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The Alienist by Caleb Carr

Thriller

The Alienist

by Caleb Carr

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Quick take

A near perfect specimen of a rare literary breed '“ a historical mystery told so well it could be mistaken for fact.

Why I love it

This modern classic is a near-perfect specimen of a rare literary breed—a historical mystery told so well it could be mistaken for fact. With a history book’s exactitudeThe Alienist features the unpolished, early years of two of the greatest and most contradictory characters in American History: Teddy Roosevelt and New York City. Police commissioner Teddy, together with an Alienist—an early word for a psychiatrist—attempt to hunt down a serial killer targeting 'boy' prostitutes. The hunt is a Holmesian fusion of fast-paced thriller and intellectual criminal investigation, which takes place in the raw and gruesome underbelly of New York in 1896. Enjoy.

Member ratings (3,116)

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Thriller
View all
The Boyfriend
The Last One at the Wedding
Sleep Tight
First Lie Wins
House of Glass
Middle of the Night
Listen for the Lie
A Talent for Murder
Someone in the Attic
One Perfect Couple
Like Mother, Like Daughter
Darling Girls
Kill for Me, Kill for You
Bad Tourists
Murder Road
Daughter of Mine
The Fury
The Other Mothers
When I’m Dead
The Soulmate
What Lies in the Woods
She Started It
The Only One Left
Dark Corners
Blacktop Wasteland
All the Dangerous Things
The Only Survivors
The Broken Girls
The Family Game
The Push
We Were Never Here
Things We Do in the Dark
The Golden Couple
The Stranger Upstairs
Gone Tonight
Too Good to Be True
The Last Word
You Are Not Alone
Rock Paper Scissors
Not a Happy Family
A Flicker in the Dark
Reckless Girls
The House Across the Lake
The Wife Upstairs
The Last Thing He Told Me
The Maidens
Everything We Didn't Say
The Paris Apartment
You're Invited
The Last Party
Dark Places
Pieces of Her
The Wife Between Us
Sharp Objects
None of This Is True
The Silent Patient
The Other Woman
Necessary People
The Family Upstairs
The Night Swim
Girl A
The Hunting Wives
Just Another Missing Person
First Born
The Lies I Tell
Breathless