Rating: 
Summary: Why?
Review: I enjoyed Carr's previous works so much that I ordered Killing Time prior to its release. What a waste of anticipation! Mr. Carr seems to have forgotten how to build a plot and create characters for whom the reader can feel any concern. Disappointing to say the least.
Rating:
Summary: Worst Book I Ever Finished!
Review: From the unexplained suspension in the protagonist's common sense to the world-renowned scientists performance of feats of strength and agility to the predictable bedding of the "beautiful sister of the mastermind" by the hero (or visa versa), this book is full of things that make you say - "this book is missing some pages."For some reason, I kept reading...maybe it's the vague resemblance of the insane yet brilliant brother-sister combo to the villains of the old TV show Wiseguy.
Rating:
Summary: Sorry I bought it
Review: Terrible, terrible book. I foolishly bought it without reading a single review here or elsewhere. I enjoyed "The Alienist" and was looking for something new to read - but this is an awful waste. In penance I am donating the cover price to our local food pantry; you can do better by avoiding this book.
Rating:
Summary: Not Worth the Wait
Review: A few months ago I was excited to read that Caleb Carr was coming out with a new book. I loved both the Alienist and Angel of Darkness and couldn't wait to read his newest. It was such a disappointment. While the concept was interesting, the characters and plotlines were unable to hold my attention. I am hopeful that Carr will read some of these reviews and start a new book of the genre that gave him a legion of fans. If you loved the Alienist and Angel of Darkness don't get this book expecting it to be the same because you will probably be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: What a Stinker
Review: This book reminds me of "Tom Swift Jr. and His Secret Atomic Airplane". I really enjoyed that book but I was also 9 years old at the time. Caleb Carr has written much better in genres that he knows. SciFi isn't one of them.
Rating:
Summary: Very substandard
Review: Caleb Carr disappoints in many ways with this book. Where the Alienist and the Angel of Darkness used rather conventional mystery plots to frame a rich portrait of the turn-of-the-century era in New York City, presented by a contemporary, Killing Time lacks even a conventional plot, and its portrait of the future is full of hackneyed, semi-apocalyptic happenings, each of which is alternately handled in an off-hand way, or over-explained in tired cliche. Taken as a whole, the novel reads like a junior high school exercise in foreshadowing, many sections ending with a "if only I had known how important that conversation would have been...." warning. Characters behave in seemingly inexplicable ways, and the narrator's own motivation is not in any way internally consistent. I am completely at a loss to explain why he, or any other principal, chooses to behave in the manner they do. Even the premise of the book seems, by the end, not to stand up. Throughout the majority of the book, the reader is led to understand that "information technology" is the real villain, but the conclusion casts doubt on even that much. I stuck with the book to the end, at least hoping for some revelation, some warning, something to lend my own suffering meaning, and was handed a denoument bereft of purpose, and a climax that makes no sense.
Rating:
Summary: He should be emabarrassed
Review: Following a cheap, pedestrian formula Caleb Carr has hastily put out a novel with the obvious intention of cashing in on his name. The author of the beautifully written and brilliantly realized novel, "The Alienist" has earned the respect of many a devotee to his art. This novel, on the other hand, has a one-dimensional plot, lacking the plot twists and complexity of his previous work. The character development was poor, to say the least. The protagonist's love interest, Larissa, a genetically engineered super-woman with a fistful of prestigious degrees and former assassin's physical skill and resources, is written as a weak woman who cannot survive without her brother's leadership and the protagonist's love. Carr's view of the near future is bleak, if not extremist. Through the rise of technology, the reader can expect that within the next twenty-two years, the world will become war-torn, disease-ridden, and polluted beyond measure. His grim glimpse into the future brings to mind street corner proselytization and tacky science fiction. I expected better from him.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This was a book that I really wanted to like, which made it all the more upsetting when I didn't. Caleb Carr is an extremely talented writer, and he makes great use of every word. His prose is compact, but not overly brief. That said, great writing can't salvage a poorly plotted story. "Killing Time", although set in a believable future, requires the reader to make constant leaps of faith about technology and the ability of private citizens to obtain it. Also, Carr finds no redeeming value in any of the wonderful inventions he creates, which, aside from being depressing, is completely unrealistic. This view of technology, which has no broad basis in historical fact, tends to drag the book down. Furthermore, the plot is rushed in many places, while dragging in others. One is never drawn into the flow of this book, which is a shame considering the strong writing and premise this book has as it's foundation.
Rating:
Summary: Embarrasingly bad
Review: This is a comic book without the pictures. I cannot imagine it being of interest to anyone other than ten (okay, eight) year old boys. It has the characters and plotline of a shuffled deck of Pokemon(r) cards and clunky prose to boot. It is a serious, fatal mistake to make your narrator a pompous professorial type and then keep illustrating his pomposity ad nauseam. I literally could not finish it and really would like my money back. Carr's previous books were of an uneven quality but this is a surprisingly bad development. Read the instruction manual for your VCR before you start this one; it has better science, clearer prose, more interesting characters and a better plot.
Rating:
Summary: What happened to the Caleb Carr I know and love?
Review: I was very excited when I saw that Caleb Carr had a new book out. I loved his previous books. However, THIS book is nothing like the others. The previous books were historical fiction/mysteries with three-dimensional characters you cared about. This book was nothing more than an overblown vanity project. "Killing Time" takes place in the future, but as far as I could tell the only reason it takes place in the future is so that the author can use this book as a platform for "issues". Don't get me wrong...on most cases I agree with the author on many of his positions, but that doesn't mean that I need to be beaten over the head with them. Here is a partial list of the issues that are covered in this novel: child abuse, nuclear holocaust, the war in the balkans, environmental holocaust, the internet as an evil tool for commercialism and misinformation, female genital mutilation, big business owns the government, hollywood owns the government, the middle east conflict, the illegal arms trade, gambling, russia as a fallen and dangerous super power, the appalling state of education, crime (and punishment), privacy, war, terrorism...I could go on and on. And the author does. My advice; Caleb Carr should stop the preaching and go back to what he does best...writing.
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