The Alienist

Do not read the abridged version. The book thrives on minutiae and the abridged version is just worse.

A very detailed historical novel that rides somewhere between Holmes and Hannibal. It really mines the references of historical New York and the history of psychology, giving enough sense of place to reference housing and places to eat, and enough detail in psychology to discuss William James and Freud as well as questionable pioneers in criminology like Lombardo. It's a rich setting with notes of Gangs of New York. The investigative aspect gets to straddle science and pseudoscience with fingerprinting, graphology and more mythical ideas like imaging the eyeball to try to see the last recorded vision before death. It's verisimilitude, show more not dead on accuracy however. People are a bit too modern in their views and loose of tongue in a world of Victorians, it's the Deadwood solution without the linguistic flair.
There's also something decidedly Holmesian, although the great detective is a psychologist here, and his trusty companion a journalist, the relationship often seems intentionally cloned. Repeated use of the Hansom cab especially springs the likeness to mind, but overall the effect is perhaps closer to latter books like The Seven-Per-Cent Solution or Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson. Injecting some characters like the then-police commissioner Teddy Roosevelt is almost gratuitous fun.
It's unfortunately at the end the story can't quite live up to the very long build-up. The villain and conclusion fall short of the book's own hype. The scenery on the way is worth the trip however. show less

Caleb Carr's novel of a serial killer on the loose in turn of the century New York, and the dangerous pursuit of him by Dr. Lazlo Kreizler and his friends is a truly wonderful read. This has so much period atmosphere the reader can almost hear the hoofbeats trotting over the cobblestone streets beneath gaslit street lamps. It is long and exciting, yet not long enough, because by the time you finish, you'll feel like many of these people are your friends, and want to spend more time with them.

The riveting story is narrated by Dr. Kreizler's good friend, John Moore. Before you are finished reading this delicious historical mystery you will meet an array of interesting and memorable characters you'll come to cherish. Sara Howard is a show more pretty and extremely capable woman ahead of her time. Sara and Kreizler's pal, Moore, push the investigation forward against strong opposition from conventional law enforcement. Two New York cops also ahead of their time, Lucius and Marcus, will use footwork and cutting-edge investigative techniques to catch a dangerous killer. A young street urchin, Stevie, saved from a miserable future by the good doctor, and a very loyal servant named Cyrus round out this rag-tag group that confront the unthinkable. They will break new ground, using Lazlo's "profile" to catch a serial killer.

When Lazlo's old friend, Theodore Roosevelt, now head of the New York Police Department, is confronted with several murders of boy prostitutes so gruesome in nature that even the most seasoned and hardened of professionals can barely stomach being called to the murder scenes, he makes a decision that will change the face of police-work forever. He unofficially allows Kreizler to form a small group to pursue the killer through psychological profiling. Police secretary Sara Howard, and crime reporter John Moore, a man who knows the underbelly of New York all to well, are two of the main players in this exciting mystery. As they close in on the killer through Kreizler's use of psychological profiling, danger hits closer to home than any of our friends had expected.

There are moments so full of flavor in this fine historical mystery that you'll feel like you are sitting alongside the characters at Delmonico's as they enjoy a good meal, and plan their next move. This fine novel is truly memorable, and holds a special place among books I've read. If you love historical mysteries you do not want to miss this one! show less

What a fantastic book and well worth pulling off the shelves for a re-read (I know it was a re-read because the bookmark was still in place!). Told with all the grime and opulence and change that was 1896 New York City, it also describes the work of an early psychologist or Alienist, as the title was at the time.

The book opens (after a chapter giving the details of their lives told over dinner decades later) with John Schuyler Moore, a police beat reporter, and his friend, Laszlo Kreizler, investigating what becomes a string of murders of young boy prostitutes. The burgeoning idea of speaking to the insane without the use of drugs and recognizing the effects of abuse on children has influenced Kreizler to use his methods to find this show more killer.

Woven into this story is the new Commissioner of Police, Theodore Roosevelt, and a woman who wants nothing more than to investigate crimes with the police department. On her own terms. A pair of brothers rounds out the investigative team and their methods that are commonplace today: finding an isolated room for their research, writing ideas onto chalkboards to find commonalities, and knocking on door after door to find and track down possible clues. Each new set of ideas brings different aspects of New York's City life to the growing investigation.

Putting together the pieces of this murderer, what motivates him to choose his victims, what his childhood was like, and when he might strike next are brilliantly done. I have not seen the TV series based on this book so there were no spoilers for me. Just good, gritty, historical story-telling at its finest. show less

"'They'll want him to be mad, of course,' Lazlo mused, not hearing me. 'The doctors here, the newspapers, the judges; they'd like to think that only a madman would shoot a five-year-old girl in the head. It creates certain . . . difficulties, if we are forced to accept that our society can produce sane men who commit such acts.'" (from The Alienist, page 33)

This passage resonates with me and seems relevant, not only for the book's major themes, but for our time, as well. How many times is a terrible crime committed and the immediate response is: oh, that person must be crazy, insane, mentally ill! No one likes to think that someone who is sane could do something that heinous, because that implies that the criminal is one of us, like us, show more and that creates the possibility that we could become like him, capable of doing the heinous act we've just condemned. That means we're capable of doing anything. Disturbing, indeed.

Lazlo is the alienist of the title, a psychiatrist in a time when psychiatry was viewed with suspicion, a non-scientific, disreputable profession. He is called in to investigate a horrific murder of a young male prostitute. Along with a ragtag assortment of other people, he works to create a profile of the murderer from the details of the murder victim's body and circumstances.

Back when I was starting to write fiction (in high school), I heard about this novel. It was praised and I was mildly interested, but I never got around to it until now.

I'm torn on how to rate this book.

On the one hand, it held my attention for the two days I spent reading it. I enjoyed the historical details, as well as the exploration of contemporary ideas about criminal behavior, mental illness, and the intersection of the two. The young victims are male child prostitutes, and I found the contemporary attitudes toward sex trafficking interesting to read about. It's tragic that the United States preferred to ignore both child prostitution and the poverty that drove many kids to sell themselves. What was once some flat, impersonal facts in a history book came alive for me in Carr's novel.

On the other, I disliked the detailed description of the murder victims' bodies. It was disturbing, as it was obviously intended and needed to be. It was also necessary, given that the entire premise revolved around Lazlo & company's attempt to profile the murderer based on the details of the murders (including the mutilated bodies).

But here's my question regarding this book and other murder mysteries: Does using something as horrible as a murder for entertainment a good thing? (I could apply the question to any terrible thing, such as rape, suicide, war, etc.) Does it desensitize the reader to the horrible nature of ending another person's life, leading to a callous attitude when confronted with this in real life? Or is there a benefit to fictionalizing crimes? Does it depend upon the author's attitude or motivation? I'm not sure. It's a question I've been bothered by since junior high school, and for many years I stopped reading mysteries because of it.

Add to that the very detailed nature of the victims' bodies in this book, and I'm disturbed even more. Many of the victims are first seen after their death. They exist only as victims, not as full-fledged characters (fictionalized humans). It's standard practice in this genre, but it has the effect of dehumanizing the victims and making me almost indifferent to their (fictional) deaths. Is this good? What benefit can there be in this? I really don't know.

Because of my conflicted response, I can't give it 5 or 4 stars, but the quality of the writing is terrific. 3 stars. show less

This is a really good historical mystery. The characters are interesting and feel appropriate to the times, the setting is impressively detailed, the pacing works, and I experienced not only the richness of the world but the emotions that went along with the story—fear, outrage, boredom, desperation, disgust, excitement…. Carr does a good job of evoking things in general, in other words. He’s also really good at keeping the twists and turns coming steadily and building that tension of getting closer and closer to a solution.

I think this might also be the first time I’ve read a book where the protagonist isn’t the point-of-view character, and enjoyed it. The choice to only see Laszlo Kreisler only through the eyes of the other show more characters, and especially the reporter who’s narrating things, makes him a more interesting, inscrutable character, which is really compelling. (The retrospective narration, told from the story’s future, also deepens things, though not necessarily in terms of Kreisler’s character.)

I also liked that Carr took care to highlight the diversity of New York at the time, the attitudes of the day, and the problems they caused (homophobia and sexism, among other examples) while having his protagonists or even many of the antagonists point out that those are problems and yes, gay people are normal and shouldn’t be shunned. For one example.

Two things kicked this down from a 9 for me though. One is totally my fault, and that is that I read this too close to finishing a binge of Mindhunter, so that every bit of clever profiling in the book felt both unbelievable (they came up with that in the 1980s, not the 1890s!) and too by-the-book. The other is that I could never quite get behind the character of the killer. At times he felt a little too out there, like Carr had chosen traits for coolness factor over believability, and at others, I found myself questioning how the killer’s past could really create the present man.

But I understand that serial killers aren’t necessarily rational or fit neatly into boxes, and that everyone’s mileage varies for that sort of thing, so that’s something I’m willing to shrug past. And all the detective work and profiling is period appropriate, they’re not out there with their steampunk DNA databases or anything.

Even with that said, this is still a good story. It still drew me in. I think I enjoyed the historical context—detective work and setting—more than the mystery itself, though, but only by a smidge. Can and will definitely recommend, if this is a subgenre you’re interested in.

To bear in mind: The serial killer in this targets adolescent male sex workers wearing drag and the bodies are very graphically described. Characters deal with abuse and sexism, and witness scenes of poverty, racism, and sexual slavery. Book also features violent scenes and corrupt cops.

8.5/10 show less

“They’ll want him to be mad, of course,” Laszlo mused, not hearing me. “The doctors here, the newspapers, the judges; they’d like to think that only a madman would shoot a five-year-old girl in the head. It creates certain… difficulties, if we are forced to accept that our society can produce sane men who commit such acts.”

I should probably start this off by admitting that I might be slightly in love with Laszlo Kreizler, so I'm probably a bit biased in my review but... fuck. This was undoubtedly one of the best books of the year, if not ever.

I'll also admit that I have watched the TV-series beforehand, but only two episodes as I stopped when I realised that 1) there was a book and 2) that I really liked it enough to want show more to read the book first. I don't regret stopping, because I had such a good read but I also don't regret watching those two first episodes, because I'm still baffled at just how good the casting was. I could see the TV cast as the characters not only during the parts covered in the mini-series but throughout the whole book.

I'm often a bit skeptical reading historical books because while they're not exactly possible to compare to books actually written 100, 200 or 300 years ago... it's rare that the book has both a great plot and great characters. Carr challenges that while still writing complex characters that feel not just realistic but life-like. They have flaws and clearly live in a different society than ours, but it refuses to fall into that stereotype that everyone had intense prejudiced views. It reminds me of the time my father said he felt Titanic's Jack Dawson was a bit unrealistic because he didn't think men were like that in the 1910s.

Carr's characters are flawed which is made clear quite a few times, but rather than just being allowed to be wrong, they're often called out on it and actually reflect over their behaviour. It's a bit absurd that this feels radical, but I've read few historical books with such occurrences without the plot being focused on lgbt or feminism; often in YA. And honestly, I could probably gush about this book for another ten paragraphs. Because I don't want to imply that it is the Only Perfect Book or anything, but damn... it was good. show less

New York City, 1896. A serial killer is on the loose, gruesomely preying upon cross-dressing boy prostitutes. Police detectives are making no progress solving the ghastly crimes. In fact, someone with power or influence seems to be bent on silencing witnesses and thwarting any investigation. Reform-minded police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt (yes, the same TR who later became president), determined to catch the killer, assembles an unconventional group of investigators headed by "alienist" Dr. Lazlo Kreizler. (In the 19th century, when psychology was in its infancy, the mentally ill were considered "alienated" from themselves and society, and the experts who treated them were known as "alienists.")
Dr. Kreizler's team includes his show more former Harvard classmate, New York Times crime reporter John Moore; Moore's longtime friend, spitfire heiress-turned-NYPD-secretary Sara Hamilton; and two former mental patients who now work as his servants.
To help identify the killer--who leaves behind very few clues, manages to spirit his victims out of locked rooms, and passes through the city unnoticed--the team attempts to develop a psychological profile of the type of person who would be capable of such horrendous deeds. The novelty of their approach does not win them any fans from the mental-health establishment or most NYPD detectives, and throughout the novel, they attempt to keep their involvement secret.

Caleb Carr is a gifted writer with the ability to transport you to another time and place within pages. In addition, he knows how to write a good detective thriller. This one of the finest historical mysteries I've ever read. show less