Real Life Psychology

Since Iris is a psychologist, she gives her reader some real-world lessons in psychology, including an introduction to the narcissistic personality, a primer on spotting a liar, and insights on grief. Iris’ knowledge about psychology and mental disorders gives her credibility. At the same time, the fact that she is fooled by Corban makes her believable as a human being.

It is not until Corban is trying to force Iris to tell him where Will hid the stolen money that Iris recognizes that Corban is a narcissist. Corban brags about his role in the theft of the money and laments that Will has not given him more credit. Iris recognizes this bragging and sense of entitlement as traits of someone suffering with narcissistic personality. She believes this is why she did not recognize before this point that Corban was mentally unstable. “Excessive bragging is...