Jane never questions her value or intelligence, and she has no hang ups regarding her body or sexuality. Jane is an immensely likeable character and I envied her total lack of self-doubt and recrimination. Jane disabuses us of that notion, and of the idea that she cannot form meaningful interpersonal relationships. My understanding of sociopaths is mostly informed by crime thrillers that suggest sociopaths are rare creatures who morph into serial killers. I spent a long time thinking about Jane’s sociopathy after I finished this book. Without the first person narrative, we’d be unable to stay three moves ahead of Steven (the villain) who doesn’t even realize he’s playing chess. And seeing how close she gets to killing Steven before she’s ready is also part of the suspense.Įlyse: Jane is a sociopath, she’s aware of it, and that’s where her power comes from. We as the reader know she’s getting revenge, but the why, and the how – and the when – are all part of the mystery. I love how the story mixes mystery, thriller, and a tiny bit of romance, too. I know many people don’t like first-person POV, I have to say, spending a book inside the head of a person who has no capacity to experience shame, fear, guilt, or remorse was so incredibly liberating. I’m so excited to talk about this book with you. Sarah: I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO HAVE READ IT. That was the most satisfying book I’ve read in ages. And I’ve been sitting on my hands to keep from spoiling it for Elyse, who I know hadn’t read it yet.Įlyse: I just finished Jane Doe and I think I need a cigarette.

I read this book in one day at RT, on the last day of the conference, and stayed up WAY too late to finish it. She uses an abuser’s techniques against him, and becomes a wonderfully scary and intoxicating predator in the process, figuring out first how, then when to take revenge on Steven. Jane is intent on two things: inserting herself into the life of a man who hurt someone she cared about, and then destroying him. She knows it, and she’s done considerable research to figure out why and how she was different from other people. Summary: Jane Doe is a first-person POV thriller – author Victoria Helen Stone calls it “emotional suspense” in our podcast interview, and I think it’s an ideal term for this book. TW/CW for this book: sexual manipulation, emotional and physical abuse, and allusions to and discussion of child physical and sexual abuse.

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