I've read books in this vein before and it's something which continues to interest me. I love reading about criminals, murderers and the science behind why some people are driven to commit such horrendous attrocities.
Kiehl is a student working on a formula to see if psychopaths really are different to normal people and if there is something wrong with their brains that makes them the way they are. He wants to determine wether their nature is influenced by their upbringing and environment or if it's natural.
He begins by discussing studies done in a Canadian prison where he reviews files and interviews inmates before rating them on a known "psychopath checklist". He then performs MRI brain scans while doing a range of tests to see if their brains react differently. And it turns out they do.
Some of this book was a wee bit over my head - it kind of bored me when he got into heavy science discussions relating to areas of the brain and whatnot but for the largest part, this isn't a heavy psychology/science book and it's very easy to read. Most of the reviews on goodreads wanted "more science, less anecdote" but being someone reading this with no prior education on the topic, I liked this. It made the subject easy to understand but it is kind of part-memoir.
I found the case studies interesting, especially when a teen is told at a young age he shows psychopathic tendancies, something which is definitely not supposed to be said. This led to a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy where the teen seemed to feel compelled to commit murder.
Overall I found this book so interesting but if you want indepth science and findings then it's perhaps not for you. As someone with a casual interest tho, I found it informative and enlightening.
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