The year is 1886. Along with known alienist, Lazlo Kreizler, and New York Police Commisioner and future US President Theodore Roosevelt, New York Times journalist Johnathon Moore finds himself thrown into the investigation of the worste group of murders New York has ever seen.

A serial killer is savagely murdering young boys in the Manhattan area. Those investigating the murders have no idea as to who the killer could be, until they get their hands on a letter from the killer to the first victim's mother. Suddenly all the disturbing clues, both psychological and physical, start falling into place and Moore, Kreizler and others involved find themselves in dangerous territory.

If you love suspenseful psychological thrillers this book is about the best you can read. It's a thought provoking book that keeps your mind working the whole time. You'll be coming up with your own psychological hypothesis as the characters work on their case.

It's hard to pick one thing, so how about two?
Caleb Carr did an amazing amount of research in making this book as real as possible; both in the historical sense, and in describing the mental health of the killer and others in the book. His description through the eyes of the narrator, Johnathan Moore, pulled the reader into the story. I felt as if I was there, on the streets and rooftops of New York city.

At times when the characters were riding around in Cabs and Calashes (carriages) Carr would describe the turning onto different streets on the way to the characters destinations. I found this to be a little too much and not quite needed as much as he did.

Cry!! When reading it I couldn't wait to find out the ending, but when I finished it I was sad that it was over. I missed the book, and missed the characters. They were practicly a part of my life. (Is that a little weird?)

Once I finished it I immediately wanted to read the sequal "Angel of Darkness."

Like I was a part of the book; one of the characters investigating the murders.

Is a true genius at writing. Like I said before his research was amazing. The historical data, and physical description of late nineteen century NY created such great imagery. Not only was his research great but his writing. I am usually not a fan of narrated fiction but I wouldn't have it any other way with his book. It's the best first person book I have yet read. His writing was chilling, graphic, and absolutely beautiful!

I found myself quite envious of Caleb Carr's talent. I wish I could be as good of a fiction author as he is.

I found it to be one of the very best books I have ever read. I have never been so challenged mentally in a fictional piece and yet enjoyed it so much before.

A warning; some descriptions in this book can be quite graphic. I don't recommend it for the faint of heart, or those who do not like somewhat disturbing descriptions.

I would say this book is rated 18+ because of the graphic description in the murders as well as other things. Though there is no troubling language or a large portrayal of sexual acts, the small amount of things described in the murder scenes can disturb the imagintation a bit if you are one easily peturbed by such detail.

Otherwise, I highly recommend this book!

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Created Feb 13, 2004 at 1:26pm • Submit your own review...