Rating: 
Summary: The first profiler?
Review: The ALIENIST begins with Theodore Roosevelt's funeral, a reason for the novel's narrator, John Schuyler Moore, a New York Times crime reporter, to flash back to 1896, when Roosevelt had just been appointed police commissioner. Roosevelt summons Moore and Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, the alienist of the title, to head up a murder investigation. Someone has been murdering transvestite boy prostitutes and Roosevelt doesn't trust his corrupt police department to solve the crimes.
I had recently read a non-fiction account of life in New York during the nineteenth century and I wanted to see how Carr would
incorporate what I knew into a novel. I've also been interested in profiling ever since I read THE RED DRAGON, by Thomas Harris.
Kreizler is an early version of a profiler.
Although some reviewers bemoan Carr's handling of minor characters, I found some of them totally engrossing, especially Stevie, a street urchin whom Dr. Kreizler takes under his wing as a driver. Stevie adds some comic relief to a sometimes depressing novel.
Something else I rather liked was the inclusion of historical characters, besides Roosevelt. Jacob Riis and J.P. Morgan, among others, make appearances. You can certainly tell Carr was once a historian. New York City, 1896 is the real star of the story. I've started Carr's futurist novel, KILLING TIME, since I read this one and could not get through the first twenty pages. Stick to history, Caleb.
Rating: 
Summary: Very disappointing
Review: I enjoy both historical fiction and psychological thrillers, so I had great hopes for this book. Sadly, it's pulp garbage. Though the setting is vividly conjured, the protagonists come off as something from Doc Savage or Mission: Impossible--a ridiculously colorful crew of cliches, including the Plucky Urchin, the Chin-Scratching Professor, the Liberated Woman, and the Comic Relief Foreigners. Compounding this, the narrator is just a whitebread construct inserted into the story to show us the plot. The only time he ever takes independent action, he is captured by random bullies and has to be rescued by the Plucky Urchin in a stupefying sequence. The rest of the time he just follows the other characters around to justify a first-person narrative. Really, this is a terrible book. You're better off with George MacDonald Fraser or James Ellroy. I read it a couple years ago and I still recall the palpable sense of disappointment after the first fifty pages or so, when I realized the book really wasn't going to get better. I persevered on the grounds that I was on a long car ride, but I should have just stared out the window. Don't buy it.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating grotesque
Review: Caleb Carr has written a plot-driven novel with a strong setting and reasonably complex characters. The industrial New York setting comes across as seedy and gritty without being too overblown, and the narrator's somewhat modern perspective and voice allows the reader to feel somehow more familiar with this past time. I can't vouch for the historical veracity but it felt real enough to me.Like Crichton, Carr allows the reader to be taken on a thriller journey that includes bits and pieces of knowledge (NY underworld, psychology in the late 19th century) so the book feels less like brain candy. Unlike Michener, Carr avoids drowning out his sense of storytelling in order to share his wealth of information. Two weaknesses affect the story. First, the narrator seems a bit of a buffoon--the old "why would the rest of these characters bother tolerating him." Second, Carr seems to think a dramatic denouement requires including every character who's appeared previously and providing them with a weapon. A few pages of overblown drama are quite forgivable though in an otherwise well-researched and skillfully told novel.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: Not knowing what to expect when I opened this book, I was pleasantly impressed by this old-time thriller. I would highly recommend this book in print or on tape. This book can really open the world of literature to a teeanager or young adult not into reading.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting story of criminal psicology
Review: I don't know how I do this but I always read the second part before the first, every body says that this book is better than The Angel of Darkness (of the same writer), I read first the Angel of Darkness and I loved that book better than this one, I am not saying that this book is not good, it is an easy reading book that keeps you interested all the time, my point is that I think that the first book between these two that you read will be better than the other one.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Compelling Read!
Review: While slow to get going, this turned out to be really great. Not only did I enjoy the historical aspects of it, it was a very compelling mystery. At times, I felt like the author was being a little obvious in pointing out how ahead of their times the crime team was, but by the end of the book I was enthralled. Highly recommended, but be prepared for some late nights with this one.
Rating:
Summary: An astounding piece of historical fiction!
Review: This book provides an amazing glimpse of New York City at the end of the 19th century; amazing, largely, because it shows the dark side of New York that the media of the time dared not expose. An intense, sometimes gruesome book, you may want to read it more than once to really take in the settings. For this reason, I would recommend buying the hardcover version on ebay; it will last longer, and Amazon's "hardcover" version is nothing but a stiff paperback piece of garbage, and costs more than you would pay for the real deal on ebay.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent psychological thriller!
Review: Carr had done a wonderful work writing "The Alienist". If you are looking for a novel where you want to find profound psychological personality's analysis, a well-designed plot and intense characters, this is the novel.
Carr's characters are so well depicted that you can almost live yourself every one of them. Wonderful job!
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, a perfect thriller!
Review: Brilliant, a perfect thriller! Carr pulls you back in time to hunt a killer against the wishes of law enforcement establishment. Historical figures make impressive cameos and Carr's accuracy is unmatched. Fans of Thomas Harris board this time machine for a trip like no other!
Rating:
Summary: this has to have been one of the best books ive ever read
Review: my teacher used this book as an example of a tenement building in ny at the turn of the century and it was very good. i then bought the book and couldnt put it down altho it can get alittle too discriptive at times its a really good book that you can totally get into it only took me 3 days to read this becuz i couldnt put it down. i have recommended it to many of my friends and after lending it to a few its become quite worn(that shows that its good). there is a sequel bout a woman killer but from what i hear it isnt the greatest and the first is much better. so if u like historical fiction this is the book for you
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