User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
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I will tell you why this deserves 5*
A lot of people will gasp and say “unbelievable, this woman is stupid”.
I would have said the same around two years ago before my middle aged daughter was scammed, scammed online out of a lot of money, through her trust, her big heart and the cleverness of that other terrible person. Romance scam.
So when I read this, I did believe that a grown woman with her own home, money in the bank, independent and strong willed woman could be wooed by this psychopath.
Yes indeed!
Everyone has a chink in their armour, be it greed, be it love, be it loneliness for example.
And that “baddie” will find it and worm its way in.
It was interesting how the author told the story.
I listened to this on audio, the narrator was very good I thought.
As this woman is being reeled in ....time goes by and then you get a slant at her looking back on just what she ‘should” have seen. Signs she should have picked up.
I enjoyed (if that’s the right context) seeing the workings of this played out.
I would have said....that’s so far fetched! But not any more.
A very well written thriller with a very clever manipulative psychopath.
Rating: really liked it
Rounded up from around 3.5 stars ⭐️
Sleeping with a psychopath is a true crime story. Carolyn Woods meets and falls for a man named Mark Conway. But soon her world is turned upside-down by his lies and betrayals.
Through my work and studies I have a particular interest in true crime. Many true crime media representations focus on the perpetrator, with only a brief mention of the victim(s). I love that this book was written by the victim themselves, it adds a personal touch that can often be missing. It can be easy to forget the wide-reaching and prolonged impact that crime has, both on the victims themselves and their loved ones.
I have so much respect for the strength Carolyn has shown in writing and publishing this account. At times I found myself loosing focus whilst I was reading and I found parts a little repetitive. There will be many people who question how she believed such outlandish lies, but her honesty and strength stand out to me. I felt both gripped and haunted by this read, I almost feel like I cannot trust anyone. There are many chilling but important messages within this book.
I want to thank Readers First, the publishers and author for allowing me to read this book and give my personal thoughts. I would recommend this to any true crime fans!
Rating: really liked it
I really struggled to feel any sympathy with Carolyn. She comes across as quite an arrogant, vain and at times snobby woman.
Of course what happened to her is inexcusable, and the fault lies solely at Mark's feet.
I just struggled reading the book as I didn't have any loyalty to her, she just seemed like quite an unpleasant person. She mentions at least once in every chapter how attractive she is, she condemns anti depressants, saying she is 'dead against them', when they have literally saved countless lives, and even makes a weird dig at the #MeToo movement after a doctor hugged her, saying she was glad he did. Urrr....Consensual hugs are not what the MeToo movement is about Cazza hun.
All in all I just really didn't like Carolyn and that sullied the whole book for me.
Rating: really liked it
I love true crime stories and I often binge watch crime documentaries on Netflix. So naturally, I was drawn to this audiobook.
Sleeping with a Psychopath is split into two parts, the first describing how Carolyn Woods met Mark Conway who swept her off her feet in 2012 and pretended to be MI6 spy and a rich Swiss banker leading an extraordinary and extravagant life. I couldn't stop listening to this part and found it utterly horrifying how Mark Conway whose real name is Mark Acklom fraudulently took £850k from Carolyn and left her penniless with mounting credit card debts.
The second part of the book focuses on the police investigation of the crime and the court trial. While I was eager to find out whether the police managed to catch the conman and what happenedto him, I found the second half of the book a bit too drawn out with a lot of criticism directed at the police from Carolyn's side, even if justly so.
I'd 100% recommend listening to Sleeping with a Psychopath as I bet that throughout the book most readers will be asking themselves whether they could fall victim to a similar crime.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
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.
Rating: really liked it
This was the most awful book I've read so far.
By my review all blame does lay on Mark and not Carolyn in anyway way but the writing was awful and how many times does the word "bubba" have to be mentioned it drove me insane!
I completely get that you can easily believe anything especially blinded by love but most of the things Mark lied about were so obviously unreal i mean come on!
Also Carolyn stated how the relstionship developed so fast etc and after everything that happened she jumps head first into another relationship with James, did she not lesrn the first time?
Like i said the blame is all on Mark but i found this book could of been ALOT shorter as many parts kept getting repeated.
Also it seemed Carolyn wasn't happy with anything anyone did, the doctor wasn't good enough, none of the detectives etc weren't good enough.
Im sorry Carolyn went through that but this was just a poorly written boom.
Half a star from me.
Rating: really liked it
I admit it… I am obsessed by psychopaths. I love reading books with narcissistic, psychopathic characters and the more ruthless the better, however this is in the fictional books I read. Reading about psychopaths in a true crime, non-fiction account is absolutely TERRIFYING.
Sleeping with a Psychopath by Carolyn Woods is the true story of her life when she met the charismatic, wealthy and handsome Mark Conway and within a matter of weeks Carolyn, a divorcee living in a quiet village, happy with her single life and her friends, finds herself falling head over heels with a stranger and slowly being alienated from everyone and becoming completely dependant both emotionally and financially on Mark.
Now I think I am a reasonably intelligent person, a good judge of character and a shrewd person when it comes to business and from listening to Carolyn’s book, so did she. So how did this loving, outgoing, independent women get hoodwinked into giving him her life savings and becoming a shadow of her former self?
It’s so easy to say “I wouldn’t do that” or “couldn’t she see what was happening” but I was able to understand why Carolyn did allow herself to be dragged down this murky path. Simply put, she fell head over heels in love with a professional conman. A man who had spent most of his life honing his craft, learning how to read people and press the right buttons to get exactly what he wanted and to make his victims fall for his lies.
I listened to this sad and scary tale over the space of a couple of days and my heart goes out to Carolyn and all of the other victims of Mark Acklom and hope that they find the love and happiness they truly deserve.
Rating: really liked it
2.0 StarsThe title of this book is misleading. Was this man a psychopath? Maybe? Maybe Not. This man was a conman. The author fails to make herself sympathetic in this memoir as she attempts to explain how she fell for this abusive man. It's hard to be myself into her shoes because she comes across as frustratingly naive. The book is also poorly written, often told through messages, rather than a more cohesive narrative. Needless to say, I found this book very disappointing.
Rating: really liked it
I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher, in return for an honest review. This review is based entirely on my own thoughts and feelings.
Overall rating : 3*
Writing skill : 4*
Shock Factor: 10
Pace: 3*
Now on paper this is absolutely my kind of book, true crime- CHECK, Psychotic weirdo -CHECK, completely unbelievable storyline - CHECK! However and I'm sad to say it this was just so unbelievably far fetched I couldn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped. I know this is true crime, and it actually happened, I'm not going to say she's lying, I just cannot believe people fall for these scams. And the way in which she fell (HARD!!) I'm still shocked a few days later. I think were supposed to feel sorry for her but I just couldn't. However, I did like the way after a chapter she would reflect on how she now feels about the situation she found herself in, it was really insightful. Overall it was okay but bloody frustrating.
Rating: really liked it
a truly bananas story told in a pretty mediocre way. it was utterly bizarre and told with sad banality. how did this woman not question anything early on? why was so much time devoted to the far less interesting experience of the investigation? why the weird and sad references to the me too movement? why didn't she get a job or sell her designer crap?
get that coin, though.
Rating: really liked it
Have you ever fallen for someone that you really didn’t know? They said all the right things. Made you feel so special. Really special. Have you met any conmen? It’s one of the most shocking, and completely terrible life altering things that can happen to someone. And most of the time a person is to embarrassed to tell anyone. I know because it happened to me. I wasn’t free from them until they went to prison. I was one of the lucky ones.
I knew very little about this Mark Richard George Acklom. I am obsessed with true crime and I started listening to this right away. The narrator Jan Cramer was great and I thought the author did a good job taking me through this heinous crime. At times its laughable how crazy it got and he always knew what to say. But I feel like we can learn from this. And I don’t think we should be so critical of her decisions. And I commend her for going after him! Shame on you Mark, it’s awful what you’ve done. I really enjoyed this and recommend it.
Thanks HarperCollins via Netgalley.
Rating: really liked it
[There is so much I hate about this - the victim claims to be so hard done by, and I do understand
Rating: really liked it
Nothing New Here - Don't Waste Your Time
This book purports to be a real-life crime thriller; but given that the story has been all over the media, there is nothing new or revelatory here.
In the first part of the book we are provided with a detailed timeline of how Carolyn Woods met and fell for Mark Conway. Recently relocating to a quiet Cotswold village, Carolyn rents a cottage whilst looking for a place to buy in the area. Carolyn gets herself a job in a local shop, which is where she meets Mark Conway when he drops in as a customer - she dishes out her private details so quickly that Mark must have rubbed his hands together with glee...
A whirlwind romance ensues - although they are apart often, as Mark has to go away on 'business' - the reason for this being that Mark claims he is a spy, which Carolyn believes unquestioningly - she gives him access to her property, computer, emails and cash without so much as a 'Why?' or 'What exactly do you need that for?'
The second part of the book is a monotonous description of the police investigation - really it is just Carolyn complaining about how the police handled the case.
I didn't really warm to Carolyn at all during this book, and I found it difficult to feel sorry for her - mainly because of her tone. I wouldn't waste your time with this one.
Rating: really liked it
I wanted to like this book. I'm a fan of thrillers and true crime podcasts and things but this was quite a struggle to get through.
I felt that Carolyn didn't come across as a particularly likeable character - often stating her (perceived) personality traits for the reader. I.e. "I am a very strong/positive person", which were often at odds with the way she was behaving - she spent most of the book in a state of deep depression and despair, long after Mark was out of her life.
One of the main reasons Mark got away with the extent of the fraud he did was due to his charismatic character. From the very first meeting it was clear that he was a bit of a creep and she'd have been best off staying well away from him. I felt those parts were written with the benefit of hindsight and she really failed in her quest to make the reader truly understand what it was that had drawn her to him in the first place - and what made her stay.
There were also some quite frustrating aspects of the book too. She makes a really big deal about how she doesn't want to be painted as the 'divorced woman' as this comes with some negative connotations - yet it's the beginning of the strap-line in the front of the book - which I presume she signed off on. She also expresses her frustration with the GPs she saw who insisted she needed antidepressants and therapy because she didn't want either. I really don't understand what else she wanted from them, what else could they offer?
The second part of the book which covered the investigation was easier to get through and a bit more interesting - perhaps because it was less about her. All in all, I won't be recommending this to anyone unfortunately.
*I was given a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
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.
