Product Description

The year is 1896, the place, New York City. On a cold March night New York Times reporter John Schuyler Moore is summoned to the East River by his friend and former Harvard classmate Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, a psychologist, or "alienist." On the unfinished Williamsburg Bridge, they view the horribly mutilated body of an adolescent boy, a prostitute from one of Manhattan's infamous brothels.

        The newly appointed police commissioner, Theodore Roosevelt, in a highly unorthodox move, enlists the two men in the murder investigation, counting on the reserved Kreizler's intellect and Moore's knowledge of New York's vast criminal underworld. They are joined by Sara Howard, a brave and determined woman who works as a secretary in the police department. Laboring in secret (for alienists, and the emerging discipline of psychology, are viewed by the public with skepticism at best), the unlikely team embarks on what is a revolutionary effort in criminology-- amassing a psychological profile of the man they're looking for based on the details of his crimes. Their dangerous quest takes them into the tortured past and twisted mind of a murderer who has killed before. and will kill again before the hunt is over.

        Fast-paced and gripping, infused with a historian's exactitude, The Alienist conjures up the Gilded Age and its untarnished underside: verminous tenements and opulent mansions, corrupt cops and flamboyant gangsters, shining opera houses and seamy gin mills. Here is a New York during an age when questioning society's belief that all killers are born, not made, could have unexpected and mortal consequences.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #184908 in Books
• Published on: 1995-07-01
• Released on: 1995-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 608 pages

Amazon.com Author Profile
Read about the author.

From Publishers Weekly
Set in 1896, Carr's novel about a serial killer lose in New York City was a 25-week PW bestseller.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
A serial killer is butchering boy prostitutes in New York City. Police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt enlists a reporter and groundbreaking psychologist (known as an "alienist" in 1896) to track the killer by compiling his psychological profile. The real mystery here, however, lies in finding out what happens in the sections of the novel that were abridged. Who are all these characters? How did they jump to their apparently absurd conclusions? Where is the social history of the city and the celebrity cameos that the printed book's reviewers found so enticing? To judge by the level of suspense reader Edward Hermann can generate during selected passages, this may be a very good novel. Libraries would do best to wait for an unabridged release or stick with the print version.
John Hiett, Iowa City P.L.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

The Alienist
Caleb Carr has the ability to mix historical facts with fiction and he tells a story that truly takes on a life of its own. This is a great book set in old time New York and it is gritty and interesting and a very good read. I was mesmerized right from the beginning and entertained throughout.

A who's who of 1890's New York
I'm a sucker for pieces written in, set in, or about the late 19th century, so I had to read Caleb Carr's _The Alienist_. It is essentially a psychological thriller, as what is now known as a forensic psychologist (and a team of others) try to track down serial killer prowling the poor and immigrant neighborhoods of 1890's New York. The story itself warrants 3 stars - its good, but far from great. However, Carr's meticulous attention to detail and his veritable "who's who" of New York at the turn of the last century warrants an additional star.

The variety and scope of characters is truly outstanding, from the immeadiately recognizable (Teddy Roosevelt, J.P Morgan) to the slightly more esoteric (Jacob Riis and Lincoln Steffens) to the obscure (Charles Delmonico, Paul Kelly, Anthony Comstock for example.) The interactions between these characters and their respective roles in society (from the fabulously wealthy and influential to the seedy underbelly of the city) made an otherwise unremarkable book tremendously enjoyable.

Beyond the name dropping, Carr also impressed me with his fluency in criminology and forensics - from Bertillion's anthropomorphy to Macleod's handwriting analysis, to the nascent "profiling" (from which the book gets its title), the changing nature of crime and criminology as well of American society as a whole was vividly brought to life. Those not familiar with historical (or sociological) minutae may be impressed with Carr's descriptions of Manhattan's geography - from the aquarium at Battery Park to Wananmaker's to the Museum of Natural History, Carr walks you through the New York of 100 years ago, providing context for characters and places alike.

Clearly he is a master of capturing a sense of place and time - I regret that the story itself was not similarly engaging. This may be a function of my enthusiasm for the characters and setting overpowering the story line, but I found the procedure of collecting and analyzing the clues, piecing together the profile of the murderer much less engaging than journey around and through the city as the crucial elements were gathered.

If this is any indication of the style and strength of Carr's writing, I will certainly read other works by him, if for nothing other than his ability to transport me to another place and time.

Not a fan of the era but this book is great
I tend not to enjoy books, fiction, non-fiction or fiction based on non-fiction on this era in American history but this book is extraordinary. Carr does an exemplary job of portraying the darkness of NY and the tenements and despair being a very effective backdrop for this equally dark story. Carr is a master of good old fashioned mystery, using real characters and real landmarks that makes this book all the more effective.

This is one of the reasons I enjoyed The Anatomy of Deception by Goldstone. The two are similar although, Carr is much more effective.

While The Anatomy of Deception uses characters not as well known to the reader, a little research of those characters history will no doubt make The Anatomy of Deception a good read for those who enjoyed the Alienist.

The Alienist is a very good book and I enjoyed it immensely.