What an incredible story this is! Carolyn Woods was a confident 54-year-old woman, divorced and financially well off until she met the man that nightmares is made from. Mark Conway as he introduced himself to Carolyn, was a confident, charismatic conman that walked into her life one day and ruined her financially and emotionally.

Conway, an alias, wasn’t new to this way of life and came across like a serpent that had hypnotised his prey into doing whatever he wanted. He was good at this and knew how to isolate, manipulate and devastate his victims. Anything he said, Carolyn believed. He staged elaborate scenarios that she could witness. I know it sounds incredible, but he was backing everything up with solid evidence.

It must take some doing to tell the world how she was coned, and it would be so easy to stand on the outside and say how could she not realise what he was? He had the gift of the gab, the manipulation to turn everything back on her. If someone is so defensive and hurt, you think that you must be wrong.

I don’t want to go into detail, about the lengths he went, you should read that yourself. I read so much with a dropped jaw. I liked the quotes at the start of each chapter that related to what had happened. I have to agree with Carolyn that there is something much deeper with this man. I don’t think there is a cure. It is who he is.

This book has shown tremendous courage from Carolyn. I hope she has found peace in her life.

I wish to thank Net Galley and the publisher for an e-copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.

Interesting book and written in a way that really explores a coercive relationship. There were a lot of red flags that you would think Carolyn would have noticed, but I guess if you re vulnerable and gullible, you may miss. And, hindsight is a very easy thing.
I enjoyed this book and for fans of non-fiction, they may too.
Thank you to the publisher, authors and NetGalley for my arc.

I only made it to chapter 2 and was seriously frustrated. The way he behaved was constant red flags but she just ignored them. I couldn't read any further

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. This was some book. Honestly I can’t for the life of me understand how this book was written. She must have been rose tinted glasses from the beginning. I would have been questioning his lifestyle long before she did. It sounded too good to be true. Not a book for me to be fair.

This is a true story of a woman (the author) who was well and truly reeled in by a professional con man who had no conscience, and greed and control his only motives. As amazing and horrific as the story is, it's hard to empathise with the levels to which Carloyn fell prey so easily, however it is so easy to forget that this is real...this happened in the real world! A tale of deception and manipulation of the highest degrees...this can, and does happen! 'Love is blind' is the perfect summary! Many thanks to Netgalley.co.uk, the publisher, and of course, Carolyn herself for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book.

I spent most of this book wishing it was fiction. I don't remember the story in the news - I don't know how but then I guess even then it would have sounded like an ad for a book or TV series not real life.

Carolyn walks us through her horrific experience at the hands of a man who she genuinely believed to love her. He manipulated, stole and emotionally bullied her. She lost everything and I spent alot of the book really hoping things would work out better for her, that she'd listen to friend and family.

Not only is this a cautionary tale it's a great warning to single people everywhere about putting yourself out there.

I’m usually a fiction reader but I’m so glad I made an exception with this book. A truly facinating tale that seems unbelievable but you know these sorts of con men is successfully fleecing people all the time and it’s often intelligent and well educated people just like Carolyn. Let’s face it they have to be people who have achieved what the conman wants for them even to.bother.
I can only raise a hat to the author who has had to re-live this sad story in order to write the book. It was well told and she never hid from telling it exactly like it was.

What an unbelievable true story this is! It is hard to believe that Carolyn Woods was taken in by this man Mark Acklom who claims to be a successful business man who knows businessmen, celebrities, is extremely wealthy and also working for MI6!! His language throughout I would have thought would have not appealed to her and his ever more fantastical stories seemed unbelievable. One wonders why such a wealthy man would want to borrow money!! Having said that it would appear many others were taken in by him.
Frightening that such a character can have so much charisma!
Far more interesting in the book is the lengths she had to go to to get her day in court.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Carolyn Woods/HarperCollins UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is the first non fiction book I have read in awhile.
Sleeping With a Psychopath is Carolyn Wood’s story as to how she met and started a relationship with a man who introduced himself as Mark Conway.
It is very easy to read Carolyn’s book and shake your head in disbelief- How could this lovely, friendly lady be taken in by a conman?
The answer to this is that he told her everything she wanted to hear.
Carolyn’s Mark Conway, was actually Mark Acklom, a skilled conman, liar, manipulator, fraud and thief who was on Britain’s National Crime Agency’s list of 10 most wanted fugitives and who had been conning people since the age of 16 - he had even spent time in prison.
He isolated Carolyn from her friends and daughters, he manipulated her in to thinking he was a spy for MI6 (so couldn’t talk about aspects of their life together with others, so as not to “blow his cover”) and conned her out of hundreds of thousands of pounds leaving her suicidal.
From the outside looking in it seems easy to roll your eyes at how many red flags there was from the very first day Carolyn met Mark. The fact is Carolyn isn’t the first person to be duped and won’t be the last.
Thank you the author, NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Very brave of Carolyn to write this book. To open up all her emotions for everyone to see. She's been to hell and back but she has found the strength to continue and enjoy the small things in life. I wish her every happiness.

The book was a riveting read and I was entranced by it however I felt the second half was drawn out and dry. I felt myself skipping lots of pages to get to the reveal.

I love books that get straight into action and this was one of them. It's so compelling! A definite page Turner. It plays upon the reality of keeping your guard up

This is an interesting book! It is hard to believe that this is areal real but it adds so much gravity. It is gripping and quite thrilling and the characters are well-described.

Unfortunately I really didn't connect with this book. I didn't find Carolyn a very likeable person so struggled to have much empathy for her and her situation.

Reads like a film playing in your head. The systematic destruction of confidence, isolation from friends and family whilst destroying financial credit worth. Fraud is seen as a soft crime but it does have victims and ramifications. This book demonstrated the ruthless characteristics of Mark Aklom.
The custodial sentence does not reflect the damage created.
Praise for the author for persevering with the police and gaining some form of closure within the legal system.

It is very hard to believe that this is a true story but it is.
It gives a great insight from a first person perspective of how one can be drawn into a fraud and loose everything.
It is a brilliant read and one can only feel sorry for Caroline who was charmed by this man and fell for him hook line and sinker.
It is one of those books that makes you think that it could never happen to you and how could she have been so silly but believe you me you could and there are many people out there who it has happened to.

Sleeping with a psychopath is a true story and I appreciate how hard it must of been for Carolyn to tell her story and the awful long term effects it had upon her, however I did feel it was rather far fetched and unbelievable,especially with so many friends and family warning her that Mark was a conman, so much really didn’t appear to add up or to be plausible.
I found the description of a psychopath and the traits displayed fascinating especially the lengths they would go to, to achieve what that want and how coercive and totally believable they can be!
Fortunately Carolyn did eventually realise the situation she was in and was able to extricate herself and start the long hard arduous journey to get Mark put behind bars!
A very different read for me but quite enlightening.
Thank you netgalley for this early read.

Shocking and compelling a truly insightful read into being duped by an enigmatic psychopath. They say that true life can seem stranger than fiction and this is definitely the case in this lady’s story. Her account is strikingly honest and open and shows the vulnerability of falling in love with someone who is a frighteningly good pathological liar who has decades of experience at duping people. The story is presented with no holds barred attitude which makes it a really powerful insight and cautionary tale. We start with the very first meeting and follow all the way through to the end. I found it quite chilling and extraordinary and a lot of sympathy for his victims. A good read, thank you.

Mark is your typical con man. He says he is a spy, takes all her money and stops her working. It is a story we often hear and think how stupid the wife has been, but you have to be careful of everything people can tell you...However Mark is not your ordinary villain. He is also a psychopath. This is a true story and as Carolyn says you couldn’t make this up. It should be a warning to all of us. Please be careful and never believe everything you are told without verifying it. This seems a sad way to live your life but you have to avoid this situation at all costs. Sadly this is a true story. Please take note to avoid this happening to you or someone you know.

This is a real-life story written by Carolyn Woods who was living happily in a quiet Cotswolds village looking to buy her dream home. In early spring we meet Mark Conway who completely flips Carolyn's life upside down. In less than 48 hours it seems we have met the perfect man; captivating, charming, attentive, loving but we soon come to realise he is cold & manipulative psychopath & conman. In just 18 months, Mark manages to con Carolyn out of her life savings, confidence, and willingness to live, through emotional abuse and false promises.

I'd like to think this would never happen to me, but I suppose as a reader I felt like I saw all the red flags before Carolyn and I was somewhat shocked she was unable to see them herself. I suppose, if you are in this situation yourself a professional conman would know exactly what to say and what makes you tick so perhaps I may have been just as caught up in this whirlwind romance too.

Sleeping with a Psychopath is a story of the power of manipulation, the struggles of dealing with the criminal justice system, the power of love for your children and the fight to survive.

I would definitely recommend having a read of this, there is also a documentary about this on YouTube titled Conman: The life and crimes of Mark Acklom if you wanted to take a look!

*This is a NetGalley Review*

Given the extensive media coverage of Carolyn Woods involvement with conman Mark Acklom, including a newspaper serialisation, I am really not sure that the book offers much value to anyone who had kept even half an eye on the tabloids or daytime television.

The initial chapters of the book are a comprehensive account and timeline of Carolyn Woods meeting and romantic involvement with a man who walks into the shop where she is working following her recent relocation to the Cotswold village of Tetbury. Living in a rented cottage whilst looking for a property to purchase, Woods had a healthy chunk of money sitting in her bank account and asserts on numerous occasions how she valued her privacy and independence. This is hard to rationalise given that on her first meeting in the shop with a man who she believed to be Mark Conway she gave him her phone number, two days later her address and within months remote access to her computer and emails! The romance that ensued and the stories that Woods was fed by Conway, and believed, are laughably outlandish and come thick and fast. Choice highlights include that he worked for MI6, had infiltrated and been tortured by the IRA, was the illegitimate son of George Soros, with him even telling Woods on one occasion that “he was off to Whitehall to stop a war’. Within a week they were saying they loved each other and in less than a month Woods transferred £26,000 to Conway, a figure that steadily rose to £750,000 over the following months.

At the end of each chapter Woods provides a cursory paragraph or two on psychopathic traits and how the man she knew as Conway fulfilled the criteria but it’s hardly revelatory and most are very widely known (love-bombing, the intense psychopathic stare, making the victim feel guilty for their behaviour in an assault on their self-worth). Extensive reference is made to ‘Without Conscience’ by Robert Hare but given Woods was a woman of fifty-four and had plenty of time apart from Conway (not even spending a single night together) it is difficult to comprehend that she was so disorientated by everything that was happening. When Woods finally learns that Mark Conway is actually Mark Acklom and reports to the police on 16th June 2013 how he defrauded her, it is the start of an investigation that covers six years in total. The details of the police investigation make for very dry reading and are rather long-winded and would have benefited from being summarised, as my interest in the book fell off a cliff at this point. Much of the later stages of the book are spent griping about the apathy of the police, the failure of their investigation and the hostile attitude of many of the detectives involved in her case. I found it nigh on impossible to warm to Carolyn or feel much sympathy for her hideous experience at the hands of Mark Acklom and felt that demonstrating a little humility and gratitude would have gone a long way to helping me empathise with what she went through. At one point she even takes aim when she is reduced to claiming Job Seekers’ Allowance, “which turned out to be another lesson in frustration, incompetence and never-ending bureaucracy”, and I found her superior attitude offensive, especially given the willful ignorance she demonstrated to get herself into such a state.