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May 18, 2008

Laydenyght rated it:

Love these two books. This is the sequel to The Alienist and is a turn of the century (more or less) historical mystery, set in New York. That would be last century, by the way.

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Sep 03, 2008

Rachel rated it:

I remember thinking this book was incredible the first time around. Now, 6 years later, all I could think about was how ridiculous the narration was. You can't be all like, "I'm Stevie Taggert which means I'm all about turn of the century New York street patois even though my diction is actually really elevated and the only difference between my speaking style and that of John Moore, a Harvard-educated New York Times reporter from a high society family, is that I say "what" inst More...

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Jul 05, 2008

Lauren rated it:

I really enjoyed The Alienist, the first book by Caleb Carr about Dr. Laszlo Kreizler and his "colleagues". When I finished that story, I was very curious for more details. Angel of Darkness picks up soon after the previous case, and the action begins almost immediately. This story is narrated by the teenage Stevie Taggert, the street kid that Dr. Kriezler has taken in, and saved from a life of crime. A Spanish diplomat's child is kidnapped in public, and the mother sees her daughter a More...

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Aug 03, 2007

Amy rated it:

This is one the worst books that I've actually read all the way through...though I'm not sure why I even bothered. The author's point is that if you really believe in women's equality, you have to believe that women are as capable of evil as men. I don't disagree, but I do have some problems with the way the author attempted to prove this idea, which I think he considers more controversial than it really is. First of all, the characters in the novel who espouse the author's view are preachy, pre More...

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Jun 10, 2007

Leonora of rated it:

What can I say? I picked up this book expecting it to be not as good as "The Alienist" and was satisfied with another New York adventure circa 1897.

One thing I appreciated about the book was how dark it got at times. Despite the serial killer's mutilations of children in "the Alienist", I found the killer in "The Angel of Darkness" much more terrifying, although not at first.

Then, the characters had interesting bad moments too. I was particu More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 20, 2010

Joyce rated it:

Sequel to The Alienist.[return][return]A 14 month old baby is forcibly taken from the wife of an important member of the Spanish consulate in New York City. In 1897, tension between the United States and Spain, already high, is being ratcheted higher by the war parties of both nations. The abduction has the potential of setting off the spark that ignites a war.[return][return]The mother, Se�ora Linares, appeals for help to Sara Howard, who has opened her own detective agency specializing in ser More...

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Feb 11, 2012

Tony rated it:

"The Angel of Darkness", Caleb Carr returns his readers to the atmospheric, intriguing, rough and tumble world of late nineteenth century New York. The story is told through the eyes of Stevie Taggert, a former young thug rescued from a miserable life and almost certain early death as a street kid already up to his eyes in street crime and drugs by his guardian, Dr Laszlo Kreizler, the famous psychiatrist first introduced to us in "The Alienist".

During the political More...

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Jan 27, 2012

Guillaume rated it:

Quelques années après l'affaire de "L'aliéniste", l'équipe du docteur Kretzer se reforme pour enquêter sur un enlèvement d'enfant qui les entrainera sur la piste d'une criminelle endurcie.

Se déroulant quelques années après l'Aliéniste, ce roman est assez différent du premier. Déjà, le narrateur a changé, on passe du journaliste bourgeois blasé au jeune adolescent sortie de la rue.
En suite, ce n'est pas du tout le même type de criminel : alors que le premier traitait d'un More...

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Nov 26, 2011

Eduardo rated it:

THE ANGEL OF DARKNESS
The description of the 1800 sites and scenery, although interesting, at times it seems to be more than necessary it only drags out the story and adds little to the plot. The seven hundred plus pages could have been edited down significantly without any loss to the story.

The look and demeanor of the main character , ‘The Aliniest” Dr. Kreizler is reminiscent of Sherlock Homes; some aspects seem “borrowed.” In THE ANGEL OF DARKNESS , Carr’s description of the More...

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Dec 26, 2010

Kathryn rated it:

This book is set in New York City and Saratoga Springs at the turn of the 20th Century. It is competently written, in a first-person voice that sounds reasonably probable, although the frequent substitution of "what" for "that" grated on my inner ear. The period details also seem fairly probable, and the characters were believable people. Problem is, I don't really like historic fiction, and particularly not where real historic figures are used as characters. This one fea More...

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Nov 06, 2010

Julia rated it:

This mystery, the second in a series, deals really interesting with both the psychological aspects of a murderer, but how people's perceptions of what a murder must look like, and who murderers can and can not be. To be more clear, the book deals with people's ideas about women, women's essential nature (or what they think it is), and mothering/nuturing. It's really interesting how societal blinders both allow certain behaviors to go on because because are willfully blind to it, and also traps More...

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Jun 03, 2010

Allison rated it:

I've always had a personal law that requires I finish any book I start. Lately, I've been reconsidering. It all started when I tried to read The Devil Wears Prada and was forced to throw it out the window in horror and disgust after 25 pages. That's when I realized I needed to amend the law to specify that I don't have to finish books so poorly written that I end up holding them out away from myself with two fingers while cringing as if they reek of garbage while I read. This allowed me to leave More...

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Jun 04, 2009

Linda rated it:

This was the first Carr book I've read, and I was impressed by the detail, the atmosphere that he creates (New York 1919) and the characters drawn in such detail. This is an involved story about Dr. Lazlo Kriezler and the people he has taken into his life. He makes life better for those he helps, and they end up forming an informal group of crime-solvers. The reader is given a gritty, harsh look at the life of the poor in early 20th C. NYC, and in brutal contrast, the life of the very wealthy. A More...

1 comment like

Aug 15, 2010

Joyce rated it:

Kreizler, Moore, and Sarah Howard and the gang reunite for another exciting mystery. This time the story is narrated by Stevie Taggert, now the owner of a tobacco shop. Once again the mention of NYC icons, such as the Flatiron building add verisimilitude. It is interesting to note that at the end of the 19th century, NYC was known as the Big Onion! Stevie Taggert narrates the story this time, which creates one problem that I found irritating. To maintain Stevie's role as an ill educated you More...

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Aug 16, 2009

Kit rated it:

Another page turner that I could not put down. Except for using the same characters and setting (and also being a good read), this story is really different from its predecessor. Again, a psychologist and his detective friends go after a serial killer, but this time they know exactly who they are after much earlier in the game. Result: a much scarier story in which we are constantly aware of the murderer and afraid for our heroes at every turn. As in the first book, the mystery is slowly unrave More...

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Sep 13, 2011

Melissa rated it:

This story is the sequel to "The Alienist". It follows the same characters but involves a different murder scenario as told Stevie rather than John Moore. The story itself is still gruesome, but no less intriguing. The group gets together to catch a vicious and evil woman who has a history of killing her own children or kidnapping and killing other children. While there isn't as much detail into the mind of this killer as in "The Alienist" it does delve into the waters of More...

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Feb 22, 2011

Lora rated it:

An intimidating read at 704 pages on my nook, I nonetheless loved this sequel to The Alienist. The group is all here, Stevie (the voice of the story), the Issacsons, Teddy Roosevelt, Mr. Moore, Cyrus, Miss Howard and of course Dr. Kreizler. New to the story this time around are Clarance Darrow, C. Vanderbilt and a new prosecutor Mr. Pichton along with a aborigine from Manila (with a list of characters like this it has to be good). This time the villan is a woman Lizzy Hatch who kills children, More...

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Feb 24, 2011

William rated it:

While it took me almost three full weeks to read this book, it wasn't because it was terrible. The fact of the matter was that the book was so detailed, so richly drawn, so atmospheric, that I had to sometimes reread parts to see if I missed anything. To my surprise, I often, however, missed little more than more detail and atmosphere. The book had its very interesting moments (the search through the killer's house, the rumble with the street gang) but so much of the story was fluff cleverly wri More...

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Sep 16, 2008

Hannah rated it:

Whoah, I think that this book is the kind of book for which the phrase RIPPING GOOD YARN was invented. Caleb Carr is this big ol' history nerd, which, to me, eh--who cares, what do I know from the history? But which makes for so much sweet sweet sweetass detail which makes this creepy ol' damn ol' murdery thing SUCH A RIPPING GOOD YARN.

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Sep 19, 2009

Michael rated it:

June 1897, Stevie Taggert, a reformed street urchin is with Sara Howard who is a private investigator and has a client in need of crime reporter John Schuyler Moore. Senora Isabella Linares is desperate. She tells the others that her fourteen year old daughter has been kidnapped. Her husband is the private secretary to the Spanish Counsul and since United States and Spain are close to war, he doesn't want her to report the kidnapping in case it leads to a worsening of relations between the coun More...

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Jul 24, 2011

Bookreaderljh rated it:

I read "The Alienist" several years ago and liked it quite a bit. I don't think this follow up book was quite as good and it seemed to go on a little too long - but it was still a good mystery and I enjoyed the tone of setting up the precursors to our present day psychology and profiling methods, rudimentary forensics and trial machinations. The only thing that drove me a bit batty was the voice of the main character (a teenager with only basic education) and the habit of using "w More...

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Aug 06, 2011

Tom rated it:

I read this right after The Alienist. I started reading this book years ago, and put it down after the first chapter. The second attempt was much more successful, since I had a vested interest in the characters after reading The Alienist and enjoying it. Well-crafted to the point that I didn't want to put the book down, especially since the author uses little teasers at the end of many of the chapters to pique your interest. I get the feeling that I am learning a lot about life in late 19th More...

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Sep 10, 2010

Serah rated it:

I actually liked this book a lot, mostly for Carr's vivid descriptions of New York city-life during the early 1900s. It really made me feel like I was transported there in one of H.G. Wells' time machines. The story was captivating as well with a bit of comic relief here and there through Mr. Moore and Stevie. This overall is a well-written book, and Carr did a great job in portraying the antagonist as purely evil at times and as a sad, depressing case at others. However if you're looking for a More...

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Jan 10, 2012

Louise rated it:

This one was far better than his first book the Alieniest. Dr. Lazlo Kreizler, John Moore, Sara Howard, Stevie, Cyrus, the Issacson brothers and Roosevelt who makes an entry at the end of the novel. New characters such as the notorious Libby Hatch, the Dusters, Ding Dong, Kat, Mr. Picton, - even Clarence Darrow. The group tries to capture a baby that Hatch took and gets caught up in the very interesting life of Hatch. Carr does a great job where the plot keeps constantly twisting and turning. I More...

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Aug 05, 2010

Sarah rated it:

Alienist and co. go after a women they suspect of kidnapping and murdering children. This was like a long, meticulously researched, historical, book version of a L&O:SVU episode. It had the detours, digressions, and dead ends, it had the police procedural and the courtroom drama, it had the team members running in different directions to solve the puzzles, it was set in New York City, and it had some great guest stars. Little wonder I loved it. (As a notable aside, I was a little disappointed at More...

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Apr 08, 2008

Devin rated it:

so far so good :)Was a good story. Interesting it was set in the early 1900's but didn't always read like it.

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Jul 12, 2011

Julie rated it:

A rare case of the sequel being just as good (and in some ways, better) than the first. It has a different feel than The Alienist, since it's from the POV of a young boy, but it's just as suspenseful as the first. (I was reading it on the train during a particularly tense scene, and when someone tapped me on the shoulder to ask the time, I nearly jumped out of my skin!) And if you like the "historical" part of historical fiction, Carr again does a fantastic job of weaving in details ab More...

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Jan 20, 2009

K rated it:

loooonnnnngggggg winded

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 21, 2009

K M rated it:

This "sequel" to The Alienist seemed a bit slow moving at first, but once I neared the halfway mark, I simply could not put it down. It was a suspense-filled psychological thriller set against a very interesting historical backdrop- the early days of feminism (Elizabeth Cady Stanton makes an appearance) and of forensic science and psychological profiling. While this book follows the same central characters introduced in The Alienist, it is written from the perspective of a different ch More...

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Feb 05, 2012

Laura rated it:

Just arrived from USA trough BM.

Even if I haven't read the first book of this series, The Alienist, it didn't compromise this reading.

The plot starts with the kidnapping of a Spanish diplomat's baby but then the main story switched to the suspect of this crime, Libby Hatch, a nurse who is the suspect murderess of her own children.

Dr. Lazlo Kreizler, a psychologist or “the alienist” who tries to help the only surviving child to testimony against her own mother, More...

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