Rating: 
Summary: A brilliant depection of investigative methodology
Review: Ok, so its not onyl that but a great tale. At times, the period elements seem unnecessary, but it continues to remind the reader of the differences between the society of 1890's NY and our current one. It also shows just how some of own came to be. The story is not just one of a murder-mystery and its subsequent unravelling, but one of the people involved. The various sub plots weave in and out, creating vision of depth that the reader so easily falls into. The characters are not overly developed (the time frame hardly allows for much), but the events serve to highlight and bring them life with the pain, triumph and importance that is so reflective in our own lives. This is an excellent tale set in a perdiod of american history that is arguably one of our most turbulent. I found this story... alive.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good and almost great
Review: Certainly one of the better books written - it is worth reading.My only gripe is CC allocated a disproportionate amount of time
trying to find the killer using profiling.
The process was highly interesting for awhile but after 400 or
so pages of this profiling, it became a chore to get through,
I just wanted to finally identify the killer and get on with the story. The entire book I have to say is beautiful and well written. Mr. Carr is a writer's writer. He's very polished and has a tremendous command of the english language. Overall, a very very good book...just expect to put up with
an inordinate amount of time 'profiling'. Michael
Rating:
Summary: Cleverly Written
Review: I really enjoyed this book. Caleb Carr has gone to considerable lengths to make this story very realistic. This is a murder mystery novel about a serial killer. The story is set in 1896 when Teddy Roosevelt was the NYC Police Commissioner. He plays an important role in the storyline along with the main characters, Dr. Kreizler (a psychologist) and John Moore (a reporter for the New York Times). They are friends and are brought together to solve a group of unspeakable crimes. Crimes so heinous that the newspapers won't print the true story. Commissioner Roosevelt calls on Dr. Kreizler, Mr. Moore to help solve the murders and catch the killers. With the help of a small, but very eclectic mix of people, they form a well-rounded team. They use radically new police techniques such as "fingerprinting" and studying hair samples, etc. to track and identify the killer. With these tools and the psychological profile of the killer that Dr. Kreizler formulates with every crime scene, they catch their man. I think that through the very gruesome story you will find a truly intellectual plot. The camaraderie that developes between the "team" and the trials they go through in catching the killer keep you reading. If you like this one, I also suggest another Caleb Carr novel: The Angel of Darkness.
Rating:
Summary: original psychological drama
Review: This book wins points for originality and its ability to draw the reader into the world of 1896 New York City, where a murderer is killing transvestite youth in a horrific manner (WARNING: I had to take a break from this book after reading the first description of a victim's body. It is graphic.) Laszlo Kreizler is a NYC alienist (psychologist) enlisted by Teddy Roosevelt (head of NYC police at the time) to track this killer down. He has the aid of Steve Taggert, a street urchin he has befriended, and John Moore, a NY Times reporter (and also the book's narrator). The book is well-written and transports the reader into turn-of-the-century NYC, and the blustery Teddy Roosevelt seems true to his description in biographies. The characters are all believable and one can almost feel the gloom and cold of undertaking such a case as the story plays out. Don't be put off by the size of the book --- it is a real page-turner, you'll wish it was longer!
Rating:
Summary: A exciting historically accurate journey
Review: Before I began this novel I was not sure if I wanted to read such a thick book. But I was wrong. From the beginning to the end of the book Carr keeps the reader wondering who the killer is. There is a lot of suspension and mystery throughout the book and the tension in the book keeps building up until the end it leaves the reader amazed of who the killer is. Carr takes the reader on an exciting and historically accurate journey tracking a serial killer through the seemy underbelly of New York City in the late 1800's.
The plot revolves around a serial killer who is preying on very young (12, 13 years old) boy prostitutes in New York City. The police have no suspects and no real leads. Because this story takes place in the late 1800, at that time there wasn't computers or all the necessary and easy things that we have today to find a criminal. There was only files and paper works. For example, at one point, Kreizler and Moore must travel to Washington, D.C. to review government records. They must take a long train ride and days of manually pouring over files to find what they are looking for. The title refers to the name that psychologists were known at that time, based on a belief that those suffering from mental illness were "alienated" from the normal world.
I hope from this review I have encouraged people to go read this great book. I strongly recommend reading this book, for it is one that you will never forget as long as you live...
Rating:
Summary: Great Read! Historical mystery, characters with depth.
Review: Set in 1896 in New York City, this is an historical mystery blending fact and fiction chronicling the efforts of a unusual group of characters to profile and catch a serial killer. Teddy Roosevelt, as new, reforming head of the then-corrupt New York Police Department, enlists his friend Laszlo Kreizler to use the young science of psychology to catch the madman killing young boy prostitutes in increasingly gruesome ways. The title refers to the name that psychologists were known at that time, based on a belief that those suffering from mental illness were "alienated" from the normal world. In a society that denies the existence of it's seedy underbelly and with increasing tension and prejudice in the new immigrants, Roosevelt needs to have this case investigated secretly. Helping Kreizler is a reporter familiar with that seedy side and it's head criminals; one of two women that is employed as a secretary in the NYPD building, her greatest dream to be the first policewoman; and a pair of Jewish brothers, detectives hired under the new policies of reformer Roosevelt, with knowledge of and eagerness for new investigative techniques. This book is an interesting look at the growing pains of one of the greatest cities in the world, with fully three-dimensional characters and early perspectives and theories of psychology, criminal profiling, and investigative techniques. A great read!
Rating:
Summary: Dark and Chilling Alienist is Flawless
Review: I write this review knowing that nothing I can say will possibly come close to doing Caleb Carr's Alienist any sort of justice, but because the book is such a deep and fantastic journey into the depths of the human soul, I really must give it a shot. Carr positively hooks the reader within mere pages, pulling you along for an unforgettable story that will leave you breathless. Of all the books I've read, none have come close to the unbelievable work that introduces us to the mysterious Dr. Laszlo Kriezler, a brilliant psychiatrist whose forensic insight and practices are decades ahead of his time. There is simply no way to express how truly perfect this book is. The grammatical style is one of flawless purity, never once straying from the 19th Century dialect that makes the reader oblivious to the fact that he is not actually strolling down the streets of New York in the year 1896. The chilling descriptions of a disturbed psyche at work dismantling the very fabric of that city is undeniably the darkest and most intriguing plot I've ever come into contact with. The history of the city comes alive with Carr's talented perspective of detailing information without making the reader feel like he's sitting in a classroom. The dark and chilling nature of the story, as I've mentioned, touches the deep inner cravings that each of us possess that cries out for an understanding and exposure of such crimes. The characters are perfectly developed, the story is flawless, and the author is a master at his craft. Being a student of psychology myself, I was amazed at how Carr introduced, explained, and applied some of the greatest psychological theories of the time to the mystery and argued a profile for his serial killer that some of today's leading experts could only dream of creating. I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that this novel is the best I've ever read. I strongly recommend reading this book, for it is one that you will never forget as long as you live...
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite books... and here's how I read it:
Review: When I read The Alienist, I put my CD player on repeat and play "Barcarolle" by Offenbach while I read... it is perfect. I haven't read any other books that deserve a theme song. I picked this book up in '95 and recommend it to all of my friends who have a brain. In fact, whenever I loan it to anyone I never get it back. I have had to buy two hardcovers and three paperback copies of this book. I don't think I'm going to loan it out anymore. This book is 'stellah.' You can read the other reviews if you want to find out what it's about... I just wanted to put in my two cents and five stars.
Rating:
Summary: The first profiler?
Review: The ALIENIST begins with Theodore Roosevelt's funeral, a reason for the novel's narrator, John Schuyler Moore, a New York Times crime reporter, to flash back to 1896, when Roosevelt had just been appointed police commissioner. Roosevelt summons Moore and Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, the alienist of the title, to head up a murder investigation. Someone has been murdering transvestite boy prostitutes and Roosevelt doesn't trust his corrupt police department to solve the crimes.
I had recently read a non-fiction account of life in New York during the nineteenth century and I wanted to see how Carr would
incorporate what I knew into a novel. I've also been interested in profiling ever since I read THE RED DRAGON, by Thomas Harris.
Kreizler is an early version of a profiler.
Although some reviewers bemoan Carr's handling of minor characters, I found some of them totally engrossing, especially Stevie, a street urchin whom Dr. Kreizler takes under his wing as a driver. Stevie adds some comic relief to a sometimes depressing novel.
Something else I rather liked was the inclusion of historical characters, besides Roosevelt. Jacob Riis and J.P. Morgan, among others, make appearances. You can certainly tell Carr was once a historian. New York City, 1896 is the real star of the story. I've started Carr's futurist novel, KILLING TIME, since I read this one and could not get through the first twenty pages. Stick to history, Caleb.
Rating: 
Summary: Very disappointing
Review: I enjoy both historical fiction and psychological thrillers, so I had great hopes for this book. Sadly, it's pulp garbage. Though the setting is vividly conjured, the protagonists come off as something from Doc Savage or Mission: Impossible--a ridiculously colorful crew of cliches, including the Plucky Urchin, the Chin-Scratching Professor, the Liberated Woman, and the Comic Relief Foreigners. Compounding this, the narrator is just a whitebread construct inserted into the story to show us the plot. The only time he ever takes independent action, he is captured by random bullies and has to be rescued by the Plucky Urchin in a stupefying sequence. The rest of the time he just follows the other characters around to justify a first-person narrative. Really, this is a terrible book. You're better off with George MacDonald Fraser or James Ellroy. I read it a couple years ago and I still recall the palpable sense of disappointment after the first fifty pages or so, when I realized the book really wasn't going to get better. I persevered on the grounds that I was on a long car ride, but I should have just stared out the window. Don't buy it.
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