'The Psychopath Epidemic' by Cameron Reilly provides an exploration of sociopathic behaviour in society. Through detailed analysis and real-life examples, Reilly sheds light on the traits and impact of psychopaths on various aspects of our lives.

I did not finish this as I did not like the over use of bad language, propaganda and extreme views. poorly written and not worth finishing

This book was such an interesting read. There is a warning for profanities in this, but I'm personally not offended by that so I was okay with it. The introduction alone is so gripping and really makes the reader want to continue because the book promises an explanation for 'why people in power do bad things.' Yes, please!

I really appreciated how this book had a lot of scientific background but also used some anecdotes to shake it up. I was scared it might be a bit of a dry read (like it would read like one of my university's textbooks...) but luckily it wasn't like that at all! I actually flew through this one. It's also a book guaranteed to give you something to talk about with your significant other over dinner (or during the news, to analyze all the people in power).

A big thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with a copy of this book!

Rating: 2.5

The synopsis of this book had me really excited to learn more about the roles of psychopaths in society, however I feel that the synopsis also did a disservice as I went in expecting a totally different book. While this book seemed well researched, it didn’t have the same flow and just didn’t hold my attention as well as some other psychopath books on the market. I’ve seen a lot of comparisons to The Sociopath Next Door but I didn’t feel that this book covered the broader topics of Psychopathy but rather focused on the business side of psychopathy and positions of power. Overall just not what I expected and this book just didn’t feel like the right fit for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Cameron Reilly for the advanced copy of “The Psychopath Epidemic” in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book as an advanced copy for an honest review. Overall it was interesting. It gives a different perspective of psychopaths in the business world and in high ranking society.

This totally reminded me of the book "The Sociopath Next Door" and was just as creepy and true about people around us. It was an eye opener and I will definitely be purchasing the hardcover when it is available!

This was quite shocking in some parts and the statistics were scary AF! This is a necessary read for sure about human behavior for sure. If you want to be shocked by reality, this is it.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Available: 1/7/20

I was excited about this title but it was somewhat disappointing in it's execution. The statistics are used in multiple places which does reinforce the research but I don't feel it needs to be mentioned multiple times.

It also gives the impression that this book will help you navigate an arena filled with controlling or aggressive personalities but I didn't really find that so much as the desire to keep them from attaining positions of authority. Which is obviously in our society where the go getters are rewarded isn't happening also not everybody in a leadership position is a psychopath .

This book focuses heavily on propaganda but is also a portrait of propaganda so unfortunately in that regard it is self defeating. The opinions presented are also very jaded and unfortunately that overflows and impacts the writing making it biased and one sided.

The book is also filled with profane language which is completely unnecessary and also undermines any logical argument that this book has anything positive to offer...

Unfortunately I read most of the book but finally abandoned it as it spiraled down this negative road. I guess the F### in the snippet should have given me a clue to pass on this one but unfortunately I kept chipping away and sadly did not benefit from the time I spent on it.

I received this book from NetGalley and HCI books for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Health Communications Inc. for the opportunity to read and give an honest review of this book.

It is common knowledge that psychopaths/sociopaths make up a small percentage of the population. However, this small percentage with their lack of empathy and love of power and money are extremely influential in finance/banking, education, religious groups, and government/politics not only in this country but all over the world. This book isn’t talking about psychopaths that are serial killers. It is talking about those clamoring for money and power while trying to spend money in order to obtain more power and money.

The historical references and stories were interesting. The way the author also brought aspects of current politics into the book was also intriguing.
So many times while reading, I was so angry about the manipulation by these psychopaths that I had to put the book down and walk away only to pick the book up later to continue reading.

Thankfully, the author ends the book with suggestions of what individuals can do to keep their own morals and values while not being overtly influenced by the narcissistic power grabbers and influencers.

It’s taken me a while to finish reading The Psychopath Epidemic, not something that grabbed me and made me want to devour it over the course of a few nights. I don’t know much about the author but to me it seems he used the book as a means to push his personal beliefs. Disappointing, as I thought I’d learn a lot from the book but it is thinly veiled propaganda and laughable at some parts.

This was... not good. Maybe this was meant for a more lay audience, but for someone like me with a background in psychology and research, this was pretty terrible. The author's voice was unappealing - he wrote like someone having a chat with a friend at a bar, using swear words and slang ("#Winning." Really?) That isn't necessarily a bad thing in itself, but speaking this way in and positioning yourself as someone expert enough to write a book on psychopaths seems incredibly incongruous. I also cannot believe this passed an editor's hands and was deemed properly researched. It probably wasn't. Going through the list of references, the name "Wikipedia" crops up more than a few times. Reilly doesn't even have the decency to mask his use of Wikipedia by citing the articles listed at the bottom of the Wikipedia page. Yet somehow, this brave soul believes they have the solution to protecting society from psychopaths. I wouldn't take his word as gospel.

The Psychopath Epidemic is an extremely detailed discourse which provided hours of thought-provoking information and opinion. The author has effectively glued together two different discussions; one in-depth analysis of all that’s wrong with the modern world, and a more lightweight review of how psychopaths may be pulling the strings. The author’s basic argument is that only a psychopath would behave as badly as world leaders / corporate bosses / religious gurus do, so therefore all the people whose actions you don’t like must therefore be psychopaths.

It’s a neat piece of circular logic although I’m not sure it holds up to close scrutiny. It’s a bit like saying everyone is somewhere on the autism spectrum: that may be true, but it doesn’t actually advance matters. It just gives everyone a nice new label.

You can actually ditch the entire psychopath angle to this book, and then you’re left with a lengthy sociological deconstruction of the ills of civilisation. The author hammers almost every aspect of the establishment – religious organisations which condone child abuse; rapacious corporations which pursue profit at any cost; self-interested, self-sustaining governments; massive military influence which skews entire economies – all of which makes for sobering reading.

This is a scholarly piece of work, stuffed full of references to historical and modern philosophy, social observation and economics. Parts of it get a bit bogged down in extended extracts and at times it’s a bit like being lectured by an outraged teenager who just understood that life ain’t fair.

Yet many of the author’s observations have the uncomfortable ring of truth about them, not least the manipulation of the masses by the few. The chapter about Donald Trump’s tactic of providing ‘bright shiny things’ to distract us is particularly apposite.

Perhaps the best section is the final summing up, where the author offers practical advice for coping with those psychopaths we may encounter in daily life. His tactics are pretty straightforward: behave decently yourself, and don’t let other people get away with behaving badly. But you’ll have to read the rest of the book to understand more of the why and how of it all.

7/10

I was hoping to learn something new, for example, new research regarding profiles of psychopaths, but this was more of a general discussion and reflection of how psychopaths are bad for society, especially corporate psychopaths.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
It doesn't seem like psychopaths are as rare of a breed as one might imagine. This was a fairly eye opening book. To realize how successful psychopaths are and how society rewards and practically encourages their immoral and unethical behavior is frightening.
While I didn't necessarily agree with everything the author said, overall this was a pretty good book.

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review

Wow. Tells the story of our age. A must read to survive 2019.