Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: The Psychopath
AUTHOR: Louise Collins
PUBLISHER: Evernight Publishing
LENGTH: 165 Pages
RELEASE DATE: January 21, 2019
BLURB:
No two criminals are alike, and Quinn knows this more than most. After months of stress and pleading, his study has been approved. His participants all reside under one roof: Greenwood Prison.
The men sitting opposite him have done awful things, but Quinn’s not there to judge; he’s there to work through a psychopath checklist.
He needs psychopaths for his study, and one participant fills him with more unease than the others.
Zane Black wears many faces, and Quinn has a hard time finding the real man behind the masks. He flirts, he manipulates, and boasts. He’s clever and takes control of their sessions. With all Quinn knows about psychopaths, he can’t stop his heart being seduced by this one.
When the study finishes, will Zane let Quinn go and move on, or will he leave Quinn with more questions?
REVIEW:
The blurb for this story intrigued me, but I’ll admit, I started reading not expecting to be wowed. A psychologist and a psychopath…how very Harley Quinn and the Joker, it just seemed too good to be true. But I thought the author did a great job with this story and I totally enjoyed it.
The majority of the book is set in Greenwood Prison, where MC Quinn has approval to study seven serial killers, psychopaths who can charm their victims into a false sense of security. But even knowing that, Quinn is unprepared to deal with these seven men, some who scare him, some who disgust him, and some who he feels sorrow for. And one, one who he is attracted to despite his better judgment. But the trouble with these master manipulators, is you never know when you’re being played.
Did I say Joker and Harley Quinn? It also felt kinda Hannibal and Clarice with the games that Zane enjoyed playing with our wide eyed psychologist. I could absolutely picture Zane demanding “quid pro quo” as he sneakily learned all the details of Quinn’s life. This was like addictive fan fiction, though I mean nothing negative by saying that. I just mean the author has delivered a story that fans the flames of any psych/psycho kink you might have. Zane is an intriguing character, his label of psychopath keeping us guessing as to just what his intentions are, what the truth really is? You assume that Zane is genuinely attracted to Quinn, but that doesn’t mean that Zane won’t screw him over in a bid to escape prison. You have no idea were the author might take the story because she has created such an unpredictable cast.
While the setting and premise could easily lend itself to a dark tale, that isn’t what this book is. The only trigger warning to mention would be a scene of attempted rape, but overall this book is more cute than grit.
While I would have loved to know what was going on in the genius mind of Zane Black, I guess that would have ruined the sense of ignorance as to where the plot was going. And I appreciated not knowing.
For those who think this book sounds interesting, Louise Collins has also written a similar book called The Freshman, this one starring an incarcerated murderer and a prison guard. Both of these books will definitely be finding their way onto my re-read list.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: