The Angel of Darkness

Rating:
Summary: overly long, absurd plot,
Review: In the closing pages of this tedious book one character is opining on the writing of another when he says, "..whatever spirit the narrative may have has been 'regrettably marred by an appalling lack of style'". It sounds like the author was writing his own review. The book is too long--contrast the 626 pages with the less than 150 in Night Train by Martin Amis, for example--and the plot and the characters are simply not made believeable. How about an aboriginal pygmy with tiny bow and poisoned arrows as the Deus ex Machina?? Ridiculous. The narration is marred by the authors silly attempt to bring authenticity to the voice of a young boy by freely (but not always) substituting "what" in place of "that" as in "she made a sound what seemed like a sob". This is grating and, after a while, tedious. The group that attempts to solve a kidnapping could itself be charged with breaking and entering, trespass, falsifying of evidence, tampering with witnesses, lying to the defending attorney, illegal exhumation and I would suspect more but I am not a lawyer. Where was the editor??

Rating:
Summary: A great follow-up to The Alienist
Review: Amazing! I started it in the morning and could not put it down until I was finished! This book wonderfully picked up where The Alienist left off, using the sprightly young voice of "Stevepipe" Stevie Taggert to follow the tale of a truely disturbing woman who could very well have been alive and at work today. Perhaps the most entertaing personality though, was little "El Nino" - you'd have to read about him to believe him!

Rating:
Summary: The Angle of Disappointment
Review: Two of my generous four rating points for this book are dedicated to "The Alienist" which I thoroughly enjoyed. One point goes to the "feel" of a century ago. And one point goes to the fact that so much current fiction is worse than this book. That said, "The Angel of Darkness," although it had its rare compelling moments, was a superficial, stereotypical, artificial, name-dropping embarrassment. "Hey, there's Diamond Jim Brady! Ain't he fat? Did you see all the food 'what' he ate?" It's a good thing Mark Twain isn't alive. Carr's premise for his novels works. Too bad he can't write for the reader, rather than the buck. Perhaps there should be "term limits" for professional reviewers too.

Rating:
Summary: The Angel of Darkness.
Review: I found this second fiction of Mr. Carr's to be very engaging. It is written in a style that I believe is meant to feel like a story, or memoir, passed between friends. The 'listner' is drawn in and experiences the story as the teller has, with his eyes and understanding, both as a child, and as an adult. I believe Mr. Carr succeded admirably in his purpose and has produced another quality book. Any particular portion that seemed suggestive or exagerated, I took as embelishment on the part of the narrating character, Stevie Taggert. (He is, after all, telling the story with the advantage of twenty-odd years hindsight).
The book is a fascinating window on life in the time period, and offers a riveting story about a tormented murderess and crime and punishment in the late nineteenth century. Throughout the book are examples of the darkness that society unfortunately contains. Be it those who slip into drugs and poverty, the people who ignore them, or the mind that is twisted into crime and murder, we are shown them all. An excellent, poignant, disturbing, and even humorous, drama. The likable characters once again take up the gauntlet to see that cunning, money, and societal predjudices do not undermine justice. This book is a delight! Good show Mr. Carr! I hope to be reading your novels for another twenty years!

Rating:
Summary: Don't bother
Review: As impressive as "The Alienist" was, this one is that bad. The plot is as preposterous as it is poorly developed. Mr. Carr appears to have rushed publication of the novel, perhaps to capitalize on the critical success of his previous effort

Rating:
Summary: I love what Carr does.
Review: I think it's fabulous that you can be so entertained by an engrossing story and still learn so much. I learned a great deal about the social history of New York at the time and about the history of psychiatry in both Angel of Darkness and The Alienist. As a true crime junkie, I especially enjoyed the obvious references to Diane Downs and many Munchaussen-by-Proxy killers. I'm looking forward to more adventures with the good doctor.

Rating:
Summary: Not a bulb-burner but certainly worth reading
Review: I must say I really enjoyed the Alienist, very likely one of my favorite books of the past decade. While some people felt the characters were flat, I felt that that book was original, thought provoking, and even instructional. Eagerly anticipating and then purchasing Angel, I was somewhat disappointed. I enjoy the narration by Stevie "Stevepipe" Taggert. It seems that the style is colorful and probably fairly close to that of a New York urchin of that time. I even think the book does a good job of keeping you interested and enraptured up until the last third of the story or so. The villain is characterized almost as evil as the killer in Alienist, with probably as high a body count although considerable less gore in her murders. Once the villain is confronted and this group's efforts to uncover her actions becomes public in the story, I feel the novel drags on from there. Part of the interesting thing about the Alienist was that the serial killer had many traits that were continually uncovered, and we could see the steps of the thought process in determining the psych profile of Beecham. in Angel, we seem to have a profile of the villain a lot faster, so that when we uncover new facts about her history as the book progresses, they don't seem so important or as telling as such facts seemed in the Alienist. I do also find myself irritated by the little teasers at the end of each chapter. Little bits of foreshadowing that I find one a hop and a skip from obnoxious, as the narrator says something to the effect that everyone felt like things were going our way.... but we didn't know just how wrong we were.... That wears itself out once its done over and over.... BUT the book is still interesting and worth a read. Like another reviewer said, I'd check it out from the library before buying it though.

Rating:
Summary: Like beer, if 1 is good, 2 are great unless you're an alkie
Review: The Alienist it isn't. The Angel of Darkness seemingly picks up where The Alienist left off but for as far as I've read (page 50), there isn't the slightest similarity between the prose of the two books. If you're still not dissuaded, keep in mind that the voice of this book is "Stevie;" the streetwise juvenile delinquent. Proceed with caution or at most, check it out of the library. I hate being taken to the cleaners on hard cover books, don't you?

Rating:
Summary: Equals the imatitive writing of Gore Vidal & Robert Graves
Review: Imitative writing is often created but rarely effective. In the case of the Victorian authors, it means convoluted plotting, finely drawn character portraits, etc. If you're a fan of Dickens' David Copperfield, then you'll relish this book's very New York narrator (formerly known as Stevepipe), the extrememly entertaining and thoroughly researched story, the sidewalks and countryscapes of turn-of-the-century New York. Angel of Darkness is not as easy or quick a read as its excellent predecessor; but it's just as compelling a page-turner, one I couldn't put down. The story didn't drag for a minute; like Dickens, the length gives more for the reader to savor. The team of sleuths may be more p.c. than one that might have actually existed, but the fact that they are not carbon copies makes them all the more endearing. The characterizations of the historical figures give extra electricity to the story. Perhaps what is most endearing and Dickensesque is the obvious concern for the plight of children that was all too ignored in an era that tends to be glorified. Not since Nicholas Myers' 7% Solution have I enjoyed a historical mystery as much. I'm looking forward to more sequels.

Rating:
Summary: A good story but......
Review: The Angel of Darkness is a good story but the author should have stopped with The Alienist. Carr's new book is more of the same, and as a matter of fact to much more of the same. Perhaps those who have not read The Alienist will find this book more entertaining, but even a first time reader of Carr will find this book a bit tedious to read.