Butcher & Blackbird

Sloane Sutherland is one of the novel’s protagonists and first-person narrators. She is a serial killer, but rather than killing innocent people just for the sake of killing, she kills other serial killers and people who commit similarly heinous crimes such as the sexual abuse of minors. Sloane’s actions raise the question of The Ethics of Vigilante Justice because she commits murders out of loyalty and a desire to protect others, rather than out of sheer bloodlust—and yet, she still takes people’s lives and even admits to enjoying it. Sloane works at a medical company and lives in Raleigh, NC for most of the novel until she ultimately moves to Boston to be with Rowan. Sloane is loyal to those she loves, but shy and reserved around most other people, partially due to her secret vigilante justice activities. She is smart, artistically talented, and caring, but she struggles to view herself as being worthy of love due to her violent hobby and her initial lack of social connections. Sloane has a dark side as well as a delightful side, but she does not show her true selves to most people illustrating the theme of