Rating: 
Summary: Gabby but Gripping
Review: This sequel to Carr's The Alienist follows the same group of detectives -- professional and amateur -- as they hunt down a cunning female killer in turn-of-the-century New York. The hunt leads them from Manhattan's foulest streets to its palatial mansions to the seemingly peaceful burgs of upstate New York.The plusses of this book are many: an endearing, thirteen-year-old narrator; colorful characters (including the icy killer, a determined prosecutor and the not-yet-famous Clarence Darrow), and a tangy sense of place and time. The major drawback is a slow start and some pokiness that tends to pad instead of promote the plot. All in all, a compelling read.
Rating: 
Summary: More stars, please.
Review: This book, the sequel to The Alienist, is ten times the page turner of its predecessor. Although 'Angel' follows a different format, where you know the identity of the quarry, even as she is pursued the Alienst, et al, the chase is just as exciting as in the prior novel, where the identity of the killer was a mystery. 'Angel' is also told by a different narrator, Stevie Taggert, who appears in Alienist as well. This story follows the same characters from the first book, as they seek to bring a kidnapper to justice, as they explore her past, her nature, and her mind, in trying to determine what has led her to committing such an act. While not a villain of the same nature as in the Alienist, Libby Hatch is just as diabolical, if not more so, and far more dangerous. The Angel of Darkness is just as breathtaking as The Alienist in the recreation of turn of the century New York, and just as accurate in detail. All of the elements of the first book are in place here as well, including the use of a real person as a character, this time famed attorney Clarence Darrow, who is the counsel for the defense. Part detective story, part court-room drama, part love story, all history lesson, The Angel of Darkness is sure to keep your mind as busy as your fingers are in turning the pages to see what happens next.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Another wonderful book from the master of the New York 1880's mystery thriller!! Angel of Darkness is the sequel to the best-selling The Alienist. They are both wonderful books and deserve a read.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible Horrible Horrible
Review: Boring ,boring, boring- Trite characters. No sense of the time period. The players had very 2000 thoughts and the story line must have bee picked up from several soap acts that recently closed.
Rating:
Summary: Awful
Review: I was very much looking forward to reading Carr, having heard good things about him. But if this is the best he can do, I suggest you look elsewhere. I know I will. Carr's writing is terrible--he badly needs an editor willing to sacrifice at least half of his overblown prose. And from a historic perspective, The Angel of Darkness is a mess. His characters' actions and speech are totally unconvincing; in fact, Carr's only concession to period speech seems to be having the narrator substitute "what" for "that," as in "the book WHAT I hated." The first time he used it was annoying; by the four hundredth, I shut the book, permanently. If you're a fan of the genre but prefer your books written and researched somewhat intelligently, try Charles Palliser, or Arturo Perez Reverte.
Rating:
Summary: How the heck can people consider this book *good?*
Review: This was the most tiresome, droll, straight-out boring novel that I have ever tried to read...I had to stop reading partway through simply because I was bored to tears. And not only did the plot seem to develop at a snail's pace, but the grammar (yes I know it was told from a street urchin's point of view and that's how he would probably talk) and sheer verbose-ness of the text were horrible as well. I found myself having to read the same page/paragraph two/three times before I could even figure out what Carr was trying to get across! Don't waste your money on this one. Pathetic book.
Rating:
Summary: Kreiszler and his Bunch Search for a Serial Killer
Review: After reading the Alienist I had to jump right back into the world of turn of the century New York detectives, so I picked up the book's sequel, The Angel of Darkness. The book was an admirable sequel: it picked up where the other left off, it was narrated by a different voice (Stevie Taggart instead of John Moore) and so had a different perspective, and the sinister character was a devious female serial killer rather than an exhibitionist male killer. The Kreiszler bunch get involved in the case at the request of the wife of the Spanish Ambassador's wife, whose daughter Ana was kidnapped outside the Metropolitan Museum. Days later, Mrs. Ambassador catches a climpse of Ana on the train in the arms of a hatchet-faced woman. With Kreiszler on leave from his institute for children thanks to an investigation into his handling of a difficult child, all of the characters from the Alienist reunite to locate the baby and to find out more about what would drive a woman to kill. The novel provides fascinating insights into 19th century culture, prejudices, and urban life. I found the novel riveting, although I must admit that I skimmed through some of the incredibly lengthy accounts of research and detective procedure (such as the ballistic report), and agree with one of the previous reviewers who felt that Carr might do better to focus on people (now that the series is launched) rather than delve so deeply into procedures. The ending was satisfying, the characters delightful, and the mystery itself was intricate and thorny. I highly recommend this book to fans of historical mysteries.
Rating: 
Summary: An uneven thriller
Review: The Angel of Darkness has the same fascinating end-of-the-19th-century gritty New York setting as The Alienist, portrayed with great relish and detail. Although it was interesting to see such a different time and place, to see the infancy of crime detection, forensics, psychology, and modern courtroom procedure, Carr seems determined to use every scrap of research whether the story can bear the strain or not. These unnecessary digressions made for several points of reader's fatigue for me during the course of the very long story. But I will give Carr points for the fact that despite repeatedly checking to see how many more pages I had to get through, I *did* keep reading. This was largely due to his excellent job building the character and the mystery of the central serial killer, Libby Hatch, and also his exploration of the stilted attitudes society has towards the subject of motherhood. Carr is at his most skillful when he uses his 19th century material as a funhouse mirror to our own times, showing how attitudes on a range of subjects have changed--or changed only somewhat. Too often, though, Carr presents character types more than fully-realized people. Those characters he spends time on--like the young prostitute Kat--manage to rise to the level of true poignancy, and I can't help wishing he would spend more time doing people than belaboring the research. When Carr concentrates on human beings and human interactions, his narrative flies. More often, there is so much information that the story bogs down and human beings get lost along the way, making this book for me a very long slog with only a moderate pay off.
Rating:
Summary: THE ANGEL OF DARKNESS!!!!
Review: After reading the first novel THE ALIENST I immediately picked up the sequel THE ANGEL OF DARKNESS. The first is literally my favorite book and i was eager to see what Mr. Carr could do with his characters next. And he did a fantastic job. The story, though slightly different from the orignial story, is told by Stevie Taggret. In this novel the motely crew of investigators reunite to solve the mystery of a missing child. It is a fantastic romp through 1897 New York. We see first hand what it is like to be a child of the streets, we witness the crimes of killer, we cry when characters die. The novel is thoroughly engrossing, envoloping, involving. Overall amazing, but it is still overshadowed by the original. Never-the-less I anxiously await Mr. Carr's upcoming sci-fi thriller: KILLING TIME.
Rating:
Summary: Horray for Sara Howard!
Review: I just finished reading this book and what a pleasure it was. First off, Mr. Carr's use of an alternative narrator, Stevie Taggart, was brilliant, in a word. It give the book so much more texture to see now familiar characters through the eyes of this servant "boy". How rich and fullfilling. As noted in my review of the Alienist, Sara Howard is one of my favaorite literary chararcters, and in this book she really steps into her own. I also appreciated seeing Elizabeth Cady Stanton as well as Clarance Darrow. Carr's enlivened pen brings these murky, historical characters into full breathing life. No mean feat! Finally, as a true crime hound with a particular interest in serial and female killers, this book goes right to the heart of these crimes and endeavors to answer some fairly unanswerable questions. Thought provoking and funny, with enough action to keep you reading, this is more than a worthy sequel to the Alienist. PS: For Mr. Carr, if he's reading, how about another one with Sara Howard as narrator?!!
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