Civilian use of police equipment is a slippery slope, to say the least, but this is a project any literate person would endorse emphatically. Author, musician, and artist Brian Joseph Davis fed descriptions of characters from famous literary works into police composite sketch software, resulting in the closest images we’ll ever get to the characters living in their author’s heads.

Fittingly, Davis chose characters who, if they actually existed, would likely be the subject of a police composite sketch in a criminal investigation. Now you can gaze upon the faces of Humbert Humbert, Mr. Ripley, Madame Bovary, and a bunch of other murderers and sexual deviants come to life. The creepiness of their likenesses is a testament to the skill with which their traits were penned.

Some of our favorite sketches are below. See The Composites Tumblr for more.

Click on the headings below for the full literary description of each character.

Edward Rochester from Jane Eyre

Mr. Ripley from The Talented Mr. Ripley

Pinkie Brown from Brighton Rock