Rating: 
Summary: SUCKED
Review: This book sucked. The style was unrhythmical, boring and academic. The plot was interesting, filled with interesting scenarios but the ending was a complete disappointment. This is the worst ending of all novels I had read. It started from being a murder horror suspense novel to a cliched mob shootout ending. Actually there was really no ending. The novel just stopped.
Rating: 
Summary: This book was a dreadful experience.
Review: At the outset this book was a smorgasbord of rich, turn of the century language, with a touch of history for spice. At the description of the first crime, the horrible mutilation of a young male prostitute, the book went downhill with incredible speed. The language lost it richness, the character's values shifted from turn of the century to contemporary and the mean side of the poorest areas of New York came to dominate a really dreary story.
Rating: 
Summary: amazing! A great historical thriller
Review: the history is so interesting in this book. this book is perfect for those who like really scary, twisted, stories. He is a brilliant writer. his second book was not as good. this one is the must read
Rating: 
Summary: An Exciting Reading Experience
Review: I read this book two years ago, and it still remains one of my favorites...I have never read anything like it before. The sequel was good, but "The Alienist" was such a new expeience to me, I was instantly hooked. The way real life people are intertwined into the story is fascinating and the ending was a thrill. You will root for and feel like a part of this special group. Everything comes together perfectly at the end and all the doubts and questions you have are answered. Once you're done with this, read "The Angel of Darkness". I hope Carr writes a third book about these characters.
Rating:
Summary: A good book
Review: A real frightening experience
Rating:
Summary: Great history, very well researched, lame ending!
Review: This was my first book by Carr. He does a great job in recreating New York city just prior to the turn century. He really grabs you and takes you away. I really liked the book until the climax. It is worth reading! Now I have to debate if I want to read his next work.
Rating:
Summary: Great Historical Thriller
Review: As a usual reader of the "Tom Clancy" genre I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. I was very pleasantly suprised; from the very outset Mr. Carr brings the reader back to 1890's New York.The plot is fantastic, taking many unexpected turns. The characters are well developed the action is fast paced and the historical research alone is worth the read. All in all I would highly reccomend this book as well as its sequel "Angel of Darkness" which I picked up right after finishing "The Alienist". I certainly hope there is a third installment.
Rating:
Summary: Empty calories
Review: Only the books's thorough research makes it readable. The glimpses of 1896 New York are fascinating, and Carr admirably refrains from moralizing about the slum boys whose circumstances lead them to prostitution. He has fun with the character of Theodore Roosevelt, but the crucial player, the alienist Kreizler, has no real center, and the other characters are ciphers. The climactic scene with the killer on the water tower is a huge disappointment, a washout in terms of suspense or emotional catharsis. If the author had written "he noised" instead of "he said" one more time I would have thrown this book against a wall. If you care about writing style as much as plot, the book will annoy you. If style doesn't matter and you can tolerate frequent plot doldrums, you might enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Very interesting
Review: If an investigation of a serial killer that's kills boy whores that disgorges their eyeballs and chops off their genitals and stuffs thethem in their mouth makes you feel queasy, you'll probably want to pass on this one. Otherwise, this is an excellent story, though a little slow at times.
Rating:
Summary: An ingenious medical-murder mystery set in the 1890's.
Review: Caleb Carr did a superb job of taking the modern medical murder mystery story (e.g, Robin Cook) and setting the story in 1890's New York City. He was able to weave a set of fictional characters and their investigation of a serial killer with actual events and people of the time, including Teddy Roosevelt who was the police commisioner of New York City prior to his presidency. His descriptions of each scene made you feel as if you could smell the many odors of the city, or could visualize the haziness of a summer sky. The emotions he was able to portray through the characters made you feel as if you were there and part of the investigation process. You could feel the fear and anxiety of what they were experiencing in trying to solve a crime with little precedence from which to work. You could also feel their exhuberance and anticipation with each bit of evidence (much of which was intangible) they collected during their search. He also made excellent and accurate use of several new (at the time) features to forensic medicine and the fields of Neurology and Psychiatry. This latter quality of the novel intrigued me the most as I am in the field of Neuropsychology and have had numerous experiences in forensic neuropsychology. This is by far the most intelligently written piece of non-fiction I have read, and I fully recommend this book to anyone with an interest in murder mysteries.
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