Aaron Jansen / Tyler Price

Quick Facts

• Role: Primary antagonist; copycat killer posing as a journalist
• First appearance: A cold-call to Chloe that inserts him into the investigation
• Aliases: “Aaron Jansen,” a New York Times reporter; real name: Tyler Price
• Key relationships: Chloe Davis (target/confidant/brief lover), Cooper Davis (handler/mastermind), Daniel Briggs (framed suspect)
• Modus operandi: Mirrors the Breaux Bridge murders to manipulate evidence and perception

Who They Are

At first, Aaron Jansen seems like an eager reporter covering the twentieth anniversary of the Breaux Bridge murders attributed to Richard Davis. The twist: “Aaron” is an invention—an identity built and worn by Tyler Price, a lonely Breaux Bridge local turned copycat killer, guided and exploited by Cooper Davis. Moving from inquisitive nuisance to trusted ally, he insinuates himself into Chloe Davis’s life, then weaponizes her trauma to frame her fiancé, Daniel Briggs. Tyler embodies the novel’s fascination with blurred surfaces—how a convincing mask can rewire reality—while illustrating the corrosive pull of attention and infamy central to the book’s meditation on The Nature of Evil and Monstrosity.

Personality & Traits

Tyler is equal parts fabrication and hunger: a man so desperate to be seen that he perfects a persona designed to be trusted. His skill isn’t brilliance; it’s a predator’s social intuition—sensing what Chloe fears, craves, and will confide—paired with an emptiness that makes him pliable to Cooper’s influence. He’s both architect and instrument of deception, a character whose forgettable face becomes his greatest weapon.

• Manipulative and calculating: He builds “Aaron Jansen” with a fake press badge, a polished backstory, and carefully staged conversations that validate Chloe’s suspicions—all in service of positioning himself as her indispensable ally.
• Obsessive: As a child, he was the “nameless kid” peering into the Davis home; as an adult, he can recite the Breaux Bridge case and its players. His fixation mirrors what he tells Chloe about copycats: they know the original killer intimately—because they want to be him.
• Deceptive (Appearance vs. Reality): His very existence in the plot is a thesis on Deception and Appearance vs. Reality—a living proof that a practiced surface can completely invert the truth.
• Impressionable and insecure: Tyler calls himself a “nobody.” That void makes him susceptible to Cooper’s attention, which functions like a creed: orders to follow, a role to play, a way to finally matter.
• Violent under the veneer: Beneath the knit tie and tortoiseshell glasses lies the killer who murders Aubrey Gravino and Lacey Deckler and abducts Riley Tack—all executed to echo the original crime pattern.
• Chameleon presentation: Chloe notices his face and voice “don’t match,” and later that he is “not as skinny” as the headshot suggests. The mismatch—and his ultimately “generic face”—are early, unprocessed clues that the person in front of her is a performance.

Character Journey

Tyler’s “development” is a masterpiece of misdirection. Introduced as Aaron, he needles Chloe with just enough skepticism to seem professional, then shifts to ally, partner, and finally lover—a progression that feels transformative but is actually scripted to isolate her and frame Daniel. When the mask drops, he’s not revealed as a criminal mastermind so much as a tragic accomplice: a man whose longing to be seen let Cooper write his story. His arc moves from red herring to central villain to pitiable follower, demonstrating how a person can stare into someone else’s darkness and, wanting a reflection, disappear into it.

Key Relationships

• Chloe Davis: Tyler expertly reads Chloe’s fear and survivor’s guilt, validating her “copycat” instincts to earn intimacy and access. By becoming the person who “believes” her, he isolates her from her support system, weaponizing her trust—and her bed—against her.
• Cooper Davis: Cooper recognizes Tyler’s impressionability from childhood and cultivates him into a tool. As the Full Book Summary makes clear, Cooper orchestrates the new murders through Tyler to destroy Chloe’s life by framing Daniel, granting Tyler the attention he craves in exchange for obedience.
• Daniel Briggs: To topple Daniel, Tyler harvests confessional details (like the story of Daniel’s sister, Sophie), plants evidence (Aubrey’s necklace in Chloe and Daniel’s closet), and drip-feeds Chloe doubts. Daniel is the obstacle and the scapegoat, the man Tyler must erase to become “somebody.”

Defining Moments

Tyler’s major beats each tighten the net around Chloe while sharpening the novel’s themes of misdirection and control.

• The initial phone call: He cold-calls Chloe as a Times reporter, immediately inserting himself into her orbit and framing the anniversary as urgent news (Chapter 1-5 Summary). It’s a social engineering move: create a professional pretext to demand time and access.
• Pitching the copycat theory: At their first meeting, he offers the “copycat” narrative that explains everything—and hides him in plain sight (Chapter 16-20 Summary). The theory doubles as grooming: he’s the expert who “gets it,” so she should keep him close.
• The motel and Riley’s abduction: After sleeping with Chloe, he drugs her and leaves to snatch Riley Tack (Chapter 36-40 Summary). Sex becomes a boundary-erasing tool; the abduction shows how quickly his mask can drop once he has what he needs.
• Planting evidence against Daniel: He hides Aubrey’s necklace in Chloe’s home—a violation of both space and trust. The planted item isn’t just proof; it’s a story prompt designed to steer Chloe’s mind toward Daniel.
• Final confrontation at the Davis home: Unmasked as Tyler Price, he confesses to the murders but insists Cooper “made me do it,” before Chloe shoots him in self-defense (Chapter 41-45 Summary). The admission exposes his core: not a sovereign monster, but a man who outsourced his will.

Essential Quotes

“My name is Aaron Jansen,” he says. “I’m a reporter for The New York Times.”

This simple introduction is a passport. By invoking institutional credibility, Tyler purchases trust up front; the name and title become weapons more effective than any physical threat.

“I think we’re dealing with a copycat here. And I’m willing to bet that before the week is over, someone else will be dead.”

He frames the narrative and the clock simultaneously. The “copycat” lens invites Chloe to look outward for the killer, while the deadline manufactures urgency that justifies keeping him close.

“Copycats murder because they’re obsessed with another murderer. They know everything about them—which means that this person could very well know you. He could be watching you.”

Tyler describes himself without admitting it. The line both escalates Chloe’s paranoia and positions him as the only safe interpreter of her fear—a textbook manipulation tactic.

“I’m nobody.”

The confession is the key to his psychology: anonymity as torment. His crimes—and his obedience to Cooper—are attempts to convert invisibility into significance, even at catastrophic moral cost.

“He made me do it—”

The unfinished sentence crystallizes his final self-portrait: a follower seeking absolution through blame. It doesn’t exonerate him, but it reframes him as a product of influence, underscoring the novel’s interest in how monstrosity can be manufactured.