First read by Thomas Erikson. I wasn't impressed by this book. As someone with a mental health background I found it odd how the author would refer to "normal" people. The book was sort of repetitive

I was drawn to this book based on the title as I survived a romantic relationship with a narcissistic psychopath. It was a good read that provides insight on how to identify and understand the tendencies and behaviors of psychopaths and how to protect yourself in all areas of your life.

Surrounded by Psychopaths has some great examples of how people manipulate each other and how we are fooled into being manipulated by others.

This book actually contains a bonus - a recap of the author's Surrounded by Idiots book that uses the DISA. The DISA categorizes human behavior patterns into colors that coordinate to their personalities. He created this book after finding out that some people (specifically, psychopaths) were taking advantage of the descriptions of personality traits to take advantage of people's weaknesses.

The author clarifies the difference between "psychopathic traits" and full-on psychopathy. He shows where the overlap lies, how you can identify traits in yourself, and how you can avoid falling victim to other another person's manipulations, whether in a personal or a work relationship.

There are a lot of real-world stories and comparisons to help you identify the psychopaths in your world, to help you fix your own personality weaknesses (or at least be aware of them), and what you can do to get out of a bad relationship. Because sometimes that is the only solution.

And if, dear reader, you start to identify psychopathic traits in yourself, know that if you can love, feel, and otherwise have emotional responses, you are not a psychopath!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader's copy for review.

I wish I loved the book as everyone seemed to. . It felt over-loaded with too much information, but did not get into the point in-depth as I would want. Missed the mark for me. I finished the book, and felt I liked it, just no love for it.

Excellent easy to read descriptive book. The author gives examples of psychopathic behaviors and at what point they become a problem for those around these people and advice on extracating yourself from the attention of a psychopath. Unfortunately I have had some experience with people who meet all the criteria for being a full blown case. I wish this book had been in existence 20 years ago so I could have avoided some people completely! I had not read his book, "Surrounded By Idiots"so the color coding system was new to me and I enjoyed learning about these categories. Interesting and meaningful book.
I was provided an advanced reader copy and was under no obligation to provide a review. The opinions expressed are my own. Thanks to the author,publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

This book, while well written, was one that I did not enjoy. I think this is mainly because I did not realize what the book was actually about- seeing things about psychopaths makes my mind jump to true crime.

This may be part of the appeal- the way the title leads you to expect something different than you actually get. But it does require you to have read the first of Thomas Erikson's books, which, while probably a good marketing strategy, makes it harder to get through for those who pick it up unaware that it's the second in a series of nonfiction novels.

I think that this is interesting and I enjoyed most of it, but there are quite a few parts that make the narrator / author feel very narcissistic and self indulgent.

Great book, shows a plethora of ways to tell if someone is a psychopath and deal with them, would highly recommend, Can't wait for more books from this author.

This book may make you paranoid about the people you meet. According to the author, about 6% of men and 2% of women worldwide are psychopaths. Erikson discusses how to deal with these exploitative people in business and personal relationships. Interesting anecdotes and some helpful strategies.

So, I haven't read "Surrounded by Idiots" - and I will probably go back and read it. I think overall, this is an interesting book and an interesting premise. Some people have evidently used the first book as a way to manipulate people based on the DISA color types...and this book is supposed to help combat those people. On the whole, it was an interesting look at manipulation in relationship dynamics and gave some good overall feedback about how some conversations should be had and also warning signs/psychopathic traits. 4 stars because I don't think it flowed as well as it could have, but the content was generally good.

This book was an interesting take on how psychopaths manipulative different personality types by learning your fears and then turning them against you, isolating you, guilting you, and ultimately, controlling you. The author goes into step by step instructions on how to respond but in the end does admit that it is the person being manipulated that needs to feel enough value within themselves to know they deserve better and to get out if there's no progress in gaining peace in the relationship. It was like I said very interesting but im the end Im left with the general feeling of uneasiness. After all, he plainly states that psychopaths cannot be cured. Then why bother? Just get the hell away from them. Its just not always that simple, I know, and I feel so bad for ppl that have been ensnared by people like that. Hopefully more people wake up to realize this type of behavior isnt love, and its not for me, and move on to better things!!

The book was broken down by personality types. It talked about strengths and weaknesses toward psychopathy and similarities and differences between neuro-typical and psychopathic behavior.

This was a very interesting look at behaviour and how to combat being manipulated, but for me, it was a little light on the psychopaths! Focusing on the DISC model, which was the primary feature of the author's previous book, Surrounded by Idiots, Erikson gives practical advice on how to spot manipulative tactics, both in the workplace and the home, depending on which of the four categories of personality type you fall into. For me, much of this felt like a repeat of the previous book, with quite a large section dedicated to an explanation of the DISC model and what each personality type's traits were. I personally haven't read Surrounded by Idiots, but even I had the feeling that much of this was going over old ground. However, there was some fascinating discussion about psychopaths at the beginning and the end of the book which was enough to keep me entertained.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Surrounded by Psychopaths is a book that helps people identify psychopaths in their lives and learn to be proactive in protecting themselves. Erikson uses a four color system of behavior classification to learn how to not only identify psychopaths but to learn techniques to deal with them. Erikson uses several stories throughout the book to demonstrate just how charming psychopaths can be and warning signs, techniques they use and how they manipulate people. This is a great book for anyone to read, especially those who may have been in relationships in the past with psychopaths or are trying to protect themselves from one right now. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't enjoy this book much. I found it difficult to stay engaged with, repetitive, and the use of colors to identify psychopathic traits was simplistic, bordering on childish. Not for me!

Regardless of which side of the aisle you lean towards, every US citizen feels, more now than ever, they are Surrounded by Psychopaths.

This book included a timely discussion of how psychopaths think based, at least partially, on real psychological theory. It then teaches people, based on their own personalities, how to escape the psychopaths’ clutches.

While Surrounded by Psychopaths was an interesting read, it did feel like I should have read the previous book first. However, it will be useful to authors writing about psychopaths in their fiction. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars!

Thanks to St. Martin’s Essentials and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

quick witted, incredibly interesting and terrifying in equal parts, would highly recommend to lovers of his first book surrounded by idiots.

Interesting topic but not that gripping as a reader. Was hoping for more stories or examples to really understand paychopathy.

Thank you St Martin's and Netgalley for this Advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!
Surrounded by Psychopaths was a fun read for me as Im a retired marriage and family therapist and have come in contact with many Psychopaths both professionally and unfortunately in my personal experiences of life. I have actually taken such an interest in studying them to learn how they think and how to recognize one so one could avoid one at all cost. It simply isn't worth trying to win a battle with one.
I enjoyed this book so much, I think I was able to really identify with examples he gave as experiences or feelings one might have while in a snare with a psychopath.
The author discusses the DISA System which is exploration of behavioral patterns and translated into colors.
Red, yellow, blue and green. Im not going to define these colors and behavioral patterns you need to read the book. However it goes on to describe how a psychopath will take advantage of each personality types weakness.
There was a lot of insight that I learned from in this book. I think if your interested in this subject or are in a relationship with someone who is messing with your head and controlling you ...you might want to read this book. Because he might be a psychopath or a masterful manipulator, either way..this will help.

While the book is relevant to training libraries are doing internally and externally, this book is in essence, a dragged out article. After going through chapter by chapter it is simply filled with anecdotal examples that are clearly crafted to make a point. There is very little practical guidance in this book for leadership interests. We will skip this title for leadership purchases.