Mind Games: The True Story of a Psychologist, His Wife, and a Brutal Murder

By Carlton Smith

Book Overview

A SUCCESSFUL DOCTOR. Dr. Felix Polk was a married psychologist living in Berkeley, California. At forty years old, he had a successful practice and a towering reputation--until he began a scandalous affair with one of his patients: Susan Bolling. She was fifteen years old. A TROUBLED TEENAGE GIRL. After divorcing his first wife, Felix married Susan. Susan would later claim that her marriage was built on lies, manipulation, and psychological abuse. She tried to divorce Felix, but no settlement could be reached. Susan seemed to believe that Felix had stashed up to $40 million in a secret bank account in the Caribbean. She wanted her half--or else... A CASE THAT STUNNED THE NATION. In October 2002, Felix was found stabbed to death in his own home. Susan insisted she acted in self-defense. But what would a jury think when Susan--claiming she was the victim of Felix's manipulation--became her own defense attorney? This is the true story of marriage, murder, and mind games

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 031293906X
• ISBN13: 9780312939069
• Release Date: July 2007
• Publisher: St. Martin's True Crime Classics
• Length: 344 Pages
• Weight: 0.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.3" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

It was doomed from the beginning!

Carlton Smith is a popular true crime writer. This book is probably my favorite of his true books so far. This case is far more complicated and the author does his best to bring about this case to the public life. The case of Susan Polk who killed her psychiatrist husband, Dr. Frank Felix Polk, is far more complicated than it appears to be. At first, I felt that Susan Polk was guilty of the crime but it's not that simple. She first met him while he was counseling her as a teenager for sexual abuse. Dr. Polk was an expert in the field of counseling sexual abused victims but sadly he crossed the line and abused his power with Susan. He divorced his first wife and married a young girl named Susan who also had a troubled history much like Dr. Polk himself. He was a holocaust survivor who with his family escaped the Nazis in Europe as a child. He also had a troubled psychiatric history and it's ironic that he becomes a psychiatrist counseling others. In all honesty, he was truly a disturbed individual but in reality that should not stop him from being a person to help other people or deserve the ending of his life. He was brutally murdered by his own wife who was disturbed as well. You wonder if the authorities could have done any more to stop and prevent this tragedy. We must not forget the three sons of Felix and Susan who are equally troubled. One son, Gabe, testified against his own mother in court. Susan is still paranoid and suffering from delusions. before I read this book, I didn't doubt Susan's guilty but I swayed to believe that she probably thought she was doing it in her best interests to save herself.