Though it starts out brilliantly and with a fantastic premise, The Wisdom of Psychopaths is ultimately disappointing. To begin with, based on its caption and description, one would expect a fascinating review of research, followed by a discussion of the implications of that research, and finally concluding with application of that research and those implications---"self-help" of sorts, but with a backing of footnotes, endnotes, and hard science (indeed, if, like me, you learned about this book and Dr. Dutton based on his interviews, this is the exact impression given). Here, we get the overview of research and some discussion of the implications, but no application. This issue ultimately affects the conclusion, largely in that there really is not a conclusion. We reach the end with little warning and effectively no wrap-up. As a result, "The Wisdom of Psychopaths" fails both as a piece of writing and to achieve its explicit point---what can be learned and applied from research on psychopathy.

Dr. Dutton's writing also frequently fails to be clear. His prose is congenial, easy to read, and seemingly easy to follow. He has a habit, however, of dropping important concepts into your lap with little warning and less fanfare before moving on and not mentioning the concept again for a dozen or more pages, where, with no new introduction of the concept (or, indeed, often of even the acronym), the discussion suddenly centers on the implications of three factors (brushed over with little note in a previous chapter) and their interaction or interoperability with this concept. The result ends up being a frustrating experience of flipping between pages and constant attempts to separate the obiter dictum from the ratio decidendi (though, on the bright side, these frustrations did give me cause to learn a substantial amount about the Kindle Paperwhite's note-taking and page-marking features).

All of these negatives aside, "The Wisdom of Psychopaths" does remain a fascinating read. Though occasionally opaque, Dr. Dutton's prose holds the attention and his passion and interest in his own research marks every paragraph. Likewise, his examples, research, and anecdotes used to illustrate most concepts (though, again, as mentioned above and quite frustratingly, often not those most central to his point) captivated my attention. Beyond anything else, my insight and understanding certainly grew.

The problem, however, is that, despite being a quite interesting book and even one which held my attention, it's not a particularly good book. The flaws of structure and style detract massively from what is otherwise a fascinating read, and what could have been a great book is instead reduced to one which is only "okay."