Identity question. My murderer has an alias. How do I avoid confusion?

[carole gill]

He's got good fake i.d.
And because he meets people he intends to manipulate for one reason or another, they know him by his alias only.
How can I avoid confusion?
If you can give me an example of what you do--or what you've read, I'd be grateful for any advice or comment about this.
Thanks in advance.

[I. J. Parker]

Hmm, I did that very thing in ISLAND OF EXILES. Remember having fun with it, trying to fool the reader for a while.

[carole gill]

thank you, but could you elaborate a little?
briefly explaining how you did it, I'd appreciate it.

[carole gill]

thanks Joylene! very appreciative.
no, it's 3rd person.
It doesn't happen until nearly half-way through.
So I will do that. they'll know he "became" that other person and they'll follow along.
I remember reading someone's advice about trusting the reader.
it sank in and it didn't, if you know what I mean!
and i'll also check your book out sounds good! my kind of book!

[Dana King]

Something else to consider--which IJ touches upon--is whether some confusion on the part of the reader might be a good thing. Let them wonder a little. At least confuse some of the characters. Kinky Friedman wrote a novel (ELVIS, JESUS, AND COCA-COLA) where there were two girlfriends named Jane: Uptown Jane and Downtown Jane. Not until the end do you realize they're the same person; Kinky was too stoned most of the time to realize it. It didn't work perfectly or seamlessly, but he was able to plant some doubt in the reader's mind as to what was up with these women.

[carole gill]

interesting, but I don't think it's what I'm doing with this story.
the killer's identity is revealed early on.
there's no mystery there. the only mystery is whether or not a cop (with a huge emotional reason) is going to get this guy.
the books I've read about killers--I've always wanted to know what made them tick . the whys. now this guy is not a mass murderer. he has his own very special reason for having killed which isn't revealed until well into the story (although there are vague clues that come out in other ways). the only other murder he committed was to callously get another person's i.d.
My concern was that (let's say his name is Joe)--Joe is depicted for the first 40,000 words--but then he kills someone called Peter and takes his i.d. in introducing himself to parties he wants to manipulate, he would say, "my name is Peter..."
but then in the narration, the wording would go something like this:
"... Peter then drove away with the world and his razor in his hip pocket.." (only it was really Joe) but the reader would remember that, right?
thanks though, Dana.

[I. J. Parker]

"The man who called himself Peter then drove away . . ."

(As for what I did, you'll have to read the book :))

[carole gill]

I figured that.
Oh, such tension! Like a serial!
"Tune in next week --!"
But I'll cope. I always do actually.
But I shall read your book anyway!
The reviews for all of your works are devastating.
I'm a pre-fan already! A number one fan in the making, just like Annie Wilkes!

[I. J. Parker]

Devastating? That scared me for a moment. :)

[carole gill]

Devastatingly good!
Truly! honest!

[Clair Dickson]

I think it might help to slip reminders in here and there. Kind of like joylene showed.

And/or otherwise have the killer think about how he feels about playing someone else.

[carole gill]

That's very good, Clair!
Reminders! see, that's why I ask these questions because I wouldn't have thought of that. Thank you.

[Paul McGoran]

My first novel, Porkpie, had a similar situation in that the antagonist has a nickname used by the police, the general public and the press. I think you have to introduce the alternative name early on, for one thing. After that, it's a matter of consistency. A given character in your story will call another character by one name only - he or she won't switch back and forth. In my case, it wasn't a matter of trying to fool the reader.