The Alienist

The Alienist is a crime novel by Caleb Carr first published in 1994 and is the first book in the Kreizler series. It takes place in New York City in 1896, and includes appearances by many famous figures of New York society in that era, including Theodore Roosevelt and J. P. Morgan. The sequel to the novel is The Angel of Darkness. The story follows Roosevelt, then New York City police commissioner, and Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, as their investigative team attempts to solve gruesome murders through new methods including fingerprinting and psychology. The first murder victim investigated is a 13-year-old immigrant who has had his eyes removed, his genitals removed and stuffed in his mouth, and other injuries. The investigators deal with various interest groups that wish to maintain the status quo regarding the poor immigrant population in New York City. The book made best-sellers lists of Publishers Weekly and The New York Times the month it was published, and film rights to the story were purchased by producer Scott Rudin and Paramount Pictures. The film studio has since moved the rights over to its television division, where a 10-part event TV series adaptation began its run on January 22, 2018, on TNT. The Alienist received generally positive reception. Booklist described it as "superbly atmospheric and compelling", Forbes called the work a "fascinating, fast-paced spine-tingler", and author Paul Levine wrote in the Chicago Tribune "at the end the reader thirsts for another tale of Dr. Laszlo Kreizler". The Houston Chronicle characterized it "an out-and-out page-turner", and The Seattle Times noted "Carr brings the dual sensibilities of historian and novelist to the story." Plot summary Narrated from the first-person perspective of John Moore, a crime reporter for The New York Times, the novel begins on January 8, 1919, the day that Theodore Roosevelt is buried. Moore has dinner with Laszlo Kreizler, the famous alienist. Kreizler is surrounded by those he has rescued, including his black servant, Cyrus Montrose, and a boy named Stevie "Stevepipe" Taggert. (Mary Palmer, another patient and Kreizler's housekeeper, is deceased by the time of this dinner.) Together, they reminisce about their times with Roosevelt, but they focus on one moment: the spring of 1896 and their efforts to catch a serial killer on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.