The hyena's smile

Is it possible to justify evil when there is an intention to do good? Is there reason to believe in someone who justifies evil?

Tormented by the feeling that he is not doing enough to make the world a better place, William, a respected child psychologist, is given the chance to conduct a study that could help understand the development of human evil.

However, the proposal, made by the mysterious David, places the psychologist before a complex moral dilemma. To determine whether he is a cruel man for having witnessed the brutal murder of his parents when he was only eight years old, David plans to repeat the same thing that happened to his own with other families, giving William the chance to follow the orphaned children's growth and discover the influence of this trauma on their development.

But how far will William go to achieve his goals?

The Hyena's Smile presents a complex plot of suspense and psychological games, where we will find the answers to these questions. The work reflects on the human psyche with complex and well-developed characters, constantly leaving certainties and doubts that, throughout the text, will make the reader constantly rethink what they consider logical.

In contrast to its complex approach and themes, the book features naturally constructed dialogue that captivates the reader from the first page to the last. Gustavo Ávila took great care in choosing the characters and language for this work.

In The Hyena's Smile , the reader will be hooked until the last page as he follows Detective Artur Veiga in his investigations to unravel this series of crimes that is terrorizing the city.

"A psychological thriller that deserves to be alongside the great international bestsellers. By investigating the origin of evil, Gustavo Ávila brings freshness to Brazilian crime fiction with a surprising and unmissable work." - Raphael Montes, author of Perfect Days