The Seducer, by Claudia Moscovici, is a novel about a psychopath. But it’s not a Hollywood-style psychopath who stalks unsuspecting strangers to commit ritual murder. This story is much closer to reality—the reality that many of us were horrified to discover.
The author, Moscovici, knows of what she writes, because she lived through her own nightmare with a psychopath. Because of her experience, she created the Psychopathy Awareness blog, to help people learn about these human predators.
Her thorough understanding of this disordered personality is apparent in the book. The Seducer tells a compelling story of how the psychopaths who live among us pursue their agendas, and how their unknowing targets react.
Michael is young, handsome, clever and has only one real objective in life—sex. Women exist only for his personal gratification, and he is always in pursuit of gratification. Yes, he has a fiancé, Karen, whom he keeps around as a backup plan while in search of other adventures. Then he meets Ana, who is married, although the spark left her marriage long ago. Suddenly Michael has a new goal—making Ana his. He turns on the charm, and Ana responds.
Because this is a novel, Moscovici has the luxury of taking us wherever she wants, and she takes us into the heads of the predator and his targets. The cold, calculated way in which Michael decides his next move is disconcerting, but probably accurate for a certain segment of psychopaths. The reactions of Karen and Ana will certainly ring true for readers who found themselves caught in psychopathic webs.
The story itself is compelling—I always wanted to know what would happen next. Moscovici gradually builds the tension until the surprise twist at the end, which left me feeling like I’d been punched in the stomach. But I also knew the ending could have happened in real life.
From a storytelling perspective, The Seducer is a good read. For those of us who have endured disordered romantic partners, it is validating. And if someone doesn’t really know what a psychopath is, this book can serve as a good education
The Seducer, by Claudia Moscovici, is available on Amazon.com.
I had my suspicions about it take’s 2
hens:
You are right!!!!! You are so smart 🙂
Hi,
I’m posting again (as opposed to just reading) 🙂
Hope you all are doing well today
It’s hard for me to twease-out “addicts” from “personality disorders” (such as sociopaths), bc it gets so complicated. To me anyway, addicts numb their feelings with a substance, person or thing. Why they do this is the big question. Sociopaths have a personality disorder, to put it mildly. Are they born this way or is it due to an abusive childhood? Who knows.
I do know that 94% of all addicts say that they were emotionally abused. That emotional abuse may also extend to sociopaths. Interesting debate y’all are having.
It is a very interesting debate and I wish there were some concrete answers, but when talking about these type of very complicated things…addiction and personality disorders, I don’t think there are any real answers.
I just finished the book “The Seducer” and I could hardly put it down. This reminded me so much of my story from beginning to “almost” the end. Three weeks “no contact” so far and I have blocked my ex-lovers emails, phone calls etc. and hope I never hear from him again. Thankfully I have one of those wonderful husbands who understands that I was a victim of a spath – and we are working hard, with the help of a counselor, to recover our marriage. It’s tough, but I am convinced we will work thru this.
My ex-lover “spath”, whom I nearly destroyed my life for – is again jobless and broke. The “back-up” girlfriend, whom he constantly put down to me like “Michael” did to “Karen” in the book, is once again supporting him. She knows about his lies, his cheating – but just like “Karen” in the book – she is giving him another chance and believes counseling will help. Right back in for more abuse, sadly.
One thing that really stuck out in the book to me was how Michael called Ana “Woman” when he spoke down to her and the mask fell – this is exactly what my ex did. Very demeaning talk – and it triggered big red flags that I CHOSE to ignore.
I loved the “counselors talk” at the end of the book. This was very helpful. We must look upon ourselves as to WHY we allowed the spath into our lives in the first place. WHY we fell for their over-the-top flattery and love bombing in the beginning and the eventual manipulation.
Once you get over the pain, climb out of that pit, and reach the pinnacle of the mountain where self-actualization lies – beyond self-esteem, believe me, the view from the top of the mountain is GREAT. I will never again NEED validation from a man to feel smart, beautiful and loved.
apples of the eye:
You also have a husband as a cushion…you should never HAVE to need validation again from another man…only your husband.
Louise, I was very fortunate to have that cushion and I will be forever grateful for my husbands forgiveness and unconditional love. I regret and feel tremendous remorse for what I participated in.
When you are vulnerable and under a “spaths spell” – its hard to explain – but you loose control. AND THAT is what they want – complete control over you. Then, once you agree to leave your husband and file for divorce (I fortunately delayed filing) its like “game over” for the spath. Their mask begins to come off.
apples of the eye:
I completely understand the spath’s spell. I think I was totally hypnotized. Yeah, they are only in it for the game…it’s not real to them. It’s the chase. Sad. Blessings to you.