28 Clever Villain Protagonist Books

If you want to take a peak at the dark side, try these clever villain protagonist books that might have you routing for the bad guy.

We all have a dark thoughts; a side of us that wants to take revenge on our enemies and do what we want.

Villain protagonist books explore the dark side of literature. By framing the villain as protagonist, you get to see their side of the story. Is their villain origin story justified or are they just using excuses to live out their baser nature?

From disturbing stories of serial killers to charming bands of thieves who just get a bad rap, villain protagonist books run the gamut of the literary genres. With a little something for everyone, these books with a villain as protagonist will turn the tables on the normal hero story.

Leigh Bardugo’s heist novel, part of her Grishaverse, is often considered one of the best young adult villain protagonist books. Kaz Brekker is particularly familiar with the criminal underground of Ketterdam and won’t pass up a chance at a heist that will make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. All he needs to do is assemble a team of unscrupulous misfits, and hope they don’t kill each other before securing their prize.

Publication Date: 29 September 2015
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Gone Girl took the book world by storm with its look at a marriage gone terribly wrong. On her fifth wedding anniversary, Amy Dunne mysteriously disappears. At the top of the suspect list – her seemingly perfect husband Nick. Both husband and wife aren’t who they seem to be, so expect plenty of twists and turns (and lots of language) in this hit thriller. You might not end up loving the story or the characters, but I promise you, you’ll find them memorable enough to land it among the best books with a villain as protagonist.

Publication Date: 24 May 2012
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College roommates Eli and Victor have the same intelligence and ambition. Obsessed with adrenaline and near-death experiences, they theorize that under the right conditions people can develop extraordinary abilities. Ten years after their experimentation goes horribly, Victor breaks out of prison to get his revenge on Eli who is hunting every superhuman he can find.

Publication Date: 24 September 2013
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One of the most famous villain protagonist books, American Psycho introduces you to Patrick Bateman. By day, Patrick is a handsome, charming, 28-year-old work on Wall Street. By night, Patrick is a psychopath who glorifies in torture and murder. Known for its vividly detailed murder scenes, American Psycho uses black comedy to satirize consumerism and the yuppie culture of the 1980s.

Publication Date: 6 March 1991
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With an ailing family to support, Evie Sage is not going to turn down a well-paying job with benefits, even if it happens to be the assistant to an Evil Villain. Yes, her gorgeous boss is terrifying, temperamental and running an evil empire but Evie can’t help developing a tiny crush on him. When Evie realizes there’s a traitor at work, she must ferret out who is sabotaging their boss because she has a job to do.

Publication Date: 29 August 2023
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Banned and censored at the time of its publication, The Picture of Dorian Gray is Wilde’s is a classic of Gothic literature. Infatuated with the beauty of his friend, Basil Hallward paints a captivating portrait of Dorian Gray. When Dorian Gray sees it, he realizes that his youth will fade but the painting will not. Thus, he sells his soul so that he may remain young and the portrait will age, allowing Dorian to live shamelessly while the evidence of his sins only appears on the portrait.

Publication Date: 1890
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Although lovingly raised as a privileged royal child, Jorg Ancrath’s life has led him to become The Prince of Thorns. As a ruler of a grim company of outlaws, Jorg has used his charm and ferocity to carve a place for himself in a ruined land. Yet despite all he’s seen, Jorg’s return to his father’s castle brings the horrors of his childhood to light in this well-regarded grimdark fantasy. 

Publication Date: 2 August 2011
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Divorced substitute teacher Charlie is stuck in his life. When his long-lost uncle Jake dies, Charlie inherits his uncle’s supervillain empire, including his island volcano lair. An old-fashioned gentleman of a supervillain, Jake left enemies behind – a league of soulless supervillains backed by large companies and venture capitalists. Now Charlie must win the war his uncle started in this humorous science fiction story with a villain as progonist.

Publication Date: 19 September 2023
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Raised as an orphan in the island city of Camorr, Locke Lamora has risen to become a master thief and con artist. The leader of the Gentleman Bastards, a band of thieves and criminals, Locke is living at the top of his career. But when an ambitious competitor threatens to destroy everything that Locke has built, he must figure out how to beat him at his own game.

Publication Date: 27 June 2006
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In this retelling of the Greek myth, Circe, the daughter of the sun god, feels out of place among the gods of Olympus. Yet, among the mortals, she has magical powers of witchcraft. Banished by Zeus, Circe must decide where she belongs – with the gods of her birth or the mortals she’s come to live among. An intriguing premise and the perfect book for anyone who loves stories that give a different take on a classic villain protagonist.

Publication Date: 10 April 2018
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In Huaxia, the boys all yearn to pilot Chrysalises, giant robots the fight the monsters beyond the Great Wall of China. However, a boy must pair with a girl whose life will be sacrificed to power the Chrysalis. To avenge the death of her sister, Zetain volunteers as a concubine-pilot so she can assassinate the top male pilot. In the process, Zetain learns she is an iron widow, a rare female who can sacrifice men to pilot a Chrysalis. With her newfound power, Zetain is determined to change society to stop failing women and girls even if she dies in the attempt.

Publication Date: 21 September 2021
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How far would you be willing to go for someone you love? Koreda has the routine down pat when her little sister calls in a panic. This is the third time Ayoola has killed her boyfriend in “self-defense” and Koreda knows exactly what to do. When Ayoola begins dating Koreda’s boss and long-time love interest, Koreda must decide where her loyalties lie in this darkly comic psychological thriller villain protagonist book.

Publication Date: 20 November 2018
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When a beautiful woman shops at the New York City bookstore where he works, Joe Goldberg googles her and discovers she’s an aspiring writer. Extremely active on social media, Guinevere Beck doesn’t realize how much information about herself she is giving away. After arranging a “chance” meeting, Joe meticulously enters Beck’s life, first as a stalker and then as a boyfriend, making sure to eliminate any obstacles he finds in his way.

Publication Date: 28 August 2018
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One night, famous painter Alicia Berenson shoots her husband in the face 5 times, and then never utters another word again. Now criminal psychotherapist Theo Faber is determined to get the truth from this silent patient while his own life is falling apart. What causes an ordinary woman to do something so vicious makes this one a perfect example of a thriller book with the villain as protagonist.

Publication Date: 5 February 2019
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When a gay couple is murdered, their ex-con fathers band together to deal out retribution. Both Ike and Buddy Lee struggled to accept their gay sons, straining their relationships. Now the two, one Black and one white, must confront their prejudices about their children and each other as they deal out bloody revenge in Cosby’s latest thriller. With a high-action plot (and LOTS of violence), Cosby keeps you on the edge of your seat while merging weighty themes of two ex-cons coming to grips with their failures as fathers. 

Publication Date: 6 July 2021
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Although June and Athena went to school together, Athena has found major success as an Asian-American novelist while June struggles to get a foot in the door, probably because she’s just another basic white girl. When June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she impetuously snatches up Athena’s unfinished work. Publishing it as her own, June rebrands herself as a racially ambiguous Juniper Song and becomes an instant bestseller. Yet as the truth threatens to come out, June must decide how far she is willing to go to keep her secret.

Publication Date: 16 May 2023
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In the days leading up to the Fall of Saigon, a South Vietnamese general, with the help of his trusted captain, sits making lists of who will receive places on the last flights out of the country as it evacuates. Settling into a new life in Los Angeles, the general and his friends are unaware that the captain is watching their every move, reporting everything back to the Viet Cong. The Sympathizer dives into the life of this captain and how he became a sympathizer for the communists.

Publication Date: 2 April 2015
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Blood Meridian is an epic novel about the violence and depravity that attended America’s westward expansion, brilliantly subverting the conventions of Western books and the mythology of the Wild West. Based on historical events that took place on the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s, it traces the fortunes of the Kid, a fourteen-year-old Tennesseean who stumbles into a nightmarish world where Indians are being murdered and the market for their scalps is thriving.

Publication Date: 28 April 1985
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Before it was a bestselling film, The Godfather was a #1 New York Times bestselling novel that captivated America with the tale of Vito Corleone, the head of an Italian mafia family on Long Island. After Vito is shot, his sons, Sonny and Michael, engage in a vicious war against the other crime families in the years after World War II. A timeless classic, The Godfather is one of the best villain protagonist books of the 20th century.

Publication Date: 10 March 1969
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Stolen away by her parents’ murderer, twin sisters Jude and Taryn are raised among the magical folk of the fairy world. Being a mere mortal, Jude suffers under the senseless cruelty of the other young adults – especially the cruel Prince Cardan. Now, with the King of the Faeries abdicating his throne for one of his children, Jude is swept up into the complicated intrigue of court life. For its political machinations and young adult drama, The Cruel Prince is one of the best ya romantasy books with a villain protagonist in recent years.

Publication Date: 2 January 2018
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Marissa Meyer invents an imaginative backstory for the Queen of Hearts in her young adult fantasy novel. Catherine dreams of opening a bakery with her best friend but her hopes seem to be dashed when the unmarried King of Hearts sets his eyes on her. When Catherine falls for the mysterious Court Jester, she tries to take her fate into her own hands.

Publication Date: 14 December 2015
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What if you took a megalomaniac teenager and gave him unlimited resources? Artemis Fowl is rich beyond measure, infinitely clever, and the heir of a criminal empire. When he decides to kidnap a fairy to steal her magic, the very organized and high-tech magical kingdom must fight to get her back and keep their secret safe from the human race.

Publication Date: 26 April 2001
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In a prequel to The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins shocked fans when she revealed the main character is none other than notorious President Snow. During the 10th annual Hunger Games, Coriolanus Snow is selected as a mentor to the female candidate from District 12. Desperate to win a victory, Snow must use all his cunning and skill to help his doomed candidate, a girl he is beginning to care about.

Publication Date: 19 May 2020
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In a horrifying vision of the future, criminals rule society. Fifteen-year-old Alex and his friends participated in shockingly heinous and violent acts. After being captured by the State, authorities try to forcibly rehabilitate Alex. Questioning free will and morality, A Clockwork Orange is often listed as one of the best modern novels if you can make it through the dense made up slang. 

Publication Date: 1962
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You can’t have a list of villain protagonist books without mentioning William Shakespeare’s tragic play Macbeth. After three witches prophesy that he will be King of Scotland, Macbeth, a respected general, sets out to seek the foretold power. At the urging of his wife, Macbeth kills King Duncan and becomes King. Yet when others begin to question him, Macbeth commits more and more murders, turning into a tyrant and leading to a civil war.

Publication Date: 1623
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Meet the corrupt golden-tongued preacher Elmer Gantry. A study in hypocrisy, Gantry rises to fame as an evangelist minister while living a private life full of lies, sex, and vulgarity. Known for pointing out hypocrisy and corruption, Sinclair Lewis is one of my favorite classic authors to read.

Publication Date: 1926
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If you enjoy psychology at all, Crime and Punishment is the must-read of the classic books to read before you die. Take a step into the troubled mind of Raskolnikov, a poor student who decides to murder an old woman. The psychological probing of Raskolnikov’s mind is fascinating as he deals with the decision to kill, the guilt of the crime, and the fear of being caught.

Publication Date: 1866
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Everyone knows the story of the vampire Count Dracula, but you might not have realized that the book is an incredible read. Written in 1897 by Irish author Bram Stoker, Dracula tells of the title character’s planned move from Transylvania to England in search of new feeding grounds and the battle to stop him, led by Professor Van Helsing. It’s a fascinating Gothic horror novel that speaks on deeper themes through a compelling narrative.

Publication Date: 1897
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Do You Enjoy Reading Villain Protagonist Books?

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with my list of books with villains as protagonists? What villain protagonist books have I forgotten? As always, let me know in the comments!

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