Rating: 
Summary: Shame Shame Shame
Review: I loved The Alienist and Angel of Darkness and I wonder why an author would allow his work to be abridged on tape and go so far as to read it himself. I listened to this book and was so disappointed that he seemed to skip over detail and ignore the wonderful fullness that the characters in his previous books evoked. It was not until the end that I realized Carr had allowed the ever money grubbing Simon and Shuster to abridge his usually excellent work - AND HE READ THE NASTY THING. This turned an otherwise interesting book into a one dimensional ecological diatribe with no interesting characters and I didn't care what happened at the end. Too bad for Carr. I thought he had some promise as an interesting and unique author who would not sell out to monetary interests. (Sigh) Another one down the drain.........
Rating: 
Summary: bought Yesterday
Review: I read the Alienist
I read half of Angel of Darkness, way too slow for my taste.
Bought Killing Time yesterday, I am also from HK, let's see if I have a different view on this book.
Rating: 
Summary: C'mon, it's not THAT bad . . .
Review: KILLING TIME gives the impression of a comic serial-turned-novel. One-dimensional gleefully exaggerated characters, weapons and technology out of second-rate sci-fi movies, and artificial dialogue liberally sprinkled with exclamation points. In a way it's a light read, but it's also heavy food for thought. Kinda creepy reading it now, so soon after the terrorist attacks.
Rating:
Summary: The worst book I have ever read.
Review: Only one book in each person's life can be the worst book one has ever read. I'm only 31 but i am confident that this is the worst book by an established author I will ever read....
Rating:
Summary: A startling look at the future....
Review: I read this newest book by Caleb Carr in one sitting. I found it impossible to put down and more than a little fascinating. The subject matter seemed guite appropriate considering the tragedy of September 11, 2001. It is a disturbing look into what the future may hold for our world if changes are not brought to bear. The characters are believable and rich in color and scope. The world conditions as put forth in this novel are disturbing in their sheer probability. Malcolm and Larissa are memorable charcters and their view of the world and their desire to alter preceptions as well as the future are told in clear cut prose. The picture painted in my mind of global chaos, lifeless sea's, and abject human suffering will long remain. I truly enjoyed this read and hope you will too.
Rating: 
Summary: I tried, I really tried....
Review: A group of people are thrown together under extraordinary circumstances to accomplish a common goal. OK, familiar so far. This reader felt lost after that point. This group is sick of big business and government controlling information and the media - conspiring to manipulate the thoughts and actions of the populace by any means necessary. In retaliation; the good guys start to control information, the media, and pull stunts to manipulate the thoughts and actions of the populace. Can't we all just please get along? Heavy on Trekkian political rhetoric, this novel never really went anywhere. I really enjoyed the "Alienist" and hope that Dr. Kreizler has some shoe leather left.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting but plodding
Review: Over all, a decent read but the story plodded along and Carr doesn't fully develop the dismay protagonist must have felt in his situation as much as I think he could have. Additionally, this novel felt short. What I mean by that is that more of the storyline could have been developed. It felt more like a short story. It is probably important to remember this was originally serialized in Time magazine in 2000.
I am hoping this is not indicative of Carr's future work because I really loved the "Alienist" and "The angel of darkness."
Rating:
Summary: What Happened?
Review: That's the question you have to ask here. What happened to the Caleb Carr we know and love? What happened to the skillful eye for character and detail? What happened to the carefully plotted, ingenious, can't-put-them-down, storylines like in The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness? What happened that made Caleb Carr produce such a horrible, dreadful, piece of excrement, a book so bad that if this was his first novel, he'd still be writing only for the Military History Quarterly?
There is so much that is bad about this book that it's hard to keep it under a thousand words. First, the characters. They are so badly written, one dimensional, steryotypical, and they act in such stupid ways that it's really hard to care about anything that happens to them. There's the mad scientist in the wheel chair, with his beautiful, brilliant sister - who is an assasin! Wacky twins and sex-crazed Europeans! And a super duper air/sea/space ship that is practically invulnerable to everything. What is the explanation for this ship? One word - "Magnets." They fly around the world and try and mess with people's perceptions by creating "fraudulent" histories, planting documents and records everywhere. The missing piece to their merry band is our protagonist, someone so vital to their plans that they stage a jailbreak to get him. However, he is so dull witted and he really doesn't contribute anything to the missions, you have to wonder why they bothered.
One example of our "hero's" lack of intellect: If your best friend was gruesomely killed right in front of your eyes, would you hop onto an airship with the people you were pretty sure killed him? Would you start having an affair with one of them? Even if you weren't sure, and this suspicion was later confirmed, would you have no reaction at all and keep on sleeping with your friend's killer? Well the protagonist sure would! This is the kind of bad plotting and motivation that happens every other page of this book. The writing itself is on a grade school level. This book was originally a serial in Time Magazine, which explains a lot of the breathless prose. Explains, but not excuses. There are far too many lame cliffhanger sentences that end each chapter, with equally lame payoffs after you turn the page. It feels like it was written by someone who doesn't know how to write suspensefully, so instead uses a lot of exclamation points! Lots! Of! Them! This is especially irritating because Carr DOES have excellent craftsmanship, but he is choosing not to use it.
The worst payoff of all is the atrocious ending. In order to fix the world, the mad scientist character goes back in time to an unspecified place and performs an unspecified action, which, magically, alters the course of all world events and alters the very basis of human nature. Miraculously, pollution, slavery, war, and hunger no longer exist - in fact, never have existed at all!! Oh, of course it doesn't affect the other protagonists back in the airship.
Give this one a pass. If you are a fan of Carr's and are tempted to read it, go to the library. If you have to kill your time, at least you won't be killing your money.
Rating:
Summary: A Disappointing Waste of Time
Review: When I saw this book I was excited for the read. His first two are great. This one is nothing but a drag. Carr tries to step into a Jules Verne feel, and fails every step of the way. His descriptions are not enough to support the tale, his characters are WORSE than two dimensional. It is impossible to finish, and tells a sad tale of anyone willing to waste valuable life-time reading this dreck.C'mon, Caleb, we know you can do better. Why not try harder, and remember your own strong points next time!
Rating:
Summary: Hasn't sure if this was the same author
Review: Loved Caleb Carr's first 2 books, in fact have read them serveral time including a audio version of one. BUT, this I could not even finish. Do not waste your time, and hope the next one is as good as the the first 2
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