla’s two brief, silent appearances, not a minor player, but Patrick Stewart.
So, that’s enough from me. Who are your favorite bad guys as yet unlisted?
The Deaf Man is a classic. One of the best ever.
I’ve never forgotten “Hook” Hobie – the villain in Lee Child’s early Jack Reacher novel, TRIPWIRE. Hobie is scary smart, and just scary, with a disfigured face and metal hook for a right hand. He kills at will and on whim, and his showdown with the novel’s hero is one to remember.
But the greatest villain for me is easily Legion Guidry from James Lee Burke’s brilliant JOLIE BLON’S BOUNCE.
A villain named after a demon from the bible, he may actually possess supernatural powers. He is at least powerful enough to – at the ripe old age of 74 – give rock hard cop Dave Robicheaux the beating of his life, finishing it off with a nasty, humiliating French kiss.
Ugh, just remembering this villain gives me chills, and I have not read the book in years. What better endorsement could you ask for?
The Biblical reference from Jolie Blon’s Bounce comes from the gospel of St. Mark, Chapter 5, and refers to a man possessed by a demon exorcised by Jesus. The quote is from verse 9:
“And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.”
One of my favorite serial villains, very predictably, is Ernst Stavro Blofeld. He appeared in three James Bond novels, Thunderball, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, and You Only Live Twice. In the first book, his role is really nothing more than a cameo, the heavy lifting having been done by his lieutenant, Emilio Largo.
In detective fiction, I think my favorite is probably Jack Stapleton in what I still consider the best mystery novel ever written, The Hound of the Baskervilles. He seems so harmless on the surface, but his evil goes deeper than the Grimpen Mire, especially with regard to his exploitation of Beryl.
I think that technically it is correct that Moriarty “appears” in only one Holmes Story, at the Falls, but he is prevalent throughout The Valley of Fear, which was written after “The Final Problem,” but which predates it chronologically. There Holmes describes to Watson that Moriarty is (if memory serves) like a shark always prowling just below the surface of the water. I always thought that it was that reference, in the last Holmes novel written, that set the stage for Moriarty’s being seen as the antagonist of the entire series. I also think there are several passing references to Moriarty in other stories that Doyle wrote, all post “The Last Bow.” Interestingly, there is a loophole in “The Last Bow” — Watson does not know who Moriarty is, yet he should have from The Valley of Fear and the other story references. Obviously Doyle was caught up by the fact that those stories were written after the incident at the falls but predated the incident chronologically.
English author and screenwriter Anthony Horowitz’ list of top ten literary villains.
Besides the stories from the good guys’ viewpoint but with interesting bad guys, there are the ones from the villain’s viewpoint. Raffles and the Saint come to mind, for serial malefactors. Memorable one-shots include Montresor in The Cask Of Amontillado and the protagonist in a Christie story I will refrain from naming.
There are also a few that feature supposed good guys so brutal, inept, dishonest, or sanctimonious that I can’t help rooting for the villains . . . .
Can we count Ed Hoch’s Sandra Paris “The White Queen” a a baddie? She’s clever and fun. But my favorite villian was the immortal Dracula (who actually appears in very little of the book!)