I don't mean "likeable antihero", or "we watch the protagonist go from good to bad", I mean truly reprehensible, some would say irredeemable protagonist. On movie mob boss scale, think Tommy from Goodfellas rather than Vito Corleone from the Godfather (not a statement on the characters themselves, just their evil, Vito may be evil but he keeps away from drugs and civilians, in a twisted way he has a sense of "justice", Tommy just kills on a whim and has no true friends because everyone around him just fears him, unmitigated evil down to his core).
I'm talking the kinds of characters many people view as uninteresting or "one dimensional" because they cannot understand evil without a sympathetic hook to it, a point of view from which someone rational can get why they do what they do or maybe would even act the same way under certain circumstances.
I do want to see more other media about characters like this, as most such shows that do this have more of a "likeable/redeemable but overall morally bad protagonist who does good stuff too" or "protagonist who we watch gradually become evil" vibe like a Vic Mackey or Walter White, however I request books because there's more great books than great movies and great shows combined, and we get a deeper look into people's psyche and thoughts in books
by w-wg1