"Freedom from Conscience -- Melanie's Journey" -- a lovable psychopath.

Here is the Facebook fan page with a detailed description:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Freedom-From-Conscience/157243080986087

And here is the Amazon page:

http://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Conscience-Melanies-Michael-Cross/dp/1935605879

The story revolves around a female psychopath, and is written in a first-person narrative. The thing is, you will find yourself questioning what good and evil really is once you see the world from her eyes.

That's not talking about a psychopath, I can assure you.

Here is the overview- sounds like a cluster b ( borderline maybe?) or dissociative who is ponerized by a pathocrat to me.

[Book Description
Publication Date: December 9, 2010
Melanie is a gifted young woman who yearns to connect with others-yet has experienced a life filled with loneliness and constant bullying by her peers. Her outlook on society is one of being an outsider, a spectator, and perhaps in reaction to emotional pain...her personality could be described as psychopathic. When Melanie enters a new school for her senior year, she is surprised when immediately befriended by two students, Nicole and Daniel, as well as a charismatic teacher, Mark Lindberg. She begins to cherish her relationship with the mysterious Nicole, and also finds herself drawn to her teacher. Yet she begins to suspect something deeper is behind their fascination with, and joking about, serial killing. Is it mere intellectual curiosity, mixed with dark humor, or could they be involved in the recent wave of killings taking place in the Portland area? The reader accompanies Melanie on her journey of discovery as she evolves from outcast to "destroying angel," and is left with the question-how far will she go to impress, then later protect, the man she allows herself to take a chance on loving?[/quote]

Click to expand...

edit to fix text and quote

Melanie is a gifted young woman who yearns to connect with others

Click to expand...

Psychopaths never "yearn to connect with others."

-yet has experienced a life filled with loneliness and constant bullying by her peers.

Click to expand...

Psychopaths never feel lonely and are never bullied.

Her outlook on society is one of being an outsider, a spectator, and perhaps in reaction to emotional pain...

Click to expand...

Psychopaths never feel "emotional pain". They may feel like an "outsider" or a "spectator" but only combined with a feeling of superiority.

her personality could be described as psychopathic.

Click to expand...

I can only ask: what kind of IDIOT wrote that??!!

When Melanie enters a new school for her senior year, she is surprised when immediately befriended by two students, Nicole and Daniel, as well as a charismatic teacher, Mark Lindberg. She begins to cherish her relationship with the mysterious Nicole, and also finds herself drawn to her teacher. Yet she begins to suspect something deeper is behind their fascination with, and joking about, serial killing. Is it mere intellectual curiosity, mixed with dark humor, or could they be involved in the recent wave of killings taking place in the Portland area? The reader accompanies Melanie on her journey of discovery as she evolves from outcast to "destroying angel," and is left with the question-how far will she go to impress, then later protect, the man she allows herself to take a chance on loving?

Click to expand...

All I can say is that this seems like an attempt to use kids-literature to glorify - and confuse - the term psychopathy, equating it with teen-age angst.

The first two chapters, which I skimmed seems to be a set up for the eventual killing of many "mundanes" or "normies" due to their boring sameness and dull lives and inability to see past their noses- at least that's what the gist of it is. There was talk of seeing a crowd the way a predator sees a herd, blah blah blah. There is no introduction to the other characters so I have no idea if one of them is actually psychopathic or not, but the main character expresses some remorse about the killing of a a teacher that was intuitive and nice to her which bothered her- so she is no psychopath.

Revolutionary, have you read this book?

What are your thoughts on it?

Have you read any books on psychopathy, like "Puzzling People" by Thomas Sheridan?

Yes Gimpy and it seems to match the Hare checklist in reference to the main character.

Psychopaths do want connections to others -- one characteristic that seems to separate them from Aspergers is that they crave attention. Their love is similar to that of a young child prior to their developing empathy -- no clear rules and while loyal it can be very selfish. that is not to put children down, but they are quite egocentric.

Psychopaths may not feel guilt but they can linger on mistakes and can have regret. Maybe the sort of psychopaths that many here are used to studying are criminals and low-end psychopaths, not the high functioning ones. Also, in regards to family and those they do care for they can have loyalty to those who are first-degree relatives or lovers, just not the sort of loyalty most would recognize.

Psychopaths, like Aspergers, are often bullied in school prior to their learning how to manipulate situations to their advantage. They are "odd" at first but by the time they are in high school they are the ones who are going for popularity. They learn fast.

As for the plot, the woman learns fast and yes, she does wind up a serial killer (justifying her acts the same way our politicians justify policies that kill scores of people).

Revolutionary said:

Yes Gimpy and it seems to match the Hare checklist in reference to the main character.

Psychopaths do want connections to others -- one characteristic that seems to separate them from Aspergers is that they crave attention. Their love is similar to that of a young child prior to their developing empathy -- no clear rules and while loyal it can be very selfish. that is not to put children down, but they are quite egocentric.

Psychopaths may not feel guilt but they can linger on mistakes and can have regret. Maybe the sort of psychopaths that many here are used to studying are criminals and low-end psychopaths, not the high functioning ones. Also, in regards to family and those they do care for they can have loyalty to those who are first-degree relatives or lovers, just not the sort of loyalty most would recognize.

Psychopaths, like Aspergers, are often bullied in school prior to their learning how to manipulate situations to their advantage. They are "odd" at first but by the time they are in high school they are the ones who are going for popularity. They learn fast.

As for the plot, the woman learns fast and yes, she does wind up a serial killer (justifying her acts the same way our politicians justify policies that kill scores of people).

Click to expand...

Actually, the in depth study done here includes and goes beyond Hare and realizes that it the highest level psychopath that is the problem for humanity as they occupy positions of power. Have you read Political Ponerology yet? If not, check it out. It will break down the difference for you between the genetic psychopaths, the cluster bs, and the types of personalities most easily influenced by them. There is a wealth of knowledge here in this forum in regards to psychopathy. Essential genetic psychopaths do not want conections, other than to feed.


edit- spelling

Revolutionary said:

Yes Gimpy and it seems to match the Hare checklist in reference to the main character.

Psychopaths do want connections to others -- one characteristic that seems to separate them from Aspergers is that they crave attention.

Click to expand...

No, they don't "crave attention." They FEED on others and in order to do that, they deliberately set out to deceive by being "the life of the party" all the while despising and devaluing they prey in their minds.

Revolutionary said:

Their love is similar to that of a young child prior to their developing empathy -- no clear rules and while loyal it can be very selfish. that is not to put children down, but they are quite egocentric.

Click to expand...

What a load of horse-hockey.

Revolutionary said:

Psychopaths may not feel guilt but they can linger on mistakes and can have regret.

Click to expand...

Nope, not even close. They are NEVER aware that they have "made a mistake" and if they were, they would never spend an instant regretting it.

Revolutionary said:

Maybe the sort of psychopaths that many here are used to studying are criminals and low-end psychopaths, not the high functioning ones. Also, in regards to family and those they do care for they can have loyalty to those who are first-degree relatives or lovers, just not the sort of loyalty most would recognize.

Click to expand...

You haven't got a clue. And you obviously haven't read much on this forum.

Revolutionary said:

Psychopaths, like Aspergers, are often bullied in school prior to their learning how to manipulate situations to their advantage. They are "odd" at first but by the time they are in high school they are the ones who are going for popularity. They learn fast.

Click to expand...

I think you better undertake to educate yourself a bit. Either you are abysmally ignorant or you are trying to pull a con.

Revolutionary said:

As for the plot, the woman learns fast and yes, she does wind up a serial killer (justifying her acts the same way our politicians justify policies that kill scores of people).

Click to expand...

Give it a rest. Any person who goes on as you describe, is just lying about all the "initiatory factors" in an effort to elicit sympathy - one of the big cons of psychopathy.

Revolutionary said:

Yes Gimpy and it seems to match the Hare checklist in reference to the main character.

Psychopaths do want connections to others -- one characteristic that seems to separate them from Aspergers is that they crave attention. Their love is similar to that of a young child prior to their developing empathy -- no clear rules and while loyal it can be very selfish. that is not to put children down, but they are quite egocentric.

Psychopaths may not feel guilt but they can linger on mistakes and can have regret. Maybe the sort of psychopaths that many here are used to studying are criminals and low-end psychopaths, not the high functioning ones. Also, in regards to family and those they do care for they can have loyalty to those who are first-degree relatives or lovers, just not the sort of loyalty most would recognize.

Psychopaths, like Aspergers, are often bullied in school prior to their learning how to manipulate situations to their advantage. They are "odd" at first but by the time they are in high school they are the ones who are going for popularity. They learn fast.

As for the plot, the woman learns fast and yes, she does wind up a serial killer (justifying her acts the same way our politicians justify policies that kill scores of people).

Click to expand...

This is the problem of seudo- educating someone about this subject. You should be really careful of using the hare checklist, even the <<professionals>> haven't used it correctly. Also you need to study more about the effect of a psychopath over others with "Political Ponerology", and understand that even normal human beings can mutate his/her personality to be able to survive a pathological environment.

Also you are comparing psychopaths with aspergers, when there's no need. Why do you think it's needed to use the comparison? maybe you are confusing the patterns of the asperger disorder with the psychopath's ones.

Laura said:

All I can say is that this seems like an attempt to use kids-literature to glorify - and confuse - the term psychopathy, equating it with teen-age angst.

Click to expand...

I agree. Actually this is the concept almost everyone has about a psychopath, a "badass" inteligent person without fear of life, so you would look really cool wearing a t--shite- that says "I'm a murderer".

Note: Hey I don't know but my comment is inside the quote.

Yes Gimpy and it seems to match the Hare checklist in reference to the main character.

Psychopaths do want connections to others -- one characteristic that seems to separate them from Aspergers is that they crave attention. Their love is similar to that of a young child prior to their developing empathy -- no clear rules and while loyal it can be very selfish. that is not to put children down, but they are quite egocentric.

Click to expand...

Then you must not have understood what you read. They do NOT crave attention. They do not love, in fact, I've heard more than one say that love is sign of weakness.

They feel hunger, and get angry when they don't get what they want. That's it. The rest is aped behavior.

Psychopaths may not feel guilt but they can linger on mistakes and can have regret. Maybe the sort of psychopaths that many here are used to studying are criminals and low-end psychopaths, not the high functioning ones. Also, in regards to family and those they do care for they can have loyalty to those who are first-degree relatives or lovers, just not the sort of loyalty most would recognize.

Click to expand...

We've studied the gamut, either you're brand new to the concept, or you're selling something. If you're new to the concept, feel free to read more, there's a lot here. If you think psychopaths are poor misunderstood people with bad manners? You're setting yourself up for a world of hurt. They don't care, they will never care, they are not broken. They are predators, like lions in Africa. Thinking otherwise is to become food.

Psychopaths, like Aspergers, are often bullied in school prior to their learning how to manipulate situations to their advantage. They are "odd" at first but by the time they are in high school they are the ones who are going for popularity. They learn fast.

Click to expand...

Bull. Every psychopath I've ever met, interacted with, or had the misfortune to babysit... were bullies. Even the four year old. There was nothing in that boy that was 'odd' or wanted 'popularity'. If he didn't get what he wanted, he tried to stab you with the nearest sharp object. (Shortest babysitting job ever, in fact.)

As for the plot, the woman learns fast and yes, she does wind up a serial killer (justifying her acts the same way our politicians justify policies that kill scores of people).

Click to expand...

That sounds like a book I'll be skipping. It sounds too much like a bad romance full of sparkly vampires.....

Gimpy said:

That sounds like a book I'll be skipping. It sounds too much like a bad romance full of sparkly vampires.....

Click to expand...

Pun not intended LOL.

Prometeo said:

Gimpy said:

That sounds like a book I'll be skipping. It sounds too much like a bad romance full of sparkly vampires.....

Click to expand...

Pun not intended LOL.

Click to expand...

Oh it was intended, I just couldn't remember the name of the book.... (still can't, its been one of those days...)

Again, I think people are messing up the trailer-park variety of psychopath with the Capitol Hill, Wall Street variety. There is a huge difference between how the low functioning sort of psychopaths that wind up in maximum security prisons and the ones who wind up sitting in the Oval Office.

Sure, the two sorts of psychopaths may share many of the same traits on the Hare checklist, but they will have a different way of expressing these characteristics. Also, social psychologists tend to see psychopathy as being on a scale rather than a fixed definition. So two can score a 30 on the checklist but one can exhibit higher scores in some areas than the other person who also fits the criteria for diagnosis.

For instance, one can love their wife or kids (and let’s not get into the definition of what love actually is because that could get us into a heated discussion as well) but have absolutely no feelings for other people. I would say someone like Richard Kuklinski fit that model. He cared for his family but committed horrendous acts of violence. Psychopaths can also be loyal partners depending on their cognitive approach to life and philosophy. Would they cheat sexually? More than likely, unless they were worried about STDs or how it would affect their career. Are they self-destructive? No, the narcissistic nature of psychopathy would mean they are far more likely to be health nuts and hyper concerned about their appearance. A psychopath is going to avail themselves to keeping young and dynamic and being apart form the typical fat American or Brit.

I am actually surprised people would over-react to a piece of fiction – heck, I could just as easily have said I enjoyed the movie “Cowboys and Aliens.” I mean, so what? I also enjoy “Dexter” but I will also note that he is not, in my opinion, a psychopath. He is more Asperger. Ah, now someone is going to say the comparison of Aspergers and psychopathy is unwarranted, but one should consider that they used to be seen as variations of each other. The distinction that is now recognized is that psychopaths can read emotions quite well, but not feel them all that much, but Aspergers cannot read emotions but can feel them. As children they are both socially awkward, but the psychopath can and will learn to analyze others.

As for children I have met kids who are violent who are not psychopaths and kids who may be psychopaths but are not violent. I knew one mother who said her son at the age of five was sitting with her and watching the news. A story came on about an earthquake in San Francisco and she made a comment about how tragic it was. He turned around and smugly said, “It doesn’t bother me, I am not related to anyone killed or know them so why should I care?” The boy eventually graduated with an MBA. I knew a young woman who said she scored very high on the psychopathy test and said she gets a kick on seducing heterosexual girls in college and causing them to turn lesbian. She sees it as a sport, or so she claimed. Neither of these young people are violent, but may fit into the category of “cerebral psychopath.”

Speaking of cerebral psychopaths, let’s add the characteristic of charisma. That is when you get politicians. Without a doubt many politicians are psychopaths but can anyone name any who are totally without feelings towards their children? And as for saying that the main character in this book may be more borderline, isn’t borderline pretty much the opposite of psychopath? Borderlines are highly emotional but lack the ability to discern the motives and intentions of those around them. As for the concept of “emo” youth, the term in and of itself implies an ultra-sensitive, highly emotional person.

So if one wants to see a good portrayal of a psychopath maybe watching a few James Bond movies is in order. As for a good documentary I might suggest “I, Psychopath.” And as for the Twilight comment, yes psychopaths are very much embodied into the concept of the vampire. Problem is, many people have an impression of psychopaths as nothing more than reptiles which is as far from the truth as you can get.

There is a huge difference between how the low functioning sort of psychopaths that wind up in maximum security prisons and the ones who wind up sitting in the Oval Office. […] For instance, one can love their wife or kids (and let’s not get into the definition of what love actually is because that could get us into a heated discussion as well) but have absolutely no feelings for other people.

Click to expand...

The common characteristic to all psychopaths, whether high achieving ones, low lives or serial killers is the lack of a conscience and thus, the inability to feel remorse. They're utterly incapable of feeling "love" or "care" for anyone, though they can certainly FAKE it very well. Love/Emotion/Care is jut not wired into them. It seems to me you're trying to muddy the waters here.