This was an incredibly heavy but intriguing memoir of a Forensic Psychologist that had me gripped.

When I was doing my degree, Forensic Psychology was one of the paths I considered for my future and it's rare to read about this career so I was eager to pick this one up! I enjoyed getting to know more about Dr Rebecca Myers and her own journey and struggles in her new role.

However, as you can expect, this book comes with a lot of trigger warnings and is not for the faint of heart. It is detailed, disturbing and I found myself having to take breaks whilst reading.

Whilst it was not an easy read, it was important and an interesting read!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I saw this and had to read it, as I've recently completed a Forensic Science degree and it very briefly touched on criminal psychology. To be able to get first hand accounts of what makes a criminal tick was too good and opportunity to pass up.
This book is so much more than that though. You see the normalcy of those behind bars, sometimes not a bad person, but a good person having done a bad thing.
The author also shares a little of herself and her reasons for continuing as her career begins to grow.
An engaging, fascinating, thought provoking read.

ARC REVIEW 📱
My rating: DNF ✖️

☁️ THOUGHTS:
This was my first 👏🏼 ever 👏🏼 DNF. I don’t abandon books. Even if I hate them, I skim read them. But I really should have paid more attention to the description when requesting from Netgalley— I just saw a prison-based autobiography and I LOVE a book about prison.

In fairness to Myers, there is a clear content warning in the first few pages. I read a lot of violence/murder/crime in my books, and didn’t particularly think much of it. But if you want to read this, be aware it is DETAILED and HEAVILY focused on the sexual offenders at HMP Graymoor.

The book is dedicated to the SOTP (sex offender treatment programme) but be also prepared for far too much detail of the author’s tights, heels, how much the men in prison looked at her, and of course, her affair with a married officer 🫠 I didn’t get on with the writing style AT ALL. Something about it felt off, which given the disturbing and dark topic, just left me feeling completely resistant to keep reading.

Since reading some reviews for this book, I learned the ending chapter actually advises of the SOTP’s cancellation, inefficiency and harm. Had this been at the beginning, I may have avoided the book altogether. As it was, I managed 45% of this— may 2023 be the year I learn to not finish a book I’m not enjoying🙌🏼. It does have a lot of positive reviews on Netgalley though and this was just my view, so don’t let me put you off!

Some prison-based books I’ve LOVED and would really recommend are:
☕️ A BIT OF A STRETCH
🗝️ STRANGEWAYS
🔐 JAILBIRDS
👩🏻‍⚕️ PRISON DOCTOR BOOKS

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧 + 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙜𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝘼𝙍𝘾, 𝙞𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬. 𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙬𝙣. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙂𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 @𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡 (𝙄𝙂).

Such an interesting book that really made me think about how prisons are run and organised and how many people are actually working to make possible for offenders to go back into society. A very complicated topic but amazing to learn more about it and what happens behind closed doors.

Inside Job was such an interesting read, in what is the most hardest job to have in working in a top security prison I really admire anyone who works there, I literally couldn't put my kindle down.

Initially, when I first started reading this book, I thought I would give up straight away. When she referred to her high heels and tight clothing.

She is a trained psychiatrist, she would have been briefed on what to have worn in a male dominated environment, with men who haven’t seen a woman for a long time. However, I persevered and when the book then moved away from her appearance and on to the various programmes that she was running, I really enjoyed it. It was informative and interesting.

I rate this book 3 stars.

This is interesting, and sensitive where it needs to be.
It is hard to imagine doing this kind of work, but this book gives a sense of what it takes.

This book will be one you remember. It gives a gruesome insight into the minds of sex offenders imprisoned for their crimes. The author lets the offenders do the talking, I found it honest, raw and disturbing. It was a clever way of delivering a hard hitting message.

Reading about how the prison service try and rehabilitate offenders was particularly interesting. While their crimes are abhorrent, following their journeys helped me see them as human beings and not just monsters.

Fascinating yet unpalatable subject matter told in an honest and engaging way.

This is one of the better memoirs i have read in terms of psychologists and criminals. This is the first i have read that had a sole focuys on sex offenders. I really like how she told her story from one of the worst prisons that houses these offenders. I was really impressed that she became a doctor at 22 years old and chose to work at such as scary place. She tells her story that she fears for her life on a daily basis but her life's work is to help these people. this book could be triggering but it should be known simply off of the title.

An interesting read about the psychology of prisoners. As the book told of a course for sex offenders within the prison environment - it was a tough read.
I wasn't quite sure why the author needed to talk of her affair with a colleague.

This is the memoir of a psychologist working in one of Britain's toughest prisons focusing on the treatment of sexual offenders and psychopathy.

It can be a tough read as whilst there isn't a massive amount of fine detail, the broad specifics of the offences committed are still distressing. It is fascinating to discover how the treatment programmes of sexual offenders have varied over time. It is also an interesting examination of psychopathy and how amongst psychopaths there is a lack of remorse for their actions.

This was a really interesting, human insight into the prison system. I've read a variety of books about prison wardens/prisoner biographies, but similarly to a couple of others I've read - I really enjoy the psychology element of this story. A real look at what we're doing actively to help prisoners, using restorative justice and humanising those often seen as animals. I find Rebecca's work absolutely heartbreakingly hard, and clearly here we have some people who just don’t want the help - there is no wayI could do her job. However, it is also heartening and encouraging to see what work like this is doing to help and help build new relationships and lives for these prisoners.

Parts were very interesting but I felt this was a longer story than it needed to be. I also didn’t understand her need to put in her affair with a colleague.

A very interesting read and the true tales from a psychologist who worked on the SOTP (Sex offender treatment programme) in UK prisons.
Not an easy read, however a very interesting read that makes you consider whether you can trust anyone.

A really interesting read and a good insight to what happens inside.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

This is a fascinating biography of a woman who became a prison psychologist at the age of 22 on graduation. She is honest - sometimes almost too honest - about the trials and tribulations of being a young woman in a very male environment where even the Prison Officers question the wisdom of an attractive young woman dealing with sex offenders.

Dr Myers does not shy away from the crimes these men commit, even when they are horrendous. It is important to her story to understand who she is dealing with. The prisoners are quoted at length as they talk in group therapy with the author and others as facilitators. And you can see the change in them and their slowly dawning acceptance of their culpability. I’m not sure the long term effects will be commensurate with the investment in the men and the schemes but the system cannot be faulted for trying.

An engaging, very interesting book and recommended if you’re interested in true crime or in the academic aspects of psychology.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley

Thank you NetGalley for this opportunity to read and review!

As someone who worked briefly in the prison service I found this book fascinating.

Rebecca takes us through her career from being a new graduate taking her initial steps into the prison yo running the Sex Offender Training Programme.

The book was interesting, frank and on occasion somewhat shocking.

I have already bought a paperback copy for my closest friend such was the impact of this book.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

Hugely interesting insight into work within prisons from Dr Myers. Fascinating work being carried out and a life that most of us have only ever know from watching or reading about it. Well written, descriptive and informative.

An interesting exploration of the early experiences of a prison psychologist in the 1990s. I have listened to lots of episodes of ear hustle about prison life from the perspective of incarcerated men but they struggle to find prison staff who will talk so it was brave and honest to read this account. The end felt a little blunt with the abrupt time jump - could have been a bit smoother. Politically interesting to see the generous funding of prison programmes - I couldn't imagine these today.

I like many others I imagine, are fascinated by what drives people to commit crimes of such as rape and murder, so the opportunity to learn of Myer’s insights and experience in working with some of the most dangerous individuals was a draw to me. Myers tells of her time as a newly qualified psychologist working at Graymoor Prison.
It has a complimentary of blend of reflecting upon her own limited experience (at that time), and perceived short comings, working in an environment that was also very misogynistic, as well as allowing us to become immersed in the Sex Offenders Treatment Programme that involved 5 criminals. This allowed the book to flow almost like a novel, so it was easy and engaging to read. The criminals were genuine characters with complex backgrounds and upbringings. It therefore touches on what drives individuals to commit such heinous crimes. It also allows us to see them in a human and relatable manner and captured how relationships grew between the men on this programme as well as Myers, and how they were able to see their behaviour patterns and triggers to be better individuals. This need not mean they could necessarily change who they had become.
Whilst it does not go into great detail, some acts and behaviours are described to reflect what these individuals did, so readers do need to be prepared for this. I found it insightful to learn how hearing such details impact on staff, who go on to have a heightened observance of normal day-to-day interactions - of a dad with his daughter, for example. And how one male staff member sadly could no longer bath his daughter as the details he had listened to, meant he felt it inappropriate to do so.
Whilst somethings have moved on somewhat from Myers account of over 20 years ago, the reflection was rich and astute, which made it a privilege to read. I was entertained and educated at the same time.