Books
They Never Learn

by Layne Fargo
Scout Press, October 2020, $27

This is a story that grabs you by the throat and won’t let go, somewhat like its protagonist, Scarlett, a female serial killer who stalks and murders men who harm women. From the get-go, you know who and what Scarlett is, and the only real question is whether she’ll get caught—or if you even want her to.

As an English professor at Gorman University, Dr. Scarlett Clark is privy to all the campus secrets, from frat-boy rapes of inebriated coeds to tenured professors using their status to sleep with young female students. She carefully targets those who commit the crimes, and stages their murders to seem like suicides or accidents. Unfortunately, the head of the psychology department, Dr. Samina Pierce, begins studying campus deaths and realizes that something is off—putting Scarlett’s extracurricular activities at risk of being revealed.

Alternating chapters follow the story of young Gorman student Carly, a social misfit who is trying to adjust to life at the college while also trying to understand her own attraction to her roommate, Allison. Like Scarlett, Carly mistrusts men, stemming from her own volatile relationship with her father. Far more powerless than the professor, however, she can only stand idly by as Allison continues to put herself in dangerous relationships.

In this age of the #MeToo movement, it’s good to see many of the issues facing campus women, such as sexual harassment, stalking, lack of professional advancement for being female, and rape come to light, even though Scarlett’s choice of resolution may go too far for most.

Seeing a woman as the predator, instead of the prey, may make some readers uncomfortable, even as it empowers others. To have the roles switched in this way makes for a very intriguing story, and while the reader may not agree with Scarlett’s methods, there’s no doubt that it shines a light on issues that men—as well as women—need to address.

Vanessa Orr
Teri Duerr
7094
Fargo
October 2020
they-never-learn
27
Scout Press