Hey everyone, I have been working on a fictitious novel about a psychopath discovering his darkside and after commiting murder, going on the run. I found a great book with insight into the mindset of psychopaths, but now I need to find a book that will help me understand what it is like to be on the run so I can continue from an informed position. I have searched relentlessly for such a book but possibly because of my inexperience I have been unsuccessful and I would really appreciate any help on the topic of finding research books or specific suggestions.
You might have some luck looking up real murders who were on the run. There maybe one that wrote a book or a book on them.
I did a quick Google: "fugitives on the run" and got several interesting possibles just on the first page.
That guy is good enough to write a whole novel about, if it hasn't been done already. Hmmmmm........ O_O (Crap, autobiography. Can't really beat that.) X_X
Shadowwalker, could you possibly tell me what some of those results were? Im not an idiot, searching google was the first thing i did followed by searching this forum for a previously posted thread. Even now as im searching that specific phrase i can only see news reports about fugitives, lists of fugitives, and one bad movie from 2005.
You're not seeing the accounts of fugitives who were on the run for years, where they went, what they did, where they ended up? And those didn't give you names to look up?
Hiding in Plain Sight: Eluding the Nazis in Occupied France Is the book exactly like you want, no, but it will give you idea how your character can hide. Also, I think this is one where you’re going to have to go to the true crime section of your local library/book store and checkout/purchase books on criminals that have been captured after several years on the run. Authors usually describe what the criminal did to evade the law. Also you might be able to find newspaper clippings of escaped convicts that have been captured after twenty years. I seem to remember a few of those recently. There might be some info on how they kept hidden. What makes psychopaths so scary is that no one usually knows they are a psychopath. They don’t need to go on the run because no one knows who they are. Your description makes it sound as if the MC in your story is known, therefore, on the run from the authorities. As such he will end up hiding from the law in the same manner normal murders/criminals do so you can read about both.
shadowwalker, i found no fugitive accounts if i had i wouldnt be posting here, i did look up a handfull of the names of fugitives by typing their names into google and found nothing i did not however try every name, thank you anthrax, thanks for posting, i saw that too but i wasnt sure by the description that it would be helpful but ill give it a second look, i didnt think of actually going to the book store or library i just searched ebooks but thats a great idea thank you, the general idea of the story without giving too much away is that the guy doesnt know he's a psychopath and one day something happens and he snaps killing two people (man and wife) than he panics at what he has done and runs leaving ample evidence behind which would put the cops on his trail.
You could try Christopher Boyce. There was a movie about his arrest (Falcon and the Snowman, but there was also a book about his subsequent escape called The Flight of the Falcon. I once took a CJ course where the professor used the book as an example. Apparently Boyce's devotion to the sport of falconry helped the police track him down. Not a murderer, but still a high profile guy who was on the run.
Being on the run would feel different to a psychopath than to most people, I suspect. Many psychopaths don't feel fear and crave excitement, so they may find it really fun to be on the run - that is, until they have to hide out somewhere boring to avoid getting caught...
He doesn't sound like a psychopath. Psychopaths don't feel guilt, and many don't feel fear either. They're not the type to 'snap' then panic. That would be more likely to be a overcontrolled murderer - these are obsessive people with too much self-control who put up with something day in and day out and when they finally lose control they do something very extreme, then are horrified at what they did. If you really want him to be a psychopath, here's a plot more typical of a psychopath: He goes along with what everyone expects, puts on a show of feeling the right feelings, but deep down he doesn't really care about anyone and all this acting is making him feel restless. Finally, wanting some excitement, he goes and attacks some people. It goes further than he intended and they die. He's a bit bemused, then realizes the cops will be coming for him and if he thought living a normal life was boring, jail will be worse. So he runs. No fear, just wanting to go for the more entertaining option.
wow thanks everyone for your help ill defintley look into all those and hopefully ill be able to work out the rest of my book ettina thanks very much for your input, i guess its kind of hard for me to describe my book wihtout posting a chapter which i can do on this site yet, but that is essentially what happens except for after the murder, i didnt think of having him acting on logic and bemusment as opposed to panic and fear, ill defintley change that part
You might take a look at the Tom Ripley novels, starting with "The Talented Mr. Ripley." Tom is always in a state of being pursued, even when he's standing perfectly still. His entire world is one in which the walls are always closing in on him, and he is rarely more than two steps away from being hauled in to the police for the consequences of his wonderfully nefarious activities. The fact that he is able to improvise his way out of all those sticky situations is what makes the books so much fun to read. And the man is 100% pure psychopath. It's a wonderfully paranoid mindset and may be useful for getting at the psychology of being pursued, although perhaps not so much the practicalities of it.
I know you are looking for information on being on the run, you may want to Google " new identity" and look over the results. Some sites give info on ID while other provide tips.
