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Revenge is sweet and not fattening. — Alfred Hitchcock.

Humans are hard-wired for revenge. In the past decade, studies have shown that planning revenge stimulates the dorsal striatum, the reward-related section of the brain. In other words, planning revenge feels damn good. I have no idea what the evolutionary benefits of this have been in general, but there have been clear winners. To name just a few:

  • Politicians:
  • Religious Leaders:
  • Middle-School Students: Well, duh…
  • Writers: every book/play/movie plot ever.

Writers, as a class, are the research-and-development team for the whole human race in the domain of revenge. We ennoble it, we glorify it; we earn our livings inventing wonderful and exotic ways to justify the delicious deed of puncturing the pompous who make our lives miserable. We create virtual daydreams for the masses in which the mighty are humiliated for their misdeeds of oppression against those who are still climbing the evolutionary ladder. It is our job to tend the flames of mythic vision, creating the cultural context in which the arrogant are accurately mirrored and drawn, so that all will know who they are. It is our job to prepare the ground so that the thieves of joy can be reduced to craven, whimpering, pitiful objects of scorn and abuse.”

— David Gerrold, Alternate Gerrolds: An Assortment of Fictitious Lives

 

Revenge — the writers gift that keeps on giving — comes in so many flavors, suitable for almost any genre and setting.

For example:

Revenge can be a Machiavellian plot where all the details are meticulously moved into place until the final design is revealed. A classic example is Agatha Christie’s Murder On the Orient Express where the murderer is… [spoiler alert!] All of them.

It can be a spur of the moment instinctive response by a character pushed beyond their limits, such as the time Darth Vader turns on his master for attempting to murder his son. (Yes, the same son he himself has been trying to murder for the past three films…)

It can be the sweetly satisfying insta-revenge on an annoying frenemy.

 

Sometimes it can be an overwhelming path of destruction, satisfying even though it’s on a completely different scale from the original offense, such as John Wick’s 439 kill count after his puppy is murdered. (Totally justified because… puppy!)

Boudica, the first-century Queen of the Iceni in southern England, was understandably upset when her husband died and his will was ignored by the occupying Romans, who tortured her and raped her young daughters. In revenge, she assembled a rebellion alliance with nearby tribes who rampaged across Roman cities, killing over 80,000 (many of whose gruesomely tortured bodies were mounted for display), sacking and destroying towns such as Londinium (London) which still has a burned layer of sediment more than a meter thick. [NOTE: the above image generated by Canva AI has absolutely no historical accuracy that I can ascertain.]

And sometimes the injury and rage that calls for revenge cools to ice as a frozen fury waits for the exact moment to strike, such as in Georgia Rose’s wonderful small town thriller series, A Shade Darker. (I’m getting in just under the wire to review her last book, because her new book, Driven by Deceit, is about to release.)

A Stolen Future: (A Shade Darker Book 4) by Georgia Rose

A rival to overcome… A truth to reveal…

A family firm. A long-held promise. What will it take to protect all she loves?

Alice Fraser has everything she needs. A comfortable home. A few good friends. A satisfying career. But when the promise made doesn’t materialise and everything changes at work she finds herself losing control of all she once held dear.

She could have left. She should have left. Instead she decides to dig in, and make life uncomfortable for her tormentor.

Petty revenge, she calls it. And that’s how it starts. But one day she is pushed too far, and once she takes the next step there is no going back.

A Stolen Future is a gripping domestic suspense novel. If you like character-driven action, suspenseful storytelling and unexpected twists then you’ll love this psychological thriller.

My Review: 5 stars out of 5

What is it about a caper story that makes it so much fun, and even makes us root for someone who is basically plotting and carrying out criminal acts? Simple. The author has to make us believe that it’s for a good (or at least understandable) cause, usually revenge. Our sympathies have to lie with the one(s) pulling the con, and nothing says that like a richly deserved revenge. Just ask Robin Hood, or maybe Bugs Bunny.

Author Georgia Rose is a master of creating targets so egregiously evil that we root for their downfall. In the latest book in her A Shade Darker series, Alice Fraser is the widely respected former assistant to the head of a family business. She’s dedicated her life to the company and its now-deceased head. But this devotion, experience, and hard work are despised by Rex, her mentor’s son and Alice’s new boss. Rex, resentful of his father’s high regard for Alice but dependant on her knowledge of every aspect of the company he’s inherited, embarks on a relentless campaign of gaslighting, intimidation, and petty revenge. But he makes a critical mistake. Not only does Alice see exactly what he’s doing, but she alone has the tools to enact a long, slow, meticulously plotted revenge. As Alice herself points out, despite his family background, wealth, and social position, Rex lacks the critical ingredient that Alice possesses in excess:

Because I had something else on my side. Experience. And you can’t buy that.

Like any good caper story, we get to come along as Alice subtly weaves her net and waits for Rex to fall into it. Along the way, there are plenty of twists and a big end reveal I didn’t see coming.

Do you enjoy a twisty caper with a compelling heroine whose secret weapon is that to her enemies, the quiet older woman is invisible? They never see her coming, but we lucky readers get a first row seat to her exquisitely plotted revenge.

Although you could read Alice’s story as a stand-alone, I encourage you to start at the beginning of this deliciously twisty series. They make the perfect reading for cold winter nights, so grab a blanket and a bowl of your favorite treat, and curl up with these excellent books. By the time you’ve finished the first four books, the newest volume, Driven by Deceit, will be waiting for you (May 1 release). Revenge, it turns out, can be so sweet.

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