Making a Psychopath: My Journey into 7 Dangerous Minds

by Dr Mark Freestone

The closest you can get to the most dangerous minds.Find out what truly makes a psychopath, from the leading expert who helped to create Killing Eve's Villanelle. Dr Mark Freestone has worked on some of the most disturbing psychopath cases of recent times - this is his extraordinary journey with the people society would rather forget. Danny 'the Borderline' killed his defenceless friend without explanation. Tony 'the Conman' once tried to dupe someone into buying the Eiffel Tower. Jason 'the Liar' had a fantasy life that led to vicious murders around Europe. With its page-turning true crime storytelling and searing first-hand experience that will leave you reeling, this book opens up a window onto the unseen world of those who operate in a void of human emotion ... and asks how we will stop them. 'The psychiatrist who created Killing Eve's anti-heroine' The Telegraph'The psychopath, revised' Psychology Today

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Psychology, Science, Audiobook, Crime, Mental Health

286 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 23, 2020

Reviews

[Rachel the Page-Turner · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really, really wanted to like this book. The synopsis sounded fantastic, and while I’ve never heard of Dr. Mark Freestone, I was interested in hearing about his encounters with people who have psychopathic tendencies. I should have seen the part about him having a TV show as a red flag, because to me he seems like the British Dr. Phil.

The synopsis was quite misleading. This isn’t a look into the minds of “the world’s most violent real-life criminals”, it was just the author’s account of seven people who were diagnosed as being psychopaths, along with a lot of boring personal stories about himself. The whole book is him re-diagnosing the seven people with things like autism, borderline personality disorder and schizophrenia, even though his PhD is in sociology. I’m not sure what his qualifications are to diagnose major psychiatric disorders, but it seemed like rambling pontification to me.

The stories about each person were really incomplete - an interesting tidbit would be thrown out, then the author would leave it and continue on with mind-numbing psychobabble. The ending was mostly about how the “psychopath” label is misused and over-diagnosed, which is probably true. I did learn that the UK prison system is much more kind than America’s, that’s for sure. This read like a textbook in a lot of parts, but then the parts that weren’t medical were poorly written and loose. I saw it through, but I wouldn’t recommend it. There have to be better books on the subject than this. A disappointed two stars for this one.

(Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Dr. Mark Freestone, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.)

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very excited to read this book primarily because of my extensive education in psychology, but I was deeply disappointed in it. The best of the book was the first chapter entitled The Masks of Psychopathy as it provided the most information about the psychopath. Following that was the 7 case studies. I don’t have an issue with the seven being composites — many books that have case studies typically are composites. But the subtitle of The Making of a Psychopath is misleading - My Journey into 7 Dangerous Minds. These were not journeys at all, they were more like brief visits, outings or day trips if I am being generous. The reader doesn’t get to really know these people and that makes it difficult to understand them. I think what is missing from these vignettes is a real psychological understanding and it was very telling to me that in the chapter about Danny, the author refers to what a psychologist said about Danny. Well, that got me curious and I discovered that the author was neither a psychologist nor a psychiatrist. Rather he is a sociologist and he has a doctorate so can rightly call himself a doctor, which he does do as the author of this book though it is misleading. So now that I know this about the author, I realize that I was looking for a psychological case study, which the author was not able to provide. And that he was a consultant on a TV show featuring a psychopath does not give him the credentials I was looking for, and actually expecting from the author of such a book.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Joy D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Mark Freestone’s memoir presents seven types of psychopaths, using composite characters of people he has encountered in his work. He is not a psychiatrist or psychologist. He is a sociologist (ph.D.) who has studied mental health issues, and specifically psychopathy, in England’s prison system. I found the first seven chapters riveting. They portray the manner in which childhood trauma and genetics can lead to psychopathy and the particular traits they have in common. The chapters include The Hitman, The Conman, The Liar, The Parasite, The Borderline, The Remorseless, and The Redeemed. I am not convinced the subject of The Redeemed is a psychopath, but aside from this quibble, I found it an informative work.

[Klaudia_p · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nie jest to jakiś wielki powiew świeżości, jeśli chodzi o tematykę, ale czyta się całkiem dobrze i można się dowiedzieć paru ciekawostek.

[Fay Flude · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well written book seeking to dispel certain myths and stereotypical misconceptions regularly trotted out by the media to 'entertain' the general public, and I think it is the perfect bridge between sensational press accounts at one end and inaccessible specialist academic journals at the other end.
Written by someone who has actually worked directly with individuals diagnosed as a psychopath this book is not an in depth look at serial killers or just one individual. Instead it is a considered, honest and thought provoking debate about childhood experiences and trauma, about crime, about prison and specialist units and about the way in which society seeks to treat, or not treat, such individuals.
It is disturbing but mostly heart breaking as many of the characters mentioned (which are a mix of types of people Dr Freestone has worked with and interviewed) have literally very little hope of access to a treatment programme that could help bring about change.
There are of course no magic wands and if a terrible crime is committed there needs to be accountability because victims matter too, but it is desperately sad to read the case study style descriptions of people who have never mattered to anybody, anywhere.
It would be too easy to simplify this book into categorising those who can be helped and those who can't. Freestone looks at the cycles of behaviour and interaction, the diagnostic test and how the brain of a psychopath differs, but even this does not adequately explain why someone can be successful and function without violence and how others simply know nothing but violence.
We are thus presented with a wide ranging spectrum of psychopaths in what is a very readable and easily understood format, I found Making a Psychpath to be an intriguing and fascinating exploration of the mind. It has also given me as a reader the utmost respect for anyone working with this vulnerable and often dangerous sector of the population day in day out, not always with the relevant training or support in place to protect their own minds.
If the power of the brain and the environment we are brought up in is of any interest to you I suggest this book is a welcome insight into the world of a psychopath for non professionals.

[Lucii Dixon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow, this book was a total disappointment. Like honestly, the worst book on psychopaths I have ever read. People will argue that it's because it its from the perspective of a non-psychologist... but that is not the case. It's always amazing to read other peoples views and expertise, but I honestly thing this author winged it.

I found his constant use of referring to fictional characters a royal pain in the butt. They're everywhere... he does realise they are fictional characters right? Completely made up? Considering, as he likes to mention a hell of a lot, that he designed the 'psychopath' in 'Killing Eve', he really just does not have a clue.

A lot of the assumptions he has on people who have personality disorders and mental health are completely wrong or completely opinionated rather than factual. He found some of what he wrote about mental illness quite offensive if I'm honest. This book is barely even about psychopaths... it's more of an ego trip.

This author is not a psychologist, it's not what he did at university and got his doctorate in... that was sociology. Although similar, it's definitely not the same subject. He seems to things he 'knows it all' about psychology and psychiatry but he couldn't be more wrong on many of things he wrote. Although the case studies were interesting, they were more opinionated than they were factual. This author also dragged things out a little bit too much which made for a boring read.

The two stars are for the potential of rather good writing skill and the bits and pieces that were interesting.

Would not recommend - it will just disappoint you.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up from WHSmith when I was in the hospital - it was this or Biden's biography *shudders*. It kept me somewhat entertained during my stay and was written in simple prose which made it very quick to read. Psychopaths are often portrayed in the media as cunning but clever individuals but this book reveals that most of them (at least in the UK) are just strikingly dumb and honestly laughable.

[Nomie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit wishy washy, didn't really learn anything.

[Dawn Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was graduating high school, I was going to go to college and major in social work with a minor in sociology. Then life happened and I was unable to go and I went to Life U instead; and while I am sad I never went to college, I am not sad that I didn't get to go into social work/sociology. I am the example of a VERY poor fit for something like that. I don't usually think about it unless I read a book that deals with things I may or may not have had to deal with in my studies and this book was one of them. Never have I been so grateful for not getting to go to college [though, as a much older adult, I can look back and see that I probably would have changed majors fairly quickly as I would have seem how poorly suited I was for that kind of job - empaths should not going into social work] as I was reading this book. I so admire the author and the job he has done for years.

Mark Freestone, as a sociologist, has worked with [and researched] psychopaths since his college graduation, has seen and heard things people like me are glad I have never had to experience. This book is a compilation of many of those sights and conversations and they are, at times, both sad and terrifying. I am not sure how any health provider does this job for any length of time without questioning their own mental health - working with any mentally ill person has to be challenging enough, but psychopaths are a whole different breed and learning about what the health professionals [and specifically Dr. Freestone] go through in dealing with them was a totally fascinating read. Horrifying yes, but also fascinating. I can see how one could lose hope in all of this, so reading "Eddie's" story was a really great way to end the book - to show there can be hope within the diagnosis of psychopathy.

An interesting side-note that also totally intrigued me is the fact that Dr. Freestone is a consultant for the show "Killing Eve". I would love to watch that show, but even the clips I have seen are rather too much for me, and after reading this book, I know that I could never watch it, no matter how much it intrigues me - it makes it even more so knowing they had a real professional on set to advise and teach - it shows why Villanelle is super-scary as a character and why Eve gets sucked in by her.

If you are interested in subjects like this, this is a great book to read. It is split into easy to read and digest chapters that will keep you thinking for days after you read them [some more than others]. It is absolutely a book that will stay with you long after you've put it down and moved on to something else.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dr. Mark Freestone, and St. Martin's Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Matylda Dańda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miało być 3/5, ale historia Eddiego (resocjalizacji) bardzo podniosła mi opinie o tej książce. Model holenderskich klinik resocjalizujących psychopatów szczególnie wywarł na mnie pozytywne wrażenie i rzeczywiście daje nadzieje na naprowadzenie psychopatów na poprawne tory i zachowania społeczne. Elementów z KE było dość mało ale jestem usatysfakcjonowana, ciekawe ujęcie Villanelle jako typowo męskiego modelu psychopatii. Jednakże luźny i chaotyczny styl pisarski autora raził mnie i frustrował, odczułam brak profesjonalizmu na który liczyłam z racji zawodu i wieloletniego doświadczenia but whatever. 4/5

[wiktoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

cóż, to było mocno średnie, jedynym atutem tej książki jest styl pisania, bo jest leciutki i przyjemny i sunie się po nim jak po maśle, ale książka jest napisana przez autora ktory nawet nie studiował psychologii lub psychiatrii, zero jakichkolwiek informacji, takie zwykłe czytadło

[Edoterlia · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of crime fiction, I also worked in one of the Forensic Psychiatric Hospitals that the author worked in, for almost ten years (although this was before he was there, I've never met him). This combination of interests / experiences will always draw me to non-fiction that looks at psychopathy.

Like the author, I am often frustrated by the stereotypical characterisation of fictional psychopaths. Be that in print, or on screen. All too often, we are presented with characters with wild staring eyes, doing the most terrible things, who look strange and act strange. I even read a novel that featured a self-diagnosed psychopath! In all of my years of working with patients diagnosed with psychopathy, I have never come across one who freely admits it, and is proud of it, and the character in that particular book had NO psychopathic traits at all. He was a serial killer, so the author told the reader he was a psychopath. Poor research, that book was thrown across the room!

I digress, sorry. Back to the book in hand. Making A Psychopath is written by a man who has worked alongside some of the most high-profile cases in some of the most secure settings and it's an accessible and easily understood book.

The author concentrates on seven individual cases, some whose names have been changed. Before looking at each case, he writes a great introduction about psychopathy, it's enlightening and dispels many of the myths.

I was especially interested in his chapters about the female psychopath and how some psychopathy is diagnosed. It's interesting to contemplate the differences in the male and the female and how some of the indicators don't always work when applied to the female. There's much to consider when reading this.

Freestone looks at issues of upbringing and background, and also how treatments have altered over the years. It's a refreshing and interesting look at an age-old subject, written with compassion and authority.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was fascinating and a very interesting read!

Even though, I've read a fair bit about psychopaths being a forensic psychology student, I still really enjoyed this book and learnt a lot from it.

It was incredibly interesting. The case studies mentioned were really eye opening and it was interesting to read the experiences DR Mark Freestone and who the types of people he has worked with.

It was incredibly easy to read and very accessible. If you don't have scientific or psychology background and are scared by some of the technical jargon, I would definitely recommend this book to you. It really spells everything out and is easy to understand.

I think the overarching message of this book is really important and I think one that lots of people will benefit from reading and hearing. I definitely think this book will change lots of the common misconceptions people have about psychopaths.

Overall, this book was great and I highly recommend if you are at all interested in true crime or psychology.

TW: real life descriptions of murder, violence, rape, domestic abuse and cruelty

[Jo Furniss · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a tricky one to review. Dr Mark Freestone advised the writers of Killing Eve on the nature of psychopaths. In this book, he digs into his experience working in hospitals and prisons. The stories are entertaining and his style is engaging. I longed for more depth of understanding and reflection on the personal history of psychopaths, but this was made impossible by the fact that the "characters" featured in his named chapters were composites of people he encountered rather than real individuals.

[Amina Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really, really good book.

It was very informative, insightful and thought provoking. It was well written which made it easy to follow and understand.

It raised important questions like what makes a psychopath? Whether they can be rehabilitated or not? And also that not all psychopaths are the same.

It really was a fascinating read and I would definitely urge you to read it.

Thank you to Pigeonhole and Mark Freestone for the chance to read this book.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a useless book. Apart from a reminder that I wanted to watch Killing Eve I gained nothing from this.
I don't know if it's just an academic thing but I've seen so many memes where when an emergency happens on a plane and they ask over the intercom if there's a doctor on board. One person puts up their hand and the punchline is something like, 'oh you meant an MD, I have a PhD in archaeology/basket-weaving/whatever but I am a doctor!'. That's what the Dr. Mark Freestone on the cover of this book feels like. If I see a Dr as the author on the book about psychopathy I assume it's a psychologist or psychiatrist not a sociologist who worked in mental hospitals/prisons. He does declare this very early in the book so that shouldn't be an issue but it becomes one when he starts re-diagnosing patients based off his opinions. Oh that one's not a psychopath- he's autistic! Oh, the specialist disagrees? Well, he must be covering his ass because he doesn't want the liability of releasing a dangerous psycho into society. This other one keeps damaging his genitals- perhaps they're transgender! Not to mention the eye-rolling amount of references in one story about how the patient's regular "high-grade" marijuana use was contributing to his crime. It's amazing Canada's crime rate hasn't exploded after legalization.
These were incredibly shallow depictions of composite patients. Only one actual psychopath gets a name- the female one. At the beginning we get the hook that female psychopaths are so rare so I wanted to at least wait until we got to that one. He leads the chapter with an unnamed female patient covered in blood and introduces a doctor pointlessly only to switch to talking about a prisoner in America who he never met nor observed in any way and used newspaper articles as source material for. What is the fucking point of that? Oh, but she was an inspiration for the tv show character he helped consult with so half the chapter needed to be devoted to that.

What a bunch of absolute bullshit.

[Alana Bloom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am fascinated by true crime and like many fans of the genre, I love to dabble into what makes people tick. I picked this up on a whim after trolling my library's new true crime additions.

Freestone hoped to deliver a new approach to shedding light onto the term psychopaths and the individuals labelled as such. He presents "case studies" that are a mish-mash of individuals he has worked with rather than actual individuals/cases. Of course, this is done to preserve the subjects' anonymity. While I understand that, it doesn't change the fact that it softened the impact of the ideas Freestone was putting forward for me. I am sure he was faithful to his perspective of events, but as I listened I was wondering what parts were true to the story and not borrowed from another case.

Now, the beginning coverage of the actual term psychopath, what it means in a clinical sense versus criminal, was informative and straightforward. It was very interesting, though not groundbreaking. My favorite part, was the Dutch clinic he references in the final chapters. I want to know more about such an interesting, and successful, model for handling those cases. (I'm sitting here hoping I'm remembering it right when I label it as Dutch)

Unfortunately, this book was only so-so for me. Some of the information was valuable, but the case studies as a standalone didn't do it for me.

[Paulina M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyment: 3
Total rating: 3



Find out what truly creates and defines a psychopath from the leading expert who helped develop Killing Eve's Villanelle. Dr. Mark Freestone shares the cases he has worked on over the last 15 years. Going in-depth into their genesis and analyzing their behaviour.

I really enjoyed an inside view of Dr. Freestone's cases. This was a nonfiction book that both entertained and was easy to follow. The book does what it promised; it shares what makes a psychopath and how they work. I just wish it had brought us more of Freestone's insight and thought process. An excellent read for any thriller, mystery, horror and true crime consumers.


Disclaimer: In exchange for an honest review, I am thankful to the publishers and NetGalley for providing a copy of Making a Psychopath.

[Mystic Faerie ✨️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very quick read. Overall I was pretty disappointed in it. It just kind of glossed over the basic behaviours of certain psychopaths. It did not delve in to any research or deeper behavioural traits of a psychopath. It was a pretty basic overview... and overall, I was pretty unimpressed. I was also a little concerned at some of the conclusions that the author came to, if I'm being honest. If you're looking for a book on psychopathy that has any depth whatsoever, I'd pass on this one.

[Louis Elijah · Rating 4 out of 5]

By finishing this book, I have rewritten my understanding of what it means for a person to be diagnosed with psychopathy. As someone who pursues a career as a clinical Psychologist, I believe that this was a necessary read to grasp the diversity of the subject. I can only recommend this book to anyone interested in the topic.

[Ashlyn Cordas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was a good book overall. However it was just average and didn’t really envoke much thought. Also the author appeared to bear off track at times so made you wonder what the point was. However we’re interesting case studies but title is a little misleading.

[Julie Harding · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️
Meh

[Linda Branham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good descriptions of psychopaths

[ela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Niektóre rozdziały są fascynujące, a niektóre nudne jak nie wiem co. Książka przekazuje trochę wiedzy, ale też bez przesady. Jest w porządku, ale nic specjalnego.

[Oliwia_Boryszewska · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 nie wiem co myśleć. Z jednej strony ciekawie przedstawione przypadki a z drugiej strony autor często odbiega od tematu i niewygodnie się czyta

[Tracy Hollen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Iolanda Ciobanu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrifying, the last chapters. I did not expect it, because I have read most of the books on psychopaths.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook, utterly fantastic!! Really made me think about how our systems are flawed and how we really could do better. Loved the case studies as each chapter.

[Jennifer Ausbrooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love reading about psychopaths. Love killing eve. Liked the book.