# Edmund Walker Reese: Character Analysis of the Counting Killer
Overview: The Man Who Counted to Ninety-Nine
Edmund Walker Reese is the novel's originating monster—a serial killer whose earthly crimes and supernatural survival cast a shadow over every character and event in The Book of Accidents. He first appears strapped into Pennsylvania's electric chair in March 1990, but his story does not end with his execution. Instead, the lightning that should have killed him transports him into a fallen world, where he becomes a patient, predatory presence. By the epilogue, he is a janitor who still dreams of sacrificing ninety-nine young girls to destroy all worlds. Reese is less a fully fleshed-out person than a force of obsessive arithmetic and demonic bargain—a figure whose counting and planning give the novel its structure of recurring numbers, missed chances, and final reckoning.
Plot Role: From Execution to Epilogue
Reese's narrative arc bookends the novel. The prologue, “Ride the Lightning,” shows his execution and transformation. He is not dead but “something, and somewhere, else,” as the text puts it. That transformation sets the supernatural machinery in motion: his failed sacrifice of five girls (with the fifth, Sissy Kalbacher, escaping) leaves his demonic quest incomplete, and his return to a fallen world allows him to continue hunting.
In the middle of the book, Reese operates mostly offstage. He is the subject of local legend—the “murder tunnel” story Nate recalls, the subject of Jed Homackie's true-crime book, and the source of Maddie's suppressed childhood memory. His presence is felt through the carved owl that Maddie unknowingly creates, the figure Nate chases into the woods, and the recurring visions of a girl with a number on her cheek. He does not physically confront the main characters until late in the narrative, when Nate enters the Tunnel of Terror and Reese attacks him, revealing the demonic pact behind his mission.
The epilogue, “The Numbers Man,” shows Reese in a mundane disguise—a janitor at a pigment plant—still counting, still planning, and still believing he can destroy the world by killing ninety-nine girls. He has already selected twenty-two victims. Nate finds him and shoots him, ending Reese's existence across time and space. This final act closes the loop: the killer who escaped death in 1990 is finally killed by the man whose family he tormented.
Motivations and Traits: The Arithmetic of Evil
Reese's defining trait is his obsession with numbers. He counts everything: the minutes, the broom bristles, the cracks in the floor, the words spoken to him. This is not mere eccentricity; it is a worldview. He reduces people to numbers—his victims are “Number One” through “Number Five,” each identified by a physical detail (pigtails, painted nails, a birthmark). He tells himself they are “just things,” a dehumanizing arithmetic that allows him to proceed with his mission.
His motivation is rooted in a demonic pact. In the tunnel, a voice recounts how “Eddie Reese” met the demon Eligos Vassago, who promised that if Reese killed ninety-nine “pure girls,” he could “break the worlds and become a god.” Reese's desire is not just to kill but to achieve godhood, to escape the constant rejection he experienced (“No, Eddie, I won't go out with you”). The counting is both a compulsion and a ritual—a way to impose order on a world that has denied him.
Reese also exhibits a chilling patience. After his execution, he lives in a fallen world for decades, working as a janitor, maintaining a normal appearance, and slowly selecting victims. He is not impulsive; he plans, photographs, and notes. His failure with Sissy Kalbacher taught him to move “more quickly, all at once,” but he still waits for the right moment. This patience makes him more terrifying than a purely violent monster—he is a predator who can wait years.
Chronological Arc: From Human to Supernatural to Final Death
1990: Execution and Transformation. Reese is the 351st person to die in Old Smokey, but instead of dying, the electric shock transports him to a fallen world. He is not dead; he is transformed.
Offstage Years. He hunts in the fallen world, taking victims, building a following, and living in “crass, grotesque comfort.” He is eventually returned to a normal universe—but not his own. This world has different brands, a united Korea, and no altar stone at Ramble Rocks. He is stranded.
The Novel's Present. Reese's presence is felt through Maddie's suppressed memories, the carved owl, and the figure Nate chases. He does not directly engage with the Graves family until Nate enters the Tunnel of Terror. There, Reese attacks Nate, reveals his pact, and gloats that his work has been “resumed by a more capable candidate”—the alternate-universe Oliver, Jake.
Epilogue: The Numbers Man. Reese is a janitor, still counting, still planning. He has twenty-two victims selected. Nate finds him, calls him by name, and shoots him. Reese's last thought is that the door has changed—a different knob, a blue door, hinges made by hand. He dies, and the narrative suggests Nate may also leave this world.
Relationships: The Killer and His Counterparts
With His Victims. Reese treats victims as numbers, not people. He is enraged that Number Five escaped, and that escape led to his capture. His relationship with them is purely transactional—they are sacrifices to fulfill the demonic quota.
With Carl Graves. The prison guard who taunts Reese on Death Row is the father of Nate Graves. Carl recognizes evil in Reese and tells him, “What goes around, comes around.” This foreshadows Reese's eventual death at Nate's hands. Carl's son becomes the instrument of Reese's destruction.
With Nate Graves. Reese calls Nate “robberfly” and claims Nate is “his property” when they meet in the amusement park. Their relationship is adversarial and personal: Reese's crimes haunt Nate's family, and Nate ultimately kills him.
With Jake (Alternate Oliver). Reese sees Jake as a successor. He tells Nate that “the boy: Oliver. Oliver killing Olivers” will continue his work. Jake, however, is not loyal to Reese; he is serving the demon directly. Reese is a failed predecessor, and Jake is the more capable candidate.
With the Demon Eligos Vassago. Reese's pact with the demon is the source of his power and his mission. The demon abandons him after his failure, and Reese knows “the demon is gone” in the epilogue. He is left alone, still trying to fulfill a bargain that no longer speaks to him.
Key Decisions and Consequences
The Pact with the Demon. Reese agrees to kill ninety-nine girls in exchange for godhood. This decision defines his entire existence. It leads to his capture, his execution, and his transformation into a supernatural entity.
The Failure at Number Five. Sissy Kalbacher escapes, and Reese is caught. This failure is the hinge of the plot: it brings Maddie into the story (she helped Sissy escape as a child), and it leaves Reese's mission incomplete. The consequence is that he is executed—but the execution becomes a transformation, not an end.
Returning to the Normal World. After his fallen world collapses, Reese is returned to a universe that is not his own. He chooses to continue his plan, selecting twenty-two victims. This decision brings him into Nate's path and leads to his death.
Confronting Nate in the Tunnel. Reese attacks Nate but fails to kill him. This encounter reveals Reese's weakness: he is not invincible, and Nate escapes. It also sets up the final confrontation.
The Final Knock. Reese opens his door to Nate, who shoots him. The consequence is his death—and, possibly, Nate's departure from that world.
Theme and Symbol Connections
Counting and Numbers. Reese's obsession with numbers is a symbol of his need for control and order. It also connects to the novel's larger theme of accidents versus intentional harm: Reese's killings are not accidents; they are calculated, numbered sacrifices. The number ninety-nine recurs as a threshold for world destruction.
The Multiverse and Thin Places. Reese's transformation through lightning and his existence in a fallen world tie directly to the novel's exploration of alternate realities. He is a being who crosses between worlds, and his presence blurs the boundaries of what is real.
Creation as a Force of Healing and Danger. Maddie's ability to create objects that come alive—the owl, the Box Man, the facsimile of Reese—is a counterpoint to Reese's destructive counting. Reese creates nothing; he only destroys. Maddie's creations, though dangerous, are also a means of healing and connection.
Empathy as a Double-Edged Sword. Reese lacks empathy entirely, reducing victims to numbers. In contrast, Oliver's empathy is his strength and his vulnerability. Reese's inability to see people as people is what ultimately undoes him—he underestimates the family's strength.
Accidents vs. Intentional Harm. Reese's killings are deliberate, planned, and numbered. The novel's title, The Book of Accidents, suggests that some events are not accidents at all—they are choices. Reese's choice to kill is the opposite of accident.
Five Book-Specific Questions and Answers
1. Why does Reese count everything?
Reese counts as a way to impose order on a chaotic world and to fulfill his demonic mission. He reduces people to numbers to dehumanize them, making it easier to kill. His counting is both a compulsion and a ritual tied to the ninety-nine sacrifices.
2. What is the significance of the number ninety-nine?
The demon Eligos Vassago told Reese to kill ninety-nine “pure girls” to break the worlds and make him a god. Ninety-nine is the threshold for destruction. Reese fails at Number Five, leaving the mission incomplete, and he continues to pursue ninety-nine in the epilogue.
3. How does Reese survive his execution?
The electric chair does not kill him. Instead, the lightning transports him to a fallen world, where he becomes a supernatural entity. The text says he is “not dead, no—he was something, and somewhere, else.” This transformation is the result of his demonic pact.
4. What role does Sissy Kalbacher play in Reese's story?
Sissy is Reese's fifth abductee, whom he calls “Number Five.” She escapes, leading to his capture and execution. Her escape is the pivotal failure that sets the novel's events in motion, and she later tells Maddie the story of her captivity.
5. How does Reese die?
In the epilogue, Nate finds Reese's apartment and shoots him in the chest. Reese's last thought is that the door has changed—a different knob, a blue door, handmade hinges. He dies, and the narrative suggests Nate may also leave that world.