How to Make Readers Afraid for Your Character

The other thing I've seen done very effectively with a character who's more unsympathetic than being that you care about them is to make them extremely capable. Capable characters are interesting to us, definitely. Even if they're not sympathetic at all at the beginning. It takes forever for you to really see good human qualities in that main character. But you like him right off the bat because he's just such a good liar.