Making a Psychopath

My Journey into Seven Dangerous Minds

By: Mark Freestone

Narrated by: David Wayman

Length: 4 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Find out what truly creates and defines a psychopath, from the leading expert who helped to create Killing Eve's Villanelle.

Dr. Mark Freestone has worked on some of the most interesting, infamous, and disturbing cases of psychopathology in recent years. His expertise has led to a consultant role on several TV series, helping them accurately portray their fictional villains. Now, he shares his phenomenal insight into the minds of some of the world's most violent real-life criminals.

Angela "the Remorseless", a rare female psychopath, casually confessed to murder on national television without a hint of regret. Danny "the Borderline" switched from grandiosity to rage to despair within minutes and killed his defenseless friend without explanation. Tony "the Conman" preferred charm, intimidation, and sexual abuse over physical violence and once tried to dupe someone into buying the Eiffel Tower. Jason "the Liar" had a fantasy life that led to vicious murders around Europe and preyed on those who see the good in people. Case by fascinating case, get to know seven of the most dangerous minds that Dr. Freestone has encountered over the last 15 years. These are up-close accounts of some of the most psychopathic criminals and of what can happen if you fall victim to their supreme powers of manipulation.

Exploring the many factors that make a psychopath, the complexities and contradictions of their emotions and behavior, as well as an examination of how the lives of psychopaths develop inside and outside the institutions that are supposed to contain them, Making a Psychopath opens up a window into the world of those who operate in a void of human emotion - and what can be done to control them.

©2022 Mark Freestone (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

So very interesting

This is my 1st Audible book. I’m concerned I’ll be disappointed from now on. The narration is excellent. The “stories” are really, really interesting. And what surprised me most is how entertained I was while listening, which might be due to the narrator! EXCELLENT!!!!!

Okay...a little too sympathetic

I had this in my wish list as I read basically all nonfiction books on psychopathy/sociopathy and all the related labels. Some of them go too far in the direction of inhuman supervillain, but this one goes hard the other way....they are pathetic & have horrible lives (I can get on this train) they can change if they learn to & we care (um, wait...) It includes 7 profiles, not all of which are psychopaths or sociopaths--and it's kind of interesting the way he overlaps autism & borderline, but also...these guys aren't psychopaths/sociopaths, so lumping them does make sociopathy seem more sympathetic because both of those types are more sympathetic. Overall, I was hoping this one would be better than it was--I had it in my wish list for awhile, but it doesn't make my top 10. It doesn't make my bottom 10 either, though. He tries to be fair, I guess and not make psychopaths out to be sub/superhuman and just people with problems....but...for example, he's really sympathetic towards a serial sex offender & thinks that guy changed....uhhuh. I give it points for a different take and even agree that our labeling system for most of these disorders is severely flawed and that diagnosing in general is guessing and highly subjective, but... These are all prison profiles--- it's not about the everyday sociopath or a highly scientific one like all the neuroscience ones.

Nicely performed

Interesting content. Easily understood. Not pablum. Adjusted my thinking slightly. There is more humor than I expected balances the seriousness of the topic.

Informative

Not best to listen to when going to sleep💤. Nice choice for book club reading and discussion.

Meh

Kinda disappointed…. Took me like 3 hours to finally choose a book with my 1 credit and the reviews were so high! TF