Crime is a violation of a law established by a governing body. It disrupts societal order, harms individuals, and damages trust within communities.
Theft, fraud, violence. Crimes are measured by their direct impact on victims and their ability to undermine stability. Societies track crime while categorising offences by severity, intent, and consequence.
Not all offences against personal morality qualify as criminal acts. A rude comment, a broken promise, or a betrayal of trust might feel like a violation worthy of punishment, yet the law does not intervene. Society has long struggled with what should be legally punishable and what should remain private.
Punishment varies depending on the severity of a crime—fines, community service, probation, imprisonment, or even capital punishment in some regions. The justice system aims to balance retribution, deterrence, and rehabilitation. However, when the law remains silent, individuals often create and use their own “Personal Law.“
Take lying, for instance. There is no courtroom trial if a spouse deceives their partner, deliberately leading them into emotional or financial ruin. No judge delivers a sentence for that. But the betrayed often feel an injustice has been committed just the same. In response, they impose their penalties—exile, humiliation, revenge.
Society doesn’t prosecute dishonesty between partners, yet many consider it the worst kind of crime.
This is where fiction thrives. The greatest crime stories emerge from these grey areas—where the law fails, but personal justice prevails.
Personal judgement and justice went into SEETHINGS. It’s a book written with my protagonist’s law in mind. Please read it. It’s downloadable and free for a limited time. It tries to right the wrongs of damaged love and broken promises. Someone will be punished for those crimes.
What offence have you experienced and wished to see punished? A broken heart? A stolen future? Please write to me in the comments section.
I’m waiting to read your version of law.
–Michael (Dark fiction. Author of SEETHINGS (the first book), free for a limited time)
SEETHINGS II follows the return of the Storm Killer as a body on a secluded beach in Moreton Bay, igniting fear and denial. While police dismiss the link, the media doesn’t. Mitchell Felding forms a dangerous bond with a man who understands his darkest impulses. When Natasha enters his life, carrying love letters from her murdered mother, intimacy deepens, and truth closes in. Some futures are inherited. Some have escaped.
Discover more from Michael Forman – Author of Dark Fiction & Drama
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