Five novels in which love conquers and sometimes destroys

T.M. Dunn is the author of three novels, Her Father's Daughter (2023), Last Stop On The 6 (2021,) and Rebels By Accident (2014). She has served as Senior Director of the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College, where she holds a MFA in creative writing, and currently coaches aspiring and established writers and teaches creative writing workshops.

At CrimeReads Dunn tagged five "novels where love drives characters to dangerous extremes," including:

Last, but many stuffed bookshelves from least, is The Dead Season, the first in the Shana Merchant series by Tessa Wegert. Shana’s love for her family, her work, and the need for justice to prevail, gives her the strength to conquer her severe PTSD, return to her hometown with its terrifying secrets, and confront the many demons of her past. This conquering-love that gives her the courage to do whatever it takes to take down a serial killer also leads to damaging choices that threaten to destroy her family, her career, and her mental state. I don’t think it’s too far-fetched to say the serial killer’s love (in the way he can love) for Shana is the reason he survives his past and his psychotic state. There’s no question this love destroys—kills.

When asked the question of the day, “Does love conquer all but sometimes destroys, in Shana Merchant’s story, Wegert’s response was, “You might say that Shana sabotages her own life in order to save others over the course of every book in the series — and I agree that, in Shana’s case, love both conquers and destroys.”

Read about the other entries on the list.

My Book, The Movie: The Dead Season.

The Page 69 Test: The Dead Season.

--Marshal Zeringue