University of British Columbia psychopathy expert Leanne ten Brinke draws on the latest research to explain how dark personalities cause harm and offers science-based strategies to help you identify and manage them, so you can dramatically reduce their impact on your life, relationships and workplaces – and in society at large.

You definitely know one.

This book is about the poisonous people who walk among us. The romantic partner who twists every conversation, the office bully who keeps being promoted, or the reckless relative who never takes responsibility for their actions. 

Award-winning researcher Leanne ten Brinke has studied dark personalities for decades, examining their behaviour in settings as varied as prisons, schools and financial boardrooms, even in the United States Senate.

Dr ten Brinke uses a mixture of new science and storytelling to:
 

• help you identify dark personalities¬†
• understand how they cause so much harm
• take evasive action before you become their target
• prevent bad behaviour¬†
• decide if you should leave
• get out of toxic situations unscathed

The latest research shows that a relatively small number of people are bringing the rest of us down. This insightful, humane, optimistic and empowering book gives you powerful, evidence-based tools to neutralise their poison and improve your life.

Details

ISBN13: 9781398535619
Format: Paperback / softback
Number of Pages: 288
Edition: Export/Airside
Publication Date: 17 Mar 2026
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
Publication City, Country: London, United Kingdom
Dimensions (cm): 23.4(H)x15.3(L)x2.2(W)
Weight (gm):

Author Biography

Leanne ten Brinke, PhD serves as an associate professor at the University of British Columbia, where she directs the Truth and Trust Lab. She has published dozens of academic articles on deception, distrust, and psychopathic personalities in the courtroom, boardroom, and halls of government. Her work has been featured in media such as The New York Times, Financial Times, The Washington Post, The Harvard Business Review, BBC, NPR, and CBC. Prior to joining the University of British Columbia, Dr. ten Brinke was an assistant professor at the University of Denver and held a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Haas School of Business and Department of Psychology at UC Berkeley. Dr. ten Brinke holds a PhD from the University of British Columbia and a BSc degree from Dalhousie University. She was born and raised in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

Reviews

Chosen as one of the best new popular science books of 2026 by New Scientist 
‘We are going to need all the help offered by a compelling new book . . . dispense[s] plenty of useful advice on how to protect ourselves from the “poisonous people” in our midst . . . illuminating’ * New Scientist *
‘Rather than depress us, [ten Brinke] wants to empower the reader by informing them about how to recognise “dark” personalities, deny them powerful corporate positions, leave or repair a relationship and even recognise such qualities in themselves. For all its concentration on “dark” types, they are a minority, and this is a positive manual for spotting them and dealing with them’  * Sydney Morning Herald  *