Rating: 
Summary: A Hard Act to Follow is Followed Well
Review: In 1995, Caleb Carr brought us THE ALIENIST and introduced us to the cast of late 19th century sleuths which included police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt. In ANGEL OF DARKNESS, the author takes us again to fin de ciecle New York City. Roosevelt has moved to Washington to take up his new duties as assistant secretary of the Navy. Our other friends, Dr. Lazlo Kreizler (the Alienist); John Moore some-time editor for the New York Times; Miss Sara Howard, gun-toting lady private investigator; Stevie, a former juvenile delinquent who has (somewhat ) mended his ways; and Cyrus, Dr. Kreizler's "man". Stevie is the narrator of this tale of a horrific mass murderess, sometimes known as Libby Hatch. Our team underestimates the craftiness and resources of their prey and thus we are swept up in a chilling chase through one of 1897's seedier New York neighborhoods, upstate to Saratoga and Ballston Spa and back again. This is a captivating book that will keep you biting your nails until its conclusion.
Rating:
Summary: A good, if sometimes disappointing, sequel
Review: If, like me, you read the reviews of _The Angel of Darkness_ (both here and in the print media) before you got around to reading the novel itself, you were warned that: 1)Stevie's narrative "voice" is distracting and annoying, 2) The courtroom scene(s) dragged on too long, and 3) the book could have been pruned a bit more judiciously. Well, the good news is that Stevie serves as a surprisingly engaging narrator, the courtroom incidents are rather interesting and do not "drag" in the least, and the book's length allows for the same kind of minutely wrought period detail that attracted so many people to _The Alienist_. The bad news is that the book does seem riddled (at times) with inconsistencies. The whole kidnapped-baby thread, used to kick-start the plot, is dropped much too easily; the monstrous crimes in Libby Hatch's past are frustratingly underexplained, and the concluding action--of the blink-and-you'll-miss-it variety--feels strangely anticlimactic. Still, this remains a "good read," simply by virtue of its fascinating setting(s), interesting characters, and its nature as a sequel to a wonderful novel (hey, _The Six Messiahs_ sucked, but I read it anyway out of my love for _The List of 7_ ). Give it a go.
Rating: 
Summary: Skip it.
Review: The Alienist was a terrific story - I bought several copies as gifts for friends. But the Angel of Darkness was annoying; too many extraneous characters just in the story to prove the author did his research. The major problem I had is that the "gang" was hired to find a kidnapped baby. Well, they get totally sidetracked, and go chasing all over the place, forgetting the thing they were supposed to do! Who cares if they leave this kid in dire peril, they've got to do research to get the kidnapper on bigger charges! Totally implausable ending, and generally way too many unnecessary details. Doesn't this guy have an editor??
Rating: 
Summary: The Angel of Darkness - Caleb Carr
Review: The Angel of Darkness is most certainly an excellent sequel to Carr's The Alienist. He is a master of imagery, making the reader feel like he/she is part of the action and also the emotion of the characters. I feel that travelling into the psyche of the characters gives such depth to the under current of the novel. I would recommend this book for anyone that loved The Alienist.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent sequel to The Alienist
Review: The gang is back. Angel of Darkness has all of the main characters from The Alienist. Written with the same flair, Angel is an excellent read. The only weakness appears after 550 pages, when the plot gets a little silly. Regardless, it is well worth reading. It is only too bad it took Caleb Carr so many years to write this sequel.
Rating:
Summary: Quite engrossing but not as good as "The Alienist"
Review: I really enjoyed the Old New York feel of Mr. Caleb's writing. Again, the psychological pursuit of the suspect is engaging. I left it, however, not quite as satisfied as with "The Alienist", perhaps because the previous book was very fresh and this one, while still quite good, did not grow on the theme and/or process, but rather, was a continuation thereof. In short, very good but maybe a bit formulated.
Rating:
Summary: A gripping "speed read"
Review: The Angel of Darkness features the return of Dr. Lazlo Kriezler and his motley group of psychological manhunters. As with the Alienist, Caleb Carr's characters are wonderfully colorful and thoroughly New York. It is easy to remove yourself from your modern day surroundings and venture off into the Big Apple's turn-of-the century tenement culture from the first turn of the page. Pluses: 1) Fascinating character sketches from beginning to end. Carr is truly gifted in this respect. 2) Never short on suspense 3) What a villian!
Minuses: the storyline toys with the boundaries of plausibility to the point where there are simply too many convenient coincidences and "wait a minute, I got its!" from the lead characters. In addition, Carr often feels compelled to explain the obvious implications of developments in cases where what has been implied is more than adequate. The tendency bespeaks Carr's excessive err on the side of explanation, rather than a more confident trust that his reader will "get it." Have faith, Caleb; we will!
Overall, an enjoyable and thoroughly suspenseful read. While it ultimately falls short of The Alienist, The Angel of Darkness is a career advancing accomplishment for this rising talent.
Rating:
Summary: Grossly overwritten, not well planned, and disappointing
Review: I was excited to hear that Carr had revived the characters from 'The Alienist' in a sequel that, given the author's extensive knowledge of New York history, HAD to be informative at the very least. 'Angel of Darkness,' however, was a disappointment. Carr, again, demonstrates the strength of his research, but much of the novel focuses on setting the historical scene. There are cameo appearances of historical figures, which do not advance or enhance the story at all. Such useless sidebars end up making the author sound as if he is merely flexing his knowledge of New York trivia, and unlike 'The Alienist,' such showmanship comes off as merely pretentious. It also makes this book about 200 pages too long. The story itself drags. Very little is revealed of the central character of Libby Hatch after the first 100 pages. The main problem is the central thesis of whether or not women are capable of killing their own children. Is this really that hard to believe? Considering most people in the 1990s have heard of post-partum depression, or read news articles of women dumping their newborns, or are familiar with the huge number of infanticides throughout the world in cultures that value boys over girls, why is it difficult to believe that the murderess in this novel committed all her crimes? It isn't, and yet the author labors repeatedly over this issue.
The story would be much less sloppy if Carr did not rely so heavily on cliched characters, dialogue and scenarios (though such cliches did help me finish the book faster, as I was able to accurately predict the outcome of most of the chapters, and hence, hastened my total reading time). I wish I had counted the number of times characters said something like "There was more we didn't know -- MUCH more."
The final insult was the author's racist stereotypes (of all non-sequiturs) of an aboriginal immigrant from the Philippines. Initially described as some bizarre freak of nature, and subsequently forced to behave as the investigative team's trained monkey, his character is of no use whatsoever. Hence, Carr's inclusion of this 'pgymy' ends up being a mere freak show act for the purpose of ridicule.
In summary, I felt like I was reading a gruesome Nancy Drew novel. The one thing about 'Angel of Darkness' is that it takes 600 pages for the author to accomplish what Nancy Drew can do in 150.
Rating: 
Summary: A Disappointing Follow-Up
Review: As intrigued and excited as I was to pick-up Caleb Carr's sequel to "The Alienist", I found myself increasingly frustrated by Carr's reliance on too many words to describe unimportant events. Carr's skill at painting a time and a place in the most fascinating details as in "The Alienist", gets lost here in what feels like a more labored attempt to churn out this book. The plot begins in the similarly quaint and charming style of its predecessor, but it soon veers off into a pedantic adventure, culminating in a quite unbelievable climax that could only be found in a bad, formulaic B-movie. The book is more than one hundred pages too long.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Sequel - long but worth it!
Review: After reading The Alienist, I didn't think the sequel could be as good, and it is not - it's better. The characters are developed and the reader never feels like it's all figured out. I enjoyed the book tremendously, and I'm not particular a mystery/thriller fan. Well written.
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