Revenge is everywhere in popular culture: Murder on the Orient Express. Hamlet. Nightmare on Elm Street. John Wick. That Aerosmith video with Alicia Silverstone and Stephen Dorff. Titanic. (True story: the captain of the Titanic killed the iceberg’s baby.) My point is that so many of the most popular movies and novels in history are revenge stories. People love a revenge story, even though they often involve murder. And murder is wrong. (It is — I checked with my editors.) That’s why most people don’t act on their revenge fantasies: because it’s wrong. And also because they fear a poorly stocked prison library. (Which is a thing I totally just thought of and not something I have taken into consideration on many occasions, I swear.) Seeking revenge is bad, of course. Ultimately, more people end up getting hurt. And revenge doesn’t always work out. (Like when Monica ended up seeing Joey’s dad naked on Friends.) But it’s still fun to live vicariously though fictional revenge or read excellent novels with characters out for their own brand of justice. So here are ten of the best revenge novels. They feature characters looking to right wrongs, real or imaginary, and who may or may not succeed with their plans.
