Book Review: Therapist by Jaden Wilkes + Author Interview

What it’s about:

I am a sociopath.

I know this because I diagnosed myself.

I have a PhD in Clinical Psychology from a very prestigious university.

I am charming, attractive, and you probably want to sleep with me.

I take what I want, when I want, and I enjoy picking the most tragic of all my patients to experiment with.

I have no remorse, I am unrelenting in my pursuit of tragedy, and I am about to meet my match.

Her name is not important, I am only allowed to call her Mistress. She is a femme fatale, a patient, and now an obsession.

She will destroy me, I will do anything to get inside of her.

I can already feel her inside of me.

**Trigger warning. This novel contains situations of perversity and dubious consent. It is not a love story, but more of a journey through a few short days in the life of a madman. What you see is not always what you get, reality is altered through his eyes and sometimes there is no happily ever after

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Review:

After reading the synopsis of this book, I wasted no time one-clicking on Amazon. It had such an interesting sounding premise and unlike anything I have ever heard of before which is what made me so eager to start reading. Alexandre Dane is an attractive, successful, well-paid and experienced therapist. He has a small group of “friends” and is currently conducting some controversial treatments to “special” patients in order to help them get over  sexual traumas in their pasts. Oh and I forgot to mention, he’s a sociopath. He knows this because he diagnosed himself. He enjoys other peoples pain and humiliation and believes that women are only on this Earth to satisfy the sexual needs of men. When Mistress comes to him to punish him for his actions, things start spiralling out of control when she forces him to take a look at himself and his behaviour, she was that voice in his head that he didn’t want to hear and also that presence that he didn’t want to be away from.

Erm… Wow! The first thing I ought to mention is that this book isn’t for the faint hearted and those that get uncomfortable during sex scenes. There’s no lovey dovey, romancey happy ending with this one and it features both m/f and m/m scenes so please bare that in mind. Alexandre is one of the most compelling and endearing characters I have ever come across. Being written from his point of view, you got such an insight into his mind and the way he sees the world which was both disturbing and fascinating at the same time. He is a complete bastard but he’s hot and a master at manipulation. “I know I’m an asshole. I get it. Most of you are probably hitting close on your kindle app right now, but hang in there. I might be a piece of shit but it makes for a good read. I guarantee I’ll have your c**t dripping by the time you finish our crazy fucking ride.” He does to the reader exactly what he does to the patients, manipulates you, twists you around his little finger and has you eating out the palm of his hand. However, despite him being a bastard, he does have some interesting views, this one in particular, “Be beautiful or interesting, be something or the world will run you over as they riot to get closer to those better than you”, made me think that maybe this guy is just saying what everyone else is to scared to say because I find a lot of truth in that sentence.

I thought the storyline was genius and I loved the introduction to Mistress – she really does mix things up a bit and makes this otherwise unfixable man question himself and what he’s doing. His mind-set was so fascinating to read about and although deeply disturbing, it kept you reading because you just wanted to know more about how and why he is how he is particularly about his messed up exploits and unethical treatment techniques to his “special patients”. I was a little unsure about the ending – it was a huge turnaround which I sure wasn’t expecting but from what I gather, it’s one of those things that you have to interpret of your own accord. In fact, the author leaves an announcement at the end of the book stating, “I suppose how you interpret this novel will tell you a lot about yourself”. How Jaden has managed to write a book that repulses you as much as it turns you on, I will never know. It is dark and intense and if you want a book that will test your limits, this is it.

Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US

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Interview:

Hi Jaden, thanks for taking the time to chat today. Firstly, can you tell people a little bit about ‘Therapist’ in your own words?

　Therapist is a bit of a crazy ride through the eyes of a madman slowly getting madder. That’s the short and sweet explanation. I think it’s important that people remember, this isn’t a happily ever after. It’s erotic, and dark, and very twisted…and more of a mind “eff” than anything else.

Where did the inspiration for this book come from?

　I thought about the idea of a sociopathic therapist first of all. It grew from there, just a little seed planted and Alexandre took over.

Your main character, Alexandre Dane is a therapist and clearly knows what he’s doing. Is this something you’ve had experience in doing or was there a lot of research involved?

　No experience at all. Just a lower level psychology course and hanging around friends in the business.

Written from the point of view of sociopath is very intense, how did you make him so convincing?

　He took over. I tend to channel my characters when I write, which made this book exceptionally difficult. I had to take a deep breath, relax and let Alexandre have the reins. It was more stream of consciousness than any planning.

Do you base any of your characters traits from people you know in real life, or even yourself or are they all purely fictional?

　They are mostly fictional, but I have known some bizarre people over the years that I do steal a few things from here and there.

If Therapist was made into a movie, who would be your dream cast?

　I would have to confess that I haven’t thought much about this. I would love to find out what readers think, so if anyone wants to share, please let me know!

Judging by the genre you write in and your various webpages, you’re obviously very open about all sexual experiences, do you think this is important in today’s society?

　I do think it’s important to be open and comfortable with your sexuality. Life is too short for bad sex!

Therapist is very full-on and extreme and some parts are quite difficult to read. Were you ever concerned that this might put readers off?

　Definitely. I know several larger blogs wanted nothing to do with it because it was so dark and wasn’t a HEA. I needed to write it though, he needed out of my head.

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

　Not necessarily. I’ve always been a writer though, but non fiction. This foray into fiction is new, but has become rather exciting. I will confess, I’ve become obsessed with getting the stories out.

Finally, do you have anything else planned that you’re able to talk about?

　I am currently working on the follow up novella to my bestselling book, The Beast. It’s called Perfectly Normal and will be out in 2-3 weeks. After that I have a sweet love story called The Way Back. I’m hoping to have it finished before August, so I might give my grandmother a copy for her 89th birthday. After that, the second full length book in The Beast series, called Little Dove. That should be out in August or September.

You can find Jaden on the following links: Facebook