Linda A. reviewed on 3/13/2014 + 7 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Excellent historical novel. It's March of 1896 in New York City. The term Alienist in that time period is what we would call a psychiatrist today. Someone is killing young male prostitutes in a most grotesque and horribly way. A newspaper reporter for the Times, the alienist himself, two police detective brothers and the female secretary from the police department come together as an unlikely team to catch the murderer. At a time when psychology was viewed with great skeptisim by the public they work in secret with the aid of Theodore Roosevelt serving then as Police Commissioner, They seek to know what drives the killer. The brainstorming of these collective minds is nothing short of brilliant. And I learned much along the way.

I very much enjoyed this novel. It was as if I was an invisible participant in the long and tedious process before the aid of technology. The use of Roosevelt gave this fictional story a realism a reader could appreciate. Superbly written in 500 pages that flew by. Criminal profiling at it's dawn. I highly recommend this book. (less)

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