Five Books For When You Need An (Anti) Hero

All the anti-heroes you love to hate - or, just occasionally, can't help but love

Jan 14, 2025

*Portrait of Eduard Kosmack* by Egon Schiele, 1910. I love how Schiele painted people in such a distinctive and un-beautiful way that it actually has its own kind of beauty. This portrait in particular is so arresting.

Welcome to Five Books For, a newsletter for people who love great stories. I’m so happy you’re here.

Do you do much planning ahead for your reading, or set any goals for yourself? Each January I see people talking about their reading goals for the coming year and while I always love learning about what others are reading, it’s especially interesting to see how they read. For the past few years I’ve kept track of the books I’ve read (mostly to avoid duplication and help me remember them a bit better) and I generally have a loose idea that I’d like to read a minimum number of books each year - usually 24, although I generally read much more than that. By setting a low target I remove any pressure from the whole thing and give myself plenty of flexibility, but I find it helpful to set a baseline to commit to. Other than that I tend not to set any goals, although I sometimes have an idea I’d like to explore. Last year I did quite a few readalongs here on Substack which was wonderful - I highly recommend it - but because two of them were year-long projects it did mean that they took up a lot of time and that I probably read less overall than I otherwise would have. This year I didn’t want to undertake any big commitments so while I’m signed up to a couple of readalongs I’m going to play it by ear and see how I feel when they roll around, and if I don’t feel like doing them live I might catch up with them later. One thing I am hoping to do this year is to read some more Dickens. Dickens was my granddad’s favourite author and before he died he gave me some of his Dickens books, which are amongst the most precious books I own now. I’m hoping to read some more of them this year, whether in hard copy or via audiobook (Audible has a fantastic Dickens collection, with forewords which add to the whole experience and some wonderful narrators to bring the stories alive. They’re also free to members). I would love to hear from you guys about how you read - do you make a plan? Set a target? Read around a theme? Let me know!

Anyway, for our theme this month I thought it would be interesting to look at some anti-heroes. Some of them are people doing terrible things who you can’t help but like and root for; others are truly awful human beings whose very odiousness is what makes them fascinating. Each of the books I’m sharing this month is a great read in its own right and perhaps even more so when you consider how terrible some of the lead characters are - there’s no appeal there like you might have with a more likeable lead character.

I’ve chosen things from a range of genres so hopefully there will be something for everyone. As ever, I hope you find something new to surprise and delight you.

Thank you for being here

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Okay, let’s dive in!

How To Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie

“Life is so short and we spend so much of it talking to terrible people about the minutiae of their nothing lives. I cannot do it with any enthusiasm.”

So what’s it about? Grace Barnard is in prison. Despite having killed six people, calmly and remorselessly, she is in fact innocent of the particular murder she’s been imprisoned for. When she found out that her millionaire father, who abandoned her, had rejected her dying mother’s appeal for help, she sets out to destroy his family, one by one, to exact her revenge.

What’s great about it? Grace is an awful person but she’s also funny and engaging. The people she’s killing are all horrible in various different ways which helps her take us along for the ride as she plots and schemes her way through six different murders and a fatal accident, before she discovers that her pride has been her fatal flaw all along. She’s a great example of an unreliable narrator and there’s a darkly funny streak that flows throughout the book which makes it a quick, fun read. It’s also nice to see the murder mystery format turned on its head and told from the point of view of the murderer.

Give it a try if: you love horrible female characters; you like books which have an unreliable narrator; you like books written in a journal format; you love murder mysteries; you love reading about horrible people getting their comeuppance.

Six Of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

“When everyone knows you’re a monster, you needn’t waste time doing every monstrous thing.”

So what’s it about? Set in Bardugo’s Grishaverse, where some of the population have special powers, Six Of Crows is a spectacular heist novel starring your new favourite criminal gang. Kaz Brekker runs one of the smartest gangs in Ketterdam, a city loosely inspired by old Amsterdam. Kaz’ main line of income is his gambling house, The Crow Club, as well as various jobs he undertakes on a commission basis. When one of the city eldermen offers an eye-watering sum of money for Kaz to break a scientist out of jail across the border in Fjerda, the games begin. Kaz pulls together his best crew of misfits, criminals and traitors and the race is on for them to break into Fjerda’s Ice Court, retrieve the scientist and get out alive. No one has ever broken into the Ice Court before, let alone escaped afterwards, and there’s more to the job than even Kaz realises with betrayals and double-crosses abounding. Will the Crows be able to pull off the most astonishing heist in Ketterdam history, or will they find they’re out of their depth - and end up paying with their lives?

What’s great about it? The whole of the Grishaverse collection of books is brilliant but I think this one is my favourite; it’s a lot of fun and the characters are not only brilliant but also have such interesting relationships with each other that there’s a real depth to the story beyond the fun of the heist itself. It’s the first in a duology of two novels about Kaz and the Crows and they also appear in one of the later Grishaverse novels. Although there’s a fantasy element that’s intrinsic to the plot, it’s not really the main focus of the novel (plus the fantasy element of the Grishaverse largely takes the form of magical powers, so no dragons/elves/wizards, which I know a lot of people find off-putting) which means that it has a broader appeal than a more epic fantasy novel might have, and the story-telling and twists are first-rate.

Give it a try if: you love great story-telling and great plotting; you love heist books or movies; you love characters with real emotional depth and interesting relationships; you love books about misfits; you love books with lots of camaraderie; you love witty dialogue; you like fantasy novels; you don’t like fantasy novels but are willing to give a lighter fantasy option a try; you love adventure stories.

Slow Horses by Mick Herron

“That was the true purpose of Slough House. It was a way of losing people without having to get rid of them, sidestepping legal hassle and tribunal threats.”

So what’s it about? The Slow Horses are MI5’s worst spies: relegated from the Service’s Regent’s Park headquarters and sent instead to Slough House, an ageing and badly maintained building where they spend their time reviewing endless library borrowing records or 1970s parking tickets. The work isn’t the only punishment: the boss, Jackson Lamb, is a nightmare to work for, not that any of the slow horses particularly like each other either. When a kidnapping victim is live-streamed online with a countdown to his beheading, the public initially assumes that the kidnappers are related to Al Quaeda; however, River Cartwright, the newest slow horse, discovers that they are actually anti-Islamists and their victim is a British-Pakistani university student. But the kidnapping is much more complicated than it first seems, and Lamb and the slow horses find themselves racing against Regent’s Park to save the life of the kidnapped student - if they can manage not to make a total mess of things, of course.

What’s great about it? The whole Slough House series of novels by Herron is absolutely brilliant, even if spy novels aren’t usually your thing. The plotting is gripping, the characters are compelling and the dialogue is some of the best I’ve ever read. The books are terrifically funny as well as insightful if you’re interested in espionage. Jackson Lamb in particular is everything you could wish for in an anti-hero: utterly repellent, rude, uncaring, physically revolting and morally vacant - most of the time. But his gruff exterior hides his own strict moral compass, as well as his own red line that mustn’t be crossed. The rest of the slow horses are also finely drawn and you’ll find yourself rooting for them even when they’re at their worst. The TV adaptation is perfectly done and well worth watching if you haven’t seen it already.

Give it a try if: you love spy novels; you love books about misfits; you love thrillers; you’re interested in the history of espionage; you love complex, clever plotting; you love characters who you fall in love with despite their worst qualities.

Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen

“It’s the only place for freaks like them, hucksters, con men, unicorns, queens. Winnie is the American dream, and that’s what drives everyone mad, mad, mad—that she had the gall to crash their game and win it all.”

So what’s it about? Ava Wong is a corporate lawyer by trade, but when we meet her she’s being interviewed by the police in connection with a counterfeiting ring which has been buying new designer handbags from various stores and returning counterfeit ones in their place for refunds. As the interview unfolds, we see how Ava was drawn into the scheme by Winnie, her former college roommate, and how her unhappy marriage contributed to the situation. Soon enough, we meet Winnie, who is hiding back in China after having plastic surgery to change her facial appearance. Winnie’s side of the story is quite different, but who is telling the truth?

What’s great about it? Both Ava and Winnie are great characters and the book is both well-written and gripping. It’s described as a suspense novel, which I suppose it is, but I think it’s actually more of a character study and an inquiry into human nature as well as a critique of Asian-American stereotypes. The book gives us an interesting look at the luxury goods market and the booming counterfeiting trade which reached an unimaginable $3 trillion in 2022. I loved the twist at the end and couldn’t help rooting a little bit for Ava and Winnie even as I disagreed with what they were doing.

Give it a try if: you loved Good Girls on Netflix; you love characters who have moral complexity; you like books that explore real-life issues; you like clever plotting; you love books with twists.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

“It’s a very difficult era in which to be a person, just a real, actual person, instead of a collection of personality traits selected from an endless Automat of characters.”

So what’s it about? It’s Nick Dunne’s wedding anniversary and his wife is missing: does he know where she is, and what’s happened to her, or is he telling the truth when he says he has no idea? Nick’s perspective is interspersed with excerpts from Amy’s diary, which details the start of their relationship and their marriage up until the current day, through which we see the decline of the marriage and Nick’s escalating domestic abuse. But are things as straightforward as they seem, or can Nick prove his innocence before the net closes around him?

What’s great about it? This book is rightly famous for having one of the best twists of all time, so I won’t spoil it here just in case you don’t know what it is, but the revelation is a huge part of why the book is so enjoyable. Regardless though, it’s a brilliantly written and plotted thriller with two dislikable lead characters which for me makes it even more of an achievement that it’s so compulsively readable, since it’s difficult to root for either of them. It’s now considered a classic of the thriller genre and I love that the format isn’t a typical one. There are also mysteries within the central mystery, like the annual treasure hunt which Amy puts together for Nick for their wedding anniversary each year, which adds a fun dimension to the story, especially if you like puzzles.

Give it a try if: you love great twists; you love reading the classics within a given genre; you love books which upend your expectations; you don’t need to like the lead characters in the books you read; you love great plotting.

Thanks for reading!

I hope you found something good to read here. As ever, I’d love to hear if you’ve read and loved (or even hated) any of the books here, and which ones you’d add to the list. You can reply directly to this email or leave a comment by clicking the button below.