Mind Games: The True Story of a Psychologist, His Wife, and a Brutal Murder (True Crime (St. Martin's Paperbacks)) [Paperback]

Carlton Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 31, 2007 | Series: True Crime (St. Martin's Paperbacks)

A SUCCESSFUL DOCTOR.
Dr. Felix Polk was a married psychologist living in Berkeley, California. At forty years old, he had a successful practice and a towering reputation--until he began a scandalous affair with one of his patients: Susan Bolling. She was fifteen years old.
 
A TROUBLED TEENAGE GIRL.
After divorcing his first wife, Felix married Susan. Susan would later claim that her marriage was built on lies, manipulation, and psychological abuse. She tried to divorce Felix, but no settlement could be reached. Susan seemed to believe that Felix had stashed up to $40 million in a secret bank account in the Caribbean. She wanted her half--or else…
 
A CASE THAT STUNNED THE NATION.
In October 2002, Felix was found stabbed to death in his own home. Susan insisted she acted in self-defense. But what would a jury think when Susan--claiming she was the victim of Felix's manipulation--became her own defense attorney? This is the true story of marriage, murder, and mind games

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

A SUCCESSFUL DOCTOR.
Dr. Felix Polk was a married psychologist living in Berkeley, California. At forty years old, he had a successful practice and a towering reputation--until he began a scandalous affair with one of his patients: Susan Bolling. She was fifteen years old.
 
A TROUBLED TEENAGE GIRL.
After divorcing his first wife, Felix married Susan. Susan would later claim that her marriage was built on lies, manipulation, and psychological abuse. She tried to divorce Felix, but no settlement could be reached. Susan seemed to believe that Felix had stashed up to $40 million in a secret bank account in the Caribbean. She wanted her half--or else…
 
A CASE THAT STUNNED THE NATION.
In October 2002, Felix was found stabbed to death in his own home. Susan insisted she acted in self-defense. But what would a jury think when Susan--claiming she was the victim of Felix's manipulation--became her own defense attorney? This is the true story of marriage, murder, and mind games

About the Author

Carlton Smith wrote the New York Times bestselling The Search for the Green River Killer. An award-winning journalist for The Los Angeles Times and The Seattle Times during the 1970s and 1980s, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting in 1988. His books include Cold Blooded, The Prom Night Murders, Cold as Ice and In the Arms of Evil. There are more than two million copies of his books in print.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's True Crime; First Edition edition (July 31, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031293906X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312939069
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #744,324 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It was doomed from the beginning!, August 27, 2007

By 

Sylviastel - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Mind Games: The True Story of a Psychologist, His Wife, and a Brutal Murder (True Crime (St. Martin's Paperbacks)) (Paperback)

Carlton Smith is a popular true crime writer. This book is probably my favorite of his true books so far. This case is far more complicated and the author does his best to bring about this case to the public life. The case of Susan Polk who killed her psychiatrist husband, Dr. Frank Felix Polk, is far more complicated than it appears to be. At first, I felt that Susan Polk was guilty of the crime but it's not that simple. She first met him while he was counseling her as a teenager for sexual abuse. Dr. Polk was an expert in the field of counseling sexual abused victims but sadly he crossed the line and abused his power with Susan. He divorced his first wife and married a young girl named Susan who also had a troubled history much like Dr. Polk himself. He was a holocaust survivor who with his family escaped the Nazis in Europe as a child. He also had a troubled psychiatric history and it's ironic that he becomes a psychiatrist counseling others. In all honesty, he was truly a disturbed individual but in reality that should not stop him from being a person to help other people or deserve the ending of his life. He was brutally murdered by his own wife who was disturbed as well. You wonder if the authorities could have done any more to stop and prevent this tragedy. We must not forget the three sons of Felix and Susan who are equally troubled. One son, Gabe, testified against his own mother in court. Susan is still paranoid and suffering from delusions. before I read this book, I didn't doubt Susan's guilty but I swayed to believe that she probably thought she was doing it in her best interests to save herself.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Two days I'll never get back, December 18, 2007

By 

rockphiler (behind the microphone, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mind Games: The True Story of a Psychologist, His Wife, and a Brutal Murder (True Crime (St. Martin's Paperbacks)) (Paperback)

Maybe because this book was so focused on Susan Polk and her plethora of neuroses, I found it particularly tedious to complete. True, it is the heart of the matter, but very little attention is given to the complexities of Dr. Polk outside of occasional heresay or documented background history, inadvertantly sowing the seeds of sympathy for the him; and leaving the reader to wonder if this book was culled entirely from court transcripts (Susan Polk served as her own counsel). Frankly, after only about a third of the way into the book, I was already wishing death on Susan. I usually enjoy Mr. Smith's TC books, but I'd have to recommend a pass on this one.

3.0 out of 5 stars BORDERLINE BORING, August 12, 2011

By 

rootie - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Mind Games: The True Story of a Psychologist, His Wife, and a Brutal Murder (True Crime (St. Martin's Paperbacks)) (Paperback)

I am a Carlton Smith fan but this book just drolled on and on. When it finally got to the court case, it got better, but still rambled. At least the first half was just conversations, etc. It was setting up the court case but too much!