The British author Joe Thomas, born in 1977, arrived in Sao Paulo in 2001 and spent a decade teaching at an elite school in the Brazilian city. He lived next to Paraisópolis, the city’s largest favela, yet in a gated community with surveillance. He notes that this security did not prevent robberies or kidnappings. He did not respond publicly until returning to London with his family. His crime novel Why Is There Violence and Crime They’re Very Deep-Rooted became the spark for a São Paulo quartet, with Brazilian Psychopath as the opening title published by Salamandra in Spain.
From this lens the country appears as one scarred by corruption and racism. The book threads between the misery of the slums and the opulence of the privileged districts. In interviews Thomas frames his work within the BCNegra festival and acknowledges that the psychopath in the book is inspired by real world figures, including Jair Bolsonaro. The narrative brings together hundreds of characters, real and imagined, bouncing off one another like a vast sea: honest cops, cunning criminals, politicians, journalists, unscrupulous businessmen, former CIA operatives, and a host of other figures. It become a densely woven plot where each strand interlocks with others.
Thomas tells this newspaper that his aim was not to pinpoint a single pain point of violence in Sao Paulo but to write a story that feels like a single, binding truth. A love letter to a city that opens doors to visitors and offers warmth and joy. Yet the portrait the Brazilian Psycho attempts to render is hard to swallow. How do power structures sustain inequality? The novel moves across two timelines. The first begins January 1, 2003, the day Lula da Silva is elected president, when the headmaster of an elite English school is found dead at his home. That death mirrors the private life of a former director at the school’s center, who is described as highly respected but living a double life.
The second timeline unfolds in 2018, when three young people, stirred by Bolsonaro’s rhetoric, race toward the presidency. They murder a gay man in a park and mark his chest with a V for victory and a swastika. The book suggests these acts reflect a wider social climate where extremist views can seem to justify hate crimes. The author notes that Brazil is both inclusive and vibrant, hosting one of the world’s largest gay marches, yet remains deeply conservative and where homophobia is normalized. Violence against women and LGBTQ communities remains a grave issue in the country.
One memorable character is a Member of Parliament who embodies fear and cruelty. The author recalls this figure backed by Bolsonaro, while admitting that his belief was that the only good criminal was a dead one. An anecdote from the school days underscores the social divide: wealthy students, including the son of a celebrity, move with bodyguards while one such guard kills a bank robber. The common response from onlookers is a callous, One less. Yet the city continues to push back against complacency and fear.
The author notes that at a festival in Barcelona he is promoting the novel Brazilian Psychopath and reflects on the daunting atmosphere surrounding the Military Police. In May 2006 Sao Paulo experienced a wave of violence that led to hundreds of deaths across the city, including some by security forces and criminals. The author recalls buses burning, gunfire, and a city that felt abandoned as the violence peaked. There were rumors that police opened fire on their own barracks to secure hazard bonuses tied to violence, while in the Civil Police the fictional inspector Mario Leme is portrayed as less susceptible to corruption than some peers.
Lula against corruption
Corruption in the novel mirrors real scandals that have shook Brazil, including the Mensalão payments scheme and the Lava Jato operation. The author describes a dilemma: good deeds can coexist with hidden agendas. Lula’s government implemented social programs that uplifted many families and helped Brazil’s rapid economic growth, even as the period was mired in bribery and political maneuvering. The narrative explains how these scandals shaped public trust and shifted political loyalties toward Bolsonaro. Yet there is also a sense of cautious optimism as Lula returns to the scene, offering a glimmer of hope for the country. [Citation: BCNegra festival discussions] The book shows how a city can be both welcoming and fraught, progressive yet haunted by its past.