Sleeping with a Psychopath: A real-life psychological crime thriller, the unbelievable true story. THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER

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The second part of the book focuses on the police investigation of the crime and the court trial. While I was eager to find out whether the police managed to catch the conman and what happenedto him, I found the second half of the book a bit too drawn out with a lot of criticism directed at the police from Carolyn's side, even if justly so. You’re right. It is totally extraordinary. My life is like a film; you couldn’t make it up … But there’s something I have to tell you,’ he confided, as he leaned across the table towards me. ‘I’m not normal.’ The second part of the book is a monotonous description of the police investigation - really it is just Carolyn complaining about how the police handled the case.

I've just finished this book and I have mixed feelings on it. I felt as though it was really a book of two halves and I find myself with different opinions on the beginning and the end. She’s too much, quiet literally the most annoying and stupid woman ever - firstly views herself as too good for antidepressants and also somehow connects a friendly supportive hug (okay slightly inappropriate but not to this extent) between and doctor and patient to the MeToo movement in which women were literally sexual assault. This women is so god damn annoying. Rant over… for now. Carolyn Woods was living happily in a quiet Cotswolds village when an attractive stranger abruptly arrived in her life. The nighttime habits of antisocial personalities vary, Dr. Gene Beresin, Executive Director of The Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds at Massachusetts General Hospital, tells Bustle. There's really no one consistent activity or set of activities that all psychopaths do. However, whatever they choose to do, it's going to be self-centered and in the moment. "No matter what else is happening around the individual (even if it is monumental), if it is not immediately relevant to what the psychopath is interested in at that time, it is disregarded," Beresin says. There were also some quite frustrating aspects of the book too. She makes a really big deal about how she doesn't want to be painted as the 'divorced woman' as this comes with some negative connotations - yet it's the beginning of the strap-line in the front of the book - which I presume she signed off on. She also expresses her frustration with the GPs she saw who insisted she needed antidepressants and therapy because she didn't want either. I really don't understand what else she wanted from them, what else could they offer?At some point when your psychopath has felt like he or she has built a sufficient trust bond with you, his or her affections turn romantic, as you are overwhelmed by a relentless flood of affectionate attention and proclamation of love, even if you are already in a suitable romantic relationship at the moment. If you are in a relationship with someone else, the psycho will find ways to discredit the person you are in a relationship with now and create mind games that will have you thinking something is desperately wrong. Not surprisingly, you will probably start thinking that the person you love(d) is a “psychopath.” You're right. It is totally extraordinary. My life is like a film; you couldn't make it up ... But there's something I have to tell you,' he confided, as he leaned across the table towards me. 'I'm not normal.' Not sure where to begin with this book. To start with, Carolyn Woods comes across as quite an unpleasant, very vain woman. She blames every one else for every single thing that happened to her, when, basically she was silly enough to fall for the most ridiculous pile of lies I’ve ever heard. So many red flags. He told her he’d just been shot in the arm, then in the leg. Did she not notice he had no wounds when they were being intimate? The rudeness he showed towards her family would have made most women run for the hills, but she stayed. I think because she, right from the day she met him, loved the luxury champagne and limo lifestyle.

I don’t want to go into detail, about the lengths he went, you should read that yourself. I read so much with a dropped jaw. I liked the quotes at the start of each chapter that related to what had happened. I have to agree with Carolyn that there is something much deeper with this man. I don’t think there is a cure. It is who he is. I was really looking forward to this story which promised to be “a real-life thriller”. It turned out to be a fairly tedious and repetitive tale of how a well off, naïve divorcee got duped by a manipulative egomaniac.

Reviews:

I wanted to like this book. I'm a fan of thrillers and true crime podcasts and things but this was quite a struggle to get through.

The title of this book is a bit misleading in as much as the 'psychopath' of the title never actually spends the night with the author. Forgive me for pointing that out, but it's one of the weird things he does (or rather doesn't do) in a very long list of extremely weird behaviours. She is in love with the 'idea' of the man rather than his reality. I admire Carolyn Woods' tenacity in hunting down her abuser but at times it all feels rather futile. He's out of prison again now and probably conning a host of more gullible or greedy people (not suggesting she was greedy - far from it). To write a book like this, you need to be VERY honest, and I think Woods has been honest - but sadly to a degree which tends to make the reader sometimes rather less sympathetic. Her falling out with friends (the ones who were looking after her furniture seemed very badly treated) and family (her sister-in-law springs to mind) was unpleasant to read and reflected rather poorly on the 'it's not my fault, I'm the victim' author. One of the main reasons Mark got away with the extent of the fraud he did was due to his charismatic character. From the very first meeting it was clear that he was a bit of a creep and she'd have been best off staying well away from him. I felt those parts were written with the benefit of hindsight and she really failed in her quest to make the reader truly understand what it was that had drawn her to him in the first place - and what made her stay. You're right. It is totally extraordinary. My life is like a film; you couldn't make it up … But there's something I have to tell you,' he confided, as he leaned across the table towards me. 'I'm not normal.' In fact, some things were so astonishing she began to question her new lover. Was all as it seemed?Sleeping with a psychopath is a true crime story. Carolyn Woods meets and falls for a man named Mark Conway. But soon her world is turned upside-down by his lies and betrayals. I loved Dirty John when it was on Netflix, so if you too were a fan of that you'll find this book fascinating at the depraved lengths these men will stoop to!