The Alienist

Rating:
Summary: The best bestseller
Review: I'd have to say that this was probably the best book I ever read. I savored every page. What an amazing thriller!

Rating:
Summary: An interesting premise, but too drawn out...
Review: I was intrigued by the idea of an "alienist" trying to solve a series of murders in New York in 1896. Mr. Carr does present an interesting sort of period piece, but the book was too long (600 pages), the characters not well developed, and the style too ordinary.

Rating:
Summary: A choking morass of dull detail and flat characterization...
Review: I took the time to peruse most of the other reviews before I wrote mine. There are a lot of people who love this book. Okay. I won't criticize this. However, I was only able to perservere for about a hundred excrutiating pages, decided to skip to the tedious predictable ending and see what happened, then rushed that sucker back to the library furiously pleased that I hadn't spent hard currency on such dishwater. As dull a mystery, as boring a lump of historical detail, as paper-thin a job of characterization as I have ever seen in a best seller. Two questions remain: "How?" and "Why?"

Rating:
Summary: Great book - Keeps you in suspense and interested.
Review: The characters were so well written, the reader feels as though they are personal friends. The book is more than a mystery novel, it is a look into the mind of a murder with insight and even compassion. The plot keeps you riveted and does not allow you to put the book down until finished.

Rating:
Summary: Finishing this one was a challenge
Review: I felt no connection to any of the characters in this. It was like the author was, most of the time, just trying to prove to his audience his knowledge of turn of the century life in New York City. These facts were educational but alone they were not enough to pull it off.

Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended
Review: This is the best book I have read in the past three years.

Rating:
Summary: Intellectually stimulating, graphic horror - Top 3
Review: This novel is the perfect marriage of heart-racing psychological, sociological and graphic horror in a pure historical context. I was literally unable to put the book down....I devoured it.

Rating:
Summary: A tedious, characterless murder mystery, explicitly violent
Review: I waded through most of this book before skipping to the last pages to see how this author handled the ending. The premise of the book is intriguing- a hunt for a serial killer in the late nineteenth century, but if you love an author who can develop interesting characters and has good command of language you won't be satisfied with this fluff. The characters are like cardboard cutouts- no development at all. The dialogue between characters is weak, and alot of the book the reader is subjected to the tedious ruminations of the principle character, a foppish newspaperman who has been asked by the New York City police commisioner to help with the murder investigation. The notion of a police official asking a newspaperman to do a murder investigation is so laughably unlikely, it really weakens the plot. I also think the author uses graphic depictions of sadistic violence to prop up the poor results of his work. Altogether unfit for donation to my local library, I threw it away.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Depiction of Old New York
Review: The best novels immerse us completely in a time and a situation. Caleb Carr's THE ALIENIST does just that. Frankly, your enjoyment of this book will probably be directly proportional to your IQ. If you have no interest in history, you may find the story slow and the characters one-dimensional. If you like a great historical adventure, however, in the vein of Jack Finney's fabulous TIME AND AGAIN (and much better than E.L. Doctorow's similar THE WATERWORKS), then you won't be able to put this one down.

Rating:
Summary: A gruesome, engaging story
Review: A well-written, enthralling story, that places the reader into old-time New York City and gives the feel of lower Manhattan during a historic time. The story describes a series of gruesome homicides and introduces some of the most memorable characters I've enjoyed reading in quite a while. The author develops the relationships between his characters which bring them to life and make them seem real. Not for the weak-of-stomach, the story follows the trail of a serial killer of young boys all of whom live (and die) on the fringes of society. The lead character, a doctor, utilizes new forensic techniques to track down and stop the perpetrator of these horrible crimes. Graphic in its presentation, the reader can visualize the sights, sounds and smells of life in New York City as the characters enjoy all that the urban life offered in this novel set within a historical background. A hard book to put down, it is even harder to forget.