Mormon novelists struggle with bad guys. Every story need a villain, but there is something about depicting evil that strikes fear into many LDS artists. (The most famous novel by a Mormon author goes so far as to make vampires and werewolves into heroes, right?)

Luisa Perkins is probably as aware as any Mormon novelist that some of her readers will be upset if a bad guy is too unsavory. In Dispirited, the evil spirit who hijacks Blake’s body is named Zared. He is depicted an angry, addicted, hate-filled soul.

To my mind, there’s nothing particularly shocking in the book in this regard. Nevertheless, I am aware that some of the early readers of the novel were bothered by what I felt was gently depicted badness.

I find, as I read fiction, that I can quickly tell if an author is using the bad guy as a foil for the good. I can also easily tell when the author dangles gratitutous sex, violence, and any number of wrongs in front of the reader as a sleazy form of entertainment. Dispirited is firmly in the former camp. Cathy and Rich struggle against the evil force in order to rescue the good.

Some might wonder why you need a bad guy at all. Here’s my short answer, based on a study of literature from the Greeks to 2012 novelists: because you do. We’re wired to read tension as drama. And you can’t have tension without a contast of good and bad.

Can you have a novel without any bad in it? Name one.