Woodside

"Woodside" is a psychological thriller that focuses on the savage deranged life of William Woodside, the novel's central character and antagonist. Yes, the main character in this work is an antagonist, not a protagonist. Anyhow, the novel begins with Woodside's capturing, torturing and killing a number of dogs and cats. Torturing animals is something that the majority of serial killers share as a trait, before they progress to killing people. For William Woodside, this horrific behavior begins well into his adulthood. This aspect of a serial killer's early days as a demented sociopathic psychopath is something that is never discussed in psychological thrillers since the torture and killing of domesticated animals is something that's off the fiction menu. It seems odd and even somewhat ridiculous that the torture and killing of human beings is always a staple in the genre, but discussion of the impetus that pre-dates the typical serial killer's days of killing human beings is taboo subject matter. The writer pushes the envelop for what is accepted in crime fiction in "Woodside".

It doesn't take long until Woodside is caught by law enforcement when he's in the midst of torturing and killing a litter of kittens. He lands in Stark County Jail in Canton, Ohio, on cruelty to animals charges. While incarcerated, his face is pummeled by a cat-loving neo-Nazi, who happens to be Woodside's cellmate. William's face is so badly contorted that he appears nothing like the only photo of him, a police mug shot taken while he is processed in the Stark County Jail. His knotty knobby countenance later proves to be a disguise that ultimately allows him to remain on the lam for a long period of time. After more than five months of being incarcerated in Canton, early in the book, Woodside is released from jail. Due to his incarceration, he loses his job and his apartment and all he is left with is a handful of clothes and an old car. Because of need and in attempts to stay inconspicuous, he lives out of his vehicle and in homeless shelters. At first, William appears to be a victim of circumstance, although his very cruel nature would lead no compassionate reader to sympathize or empathize with his plight. He works a number of menial, minimum-wage, day-labor jobs. His life is wretched and he has no family or friends to assist him in this brutal and very existential existence. While in the Stark County Jail, another inmate tells William Woodside that robbing banks is a lucrative means of getting money. After a brief stint of panhandling and a short time of living a hand-to-mouth existence, making less than fifty dollars per day on the days he works, William goes on a bank robbery spree that begins in Canton, continues to Ohio's capital city of Columbus, then to Cincinnati and later his sojourns take him into the Deep South - to Memphis, New Orleans and parts of Mississippi. He pulls off a number of bank heists during this time. He gets heavily entrenched in an evil killing spree and meets a number of unsavory characters as he travels from place to place.
"Woodside" shows the demented actions of a high-stakes thief and murderer who sometimes kills to get away with a robbery and at times kills just for the sake of killing. This novel illustrates the actions of an unassuming criminal - hardly a mastermind - who surreptitiously keeps authorities at bay through deception, cunning and at times, just plain good luck. "Woodside"'s protagonist, a Stark County sheriff's detective with demons of his own, follows the antagonist through much of the work and in the end, is responsible for William Woodside's demise. "Woodside" is a long, but a compelling read, with plenty of action and suspense. It reinforces the fact that an evil element exists in modern-day society that is responsible for countless diabolical acts of crime and violence. .