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Posted (edited)
I know nothing about Carr and "The Alienist," could you please provide more information.

@WilliamM

 

The Alienist is a novel about an investigation of a serial killer targeting boy-prostitutes in 1896. It mixes real-life historical figures with fictional characters. It had middling reviews, but I like historical crime novels...

 

Caleb Carr

Edited by LoveNDino
Posted
I read the book shortly after it was published and enjoyed it.

Is that the book in which the theory was that an imprint of the killer was left on the victim's eyes? I remember not liking it at all in spite of the good reviews and friends' recommendations.

Posted
Is that the book in which the theory was that an imprint of the killer was left on the victim's eyes? I remember not liking it at all in spite of the good reviews and friends' recommendations.

I don't think so but it's been so long since I read it that I don't remember. Mostly I remember the period setting and the use of historical figures. It and Carr's second novel, Angel of Darkness (which I liked better) are both historical murder mysteries.

 

There's nothing mentioned about it here either, but if it's not the same book this seems unlikely to jog your memory.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Alienist

Posted

I have started this book about 5 times. I had it sitting around and read about 20 pages and misplaced it. After finding it and misplacing it several more times, I finally got to about page 50 and then lost the book. This is unlike me as once I start reading a book, I tend to power through whether I am enjoying it or not.

Posted

I read this book when it came out. What was interesting for me was that I was living in the East Village at the time and worked in the West Village. On my way to work I would walk through areas and pass by some of the buildings mentioned in the book. It made the book come alive for me. Years before I lived 2 blocks from the Morgan Library. I was reading the book Ragtime and when it got to the siege of the library I put the book down, walked over to look at the building and returned to my apartment to continue reading. I thought that was pretty cool.

Posted
Is that the book in which the theory was that an imprint of the killer was left on the victim's eyes? I remember not liking it at all in spite of the good reviews and friends' recommendations.

If you mean a fingerprint, as opposed to something more esoteric, that sounds more like Thomas Harris' Red Dragon, the book that introduced Hannibal Lecter to the world.

Posted
If you mean a fingerprint, as opposed to something more esoteric, that sounds more like Thomas Harris' Red Dragon, the book that introduced Hannibal Lecter to the world.

No, I'm serious. As I recall, the theory was that since the murderer was ostensibly the last thing the victim saw, the murderer's image was imprinted on the victim's eyes. Anyway, whatever the premise of the book was, I didn't enjoy it.

Posted
No, I'm serious. As I recall, the theory was that since the murderer was ostensibly the last thing the victim saw, the murderer's image was imprinted on the victim's eyes. Anyway, whatever the premise of the book was, I didn't enjoy it.

If I remember correctly, this theory was indeed posed by one of the characters but was disproved by another as just fake science? It's been a while, so I could be wrong...

Posted
If I remember correctly, this theory was indeed posed by one of the characters but was disproved by another as just fake science? It's been a while, so I could be wrong...

Thanks.

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