I love true crime documentaries and thrillers so thought I'd love this book. That was not quite how this went, however, Sleeping with a Psychopath by Carolyn Woods was an interesting read. I had a whole host of emotions whilst reading this one. It wasn't quite what I was expecting and even by the end I wouldn't have described Aklom as a Psychopath. A career con-man yes, but a psychopath felt far fetched. Though I have no doubt he met the manipulative side of psychopathic behaviour.

I did really feel for the author and the horrendous experience she suffered at Akloms hands however I couldn't help feel frustrated at her too. Their meeting and fast moving relationship appeared almost far fetched and his stories he weaved her were fantastical. She even said she had previously had a bad experience so I struggle to see how she fell so hard for the fairy tale she was told.

The book is split in two with the first being a blow by blow account of their relationship and the second being, well, what I can only describe as a rant directed at the police force. Which was terribly drawn out and simply made the author seemed arrogant and unwilling to take any responsibility for what had happened to her. She always had someone to blame - her family, her past relationship, her friends, Aklom, the doctor, plus of course every single police officer who dealt with the case etc. In short, I really struggled to find any empathy for Carolyn due to her arrogant manner especially when she mentions her complete disregard for anti-depressants, believing herself beneath even medication. I wonder if she believes the same for countless other medications which have also saved hundreds of lives?

Having said all of that, I do not blame her for what happened to her. That is all Mark Akloms to carry. He committed a truly despicable crime but wow did Carolyn make it easy for him!

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great storyline with excellent characters. I would highly recommend this book as it was a great read.

I'm not generally a fan of non-fiction, but this was well written and completely read like a fiction. I was hooked and unless I was reading the book, I was thinking about it. This book, the story which was autobiographical, was a complete eye-opener for me, and has left me thinking about things that I have never really thought about. It's given me a newer and different perspective for certain subject matters tackled in the book for which I am grateful.

I really enjoyed this book. It is a true story. Carolyn Woods is in her mid fifties and has created a new life for herself in Tetbury after her divorce. She is renting a property but intends to buy, using her considerable savings. One day, a man comes into the shop where she works and she is instantly attracted to him. In fact she describes it as love at first sight. He introduces himself as Mark Conway, tells her he is extremely wealthy, and that he is a spy for MI6. However, the truth is somewhat different, as Carolyn discovers after she has lent him all her money and given up all her independence. This is the story of how Carolyn's life was destroyed by a con man, and of her extraordinary struggle to be taken seriously by the police and to bring him to justice. I think Carolyn is so brave to tell her story, and I hope lots of people will read it. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
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Carolyn Woods' story about how she was duped in to believing a conman she fell for was a rich banker who worked for MI6 - the reality was much much different. I really felt for her while reading this - completely astonished that it happened but she has my sympathies. She is a brave woman for writing her tale!

I flew through the first half of this real life crime story, not quite believing what I was reading. I found the second half and the ongoing police investigation dragged out a little but also that it was necessary to hear so the readers know the hardship she went through in it's entirety.

A great read if you're in to true crime like Dirty John.

<i>Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review</i>

Sleeping with a Psychopath by Carolyn Woods is a sad and tragic true crime tale.

I should say that this wasn't exactly what I was expecting. Although Mark Aklom is a despicable excuse for a human being he is not what springs to my mind when I consider a Psychopath. He is , to me, a con man through and through. Nothing more.

What a terrible experience the author went through. I think it would be easy reading this to believe you wouldn't get duped, that you wouldn't fall for his amazingly far fetched and fantastical stories but many were and I think may be again in the future. The timing of this book is particularly spy as his release from prison is imminent, I intend to keep an eye out for future stories in the news of this despicable, pathetic excuse for a man. This is a tragic but cautionary tale which made me angry and frustrated to read but also I feel so bad that the author experienced this. I definitely recommend this book!

I have just finished reading this and although I did find myself enjoying it, it wasn't how I expected. I didn't realise it was a true story and an insight into the life a of career criminal. It shows how easy it is to be taken under someone's spell and ignore the warning signs until it's too late. Thank you for opening my eyes to the horrible world and showing these people do exist.

Rating 2.5/5

I enjoy true crime I tend to listen or watch it more than I read it but when this book popped up on my radar I was very interested, having never heard of the story before, to dive in. I have to say that this is a strange one I wouldn’t really say I enjoyed this book as such but I did want to finish it just to find out what happened, I feel like there was so much potential for this story to be something amazing and it kind of completely missed the mark.

I think my first main issue is that with true crime there are usually large parts of the process that would be kind of uninteresting to get through but in most of the books that I have read there has been a slightly different angle or a part of the story that the reader can possibly relate to that gives a bit of flourish to the story because otherwise it can become a little dry and repetitive. Unfortunately, that is one of the things that this book suffers from, it is a very straightforward account and there isn’t anything in the writing that managed to give it that engrossing story feel, in fact, there were many occasions I found myself skim reading and skipping pages looking for something more interesting and I didn’t feel like I missed out on anything from skipping those parts of the story.

I also feel that there is too much contradiction and not always enough context for the story, I am not saying that what she has said isn’t true it's just that how certain things are presented in the book without further explanation caused me to really second guess what she was saying. I think some examples will help here and I don’t think it spoils too much of the story to share them, firstly that Carolyn was to delete messages at Mark’s request, I’m sure it mentioned at the end of every day, and yet she seems to have them all to look back over and add into the book, especially given the fact that he has access to her phone. She mentions in one message that letting agents had told her she was not earning enough to rent her place but she later reveals she has £850k in her bank, when I first read about her not earning enough I then couldn’t get my head around the fact that she suddenly seemed to have £26k to lend to Mark without blinking an eye.

The last one I will mention is that at one point she mentions never having heard of the phenomena of gaslighting and ghosting when in a previous chapter she mentions feeling like she was going mad and watching the film Gaslight and even describes it as such, “…it was an old black and white film about a man who convinced his wife that she was going mad. He played psychological games with her…telling her she was imagining it, and all the while gradually taking control of her.”. Again I am not implying that she isn’t being truthful in her account I just think that in the writing and editing process making sure that the timeline is not so confused or that we have a little more context around the things that she mentions would have made for a much smoother reading experience. It also would have made her a little more believable because whilst I was reading the book these things that I picked up on kind of made me feel like she wasn’t being accurate, it is just on reflection that I think it is the fault of the structure.

The story is an interesting one and whilst at times I do think Carolyn spins herself very favourably even though her actions do on many occasions contradict that, I can accept that she was taken in by this man and wanted to believe that all the completely outlandish things that he was telling her were real because of her feelings for him, even when the story seems very unbelievable I know that it is those feelings that made her not question or doubt the lies. I did also like that there were parts at the end of each chapter when talking about Mark, that reflected on the signs that Carolyn has subsequently picked up on, those were very interesting to me as there were terms that I hadn’t heard of before.

I did have high hopes for this book so it is a shame that it didn’t quite live up to it, I still finished it and I was still curious to find out what happened to everyone at the end of the story but I feel it was very perfunctory and I definitely prefer to feel more of a connection when reading a book of this genre.

Gut wrenchingly good. A book everyone should read, so easy to see the signs when you look back, so easy to be caught up in the nightmare.

An incredibly harrowing story, not one that you could say enjoyed but one that should definitely be shared.

Highly recommend.

Brilliantly written and I loved the narrative,

After the woman has been taken in I enjoyed the looking back over the signs she should’ve seen.

Hard subject matter, well executed.

Shocking horrifying reads like a scary thriller but shockingly is a true story.The author lived through this she’s a brave strong woman who fell in love with a psychopath a con man who would do anything to destroy control her life.Could not put the book down.#netgalley #harpercollinsuknonfiction

Wow what a read, I had to keep reminding myself that this was a true story. Its scary to think there are people out there capable of doing this.
Enjoyed this book I think is the wrong words but I was definitely interested to hear how it all turned out

I downloaded this not realising it was a True Story until I read the synopsis.

A fascinating & almost unbelievable tale of being influenced by a Psychopath.

It's easy to say 'How can someone fall for that' but I guess unless it happens to you then it's hard to realise how convincing someone can be.

I felt for Carolyn but am so glad she seems to have now found peace & come out the other side!

A fascinating true story but knowing from the beginning things are not right made me feel an annoyance with how accepting Carolyn is. This man is not her partner; he offers her no emotional or physical support. He ostracises her from her family and friends by being so arrogant and obnoxious and she looses all independence and self-esteem. But did she lose everything?

I finished this book but really didn't want to. I just can't believe that this actually happened. I guessed how it would all end right after I guessed correctly what was happening. How can someone fall for these obvious lies!!

I started this read thinking it was fictional and was horrified when I realized it was true.

Having experienced gaslighting myself. II can completely empathize with Carolyn. As she detailed, narcissistic men like Mark share certain traits and know exactly how to play their victims. What started out as being £35 short for a jacket in her shop, escalated to Mark conning Carolyn out of hundreds of thousands.

This was an emotional read. Carolyn shares her hurt and isolation and how the situation affects her relationships with friends and family.

By sharing her story and detailing how these people operate, I’m sure others will be enlightened and perhaps even spared a similar experience.

Thanks to the author for her bravery and to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Quite a strange read, almost unbelievable and set me off on a Google mission to find out more after reading! Not my usual genre but interesting to read from the victim's (although I feel like that's the wrong word) point of view!

This book indeed reads like a psychological thriller! I appreciated that part, but it wasn't as original or unpredictable as I'd hoped. Every event felr predictable. I'd definitely recommend to beginners in the psychological thriller genre.

Found the narrator lacked any oomph so found it hard to concentrate on the narrative. Felt as though it just can’t be true, an educated mature woman falling for a mills and boon plot line?? Alas it is most certainly a true and cautionary tale!

An incredible insight into the way that the mind of a conman works, as Mark Acklom ( who introduces himself as Mark Conway) weaves his spell upon Carolyn Woods. He portrays himself as this wealthy individual who can offer her everything possible both financially and romantically, and she falls for him hook, line and sinker. There are little, and often bigger, signs that start to surface - introducing doubts into Carolyn's mind, but she really wants to believe that this man that she finds so attractive is truly what he says he is. Ultimately, I felt that she was sometimes rather gullible and too believing, though as the expression goes - if you have not walked in her shoes.... A very good read, many thanks to HarperCollins UK and Netgalley for my copy.