At its core, Psychopathy Unmasked is a work of skepticism. Psychopathy is unquestionably one of the most culturally captivating mental health diagnoses. It pervades crime thrillers and true-crime narratives, making it easy to accept the diagnosis as real and its traits as self-evident.But being a scientist means letting the evidence lead. And the empirical evidence simply does not support any of the most common claims made about psychopathy. There are hundreds of well-designed studies, yet the picture that emerges consistently undermines the mainstream narrative. The actual scientific story about psychopathy is truly a story untold, eclipsed by a myriad of false and tantalizing narratives. And the story from the legal side of things —about hearing the voices from the people harmed by the stigma of the diagnosis—is thoroughly silenced. So, the project of writing Psychopathy Unmasked stems from being personally bothered by how so many people are getting the science of psychopathy wrong. But equally so, when I realized the magnitude of the harm caused by the diagnosis in the legal system. To be honest, this skepticism about psychopathy didn’t emerge overnight. In the early stages of my career, I was just as intrigued by the idea of psychopathy as most people. But as I immersed myself in the research, I kept encountering all sorts of truly questionable research as well as studies whose findings didn’t match the prevailing narrative. Some results were inconsistent, others relied on questionable methods, and the strongest claims seemed to be the least well-supported. Over time, curiosity turned into an ethical concern: how had such a questionable diagnosis become so deeply entrenched in the criminal justice system?As I was shaping my book project, I came to realize that my work is just as much a part of a larger conversation about how we use science in legal contexts. This book is therefore much more than a simple criticism of a single diagnosis: it’s about ensuring that the tools and concepts shaping people’s lives in courtrooms and correctional facilities are grounded in robust, transparent scientific evidence. I therefore hope readers approach Psychopathy Unmasked with curiosity, but also with a willingness to challenge deeply held assumptions. It’s an invitation to rethink what we believe we “know” and to re-examine the ways science is deployed in the pursuit of justice.