An intricate account of the devastation abusive relationships can cause. If this was a work of fiction I would have said it was completely far-fetched and I had to keep reminding myself that this was based on a true story. Carolyn Woods tells the factual but heartfelt story of the power an individual can have over us through abusive techniques, including gaslighting, ghosting and love-bombing. Despite being a strong, independent and secure individual, she was still taken in by a conman and I sincerely hope anyone who doubts the power of abuse reads this insightful account in order to educate themselves. It is always easy to spot abuse when it isn't happening to you. I was completely invested in the book and I sincerely hope Carolyn manages to find some sort of peace and is putting her life back together. Thank you for being so brave and sharing your story.

I enjoyed this book, but I didn't absolutely love it! Loved the story line and it had such promise. Personally I just didn't gel with the characters! I read a lot of thrillers and unfortunately this one just didn't do it for me.

This is one of those books that I really should have enjoyed but alas I didn't.

The old saying that truth is stranger than fiction certainly applies here. I couldn't take to the characters unfortunately so that may have impacted my enjoyment.

I was left with lots of questions and was confused by parts of the book. It’s an interesting book and one to make you think. Lots of parts that will shock you.

I do like a good psychopath story. This is much more relatable and therefore scarier. Robert Hare drew me in and this clever writer took me on a rollercoaster of a ride. Definitely give this book a whirl. It’s brilliant.

This is a must read for anyone who enjoys a good thriller!!
Absolutely loved the characters, the plot, the tension - impossible to put it down

This book is not for me. The story is unbelievable so it was very hard going. Not sure I would read anything else by this author.

This is a true crime story so it feels extremely wrong to rate this, even more so given that it is told from the victims POV. So for that reason it get's a 5 from me.

I have always had an interest in learning more about true crime. I read a lot of true crime books and watch a lot of documentaries too. However, this is one of the first books I have read that has focused on the victim, not the perpetrator. The fact that this book is told from their perspective is extremely personal, raw, and honest.

I have the most upmost respect for Carolyn for publishing this book. She was extremely honest in her writing and you cannot knock that for a second. It is easy for readers to sit back and say 'oh no I wouldn't have fallen for that' (which I have seen in many people's reviews), but really? Who knows what you would 'fall' for when you love someone.

Thank you as always to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for a copy of this in exchange for an honest review!

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

I enjoyed the first 75% of this book with Carolyn telling her story of her relationship with Mark. The last 25% was too detailed for me and I quickly lost interest. I just wanted to know what happened to him, what happened to Carolyn and if Mark was brought to justice. While the detail is there to show you how complex and long-winded the case was and just how evasive Mark was, it was too much to hold my attention and I found myself skim reading.
The book is really interesting and it's incredible the lengths this man went to for money and power and as an outsider you feel like how could someone fall for this. But the more you read and the more you understand of his complex web of lies, it becomes obvious just how easy it can be when people instinctively trust others.
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Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and Carolyn Woods for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I actually do not know where to start on reviewing this book.

I understand Carolyn went through such a traumatic experience, spanning out for years but this book didn’t really get to the point of it all.

Naming the book “Sleeping with a Psychopath” is really not what it should be called because Carolyn weren’t actually sleeping with Mark. Don’t get me wrong, it does draw you in to want to read the book but it’s not what happened.

I always finish a book that I have started because I want to give the author my time. I struggled to keep my concentration. So many repeated parts.

This book does not highlight the trauma the author faced. It never once got straight to the point.

Carolyn Woods starts this non-fiction take off as a bright, vivacious woman, living a happy fulfilled life in Tetbury and preparing to purchase her own home in the future. Then Mark walks into her life and sweeps her off her feet, promising her a dazzling, glamorous future, full of love and excitement. The only issue - he can’t fully commit until he has fulfilled his work contracts, which should take eighteen months. Because Mark is an MI6 agent, and is constantly working away in high risk areas on dangerous missions. However, as time passes, more and more issues appear and things seem to be going wrong - is Mark everything that he appears, or claims to be?

I found this book fascinating, and must commend Carolyn Woods for her bravery and clarity in bringing the story to life. She is clearly an intelligent woman, and it helps to demonstrate that intelligent people can be duped just as easily as anyone else, under the correct circumstances. Even when tales seem too good to be true, they can be portrayed in a convincing manner. I also thought the point that she makes about peoples behaviour is very valid - mostly everyone believes that everyone else has the same values and morals as themselves, and expect others to act as they would act in a given situation. Once Carolyn has seen through the vast spiderweb of lies and deception that has been spun by Mark, she details her struggle to ensure that Mark is brought to justice for what he has done. This is a great read, and at times it is almost unbelievable, but it is well worth a read. Carolyn has been extremely brave and I hope the rest of her life is much happier going forward, as I feel she deserves it. With a rising awareness of coercive control and the impact that this can have, this is a timely and important read.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A breathtaking true story proving how people are not always who they seem. This just shows how easy it can be to have your life flipped upside down by someone you wrongly put all your trust into.

Brilliant read. Spine chilling. You never really know anyone. This would make a brilliant documentary.

This book was absolutely fascinating. It kept me gripped right from the first page. Very interesting and thrilling.
Thank you to Carolyn Woods, Net Galley and HarperCollins UK for the opportunity to read and review this book.

When I first started reading this, I thought the meeting between Carolyn and Mark was odd, the way he talked and how she described the scene would have pinged up a lot of red flags for me immediately. However, we have all been fooled by someone in one way or another and people do tend to give others the benefit of the doubt.
Less than 18 months was the length of the relationship but in that time, Carolyn was duped, that is for sure, Mark had the charm and charisma to get away with it and he was a master manipulator and had set everything up so well that I am sure anyone could have let their guard down eventually with him. He managed to get inside her mind and a lot of it was uneasy to read. Yes, I did think Carolyn, you are naïve, get out of there! But I can also understand that when it is actually happening to you and you are caught up in the bubble so far and every time you question things you are given an answer that could be believable due to his “job” and have no one to voice your worries because he has managed to isolate you and you are under his spell completely.
I am so glad eventually Carolyn saw sense and started to rebuild her life while fighting tooth and nail to get Mark arrested and exposed for what he had done.
I’m not so happy about missing information that the police “lost” it sounded very strange and frustrating.
Overall, it was a good but uncomfortable read, this really happened and it shows that abuse in a relationship is not always physical.
I am glad Carolyn found the courage to write this book and share what happened to her, and I hope it gives help to other people in similar situations.

At one point in Sleeping With A Psychopath, Carolyn Woods explains what it's like to be in a relationship with a man like this: how he will deliberately engineer a rollercoaster of emotions so you're blinded by circumstance, completely unable to take a step back and see things clearly - often to the point where you're the only person unable to see how miserable you are, how evil he is, and how much your life has been broken by the person who is supposed to care for you the most.

Woods describes this process in meticulous detail, and to great effect. Yes, it's hard to read and a little exhausting because that is a TINY proportion of what it must feel like to experience this in real life. I have absolute admiration for Woods: this book must have been almost impossible to write due to the complexity of what she went through, but she did it brilliantly and it is a gift for anyone who needs it.

Men like Mark do exist. Their modus operandi is pathological and follows a pattern. We need books like this so we can spot them, avoid them, and report them when they commit crimes.

I totally admire the author for writing her story down her painful story as i think there can be nothing worse than betrayal trauma. Sadly as I was reading this I realised that a very close relation of mine who has just left a 19 year marriage, has more than likely been in that relationship with a psychopath.

So many of the common character traits and the way he duped Carolyn, were far too familiar to me.

This is a true life story but it does feel like a thriller as we discover all the many ways he manipulated and conned an intelligent woman

"I know people tend to think 'stupid woman' I said, "but I'm not stupid," And I also told him I believed Acklom to be a psychopath"

Wow, what a rollercoaster this was. I have been so excited to read this and couldn't wait to find time, sit down and binge it - which is exactly what I done.

Every time I thought I guessed what would happen, Carolyn changed things up in the book and I was on to another idea. It was so gripping and a true account of what happened, I could never imagine this happening to me never mind at all in the world we live in today. It just shows you that some people are very messed up and just want to play with peoples lives.

Absolutely phenomenal!

thank you to Carolyn and Netgalley for allowing me this ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

I really disliked this book, I found it very repetative and boring. I really struggled to finish. I didn't like the way half a chapter is written in prose like a novel and the other half of the chapter is the author/main character explaining the first half to the reader. I found this quite patronising.

The book took too long to give the information and could have been half the size it is and there were not really any likable characters. I know this is a true story but surely some characters.shpuld be likeable?