We live in a dangerous world, threatened by international terrorists, corrupt politicians, unethical corporate executives, and street criminals. But there's another type of dangerous person who often goes unnoticed--the sociopath next door. According to the latest research, four percent of the population has an antisocial personality disorder, leaving them with no conscience, no sense of guilt or shame. They could be the people we encounter daily in our neighborhood, school, workplace, or even in our family.

The Sociopath Next Door is the first book to take a hard look at the sociopaths in everyday life. Martha Stout, a practicing psychotherapist and Harvard Medical School instructor, explains that these people learn early on to show sham emotion, but underneath live only to dominate others and win. The fact is, statistically, we each know at least one sociopath, and readers will have an "a-ha!" moment of recognizing that someone they know--someone they worked for, or were involved with--is a sociopath. Unfortunately, one of the chief characteristics of a sociopath is a kind of glow or charisma that makes them more charming or interesting than other people. They are more spontaneous, more intense, complex, or even sexier than everyone else, making them tricky to identify and leaving us easily seduced. But The Sociopath Next Door teaches us to recognize the ruthless among us.

Filled with vivid case studies from contemporary life, the book helps us understand where so much of the cruelty and suffering in our world comes from, and reaches out with sympathy and constructive advice to victims of the tyrants, powerful and petty, who haunt our lives.Ultimately, The Sociopath Next Door gives a sense of satisfaction from knowing that, in the end, the ninety-six percent of us who have a conscience are happier than the sociopaths, for it is our intimate connections with others, through feelings of obligation, friendship, and love, that are fundamental to a life well lived.