When Power Protects the Guilty: CrimeFiction’s Obsession with the Untouchables
- Connor Drew
- Jan 2
- 2 min read
Every era produces its own villains, but crime fiction lately seems fixated on a very particular breed: the untouchable. The people too powerful to fail, too connected to fall, and too insulated to ever face real consequences. Tech moguls, political dynasties, cult leaders, billionaire benefactors—again and again, fiction circles the same unsettling question: What happens when the law doesn’t reach everyone?
These stories don’t just explore crime. They interrogate systems—legal, social, cultural—that bend to protect the powerful. And in a world where real-life scandals drag on for years and justice often feels negotiable, it’s no wonder readers can’t look away.
Crime fiction becomes the place where power is tested, challenged, and, sometimes, brought to account.
Five Crime Reads Where Power Shields the Guilty (Until It Doesn’t)
If you’re drawn to stories where influence warps justice and the stakes feel uncomfortably real, these five books deliver.
The Night Manager
By: John le Carré
A masterclass in elite corruption. A global arms dealer operates under political protection, shielded by governments that benefit from his crimes. Le Carré’s quiet, surgical suspense shows just how hard it is to dismantle power from the inside and how dangerous it becomes when someone tries.
The Girls
By: Emma Cline
Inspired by real events, this haunting novel explores how charisma becomes its own form of power. A cult leader’s influence distorts morality, loyalty, and responsibility, raising chilling questions about devotion, complicity, and who gets blamed when atrocities occur.
I Have Some Questions for You
By: Rebecca Makkai
Part campus novel, part cold-case investigation, this story revisits a decades-old murder tied to privilege, class, and institutional protection. Makkai skillfully exposes how status and reputation can shape truth—and bury it.
The Firm
By: John Grisham
Corporate crime at its slickest. A prestigious law firm serves as both shield and
weapon for the wealthy and criminal elite. As a young lawyer realizes the cost of
silence, the novel lays bare a system designed to keep the guilty safe and
profitable.
The Godfather
By: Mario Puzo
The ultimate portrait of power operating above the law. Wealth, loyalty, and political reach allow one family to rewrite the rules of justice entirely. Decades later, its influence on crime fiction—and our understanding of institutional corruption—remains unmatched.
Why We Can’t Look Away
It mirrors the headlines we’re already doom-scrolling Stories of elite immunity resonate because they feel familiar. Corporate cover-ups, delayed trials, carefully negotiated consequences; crime fiction reflects a reality where accountability often feels optional. These novels offer something real life doesn’t always provide: narrative clarity and moral
reckoning.
It thrives in the gray zones
When the villain owns the judge, funds the police department, or commands unwavering loyalty, traditional justice collapses. Heroes aren’t just solving crimes; they’re pushing against systems engineered to resist change. That friction creates some of the genre’s most compelling tension.
It sparks irresistible debate
Would you blow the whistle if it cost you everything? Would you accept a deal when justice is out of reach? Is revenge justified when the courts fail?
These stories don’t just entertain—they invite argument, reflection, and fiercely personal responses. And maybe that’s why crime fiction keeps returning to the untouchables. In
a world where power too often protects itself, these books dare to imagine what happens when someone refuses to look away.
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