A really interesting read. It was fascinating to see the rehabilitation programmes that are offered to serious offenders. Highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC. I struggled to finish this book, but that's probably more to do with me than the writing which was solid. I did however feel it was very heavy-going and at times bleak. I did however enjoy the reflective afterword.

I used the CAWPILE way of eating this book, this was created by Book Roast (YouTube)
Credibility - 7.5 - Good/Great
Authenticity- 7.5 - Good/Great
Writing Style - 7.5 - Good/Great
Personal Impact - 8 - Great
Intrigue - 7.5 - Good/Great
Logic - 8 - Great
Enjoyment/ Experience - 7.5 - Good/Great

I found this to be a really interesting read there were some elements that didn’t interest me or were over done in my opinion for example constant mention of the attractiveness of the psychologist and her relationship in the beginning however the second point did become relevant and I appreciate the real world comparison.

I genuinely believe this will be book I continue to think about for years to come, I think it’s a shame to hear that it got cancelled but good to know that the focus is turning to resolving prisoners issues as similar to the author I do believe people should be given a second chance once they have proved themselves able and in that they need the opportunity to understand impact and who they are.

A very interesting read and also very tough at times. Very glad that only minimal details of offences were given but enough to understand the psychologist perspective of treatment.
Would have been interested in hearing how the author balanced their personal life with the tough work, but understand this would have been hard for the author to write about

Inside Job is such an interesting read – as soon as I saw the summary, I was keen to hear more from Dr Rebecca Myers about her experiences as a psychologist working with the culprits of some of the UK’s most disturbing crimes.

The author provides a good balance between detailing the work undertaken, with anonymised interviews and group sessions with the prisoners, and more humorous titbits of her own experiences as a female working in a very male-dominated environment in the 1990s.

This book is quite graphic at times and the crimes themselves can be difficult to read about (particularly the way some of the prisoners blame their victims) and the reader can really empathise with the psychologists as they sit through these recollections.

A someone with an interest in true crime documentaries and podcasts – this is well worth a read! It will also no doubt be of benefit to students of psychology.

Rebecca Myers book is enthralling and deeply troubling in equal measure. It’s very well written and without gratuitous detail, it does give an often graphic insight into how the mind of a sex offender works. For those of us who aren’t involved in sexual activity with children, for example, it’s difficult to understand how an adult, male or female, can even think about such things. But the prisons are filled with people who have very different moral boundaries and in some ways, this book attempts to explore why their boundaries are different and what can be done to change their behaviour in future.

I have mixed feelings about the approach described here and it’s worrying that from the outset, it was clear that Dr Myers was young, naive and without any relevant experience. And yet she was exposed to a number of violent and often abusive individuals in a poorly controlled environment and expected to work wonders. I have no criticism of Dr Myers, but I found it worrying that even her clothing, at first, was entirely inappropriate and her relationship with a prison officer was unprofessional. Her honesty is both remarkable and relevant.

There were parts of the book that almost made my flesh crawl; some of the crimes are abhorrent but that’s the reality and as a society, we don’t know how to prevent them. Overall, despite occasional frustration with the system, as outlined here, this is an incredible insight into a broken system and society. I hope Dr Myers will write other books based on her widespread wealth of experience. It’s wrong to say this book is enjoyable, but it’s definitely compelling and well written.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

An absolutely fascinating insight into the specialist work put into serious offenders by a psychologist.
It is descriptive without poor taste yet manages to portray the prisoners and their crimes realistically.

Right off the bat, this was a difficult read - not because of the writing style, but due to its honesty towards rarely discussed topics.

This non-fictional account of a prison psychologist follows several prisoner stories and how they benefit from SOTP (Sex Offender Treatment Therapies). A program set up in the late 1900s to " save future victims".

At times it was gripping, with the ending being unpredictable due to a hostage-taking.

It transpires that the program has been scrapped, something which, having read this book, seriously question whether the alternatives in place (or lack thereof) are worthwhile.

In addition to that, there are two thought-provoking questions which are asked of us:
1) As a society, people loathed sending their hard-earned taxes to prisons. Yet we also want reform.
2) As a society, we protect and sympathise with children who have been damaged through their upbringing. Yet struggle to want to offer the same sympathy to those who have done unforgivable acts. Some (and by no means all) have been committed in part due to their upbringing.

A recommended read, but one to read with caution.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher HarperCollins UK for an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Extremely fascinating read about deeply disturbing individuals and the rehabiliation interventions that forensic psychologists undertake in prison. It's a very emotive topic with regards to whether certain individuals can be rehabilitated or not and I feel this book gave the readers an insight into one particular program that was tried and the outcomes from that at just the right level.

A thoroughly compelling read.
Dr Rebecca Myers takes the reader inside a place they would never want to enter.
Maximum security in one of Britains most notorious prisons.
Day one she makes a mistake in what she wears, never again.
It’s a warts and all account of her career. Including the sexism she encountered as a young psychologist,.
She takes us inside sessions which lets us into the minds of serious offenders, and at the same time drips in titbits of how those sessions affected her.
How they affected her relationships, and how it changed the way she thinks.
A brilliant read

A good introduction to forensic psychology from within the prison system with sex offenders and rapists. It explores the therapeutic relationship and the steps undertaken as part of the process. It highlights the complexity of assessing and determining the risk of future offending and behaviour patterns. A great insight into the reality of forensic psychology and a great introduction to anyone planning on working with high risk sexual offenders.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a fascinating but harrowing read. It will appeal to true crime buffs and lovers of mindhunter etc. Definitely a recommended read.

As a Forensic Psychologist who has delivered these same interventions for men convicted of sexual offences myself, I was interested to see how Myers approached describing this work for a mainstream audience. On the whole, I think the descriptions of sessions and how group members interact are broadly accurate. It could have been made clearer that offence re-enactments were removed from interventions many years ago. I’m not sure that sufficient details are given in the book’s description regarding the level of detail given of offences and offence related thoughts. This may be too much and could be triggering for the general reader.

As per the synopsis, this true-crime novel covers a newbie psychologist going into a high-security Mens prison, and going face to face with child rapists and murderers.

If you’re considering reading this, be prepared for a mentally heavy read, and please check the trigger warnings. I have a psychology degree myself, but found this truly harrowing.

The various chapters lead us through the first Sexual Offender Treatment Programme that the author ran as a fresh grad in the 90s, going into detail about the mens crimes (they’re re-enacted), and what in their often traumatic past was a precursor to them offending.

Extremely well written, my only flaw is that the epilogue should be included as a chapter, because I think it’s mandatory rather than an optional extra.

An absolutely engrossing and unflinching read from Dr Rebecca Myers’s about her career as a psychologist working with some serious offenders. Definitely not for the faint of heart but a warm and considered look at the horrific crimes the offenders have committed. There is a very measured approach to the offenders, humanising them rather than reducing them to their inhumane act as well as honesty about her own 'issues' Insightful and fascinating.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel for an honest review.

This book comes with much needed content warnings but I have to admit it had me hooked and I couldn’t put it down. It was an intense and hard hitting read at times but I really enjoyed it. As a Forensic Psychologist graduate it was very insightful.

Free courtesy of Netgalley

Well what a bloody awful, horrifying, fascinating, can't put it down book. It was a hard subject to read about but I was written like a story instead of an autobiography, which made it easier to connect with the author.

The subject isn't something that you would normally want to think about, let alone read about but I really enjoyed this book, following Rebecca from her first day as a trainee psychologist in a men's prison to learning about the SOTP and delving into why these men committed the most horrific crimes.

I wouldn't want to do her job but I did learn an awful lot and saw my behaviours and excuses I tell myself too.

I would definitely recommend this book, it is exceptionally well written, and will keep you hooked until the last page. Well done for your first book, I hope there will be more to follow

This is a very difficult book to read and is not for those of a nervous disposition - it could give you nightmares and make you paranoid! I felt that the personal part of the story got in the way of the professional aspects and brought the level of the book down somewhat. All in all an interesting narrative albeit a frightening one. I would be hesitant in recommending it, and certainly not without lots of provisos.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel for an honest review. It has been published in August 2022.

"Inside Job: Treating Murderers and Sex Offenders. The Life of a Prison Psychologist" by Dr Rebecca Myers is an awesome professional memoir that reads like a novel, while still keeping both feet firmly rooted in science.
In case the title wasn't clear enough, please keep in mind this book comes with major content warnings (although the violence descriptions aren't overly detailed). Seriously, this read is not for the faint-hearted or for the easily triggered.
If you're not put off by this kind of themes, though, and if you want to gain a unique insight into a world where most of us (thankfully) have never set foot, "Inside Job" is one of those books that you can lose yourself into, one of those books capable of turning your worldview upside down and making you question all your assumptions and prejudices.
It even comes with a plot twist in the very last chapter!
Kudos to the author for not shying away from recounting even the parts of the story that make her look less than perfect. It must have taken a lot of courage not to sugarcoat the truth!
I'd be excited to read more about Dr Rebecca Myers' experiences as a prison psychologist.

I was really not sure what to expect from this book suffice to say my reading genre is Murders and Mysteries,

I did find the methods for helping sex offenders in prison very interesting however, I felt there was a lot of psychology jargon and I felt that the book was rather a training manual for psychologists.

I would like to that Harper Collins UK and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC for which I have given my voluntary and unbiased review. .