David Schwinghammer's Blog - Posts Tagged "profiling"
Surrender, New York
Caleb Carr is a historian who wrote the widely acclaimed best-seller THE ALIENIST, about a turn of the 20th Century profiler, Dr. Lazlo Kreizler. In SURRENDER, NEW YORK, Carr moves to the 21th Century with his main character Dr. Trajan Jones.
Perhaps the biggest drawback of the novel is that Trajan tells the story, basically telling rather than showing. The book is about so-called “throwaway” children who are popping up dead in upstate New York, where Trajan has a lab on his great aunt's farm along with his friend, forensics expert, Michael Li. Trajan and Dr. Mike think the deaths are suicides; the police and the assistant district attorney think a serial killer is on the loose.
Trajan spends a lot of time bad-mouthing modern forensics experts whom he thinks are in league with the police and prosecutors, jumping to conclusions about who committed a crime, then trying to prove it. Trajan and Mike believe investigators should be independent, collecting the evidence, then trying to finger the most likely culprit. One is reminded of the O.J. case and the defense's theory that the police only had one suspect.
Trajan and Mike soon find two young men spying on them, apparently inspired by their blind sister, Ambyr. Trajan notices one of them, Lucas Kurtz, has a knack for investigation. He likes the idea of having an in with the throwaways, as kids are called whose parents have skipped out on them. Both Lucas and Ambyr are throwaways as is their friend, Derek, for whom Ambyr has a guardianship.
The boys were originally curious about Trajan's wild dog, who turns out to be Marcianna, a cheetah he rescued from a petting zoo. Caleb Carr apparently owns a Siberbian Tiger, Masha, and that could be why she takes up so much space. She's basically a prop.
Trajan and Mike think rich people are in cahoots with a mother figure in Surrender, who convinces the throwaways they can have a better life in New York City. Just about everybody hates the foster care system, since some substitute parents take advantage of the kids in one way or another. Thing is so do the rich people in New York City that Trajan and Mike think are responsible for the suicides. There doesn't seem to be any hope for the throwaways who accepted the “better life,” and they resort to suicide.
We never do get to meet any of these substitute parents in New York City, which I was sort of looking forward to. As a result the story comes to a grinding halt. Maybe Carr is thinking of a sequel.
Perhaps the biggest drawback of the novel is that Trajan tells the story, basically telling rather than showing. The book is about so-called “throwaway” children who are popping up dead in upstate New York, where Trajan has a lab on his great aunt's farm along with his friend, forensics expert, Michael Li. Trajan and Dr. Mike think the deaths are suicides; the police and the assistant district attorney think a serial killer is on the loose.
Trajan spends a lot of time bad-mouthing modern forensics experts whom he thinks are in league with the police and prosecutors, jumping to conclusions about who committed a crime, then trying to prove it. Trajan and Mike believe investigators should be independent, collecting the evidence, then trying to finger the most likely culprit. One is reminded of the O.J. case and the defense's theory that the police only had one suspect.
Trajan and Mike soon find two young men spying on them, apparently inspired by their blind sister, Ambyr. Trajan notices one of them, Lucas Kurtz, has a knack for investigation. He likes the idea of having an in with the throwaways, as kids are called whose parents have skipped out on them. Both Lucas and Ambyr are throwaways as is their friend, Derek, for whom Ambyr has a guardianship.
The boys were originally curious about Trajan's wild dog, who turns out to be Marcianna, a cheetah he rescued from a petting zoo. Caleb Carr apparently owns a Siberbian Tiger, Masha, and that could be why she takes up so much space. She's basically a prop.
Trajan and Mike think rich people are in cahoots with a mother figure in Surrender, who convinces the throwaways they can have a better life in New York City. Just about everybody hates the foster care system, since some substitute parents take advantage of the kids in one way or another. Thing is so do the rich people in New York City that Trajan and Mike think are responsible for the suicides. There doesn't seem to be any hope for the throwaways who accepted the “better life,” and they resort to suicide.
We never do get to meet any of these substitute parents in New York City, which I was sort of looking forward to. As a result the story comes to a grinding halt. Maybe Carr is thinking of a sequel.
