Puzzling People: The Labyrinth of the Psychopath

by Thomas Sheridan

As well-researched as a scholarly work, yet with the immediacy and accessibility of a layman, Puzzling People is a first-person account of the cheats, the charlatans, the liars, the neglectful parents, abusive teachers, two-faced politicians and their Psychopathic Control Grid, tyrannical bosses and colleagues from hell we have all encountered, including the lying lovers who use us then lose us in an instant. Puzzling People takes an in-depth look at how the minds of psychopaths work and why, and focusses on what you can do to survive and thrive and ultimately escape forever. Delivered in a voice that makes it clear that the author lives what he writes, Puzzling People is an invaluable field guide to spotting and avoiding entities so completely lacking in empathy or compassion they may as well be counted as a different species entirely to human beings.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Conspiracy Theories, Spirituality, Self Help, Personal Growth

266 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2011

About the author

Thomas Sheridan is an author, artist and film maker from Dublin, Ireland who came to international recognition in 2011 with the book Puzzling People: the Labyrinth of the Psychopath.

In recent times, his work has been featured in some of the world's largest media outlets as the interest in his work into serial killers, occult history and mind control cults continues to grow. This has resulted in Sheridan becoming a much sought after public speaker due to his entertaining, if at times, hilariously funny and informative style of presentation. Making challenging and difficult topics accessible to every kind of audience.

Sheridan offers a holistic approach to all the topics he covers, believing that by re-examining everything from art, mythology, the occult and on to social engineering that this can equip us with what he terms a 'consciousness firewall' in the face of pathological forces.

Reviews

[Petra X · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book starts off with details of psychopaths and how to recover from relationships with themm most of it quite sensible, and ends with the death of humans-as-we-know-ourselves. The author's wide-ranging mind mixes facts, fantasy, conjecture and re-interpretation. The author has an... interesting mind.

On foxhunting

During my late teens I was heavily involved in the animal rights movement, and among the activities we took part in was to protest fox hunting among the gentry and well-to-do. After witnessing these appalling and sadistic escapades close up, it soon dawned on me that the ‘sport’ of fox hunting actually is a psychological operation to mind-control young aristocrats and elites into the proto-psychopathic Dissociative Identity mindset.

Statements that I have been unable to verify online:(you might have better luck)
1. Psychopathic women are also more likely to give birth to male children.
2. The modern gay community in just about every Western country is almost exclusively composed of middle-class and above single men with a high level of disposable income. (Being gay is class-based?)
3. Psychopathy and Autism: Considering how similar both states are, I have often wondered if psychopathy is autism gone malignant, as in, if autistic people are the ‘positives’, are psychopaths the ‘negatives’? (He says this is a correlation under investigation).
4. There is currently a wealthy and powerful family in the United Arab Emirates who to this day boast of being the bloodline of a demon-human hybrid due to their ancestors mating with female djinns.

And now we get to the 'meat' of the book:

When Lady Gaga parades around in a dress made from animal flesh it sends out a message to the millions of young impressionable minds that you are just a hunk of animated meat yourself. This is not by accident. This is not ‘art’. Very real psychopathic individuals behind the scenes in music and entertainment are slowly altering your psychology in order to dehumanise you so that when the day comes to replace your free will, your human spirit and your soul with a microchip, you’ll accept it, as you will have been conditioned by mass media to view your own humanity as just soulless meat.

Which leads to....

As I have mentioned throughout this book, the aim of the transhumanist movement is to remove human consciousness from the Earth except for a privileged few. A vital stage of their agenda is to create a bond between machines and humans so we accept them as equals firstly, and then as our ‘natural’ evolutionary replacements. This will be initially sold to us as robotic limbs and other organs for handicapped and disfigured individuals. These are noble and proper uses for such high-technology, but there will be an overall thrust in development in the coming years to ‘upgrade’ otherwise healthy individuals with implantable micro-chips and music players/phones which will be directly connected to the human brain.

The book is unintentionally funny and entertaining, but it's not much use as a guide to psychopathy. I'm wondering what the author's stance is on vaccinations ;-)

Notes on Reading A new take on what really happened in the Garden of Eden

She loved him enough to free his mind from the shackles of a spiteful and conditional God. Her handing the apple to Adam was her unconditional love for him and his humanity in totality and likewise, his acceptance of it was the same mutual respect and understanding returned back to Eve." And for that they became "outcasts for thinking for themselves"

This is why the Eden story and the concept of Original Sin is shoved in our faces by the psychopathic major religions. They want you to love the creed, the book, the pulpit and the dogma – they keep your eye off the ball. The psychopath in the relationship wants you to idolise him/her at the expense of yourself. The Serpent in the Garden of Eden represented Eve’s ‘self’ in the psychological sense, transcending the superficial ego of eternity in superficial paradise for the full richness of life. Both good and bad.

[Bryn D · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book started out promising but quickly turned...peculiar. Indeed this was about psychopaths/sociopaths and their traits along with examples in the form of testimonials from their victims. The author makes the point, correctly in my opinion, that not all sociopaths are criminals or psycho ax murderers but are the ultimate human predator capable of anything to achieve their ends. The book then turns into a "self-help" book about how to deal with and rid oneself on the psychopath in their life, which is fine and well, though mostly focusing on a "no contact ever again" strategy. The later third of the book discusses psychopaths in the upper realms of world influence in corporations and government and this is where the book turns weird. The author suggests the people in the highest positions of influence and power are psychopaths designing methods and schemes through public policy and media to create future generations of automaton slaves to do their bidding. I soon was glad to put this down......sighing...."oh brother"

The first red flag is the author’s lack of professional credentials that give weight to his arguments and theories, though he claims this is a strength that liberates him from the pressures of professional organizations and grant funders with secret agendas and the bias of policy makers.

The next red flag was the authors glib opinions about American leaders and policies (which coming from a foreigner isn't appreciated) and shoots his own "unbiased" claims. He insults not only President Bush, but Al Gore, Don Rumsfeld and Madeline Albright, the Iraq invasion and sanctions against Iraq following Operation Desert Storm.

Lastly the author seems to go off the deep end and suggests that psychopaths are conspiring to rule the world and we must band together and pay attention to their schemes.

The topic is very interesting to me but it quickly turned me off considering the red flags. I wouldn't be surprised if the author is himself a sociopath and getting the last laugh.

[Leticia Supple · Rating 4 out of 5]

I forget how I came across this book. All I remember is scanning one of the many online bookstores that I frequent, seeing it pop up in a list somewhere, and thinking, "I really want to read that".

So I bought it on a whim, without reading reviews, without even having a concrete idea as to what it was about. The best kind of purchase - totally self-driven.

It was worth however much it was, the twenty-something dollars. Thomas Sheridan has a very conversational style about him. He finds a thread, goes onto something else, comes back to the original thread, and uses the momentum to keep pushing his narrative forwards. If you are not familiar with this type of style, you might find it 'rambling', as many other people have noted.

It is not rambling, it's conversational. Rambling goes on, loses the point, fails to find the original point, and then kind of misses itself all over again. Sheridan does not lose the point he is driving towards.

More importantly, he picks up threads and reiterates them later, in relation to a secondary or underlying issue, which could not have been discussed earlier.

Whether or not I agree with his premise about psychopaths is totally beside the point. I agree with much of his assessment of unscrupulous people. Indeed, just on my reading sections of this book out to others has caused those people to exclaim that my ex was clearly psychopathic. Many of those people have proclaimed this, without even reading through such clear definitions as Sheridan provides.

The most important thing about this book is in its discussion of psychopathic societies, and the notion that humans are not bad, nasty people - and the conditioning that the mass media creates to make the collective think this. These sections of Sheridan's work are of great import to humanity as a whole, especially in relation to the notion of clear thinking, clear assessment, and returning to a critical point of view.

The critical point of view, and assessing all information independently in order to come to a researched and personal perspective, is something that many people these days miss. It needs to be taught, and this is a good vehicle by which to do so. Sheridan's perspective on the psychopathologies of regular society may be harnessed by curious people more easily than, say, the point of view of David Icke: even though they are both saying exactly the same thing.

There are issues with this book, from the zeros instead of 'o's, the poor editing, and some of the gaps, but even I can overlook these in consideration of the content.

It's an excellent, if occasionally confronting, read. And you need to let your own opinion go, read the work, consider it. Some of the statements made me laugh, some made me raise an eyebrow, but as a whole it was very much a worthwhile journey.

[Nancy Mills · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting topic, tackled in a non-academic, practical sort of way. Few citations or references, seems largely author's own reflections and opinions about what constitutes a psychopath, and red flags for recognizing one. Contains what could be some very useful insights.
Frequently repetitive, seems as though reader is taking a class about how to recognize and deal with a psychopath.

[Carlos · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the next step in teaching my students to defend themselves against these sick people ,they are everywhere 1 in 25,think about that they are everywhere especially the people I have known in life.Thomas should be given a medal for this great work.

[Jenn Duffy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enlightening and empowering reading. Spot on. Highly recommend!!

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this in the context of doing research for my doctoral dissertation (in psychology). I think it's important that I am clear about the context of this, as if I was a layperson I may have rated quite a bit higher. The author of this book may have done his own research, as I sure hope he did considering he is not in this field at all. There are zero citations telling me where he got his information, so I have no idea how reputable his information is. Furthermore, it is unclear what is fact and what is opinion-- and some of the information is downright weird and insane. Waste of time for my research.

[Inquiring Minds · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found myself agreeing with practically everything Thomas Sheridan describes in this book, and I have purchased copies of this book for the younger members of my family for their Christmas presents this year. A handy reference book for them as they move through life encountering new people. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

[Jodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

He knows his psychopaths and traits but you have to be willing to see his philosophy of life through a biblical view. He so close to understanding demonic activity but his spiritual eyes are not open. His youtube videos are so well done! Very helpful book.

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was incredibly helpful to me. I like the author isn't a psychiatrist or researcher. It gives him the leeway to spout opinions, many of which made me think "Yes! Exactly!"

[Froztwolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of the information in there is quite interesting, but the poor structure, endless repetitions and extremely judgmental tone of the book drag it down by quite a bit. I was never excited to read on because there was no logical progression in the book.

Phrases such as "increasingly violent video games where your child can assume the role of a hero who gains extra points by having sex with a prostitute and then killing her to get his money back" stand out to someone well familiar with the games industry as a testament to the author's lack of research and indicates that he has no problems bending the truth to make a point.

This deeply undermined my confidence in everything the author said thereafter.

I'm still not quite sure to pick out a psychopath I'm not living with (how would I know whether my boss falls asleep instantly?) and I don't feel that it's helped me at all in dealing with them should I encounter them, other than to tell me to get the hell away.

I'm going to buy "Snakes in suits" and see if that's any better.

[Toni Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book for anyone who has known toxic people and situations, especially for those empaths among you. This book helped me make sense of what has happened to me during my life and gives helpful, practical advice on what to do and where to go for more information. Because this book is not written by someone in the current medical establishment, the author can say the things that those people depending on grants for research cant say. I can fully recommend this book.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to agree with many of the other reviews. The book seemed well researched and then became really strange towards the end (global conspiracies? really?). The first three quarters are definitely worth reading though. Just a warning: the author repeats himself a lot and the editing isn't very good (plenty of missing words). So if things like that distract or annoy you, don't bother with it.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read. Powerful insight into the minds and behaviour of these predators. As fascinating as it is disturbing. Highly recommend!

[Sangre Lovera · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a must read!

I love how Mr. Sheridan presents all the information he has about psychopath. I am definitely better able to understand why psychos act the way they do.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Changed my life

[Larissa Matharu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Puzzling People is a very powerful, poignant and insightful book. An absolute must read. As someone who has experienced and survived psychopaths, I wish this book had been written 30 years ago and that I had read it 30 years ago; however I am so grateful to Thomas Sheridan for writing this brilliant, insightful and helpful book. There are paragraphs in this book that are simply WOW, that depict and describe with astonishing accuracy the experiences of having psychopaths within families and what they do to families and how they manipulate and orchestrate family members to their tune against the chosen victim and scapegoat in the family. Puzzling People is a Masterpiece! Thomas Sheridan is an eloquent and witty writer and a joy to read. Thank you, with heartfelt tears of gratitude, thank you!

[Ivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

(read 2/3rds) the stuff about relationships with actual psychopaths seems quite right (he had personal experience and also collected experiences from people), but the attempt to paint the money-loving/powerful people as psychopaths doesn't quite work; it's missing pretty much any data or examples. those people have class interests and may have some narcissistic traits and reduced empathy, but they cooperate well and generally don't meet his five 'primary traits' of the psychopath. he basically destroys his own ontology / psychopath definition by conflating the two. yet another book that could have been vastly improved by sticking to the more verifiable claims.

[Loretta Micheals · Rating 3 out of 5]

This author had many interesting and meaningful ideas of how to identify psychopaths, deal with them(don’t), and how to get rid of them. Unfortunately, he also had a tendency of repeating himself while pontificating on the evil of psychopathology. And he is certainly right about that, but more concrete examples would have been helpful rather than, repetitive comments.

The idea that governments, politicians, journalists, and TV media are conspiring together to create a psychopathic society is ludicrous, however. And this theory was detrimental to believing other things he had to offer.

[Martin Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an all right book. The author makes no bones about not coming from an academic background; which is good because there's a variety of things which don't really hold up to hard and fast science. But I think the book has a lot of value for people who've been damaged by sociopaths/psychopaths and are looking for something to validate and confirm that what they've experienced is real. And that's worthwhile.

While I've certainly plumbed the depths of conspiracy theory in the dark hours of the night, Sheridan pushes the limit, but he makes some valuable insights with his thoughts on society being under the control of a "psychopathic control grid". I think a better way to term it, however, is more something akin to a "negative feedback loop" in terms of human behavior run amok. I think it's a book worth reading, but its best value is when it's taken with a grain of salt and the reader can use whatever they find valuable against whatever psychopaths might populate their life. To them, this reading experience might come as a revelation; to those of us a little seasoned to the behaviors of less than savory people, this is interesting but hardly earth shattering.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting insights, mostly based on authors opinions, however he does site credible references, some of which I am familiar with. If you are interested in this topic on a personal level, then I recommend that you read it. Author does seem to spiral into a little paranoid frenzy near the end of the book - topic related to people in power positions in governments. Take what you like from this book and leave the rest! It was worth the Kindle price.

[Linda Branham · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great descriptive understanding of the psychopath. It should be a great help to anyone who has ever encountered a psychopath
The statistics say 10% of the population - but they seem to be more prevalent than that... maybe because they have such a devastating impact on those whose lives they touch.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It changes the way you look at the world around you, to the degree that the author's assertions are true.
The argument is largely anecdotal and the author's uncareful tone makes it difficult to accept in total.
Intuitively though, there is likely a lot of truth in it, and the author's portrayal of the psychopathic mindset seems supported by other studies on the topic.

[Colin Mcnamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great discussion in layman a terms of the life of a psychopath

Pros
- written in laymans terms
- conversational writing style
- real world advice on how to deal with these people

Cons
- political slant
- lack of citations for research

[Squeasel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half was pretty on target, but the second half umm got a bit kooky for my personal taste.

[Kavish · Rating 4 out of 5]

What the predator wants from you?

The author answers this question extremely well.
If you are an abuse victim you must read this book.It's a good one.