Leading man - the screwed up guy who needs saving

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How can we as readers love a bad boy in fiction? Do we hope that he can be saved by the right woman?

One of my favorites who appeared in both book and movie is Rhett Butler. Yes, he was a scoundrel but what woman could really resist him? Scarlett tried but in the end she had to admit she loved him.

A more recent leading man of the mystery genre is Cormoran Strike from the Robert Galbraith (J. K. Rowling) series. He abuses alcohol, he struggles in his relationships and struggles with the demons of his military past but you can't help but root for him.

If the leading character is too bad, is he worth redeeming? Some are meant to be villains and so they will stay that way throughout the novel. Those characters we may just love to hate. In Menu for Murder, the mayor was such a person. He used blackmail and coercion to line his pockets. When he's found murdered, there is no one to care.

What books have you read recently which included a bad boy who you hoped would clean up his act?

Happy Trails,

Leslie

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