06/01/2006 8:43 PM
Posted by VeggieSteph

The Alienist by Caleb Carr

I picked up The Alienist by Caleb Carr because I really enjoyed The Italian Secretary, a book I reviewed earlier. I’m glad I did; however, I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the further adventure of Sherlock Holmes. The Alienist is a credible mystery, and chocked full of little bits of true history. However, you can tell it is an early work, as the characters and plot are a little heavy on stereotypes.

...Read the rest of this entry... Posted by VeggieSteph

The Alienist by Caleb Carr

I picked up The Alienist by Caleb Carr because I really enjoyed The Italian Secretary, a book I reviewed earlier. I’m glad I did; however, I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the further adventure of Sherlock Holmes. The Alienist is a credible mystery, and chocked full of little bits of true history. However, you can tell it is an early work, as the characters and plot are a little heavy on stereotypes.



The Alienist, or a person who studies mental illness, is Laszlo Kreizler, an outcast in his profession and a good friend of Theodore Roosevelt from his Harvard days. Laszlo and a group of amateur investigators are called upon to search out a new killer that is roaming the streets of New York City in 1896. This serial killer preys on young boys who have found their way into houses of prostitution. Roosevelt is head of the NYPD, and he calls on Laslzo to find the killer because of his study of criminal psychology. (Laszlo is developing a technique now known as profiling, and it was unheard of to use this technique in 1896 to search out a criminal.) Lasloz and his team face opposition from many interested parties, including the Church, J.P. Morgan, and various underworld hoods. Not many people agree with his investigative techniques or his school for abused children (evidentially many people in the late 1800’s were not very sure of psychology and it’s merits), so Roosevelt faces serious job peril if the team is found out. Eventually, as all good murder mysteries go, the killer is found, and the solution is one that is satisfying and bittersweet.

I liked the narrator, John Moore. He is a good foil to Kreizler, and contributes insights much like another old favorite, Dr. Watson. Kreizler is a perfect Sherlock Holmes type, only he uses insights into the mind more than clues found at the scene. My favorite characters were the two police detectives, Marcus and Lucius. They both add a bit of comic relief, but also pull in the more CSI-like clues and detection. Sara is my least favorite character, as she is a stereotypical spunky woman, just feminist enough to want her own job and for that job to be as New York’s first policewoman. She does bring a nice “feminine” insight into the killer and into Laszlo’s investigation, but her spunkiness is just a little too much. Stevie, a young boy that Laszlo in a way adopts, also reminds me much of the precocious newsboy you see in many classic movies. He doesn’t have a whole lot of substance for a main character.

I enjoyed the story overall, and I think the killer’s identity was sufficiently doled out over the chapters. The team credibly searches and hypothesizes the identity of the serial killer, and the final chapters of the hunt are tense, like they should be. I enjoyed this book enough that I will continue reading the series, but if the characters don’t get better after the second book, I might not continue on with it. After reading this book, I can see why the Sherlock Holmes Estate decided to hire Caleb Carr to write The Italian Secretary. Laszlo and John Moore are great foils for Holmes and Watson. It’s a good read if you like mysteries, Sherlock Holmes stories, and fiction that dabbles real bits of historical information and characters into the plot.