Rating: 
Summary: What happened?
Review: I've read The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness, also by Mr. Carr, and Killing Time was a huge let down. Although some of the initial ideas were good, the plot was thin and could not hold my interest. The characters were not given as much depth, as in his first two novels, therefore, as a reader I could have cared less of what happened to them. All in all, this was a huge disappointment. Mr. Carr was presumably an outstanding author, which was evident with his first two novels, however, Killing Time contradicts that presumption.
Rating: 
Summary: AUTHOR'S READING ADDS RICHNESS AND SURETY
Review: Ofttimes, when an author reads his or her own work a heightened understanding, a richer intent is added. Such is the case with Caleb Carr's latest, "Killing Time." Mr. Carr imbues his rendering with a chilling sureness. The author's first two novels, "The Alienist" and "The Angels Of Darkness" were set during New York City's Gilded Age. This time out Mr. Carr takes the reader some years hence - the year 2023 to be exact when Dr. Gideon Wolfe, a professor and criminal profiler comes upon a photo of a recent presidential assassination that has been digitally altered. In Dr. Wolfe's day public opinion is largely dictated by the Internet. Opposing sides are vying for popular favor. "Information," as Mr. Carr has pointed out, "is a double-edged sword. You have to know how to look underneath it." In addition to information and its dispersal, "Killing Time" also tackles financial uncertainty, a depletion of natural resources, and mass murder. It's a rather fearsome but fascinating take on the Information Age - read superbly by the author.
Rating: 
Summary: WASTING Time: Sci-Fi Schlock
Review: Caleb Carr has previously written wonderfully engaging mysteries with The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness. Pick up one or both of these satisfying novels instead of wasting your time on this futuristic mess of a book that kept putting me in mind of one of those films that used to get skewered on Mystery Science Theatre 3000. There's nothing much to tell you about this bore of a book. I had the feeling Mr. Carr decided to shift gears on purpose from writing about the past and give us an homage to every bad sci-fi B movie with shaky cardboard sets and spaceships suspended from fishing line. Even when he tries to sound technical he comes off sounding ridiculous. Plot developments are telegraphed from miles away and the only redeeming part to this book are the brief chapters that feel more like synopses than chapters. They at least afford the reader plenty of breaks to sit back and marvel at how embarassing this whole thing is. Mr. Carr is a fine writer, but even fine writers make mistakes. Where was the agent or the editor or the publisher when this was being shopped around? Someone needed to gently tell him, "Sorry, let's try something else." If this had been a first novel from a previously unpublished author, it would have never seen the light of day.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a complete waste of Time...
Review: ...while I can't say this book has the impact of The Alienist or The Angel of Darkness, one has to remember that it grew out of a serialized story in Time Magazine, and therefore could not get in-depth regarding characters and description - he didn't go back and flesh it out, he just finished the adventure and left it as an experiment in a new form. The series depicted a bit of "worse-case scenario" about life in the information age for Time's Millenium series. It reads more like an action movie script in book form, and I would bet this is Carr's first work to actually hit the screen. As a newly signed director, impacting Hollywood seems to be his desire. While this won't be remembered as Carr's best work, it can be a fun romp if you just go with it. And if you haven't read the Alienist books yet, DO so. You'll see what all the fuss is about.
Rating:
Summary: An Embarrassment
Review: Worst book I've read in years. The plot is rank-amateur science fiction, introducing tired concepts like time-travel breathlessly. Except for the quirky scientist who befriends the protaganist, there is virtually no character development nor motivation. We are to believe a beautiful female scientist falls in love with our hero "after seeing your picture...". An hour after finishing the book, I was left with no lasting images of anyone. The prose is laughably clunky. If only I had a dollar for everytime someone was "stunned" or "amazed", often on the same page. Chapters end in single-sentence cliffhangers reminiscent of the Hardy Boys. Simply put, it is a lazy effort. With so much worthy writing hungering to be published, that's almost criminal. If you're eager for an excellent historical novel, try "An Instance of the Fingerpost" by Iain Pears. I just finished it, and loved it. Sadly, it also demonstrated clearly how bad "Killing Time" really was.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointment
Review: Celeb Carr is known for his historical fiction thrillers (which I loved). Here he tries to tackle the future.. hence science fiction. My advice is he lay off the latter. The novel is very weak science fiction, the premise weak, and the story is put together in a way remenicent of light weight serial novella of old while trying to make a serious point which instead sounds silly. The results are that the novel is not fun to read. Save your money and buy his earlier work instead.
Rating:
Summary: What the heck?
Review: I read both the Alienist and Angel of Darkness and found them engaging, authentic, and incredibly enjoyable. So what happened? I think the previous reviewers hit the nail on the head, the plot was laughable, the characters were about as interesting as nails and his version of the future seemed ultra-contrite. As for the prose, did an adverb bomb explode all over his computer? If had read one more line like 'He ran quickly...' I was going to scream. I can't believe I wasted twenty buck on it...
Rating:
Summary: Carr is a GREAT writer, but this book doesn't measure up
Review: I agree with the assessment of many others in this review space -- this book is unrelentingly "O.K." I write primarily to those of you who've not read Carr's other books. It's a mistake to give up on him. The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness are everything that Killing Time is not. Don't make the mistake of thinking that this book is representative of his work. You WILL miss out.
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Summary: A Futuristic Novel Brought to You by the New York Times
Review: I am a great fan of Caleb Carr's fiction and non-fiction alike. I believe him to be one the great geniuses of historicizing the murder mystery through a skillful combination of a mastery of the English language, the suspenseful build-up and historical research. In the Alienist (and to a lesser extent, in The Angel of Darkness), Carr recreated places, persons and events that intrigued and entertained me in a way that I have rarely experienced. Evidently Carr's prowess does not extend to his ability to envision the future. My primary complaint with this book is that it extrapolates from articles that ran in the New York Times International section over the past couple of years (I recognized about 25 lifted pieces in the pages of Killing Time including bits on poverty in Russia, female circumcision, Afghani terrorism, Sudanese slavery and--the most obvious rip-off--the independent nation state formed off the coast of the United Kingdom) to create a hackneyed, sometimes laughable, dystopia. Had I not been an avid reader of the Times, I probably would have been enthralled by this book and amazed at Carr's imagination. Instead, I was disappointed in his prosaic approach to what our future holds. At one point in the book, Carr writes about the creations of "architects who had attempted to anticipate the future with results that in that same future looked fairly silly." Well, he seems to be writing about himself-unfortunately, his version of the future looks silly from the present, which proves to be the Achilles Heel of Killing Time. Secondly, I found it appalling that a scholar would craft such Luddite diatribe on our society's inability to divulge the truth from fiction-Carr wants us all to read his book and reject the Internet as the scourge of society and retreat into the libraries and dust off those antediluvian tomes which hold the truth on their pages in indelible ink rather than that truly transitory recording device we call HTML that littler the Internet-always subject to change and distortion. Unfortunately, print is no more or less truthful than the authors behind-and so goes the Internet. Thirdly, Mr. Carr took little effort to develop his characters-a truly heinous crime for an author that has brought us so many memorable souls in the past (especially in his ability to recreate Frederick Townsend Ward for his brilliant biography, The Devil Soldier). Lastly, the ending of this book was all too predictable-another weakness Carr has, until now, never fallen prey to. Now I will give you the reasons why I liked this book (hopefully you made it this far). Killing Time is harder to put down than anything I have read lately. It is brain candy for the postmodern information warrior. Carr once again creates a world where only a small coterie of enlightened individuals see the realities around them and try to fix problems that the dullard masses refuse to recognize, much less deal with (thus allowing the reader to empathize with and take joy in their victories and sadness in their defeats). I enjoyed the escapism that this book offered me and I recommend it for anyone that is looking for a brief respite from the glittering generalities that are constantly espoused about how information makes our lives better. Although I wouldn't give up the Internet for a million dollars, I do like to criticize its darker side (if only as an academic exercise) and this book indulges this penchant to the Nth degree.
Rating:
Summary: This book Sucks, both time & money
Review: Very Disapointing! Loved the previous material by Caleb. Don't waist your money or time.
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