Caleb Carr

Originally published: New York: Random House, 1994.

The Alienist

A Novel

I was a little bit intimidated to start this book only because of the 608 pages mark. It was amazing! It took me almost a month to finish, but it was so worth it! 

Karla

The internationally bestselling historical thriller, soon to be a Netflix series starring Luke Evans, Dakota Fanning and Daniel Brühl. Some things never change. New York City, 1896. Hypocrisy in high places is rife, police corruption commonplace, and a brutal killer is terrorising young male prostitutes. Unfortunately for Police Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt, the psychological profiling of murderers is a practice still in its infancy, struggling to make headway against the prejudices of those who prefer the mentally ill - and the 'alienists' who treat them - to be out of sight as well as out of mind. But as the body count rises, Roosevelt swallows his doubts and turns to the eminent alienist Dr Laszlo Kreizler to put a stop to the bloody murders - giving Kreizler a chance to take him further into the dark heart of criminality, and one step closer to death.

Luke Harkness

A book that took me over 8 months to complete. Not because it was dull and not because it was difficult to read. Simply because I didn't have the audiobook version so this naturally takes longer and the audiobook available was an abridged version.

However, the book itself is fantastic. Wonderfully well written, fascinating storyline and actually quite dark and creepy at times. Carr does a cracking job of setting scenes and the atmosphere of these scenes with his wonderful eacriptive language and knowledge of late 1800s New York.

altlovesbooks

"We don't need to know everything about psychology, or alienism, or the history of all similar cases to finish this job. All we need to know is this man, his particular case..."

If only this quote had been said much earlier in the book, perhaps my rating would've been higher.

I'm not into criminal studies, I don't watch excessive amounts of true crime shows, I'm not obsessed with the era, the setting, the aesthetic, and I especially don't care for detailed depictions of horrific crime scenes. Perhaps this book wasn't for me. If any of that appeals to you, please do give this book a shot! I read this book as part of my book club, and while it did absolutely nothing for me, several of my friends really enjoyed this book.

I thought the book was slow and plodding, particularly the first 60% of it. I think I would've had a much better time of it if the discussions of criminal psychology (of which there are so many) were integrated a bit better. Instead it felt like we get a chapter about an actual crime being committed, four to six chapters with the characters sitting/standing around various tables/desks/breakfasts/lunches/dinners/hansoms talking about what it means to be or not to be crazy or schizophrenic, and a chapter or two of our insert character, Moore, going on a crazy adventure that doesn't go as it should but still results in valuable investigation information. It feels like this repeats two or three times, and then you're in the endgame. It also doesn't feel like the discussions about the criminal mind actually go anywhere. They were interesting in the beginning, but very soon it felt like they repeatedly rehashed the same material in different ways, and it started feeling very repetitive.

The last 40% picked up the pace from plodding to what felt like an actual story with direction. I enjoyed this part mostly, although I will say that the ending didn't feel like enough to make up for the work it felt like it took to get there. Perhaps if I had enjoyed the rest more, the ending would've felt satisfying, but I was left wanting more. There's a chapter of wrapup after the climax which I appreciated, though by that point I really wasn't connected enough to any of the characters to really be eager to see where they ended up.

I also would've greatly appreciated the author deciding on whether to call the main character "Laszlo" or "Kreizler". Switching back and forth repeatedly within the same scene/paragraph was extremely distracting to read. I'll even say that it took me a few chapters in the beginning to actually realize they were the same person.

There's something here for people who are fans of the genre, but I found myself bored and unsatisfied. Maybe skip if you aren't big into criminal studies.

Vicky (A City Girl's Thoughts)

TRIGGER WARNING: Abuse, graphic violence/gore, & attempted/implied rape 

This is an abridged version, which makes the story go by fast. Great for helping me get out of my reading slump. Overall the story is interesting albeit dark, kept my attention.

jinni

Colleen

3.5 Stars
 
The Alienist was my Bookclub's selection for February. I have mixed feelings about it but at least it was not bad as the last couple of selections. 

This is basically Criminal Minds set in the 1890’s in New York City staring an elite cross-functional team using extremely modern techniques to hunt a serial killer. (Sidenote: yes, I realize this was written before Criminal Minds went on air.) Of course the author was not inaccurate enough to throw blatant anachronisms in there, but there were so many moments that irked me. Where the historical setting was well researched, the team’s approach to criminal profiling was too modern. Somehow, these wunderkinds managed to use all of the techniques that would be developed over the next century. The word psychopath had just been coined in 1888, so the in-depth criminal profiling that occurs in this book was overdone. And then there was the way they used chalkboards to set up profiles and timelines, how they managed to dig up obscure information even though this was long before computers or any ability to cross-reference things, and most notably their ideas about using fingerprinting (which would not start to be systematically used in the U.S. until 1902). It really was as if Carr took all of his audience’s modern expectations of criminal profiling and magically sent them back in time. 

The reasons for this elite team being assembled seemed a little farfetched to me. They were an interesting group, and yet… it seemed quite contrived. The team is personally assembled by Teddy Roosevelt. (His involvement in the story also felt manufactured although it is more like a cameo.) The story is narrated in first person by John Moore, a reporter who is on the special team for no apparent reason. The team also included Dr. Kreizler, the modern psychologist, and token female Sara Howard, a secretary who dreams of being a police officer. They were an odd group and my feelings toward them remained ambivalent.

The team sets out on their secret mission from Teddy Roosevelt to hunt down a serial killer targeting child prostitutes. Trigger warning for rape, animal cruelty, gory violence, and pedophilia. This is not a happy story, and it does contain a certain about of violence. 

I liked the rest of the historical setting. Carr captured the complexity of society and did not gloss over the classism and racism in favor of an idealized portrait the way many novels about this time period do. And the writing was compelling at times.


  “In our dash to defeat evil, we had only given it a wider field in which to run its own wretched course.”

The main problem was that the story is massively weighed down by details. All of the action is crammed into the very end; and while that part was certainly good, it was a long, uphill journey to get there. I did consider abandoning it and mostly kept reading because it was for Bookclub. Honestly, I’m surprised that this book was on the bestseller list for so long; not because it’s a bad book, but because parts of it were long and tedious. I guess the page turner ended made up for that. 

The Alienist was an interesting read, but it was longer than it needed to be. I would probably recommend it to people who like mysteries with a historical setting. But this won’t be on any of my favorites lists.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 3 Stars
Writing Style: 4 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 4 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 3 Stars
Level of Captivation: 3 Stars
Originality: 3 Stars

RECOMMENDATIONS:
For a faster-paced historical mystery, try The Yard

The Alienist is a brilliant but tough read. I thoroughly enjoyed diving into this book and exploring the world within it. 

A lot of the book is focused on psychological relationships and motivation which I enjoyed however some people may seem it being long winded. 

Took me nearly two weeks to get through this but it is worth sticking around for the last 200 pages.

jaz ☁️

The Alienist is a brilliant but tough read. I thoroughly enjoyed diving into this book and exploring the world within it. 

A lot of the book is focused on psychological relationships and motivation which I enjoyed however some people may seem it being long winded. 

Took me nearly two weeks to get through this but it is worth sticking around for the last 200 pages.

Dawn Keiser

Great story with lots of historical detail. Dr. Kreizler assembles a crew to essentially profile a serial killer during a time when there was no such thing as profiling. I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to get my hands on the next one.

Daniela Peña 

Took me a whileeeeee but I finished it!!!! To be honest I had to put it down because of schoolwork but i was so excited to get back to it. Sometimes I get annoyed at the overuse of language in this book (weird I know) but then sometimes I just fall into it and love it. The story was so interesting given the fact that it's fairly modern yet it was written so long ago. Book I'll deff recommend to others! Thanks Rae!!!

Arun Kale

Katharina Hoffmann

What drew me to this book was its rather entertaining Netflix production which has recently concluded its run with a presumably final second season. I found the set of characters especially interesting and I picked up the book in the hope of reading more about them and getting a greater insight into their dynamics and relationships.
- I also just feel like mentioning once more how good the cast looked, okay?





New York, 1896: The city is haunted by a killer who murders boy prostitutes, taking their eyes and mutilating their bodies. Laszlo Kreizler, an alienist and psychiatrist, forms a team with police reporter John Moore and Sara Howard, the first woman to work at the NY Police Department. Over the course of 700 pages the trio tries to find the killer while facing many obstacles: corrupt police men, violent gangs, high society members actively obstructing the solving of the murders and a society who couldn’t care less about who is killed as long as they rank amongst the poorest of the poor.

What bothered me weren’t the sometimes rather obvious similarities between the duo of Laszlo Kreizler/John Moore and Sherlock Holmes/John Watson. Every detective story that was published after Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories can’t help but involuntarily be compared with the most famous detective duo of all time. What disappointed me was the obvious lack of the character’s emotional depth. The story is told from the perspective of John Moore, the journalist; the first-person narrative hinders the reader from learning more about what the other characters are thinking or feeling. They struck me as being a little bland, among other things, because they are strictly divided into good and bad. The good ones are accepting of independent women, people of colour, immigrants and show understanding for the victims. The bad ones are “bad” because they’re arrogant, selfish and obsessed with fame and fortune.

It could be argued that these observations are ancillary as the story is primarily about the catching of a ruthless killer, set in a rapidly changing city. To tell the truth, Carr does a great job at describing the localities, such as the morgue, restaurants or police headquarters. You can just picture the dirt-filled streets, the angry coach men shouting obscenities at each other and the dodgy bars with their even dodgier customers. Carr gives the names of streets and buildings which probably would have existed during that time and thus creates a very lively, authentic atmosphere.

However, this didn’t really improve my overall reading experience. The characters were just too flat, sometimes even ridiculous in their behaviour:
“… Sara only clutched her bag tightly without a word; and when the two thugs in the bowlers appeared at the rear end of the hall, apparently sealing our fates, she reached into it. ‘Don’t worry, John’, she said confidently. ‘I won’t let anything happen to you.’ And with that she withdrew a .45-caliber Army Model Colt revolver, with a four-and-a-half-inch barrel and pearl grips. Sara was what you might call a firearms enthusiast…”

Because of their lack of complexity, characters like Sara felt especially alien (haha, get it?) – more like sketches and very incomplete.

It’s a pity the characters aren’t as strong as the rest of the book, otherwise this story would have been a really gripping tale.

Chris Aldrich

A lovely piece of historical fiction with elements of the psychological thriller. 

Though the several early chapters of the book are a bit overdone with setting the historical scene of the action, it quickly becomes a page turning potboiler. I did ultimately greatly appreciate the heavy research both into the period as well as the background science underpinning much of the plot.

I'd put it easily in the realm of the works of Thomas Harris, Conan Doyle and others of the genre.

Cerys

I really enjoyed this book but this is the reason why I have to read the books before I watch the adaptations. I love the Alienist TV show and because I loved it and even though the TV show is almost exact to the book I couldn't unsee the TV show while reading this. I think that if I had read this before and I think this would have been a high four stars and even though I enjoyed it I can't really give this more than 3 stars. This is of my own fault but I think this is very well written and many people will enjoy this so don't let my stupidity sway you!

Jasmine Tania

to me this feels very much like da vinci code(the vibe), only it’s more da vinci code than da vinci code, you know? all in all, SUPER EPIC‼️

Jeremy Anderberg

I hadn’t heard of this historical mystery novel until I came across a tweet that mentioned it (thank you @benjamin_oc!); I looked it up, was highly intrigued by the premise, and immediately requested it from my beloved JeffCo library system.

Though the subject matter is rather grim—a series of grotesque murders of adolescent prostitutes—the characters, the setting (1890s New York City, in all its squalid splendor), and the slow psychological burn of catching a serial killer make it well worth reading.

First, the characters: Psychologist Lazlo Kreizler is one of the country’s first true criminal profilers (psychologists were called “alienists” back then, hence the name of the book). In that era, it was a frowned upon profession which was deemed to be pseudoscience. When there were no other clues to work from, Kreizler used psychological insights to get a lead on the killer. Partner-in-sleuthing John Moore, a friend and reporter, was brought along for the ride and narrates our tale. Sara Howard, one of the only women to work for the police department (albeit in a secretarial role, to start with), is one of the most intrepid women I’ve found in a mystery. NYC Police Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt also plays a rather large role, which is pretty fun. The characters are as compelling as you’ll find in the genre.

Second, the setting: Few novels I’ve read have been as evocative of a specific place/time and so rich with historical detail. Carr makes Gilded Age NYC come alive, from its gastronomical delights to its seedy tenements and everything in between. Every time I opened the book it felt like a true portal to that era.

Third, the slow burn: This is not a fast read. Its 500+ pages took me longer than usual and it’s one of those books that I could only read without distraction. Until closer to the end, there’s just not a ton of action; given the star of the book, it should be no surprise that there’s plenty of conversation between our sleuths trying to decode the perpetrator’s personality. It’s part Sherlock Holmes, part Dexter, part Silence of the Lambs.

Sometimes a long, languid mystery is just what you’re in the mood for. When that’s the case, pick up The Alienist and let me know what you think.

Jayarna La Bozzetta

Possibly the best book I've read all year

Overall it's a great read. I wish there was a little more showing than telling, as the first half definitely made me lean to the audiobook so that I could skim listen to this.

It did pick up and keep a good pace for the rest of the book though. I was invested in the plot and actually gasped at some of the happenings, so that is definitely a 4 star read.

If you like to see the beginnings of criminology and the way that investigation of crimes evolved, this is definitely the book for you.

Neveen Badr

** spoiler alert **
           I love the series deeply.
The novel has lots of child abuse and murder, graphic violence, death, and sadness. I have no idea if I ever will going to finish it — my auntie spirit is not well. This book is triggering my depression and anxiety. 

Adoring Gothic novels does not make me tolerant with child abuse and murder.

Jawahir M

In regards to this book, one of the most impressing matters is the amount of information, knowledge, and thought into writing it. Carr really placed some effort into writing a well rounded comprehensive murder mystery novel and thus a well written novel is the result. This is the type of novel you would need to sit down with a cup of coffee and absorb the details because the twists and turns that the story takes it was always in the details, makes the whole experience more enthralling. I loved that each member of the detective force responsible for the solving the case bought something to the table; I didn't feel like some where just there for no apparent reason. I also liked the portrayal of Sara and the author's writing of her being a strong independent woman without shoving down all that feminist talk and ideologies down the reader's throat. Her strength was portrayed in her backstory, words, reactions, and behavior as well as reference from other characters to her personality within the story. Thus this subtle method proved to be appealing to me showcasing the confidence of Sara without overdoing it. The same way of writing was applied to other characters and this gave them more than a one dimensional persona making them more interesting and dynamic. 

The thing that I must say is that I didn't really think of this as a thriller; I wasn't gripping the book racing myself to know what's next. So I thought labeling the book as a "thriller" is not accurate. Nonetheless it is a well thought out story that was expansive and detailed in way that you didn't need to read about any criminal psychology books or articles before reading it. Carr did excellent in writing about the historical aspects of things and I did enjoy this book.

Sarah (she/her)

This was one of the first books that began my love affair with mysteries. I read it first in high-school and I’ve revisited it multiple times since then. If you’re looking for a dark, intelligent, historical novel centered around gruesome murders and the detective (and his cohorts) trying to search the killer down this book is for you. 

The Alienist

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