Award-winning Newfoundland author Michael Crummey’s latest novel tackles questions around some of what he calls the “sociopathic narcissism” seen in global politics in recent years.

The Adversary is based on a real-life character he discovered while researching his last novel The Innocents. He says the man he came across, who was a merchant in a small rural community, was such an extraordinary character, that he knew he would need to do something with him.

Crummey describes him as “a drunkard,” and “a bully.” “He shot and killed an Irish servant, and had suffered no repercussions from that.” He somehow became a Justice of the Peace and imported a group of prostitutes from St. John’s, and set up a brothel. “Everybody there hated him, and couldn’t get rid of him.”

Crummey describes the character as “too big” to be included in the book The Innocents which revolves around a young orphaned brother and sister. Instead Crummey developed a new story as the mirror opposite to that tale, coming together with the creation of The Adversary’s sister.

Crummey says the character represents a lot of the people “that we see in politics around the world these days…where people are interested only in power.”

The Adversary is out on store shelves tomorrow.