Customer Reviews

Psychopath

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Serial killers are nothing new in mystery fiction. But Keith Ablow gives the title character of his novel a chilling spin, and lets the readers see through a window into the killer's twisted, fragmented mind. It's a freaky rollercoaster ride, and one that readers won't forget in a hurry.

The Highway Killer (also called Jonah) roams from one seemingly random town to another, choosing victims seemingly at random. He's attractive, intelligent, cultured, religious, a nurturing psychologist who travels from hospital to hospital -- and is overwhelmed by a dark urge to kill, to absorb the life of his victims into himself. There's no way to track him and no way to tell who he will attack next.

The FBI calls in Frank Clevenger, a famous forensic psychiatrist who is also trying to balance out his life with a troubled adopted son, who has been expelled for dealing drugs at his school. But he becomes enmeshed in the investigation, and soon a newspaper starts publishing front-page letters from the Highway Killer to Frank. He must use his own past, the letters, and the victims to delve into the Highway Killer's mind -- and what is driving him to murder.

They say you should write what you know, and Keith Ablow is a prime example of this. Like Frank, he is a forensic psychiatrist, and so he's ideal to bring us the tormented Jonah, a serial killer who is both good and evil, and who is so conflicted that he's blotted out part of his past that holds the key to his psychosis.

Most mystery novels can't balance out the personal and the professional -- or, better yet, tie them together. Ablow does both. Frank's personal life is tied in to why Jonah wants him to help. The writing is taut, but the best parts are when he gets inside the characters' heads, giving us a vivid picture of what they think and why.

Frank is an excellent protagonist; he's almost as psychologically complex as the Highway Killer. One outstanding scene is when Frank reveals the similarities between his adopted son Billy's abusive childhood and his own youth. It's a wonderful scene, and shows Ablow's tight focus on how people's minds work. Jonah is a crazy quilt of good and bad, and probably the best fictional "psychopath" I've ever read about. And Billy, who is struggling with his own past abuse, helps give a human edge to the aspects of Frank that are necessary to the plot.

"Psychopath" is the sort of book that can scare you stiff -- the only demons and monsters it has are the kind that really exist inside the human mind. Tightly-written, intriguing, and it'll keep you riveted up to the end.

Keith Ablow is a surprise in my life. I was unfamiliar with this author, and I thought I would not like his writing--after all, the subject matter is not certainly appealing at all. However, I found myself highly impressed with his writing. The sensitivity to his mentally ill character is amazing. I found myself truly understanding the motive, the emotion and the obsession of this villain. I also found myself admiring the detective and his love for his son--both so flawed yet so skillfully handled. I went on to read Murder Suicide by Mr. Ablow. It too continues this fine series. I recommend if you have not read this author to definitely put him on your list. He is amazing in his ability to carry you along through his characters lives and make you feel their pain, their obsessions and their capacity for love.

He travels the highways of America killing when the compulsion becomes unbearable but he always gets his victims to trust him and talk to him so he can get inside their defenses before he delivers the fatal blow. He is known as the Highway Killer and the FBI credit him with at least fourteen known homicides even though he believes he killed sevnteen people, men and women, young and old with no discernible pattern.

The FBI is getting desperate so they call in forensic psychiatrist Frank Clevenger as consultant. This resonates with the Highway Killer and he engages Clevenger in a dialog played out in the New York Times for the world to see. It is an interesting but potentially deadly cat and mouse game these two individuals play because they were both victims of parental abuse as children and they are both practicing psychiatrists.

Keith Ablow does the impossible by making the audience feel genuine sympathy for a serial killer tormented by his demons and his inability to stop from killing even though he knows it is wrong. As a doctor he has saved the lives of many children in crises but he can not heal himself. PSYCHOPATH is a fascinating and exciting medical thriller about a tormented person who wears the mask of sanity on the outside, but inside is a tortured soul who wants to be stopped.

Harriet Klausner

One of the best books that I've read in a while! You can see why Keith Ablow is such a famous Forensic Psychiatrist. The way he depicts his main character, Dr. Jonah Wrens. can only be described as creative genious. Imagine a serial killer who possesses as much evil, as he possesses goodness. A man who is as brutally violent as he is compassionate. A man who must feel the emotional pain of others in order to satisfy a need so deep inside him.

I found myself wanting desperately to get to the climax, but at the same time, not wanting to finish the book.

I would definitely recommend this book, especially for those of you who are psychologically inclined.

The book Psychopath by Keith Ablow is a suspense novel following the life of Jonah, a psychotic psychiatrist. The book follows Jonah through his personal experiences in some of his relentless murders. There is a famous saying: "there's a fine line between genius and insanity". After reading this book, I think they go together. This suspense story takes you deep into the mind of this man. Albow's plays on your senses making you feel what the main character Jonah feeling, all the thoughts that run through his mind. It's almost unnerving, but Albow gives this new inner light in him that makes you almost sympathize with Jonah and admire his intelligence. Albow jumps from one event to the next not by using flash backs, more so fast forwarding, without the "10 years later" part. Every chapter brings a new situation, another piece of the puzzle. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I look forward to reading another of Keith Ablow's novels.

As a psychologist myself who has researched this particular personality disorder for 30 years, I have to say that this book is far superior to the cut and dried approaches of the textbooks in the field that address the topic of Psychopathology. Ablow is clearly a master in his understanding and portrayal of the content, knowledge, experience in the field of Forensic Psychology, and he has the superior ability to tell a story about a terrifying psychological disorder in the clearest and most instructive manner without being a bit boring.

The deterioration and collapse of the psychological boundaries of the criminal mind of Jonah Wrens and the devious plotting, verbal manipulation and emotional decompensation he portrays is scary beyond words because this is truly the way that psychopaths react and act.

I have archived this book with my other texts on psychopathology and will recommend it to professional and non professionals as the best work on this topic in the field right now. Get it and you will learn more than you ever imagined. Brilliant book. Brilliant author. "Two thumbs way up!", borrowing the words of Roger Ebert.

Kathleen Nelson, RN, PhD

Clinical Psychologist (Ret.)

There are many psychological thrillers out there that run to a fairly standard formula. They're usually based around a serial killer who commits shocking crimes and is then hunted down by various law enforcement agencies following procedures such as data profiling, forensic research and evidence gathering. The law enforcement officers, usually FBI agents, are pretty much cut from the same cloth too, dedicated to their job to the detriment of their own personal lives. By and large they're ultimate professionals who could probably be taken from one story and placed within another, virtually without noticing.

Keith Ablow has taken the psychological thriller to a new level delving deeply into the disturbed minds of the criminals who have darkened the series so far. PSYCHOPATH is the 4th book in the Dr Frank Clevenger series a series notable both for it's dark themes that are dealt with and for the very disturbed protagonist who bears the brunt of these issues. Frank Clevenger is a forensic psychiatrist who has been plagued with all of the addictions and psychological weaknesses he usually treats. These have all been displayed in the earlier books as he battles through drug abuse, alcoholism, gambling all stemming from abuses he suffered as a child. He is not your average protagonist, but he is definitely one of the more interesting that I have come across.

This 4th Frank Clevenger book is not a mystery. Right from the opening page we know that Jonah Wrens is a serial killer who will come to be known as the Highway Killer. We also know that he is good-looking, personable, friendly, approachable and a brilliant pediatric psychiatrist in fact, the most dangerous kind of sociopath possible. Instead, this is a dark psychological thriller delving deeply inside the mind of a man tortured by his past.

Clevenger's notoriety has risen thanks to his exploits chronicled in the book preceding this one, DENIAL and he has become a psychiatrist who is very much in demand. With no progress being made on the Highway Killer case, the FBI contact Clevenger and ask him to add his expertise. Although interested in taking the case, Clevenger's personal life has once again reached crisis point with his adopted seventeen year old son, Billy getting into trouble at school, fighting with other boys and getting caught dealing drugs. Fearing he could lose his son if he was distracted, he refuses the FBI's request.

What he hadn't bargained on though was Jonah Wrens reaching out to him in the form of a letter published in the newspaper. This direct contact drags him back to the case and into a head-to-head public battle with the killer as they trade letters with each other in the newspaper.

As the story progresses we switch from Clevenger, who is juggling the case while trying to deal with his rebellious son, to Jonah Wrens who, in his professional guise is displaying sublime psychiatric abilities. Yet all the while, Wrens is slowly unravelling, losing his hold on the killer inside him, setting up for an inevitable showdown.

A disappointing part of the story came towards the end when Ablow inexplicably chose to add a rather clichéd lady in distress scene that saw Wrens act completely out of character. Actually, that should be unrealistically out of character. Up until this point he was a horrifyingly efficient killer when suddenly he changed his routine for no logical reason and no explanation for it was given. It smacked of the author taking the easy way out in an attempt to insert a dramatic scene that simply wasn't required.

Keith Ablow deals with some of the darkest fears, addictions and compulsions throughout the Frank Clevenger series and does so with stunning clarity bringing his characters to life by revealing their minds to us completely. It's not surprising to find that Ablow is himself a forensic psychiatrist enriching the story with his first-hand knowledge and experience which I have found continually absorbing. His specialty throughout the series has been the human psyche that has been severely traumatized as a child which then manifests itself in some sort of destructive behaviour later in life.

In the 3 earlier books we have seen Clevenger deal with his drug abuse, alcoholism and gambling addiction while still functioning as an excellent forensic psychiatrist. We have learnt watched him step to the edge of the cliff of despair and have a good look over the edge before stepping back. In this latest book, Frank Clevenger has progressed past the dark days described in COMPULSION and PROJECTION thanks mainly to his adoption of Billy.

There is a sinister edge to this book, sharpened by the fact that we know so much about the Highway Killer. We know both sides of him, the brilliant psychiatrist who achieves amazing results with his patients and the unbalanced killer who is nearly driven to insanity by his need to kill.

While I have enjoyed this series immensely, the continual excursions into a very disturbed mind may become very harrowing for some readers. While it makes compelling reading, the subject matter, such as child abuse and schizophrenic episodes on top of vivid descriptions of a serial killer in action makes for a seriously dark story and wouldn't be to everyone's liking.

While there were a few flaws or weaknesses this time - some letters fictionally published in the "New York Times" contained language that I doubt the Times would have accepted under any circumstances, as well as a disappointing lack of character development of supporting character North Anderson - this novel still emerged as my favorite thriller so far this year (with Lee Child maintaining a close second). As other reviewers have noted, forensic psychiatrist Frank Clevenger seems to have quelled many of his personal demons this outing. Just in time to meet up with a character who may prove to be his opposite number. After this, what remains? One could only fantasize of having Ablow & Harris team-up and allow Clevenger & Lector to cross paths.

Ablow is one of the most prolific serial killer writers on the market today. His expertise in the field of forensic psychology is meticulously expressed in his writing. Most of the characters (both the protagonists and antagonists) are case studies in and of themselves. I highly recommend Ablow for the serial killer connoisseur. You wont be disappointed!

"PSYCHOPATH" had me mesmerized from the very first page, and not only did I not want to put it down; I also didn't want it to end! After it did I wanted to start reading it all over again because it was one of the best novels I've ever read.

Dr. Frank Clevenger, who is a forensic psychiatrist that has been trying to conquer his own demons over the years, gets a call from the FBI asking for his help in finding the "Highway Killer." The only thing they know about this killer is that he seems to travel all across the country and chooses his victims at random. His name is Dr. Jonah Wrens, and he is also a psychiatrist who works on a temporary basis at various hospitals working miracles with disturbed children. He is highly intelligent, good looking, and quite charming, but at the same time he is filled with an overwhelming need to kill. Through letters sent to the New York Times, Clevenger tries his hardest to help Jonah discover and then face the reasons for this need to kill.

Keith Ablow has a great talent for storytelling. He had me feeling so many different emotions for these characters through the whole story, and that's not something many authors can do. This novel is truly a magnificent piece of fiction and I highly recommend that you read it TODAY!!