NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A TNT ORIGINAL SERIES • “A first-rate tale of crime and punishment that will keep readers guessing until the final pages.”—Entertainment Weekly “Caleb Carr’s rich period thriller takes us back to the moment in history when the modern idea of the serial killer became available to us.”—The Detroit NewsWhen The Alienist was first published in 1994, it was a major … The Alienist was first published in 1994, it was a major phenomenon, spending six months on the New York Times bestseller list, receiving critical acclaim, and selling millions of copies. This modern classic continues to be a touchstone of historical suspense fiction for readers everywhere.
The year is 1896. The city is New York. Newspaper reporter John Schuyler Moore is summoned by his friend Dr. Laszlo Kreizler—a psychologist, or “alienist”—to view the horribly mutilated body of an adolescent boy abandoned on the unfinished Williamsburg Bridge. From there the two embark on a revolutionary effort in criminology: creating a psychological profile of the perpetrator based on the details of his crimes. Their dangerous quest takes them into the tortured past and twisted mind of a murderer who will kill again before their hunt is over.
Fast-paced and riveting, infused with historical detail, The Alienist conjures up Gilded Age New York, with its tenements and mansions, corrupt cops and flamboyant gangsters, shining opera houses and seamy gin mills. It is an age in which questioning society’s belief that all killers are born, not made, could have unexpected and fatal consequences.
Praise for The Alienist
“[A] delicious premise . . . Its settings and characterizations are much more sophisticated than the run-of-the-mill thrillers that line the shelves in bookstores.”—The Washington Post Book World
“Mesmerizing.”—Detroit Free Press
“The method of the hunt and the disparate team of hunters lift the tale beyond the level of a good thriller—way beyond. . . . A remarkable combination of historical novel and psychological thriller.”—The Buffalo News
“Engrossing.”—Newsweek
“Gripping, atmospheric . . . intelligent and entertaining.”—USA Today
“A high-spirited, charged-up and unfailingly smart thriller.”—Los Angeles Times
“Keeps readers turning pages well past their bedtime.”—San Francisco Chronicle
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I couldn’t put this book down. The language of the prose and the pace of the story really kept me going. I particularly liked the way the team of investigators sought the psychology behind the murderer; I feel like it was a good lesson in how a police investigator in modern times might profile a killer.
Great historical information and back drop for an investigation about a series of murders in turn of the century NYC. This series discusses the processes of crime investigation and the economic disparity between the ultra wealthy and the very poorest on the fringes of society.
I read this book many years ago, but it still haunts me to this day. All the new crime books out there today about serial killers are no match for this book. It is intelligently written with great insight. Definitely not for the faint of heart.
Loved it! Bought & read it because of the TV mini-series. More please.
TV show not half as good as the book. Read it years ago and still remember how much I enjoyed it.
I was captivated by this story. It was suspenseful, following the trail of a serial killer, but not gory. And the character of Teddy Roosevelt made it so interesting from a historical perspective.
Recommended: Yes – for anyone looking for an interesting historical mystery. I liked how the author described it as more of a ‘whydunnit’ than a ‘whodunnit’ which was a fun take. Mystery fans will like putting the puzzle pieces together of the mind of a killer and history fans will like detailed setting and the time of New York where scientific and societal progress was a combustible force all on its own.
Note: There are spoilers further on.
Pros:
The story reads pretty quickly given just how much information is packed in. The characters are fun and you learn a good deal about early psychology and New York at the turn of the century. The fictional narrative was an incredibly effective way to demonstrate how all the changes society was facing at the time (scientific, societal, political etc.) were playing out on the ground level so to speak. All in all it was a fun book that was able to harness a lot of detail and historical fact in an engaging way. John Moore was an enjoyable narrator and filled the role as a Trojan Horse for the readers, offering a more relaxed and human way of looking at the whole experience, including Dr. Kreizler. Sara was the gun wielding woman, strong willed with her sights set on becoming a detective despite the misogyny in her way. I will say Sara was paired with enough human and softer moments that she didn’t become a caricature. The crimes were extra violent, probably for the shock factor but then the story filled in enough detail of the criminal where it seemed plausible. Dr. Kriezler was the vehicle to carry the psych information and got more engaging the more we uncovered about him. Dr Kreizler’s servants, Cyrus and Stevie, were used to soften him in a way and their characters had some interesting personality traits that I wished I could have spent more time with (Cyrus and his music for example).
Cons:
Look, there is no way around it. Mary Palmer was fridged and given that she was one of the handful of women in the book to begin with, that ends up being a major bummer for me. As one of Dr. Kreizler’s former patients, she was poised to be a really interesting character who had some major struggles with a disability in a world and time that made very little attempt to understand and work with her. She had some agency, finding work for herself with Kreizler and a protective (sometimes possessive) personality that showed despite her not being one of the major three characters. So in truth she was a compelling character with her own wants and vices. Sara and her were thrust into a not-really-love-triangle with Kriezler and then Mary was killed her off as soon as there was going to be some sort of development between Kriezler and her. Apparently her falling down some stairs was enough to kill her even when both Cyrus and Stevie were like clubbed in the skull with a lead pipe and lived to tell about it. It honestly wouldn’t have annoyed me as much if there had been more women – but beyond one of the victim’s mothers, Mary and Sara were the only real female characters that really had a ‘speaking role’ (in quotations as Mary was functionally mute). To be fair – from my understanding there are more women in the sequel so yay for improvement, but Mary was effectively killed off so Kriezler could be upset about it and not form many more close relationships to give him the air of aloof genius. The issue was this was that Kriezler’s empathy was the most interesting thing about him to me. I’ve read about the aloof genius and that is fine, but it was really enjoyable to read about someone who used their intelligence and funneled it into a field that demands empathy for other people, specifically for those who are ‘alienated’ from regular society. And that empathy is ultimately where his strength lies and allows him to open his mind up enough to others that he can put the pieces together and catch the killer.
Other than that it was a pretty solid read. Sometimes it slips a little too far into ‘We went up to Washington St. then cut over to 37th then hopped across to 53rd Ave. where a famous diner opened up 15 years after these events that served roast salmon’ etc. Sometimes getting a little too lost in the details and slowing down the pacing. After I found out the author came from academia it wasn’t that surprising and most of the details were fantastic and added a lot of the ambiance to the story, it would just sometimes tip into the territory of getting off track. None of the cons ruined the story for me so I still recommend it.
One of my favorite books of all time, along with the sequel, Angel of Darkness. I want to hang out in 1896 New York with Dr. Kreizler, John Moore, the Isaacson brothers, Stevie, Cyrus and Sara Howard. Caleb Carr is a genius author.
Magnificent story telling ~ simply MAGNIFICENT!!!
Carr is such a great writer, I wish he would give us more.
Wow
Kept me on the edge of my seat.
Good book, definitely twisted, took a while but worth it.
I loved this book and wish Carr was a more prolific fiction writer! The characters are excellent and the story fascinating. I love books set in the Victorian time period and this book really gets into what it must have been like during that time in NYC. Without giving the story away, it does involve male child prostitutes being murdered and can be unnerving as far as the violence and the horrors that poor and orphaned children faced. The search is on for a serial killer before there was such a thing and the main characters use all their powers of deduction and investigation to figure it out. While I gave this book 5 stars, The Angel of Darkness is even better.
I loved this book. Very entertaining and I loved the characters.
This is the only book I refused to read at night.
The Gilded Age is not my cup of tea. However, this author broke down that barrier with a well-written story. One that kept me turning page after page to discover the way in which this story would end.
One of my very favorite books. One has the opportunity to study characters with the alienist’s expertise. I loved to discover how the psychological aspects were treated in previous century.
Read this book years ago when it first came out and loved it. I found it fascinating the way the characters go about trying to figure out what’s going on in the killer’s mind.
A mystery that takes you back to the time of the first serial killer – totally brilliant!!