Hugger-Mugger

The Con Man Smile

M L Stark

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Paperback

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English

APA
08 December 2023

Violence in society; Domestic violence; Women's health; Coping with personal problems

My life required a positive redirection towards another path, and it gave me only one option before I probed my psyche, dissected the life cycle, and uncovered the flaw. I grappled with myself to select a topic as I yearned for candidness and self-reflection regarding my experiences. I pondered the possibility of divulging an excessive number of macabre occurrences in my retelling of a tempestuous romance. Preceding the dawn of our love-hate relationship, it already captivated me how the blatant fatal accusations and severe harassment occurred before it all descended into complete chaos, similar to the experience of a life in Dante's Inferno.

This book sheds light on the fervent and devastating nature of a relationship with a psychopathic man. Whilst Mary is living in a discontent marriage with her disloyal spouse, she meets Drake Lucifer Bates. He skilfully conceals his true nature and takes advantage of his role as Mary's doctor, and unethically exploit her vulnerability and using his captivating charm to get into her mind. The story unfolds with precision, as it delves into the calculated manipulation of Mary by Dr Bates. His flirtatious behaviour and elusive persona are making it hard for Mary to grasp his true motives, as though there appears a touch of magic in the air whenever he is near. Before she knows of it, he is exploiting her vulnerability to maintain a tight grip on her life, until she finally succumbs to the irresistible allure of Dr Bates and of the sudden gets entangled in his calculating web, captivated by his intelligence and alluring charisma.

Dr Bates is like a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde type, so believing him is fatal when he, as a predator is scheming wealthy patients, like Mary is his next prey in his malicious plan, when he sinks into his mania of deceives and lies. Next, Mary finds herself in the clutches of Doctor Bates before his cunning actions lead to a disastrous outcome.

The novel draws from real-life experiences, lending authenticity and impact to certain episodes. However, Stark aims to expose the warning signs of toxic relationships, enabling readers to recognise manipulative and psychopathic behaviour and safeguard themselves during courtship. Little did I know this story would become a beacon of hope, a testament to the power of creativity in overcoming adversity. It was about time for me to flee from the raging fire, but I was certain my lover wasn't willing to relinquish his opportunity for a luxurious life with the woman who harboured a fondness for him. Frankly speaking, I perceived him as lacking the concern gene, so I remained hesitant to live with a perfidious and conceited personality. And so, as the story unfolded, I discovered that even in the darkest corners of our minds, there was a glimmer of light. It was within these depths that true resilience was born, where the power of storytelling could transform pain into something beautiful. According to Stark, a substantial number of women and men are subjected to severe emotional manipulation and mistreatment by psychopathic partners. Often confusing thoughts swirl in the minds of the victims, as a slow poison inflicted by their tormentor. The bruises may vanish, but the torment of psychological abuse lingers on, forever imprinted in one's mind.

By: M L Stark
Imprint: APA
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 30mm
Weight: 576g
ISBN: 9781962840576
ISBN 10: 1962840573
Pages: 432
Publication Date: 08 December 2023
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Greetings, I go by Mary. I've always dreamed of writing a book about my life from the time I was born until now. I was married for 20 years, and we had four lovely kids, and now we have some adorable grandkids, too. Can you believe I ended up with a psycho after my divorce? It was one of the things that made me want to share a certain time in my life. Hugger-Mugger is Part 1, where I used my own experiences as examples but changed all the names and places.Just so you know, it was like living in a dark hole when my life got stuck in a toxic and abusive relationship. At first, I was planning on not letting anyone know my secrets, but I wasn't sure if it was the right move to keep my pain bottled up. Some memories were good, but there were also a bunch of sad ones that for real messed me up.When I wrote this plot, I wanted to see it from a bird's-eye view. I had to be my old self again, hoping I had gained some wisdom from my life experiences. You bet it did. I found out that being too good to the wrong people can, in fact, bum you out. If you got the serious feel from the story, it's because it's based on actual stuff. The entire story was mind-boggling and messed me up because of what the narcissist did. And if you thought I was a pissed-off bitter ex--think again--well, you were dead wrong!And btw, I didn't know the fancy words for psychopaths, sociopaths, and covert narcissism, so I was confused about which term to use. But let's be real, I was not a psychologist, but it was all about how awful it felt to be caught in his web of lies. So, I was just trying to see who he, in fact, was by comparing his actions to how he presented himself. I had to find out if he was hiding any dark traits--he was just putting on a freaking show of being nice, but deep down, he was a heartless person with no morals.I wanted to talk about this topic because it meant a lot to me and to let others know they didn't have to go through what I did. Therefore, I put my trust in those who refused to be oppressed, but many people need a hand with a lot of help. If I could make a difference in one woman's life by telling my story, then I'd say mission accomplished.I know it's easy for me to say: ditch that abusive relationship. It's for sure not stress-free, and a lot of women end up going back to their abuser. And it's always a total disaster, without fail. I know lots of women are forced into exploitation by some crazy guy, but I also know the opposite is happening. I'm sure we're on the same page; The culprit should be in the trash, not the victims. I can only share my own experience with you through this story. Abuse always leaves you feeling down, and I've gone through it too. It freaked me out when he screwed everything up for me and everyone else. Being abused was, without a doubt, not cool. It was freaking nerve-wracking, and I bolted out of there.Even though my script overall focuses on male abusers, I want to give male readers hope as well. Women can also be abusive towards men, believe it or not, so the guys have every reason to be worried. However, the articles I found on psychopathic abuse mostly said it was men. Sorry, guys, I can't mess with the stats. Seriously, like, three out of four crazies were dudes, maybe even more.