Gaslighting

I’ll admit, *Gaslighting* made me uncomfortable—and that’s why I kept listening. Mike Cold doesn’t waste time on hand-holding or moralizing. Within the first 30 minutes, he’s breaking down real-world examples of gaslighting in relationships, workplaces, and politics with the clinical precision of a forensic psychologist. The audiobook’s strength lies in its structure: each chapter tackles a specific tactic (doubt-seeding, reality distortion, love-bombing), then flips the script to show how the same tool can be used offensively or defensively. It’s like a *Sun Tzu for psychological warfare*—useful, but ethically squirm-inducing. Jason Belvill’s narration is serviceable but not stellar. His voice has a no-nonsense gravitas that suits the subject, but his limited range flattens some of the more provocative sections. A smidge more inflection during the case studies (like the chilling workplace gaslighting anecdote in Chapter 4) would’ve amplified the impact. My bigger critique? The book’s brevity. At 3 hours, it skims over nuance—like the long-term psychological fallout of being a gaslighter—which feels like a missed opportunity. Still, for listeners who want a crash course in manipulation—whether to spot it or (ahem) *practice* it—this is the audiobook equivalent of a psychological Swiss Army knife. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.