Rating: 
Summary: Engrossing Historical Fiction
Review: Caleb Carr is a peerless wordsmith who has painted an astonishingly real depiction of New York City in the late 1800's. The interplay between the main characters as they attempt to solve a brutal crime when criminology was in its embryonic stages is classic. His descriptive writing technique reminds me of a style displayed by acknowledged literary greats. I have enthusiastically recommended this book to many.
Rating:
Summary: chilling, will keep you guessing till the end
Review: a very good boo
Rating: 
Summary: A boring, predictable waste of an intriguing premise
Review: The story itself sounds interesting: a murder mystery set in 1800s New York, featuring a variety of characters that includes Theodore Roosevelt. Unfortunately, it's presented in such a routine, pedestrian manner that one trudges through the book with little excitement. Worse, Carr's obsession with the seedier aspects is particularly grating.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad, but Time and Again is more entertaining
Review: As several readers have noted, this book is "Silence of the Lambs" meets "Time and Again" (a much more inventive book). It's fairly entertaining, but the minimal character development dies out halfway through, and the climax is disappointing. The final wrap-up is notable in that the narrator tells what happens to everyone except himself. I was never sure what the author thought of him; he seemed merely a device for telling the story rather than an actual personality. The set pieces in the story seemed aimed at easy development into a film script ("okay, we need a scene at the Statue of Liberty, and a couple at 'boy whore' bordellos ..."). Great cover, though.
Rating:
Summary: Murder Mystery Thriller + Voyage to the Past
Review: Caleb Carr's "The Alienist" hauntingly captures turn-of-the-century New York City, where Police Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt enlists the help of a psychologist (or, as they were known then, "alienist") to help end a spree of brutal murders of young male prostitutes. Rather than focus on the demented, twisted mind of the killer behind the mutilations, Carr details the steps taken by the alienist and his team of sleuths to discover just who could be capable of such acts. Although the characters of the investigators were not fully developed, the research that Carr put into the novel, the remarkable way he describes 1890's New York, and the just-can't-stop reading manner in which he outlines the chase step by step merits him five stars for his fiction debut. You'll love every page because they'll all frighten you to the core.
Rating:
Summary: Excellently written novel
Review: This was one of the best books that I have read recently. It kept me guessing all the way through to the end. I really liked the characters and I intend to buy the sequel to this book. The book was filled with suspense and I just couldn't put it down. This was just a superbly written book.
Rating:
Summary: GIVE YOURSELF A LOT OF TIME
Review: Entertaining? Yes. A quick read? Not by any stretch of the imagination.Did my pulse quicken? At times it did but the eventual confrontation with the killer was a bit of a let down and felt like a cheat. The whole book is leading up to this and it's as if Carr couldn't think of any words to give the beast. (He certainly has no trouble coming up with many words for our narrator). Read it for fun on a rainy day. Make that "many" rainy days.
Rating:
Summary: My first Caleb Carr book.
Review: I avoided this book for some time and finally broke down and purchased it, then after learning what an Alienist was in the 1800's, I couldn't put it down. A Suspenseful whodunit and a great historical timepiece on New York, I was actually able to identify the fort in Battery Park in a painting.
Rating: 
Summary: A facsinating and well-researched tale!
Review: Having an interest in the "serial killer" genre, I found Mr. Carr's outstanding research to be what sets this book apart. I found insights not only into New York of the 1890s but also into the history of forensic science and psychology. Any modern day fan of Patricia Cornwell or Ann Rule would appreciate this book as a chronicle of how our society as well as the procedure for criminal investigation has progressed in the last 100 years.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but it could have been better
Review: The idea of a mystery set in New York City in the late 1800's really peaked my interest. If you're familiar with the City, reading about it in that era is fascinating. Overall, I would say Caleb Carr has delivered an interesting story, although it gets off to a slow start, and tends to drag on in the middle. Some of the characters were not developed to their full potential. I also found the ending flat and predictable. While it's an ok read for a lazy day at the beach, it's not fine literature by any stretch of the imagination. I would tentatively recommend it just for the entertainment value.
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