The Angel of Darkness

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing after The Alienist
Review: I agree with other reviewers that the dialog of Stevie was bothersome. The inclusion of Roosevelt at the end and Vanderbilt in middle were either wildly unbelievable or under-explained. Can a great book suffer from too much detail, too many characters? I think this one does. I also agree with the reviewer who gets tired of late 20th century mores being imposed on 19th century characters. All in all however, Mr. Carr's books are a cut above pulp fiction.

Rating:
Summary: The "Kitchen Sink Effect"
Review: Sometimes there can be too much of a good thing, as the reader will soon learn when reading this book. Too many characters to keep track of, giving his lead characters too little to do, and burying the reader with one deus ex machina after another were just some of the frustrations with this follow up to a much more suspenseful and clever book,The Alienist. Carr seems to suffer from the disease that many Stephen King books have, a lack of judicious editing. A decent idea buried under all this extraneious material.

Rating:
Summary: What an incredible disappointment after "The Alienist"!!
Review: As a person who raved to her coworkers and friends relentlessly about "The Alienist" being one of the best books of the past 5 years, I was overwhelmingly disappointed by "The Angel of Darkness." The story of Libby Hatch was intriguing, but the book plodded on and on until I was begging for it to be over. I normally would not even stay with a book that slow, but knowing Carr's previous work, I assumed there HAD to be something better coming. Perhaps if "Angel" had been a tighter, less rambling 350 pages or so instead of 750, it might have been enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: Uhmmm....
Review: I know this won't be an eloquent review, but i'm tired at the moment. I found the storyline interesting enough to read, but the writing and the minute things that happened in the story were extremely frustrating. Things like characters finding time to have 3 pages of idle chit chat when they have urgent matters at hand. *sigh* I'm glad it's over.

Rating:
Summary: Historically rich psychological mystery
Review: Carr's most recent work is told with Hemmingway like simplicity while focusing on complex Freudian issues. Carr's tale is woven around the concept of the unfit mother taken to another level. Exploring the female role as mother in society, this historical mystery addresses modern questions . The slow pace of the first chapters quickly increases with pivotal information unfolding at each corner moving the reader along with the novel's full bodied cast of characters. Steve Taggert is a likeable first persona narrator and Carr effectively creates a strong empathy for our guide. Overall, a great read!

Rating:
Summary: Better than The Alienist!!
Review: I almost didn't read this book because of all of the reviews I had read on Amazon.com. I am so glad I ignored those people! This was a well thought out and involving tale. I actually enjoyed it more than The Alienist! The story was engrossing, the writing excellent, and the plot exciting. The historical figures and narrative by Stevie Taggert were not distracting but added to the character of the story. I will still read other reviews, but will certainly never let them keep me from coming to my own conclusions. I cannot wait for the next novel from Caleb Carr, a BRILLIANT writer!!

Rating:
Summary: Overall I would have to say that I was disappointed.
Review: I absolutely loved the Alienist and was excited when I bought Angel of Darkness. After reading a few chapters I knew it could not compare to Carr's previous work, yet I was not expecting such a huge let down. I commend Carr on his knowledge of early twentieth century history and his desire to intertwine that into novels, however this book was drawn out and I feel he could have done a lot more editing and that would have enhanced the book. I also feel the ending was anti-climactic and bringing in Sr. Linares for the last few chapters was unnecessary. Also, bringing Stanton and Roosevelt into the mix was completely ridiculous. If you loved the Alienist I do not recommend this book!

Rating:
Summary: Two Books in One
Review: I really enjoyed most of book... but it had an awkward pace.. Parts of it like the visit to Libby Hatches mothers house had me on edge. Other parts, like over descriptive dinner scenes were annoying. The end was disappointing. I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it.. but a space ship could have landed to save the day out of nowhere and had the same effect. I wish the ending had stayed with the story. The characters were great and saved the book, especially El Nino.

Rating:
Summary: Rambling, contrived, evocative
Review: This book was lent to me by a colleague, a fan of detective fiction, because she enjoyed the way Carr traces the history of forensics through his novels. That part of the book was interesting. But I hated the style of writing. That "what" used instead of "who, which, or that" just hit me the wrong way. The entry into the story of Stanton and the US Navy, of all things, took it over the top. The book was too long. I did find the relationships of the doctor, the policemen and the journalist to be interesting and wish there had been a bit more development of the forces that brought and held them together. I hesitate to recommend this to anyone who has to make careful choices about how to spend leisure time.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful suspense
Review: Caleb Carr has done it again! I simply loved Angel of Darkness. Such unique characters and it is this very uniqueness and diversity of each characters that makes this book so interesting. The ending took me by surprise. However, I am still unclear about the involvement of Vanderbilt, why did he go out of his way to hire Darrow in defense of Hatch? If anyone has the answer, please post them.