The Angel of Darkness
- Book Review,
by CALEB CARR
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Read about the author.
From Library Journal
Dr. Lazlo Kreizler, protagonist of The Alienist (LJ 3/1/94), is back with his idiosyncratic companions in Carr's latest mystery thriller. Set in 1897 New York and told through the voice of the doctor's young ward, Stevie (a former "delinquent" nicknamed "Stevepipe," after his weapon of choice), the story centers on the kidnapping of the baby daughter of a Spanish diplomat just as tensions between Spain and the United States have reached the boiling point. Soon our investigators discover something even more sinister: Their chief suspect seems to have been involved in the murders of several other young children?including two of her own?and to be willing to take any measures necessary to cover her tracks. It becomes a race against time to save this latest victim. The exciting tale is full of the requisite twists and turns and involves such historical figures as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Clarence Darrow, and Teddy Roosevelt. It also makes the point that when it comes to questions of good and evil and the motivations behind seemingly horrific behavior (a la Susan Smith), there are no simple answers. Highly recommended for all public libraries and any others where good mystery writing is in demand.-?David W. Henderson, Eckerd Coll. Lib., St. Petersburg, Fla.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Entertainment Weekly, Mark Harris
A very good sequel to a superb novel.... Part mystery, part psychological case study, and part grimly revisionist urban history.... Carr's unblinking, scrupulously detailed vision of the darkest corners of a growing metropolis is as vivid and enthralling as it was in The Alienist.Let's hope he's saved enough material for at least one more book.
The New York Times Book Review, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt
Sequels usually don't work, but in The Angel of Darkness, Caleb Carr has written at least as winning a historical thriller as his bestseller The Alienist..... Once again, he has created a turn-of-the-century New York City that feels as authentic as a fading tintype.
Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review, Celia McGee
Although working one's way through Carr's hefty book is like reading history, he manages to make historical figures appear to spring full-blown (and full of odd humanity) from his imagination. In truth, real people, especially of the world-changing variety (why, just look at the Spencer family), usually turn out to be even more interesting than made-up ones. And Carr's invented characters have, with few exceptions, both the surface and the internal cast of reality.
From AudioFile
This sequel to Carr's bestselling Alienist harkens back to earlier times in more ways than one. Most obviously, it contains fascinating minutiae about its setting, late nineteenth-century New York. But it also reminds one of a kind of pulp and penny dreadful fiction in which a club of eccentric and talented heroes fights crime under a charismatic leader, such as Doc Savage. In radio, this genre reached its apotheosis with the long-running series "I Love a Mystery." In this novel, the leader is Laszlo Kreizler, one of the world's first "profilers," or forensic psychiatrists--"alienists" in the parlance of the day. This particular case is told by Stevie Taggert, the street-urchin protŽgŽ of the good doctor. Boyd Gaines plays him well, negotiating as best he can around the author's anachronisms and inconsistencies of diction. Further, Gaines's listener-friendly voice emphasizes Carr's strengths--atmosphere and plotting. Y.R. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
From Kirkus Reviews
An absorbing if overlong sequel to Carr's popular 1994 thriller, The Alienist. As in that novel, the figures of ``alienist'' (i.e., psychologist) Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, investigative journalist John Schuyler Moore, and Kreizler's assistant Stevie ``Stevepipe'' Taggert (who tells the story) figure prominently in the investigation of a peculiarly dastardly crime. The year is 1897, and Carr's plot is initiated by the kidnapping of a Spanish diplomat's baby--then thickens, quite pleasurably, as suspicion falls on Elspeth Hunter, a malevolent nurse who is actually Libby Hatch, a malevolent gang moll and the suspected murderess of her own children. The pursuit, capture, and attempted conviction of Libby involve such notable historical figures as painter Albert Pinkham Ryder, women's-rights crusader Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Libby's defense attorney Clarence Darrow (who dominates a fascinating extended courtroom scene), and (back also from The Alienist) New York City Police Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt, who commandeers the US Navy to aid in the story's climactic pursuit. Carr overloads his tale with digressive comments on ever-worsening political relations between the US and Cuba (though one can argue such passages' relevance to the novel's initial mystery), and disastrously slows down the otherwise absorbing courtroom scenes by including needless detailed summaries of cases of child murder offered as precedents. But these are minor blemishes. Carr has learned to plot since The Alienist, and this novel usually moves at a satisfyingly rapid pace. The ambiance is convincingly thick and period-flavorful, the murderous details satisfyingly gruesome, and even the somewhat shaky central ethical question--whether ``a woman's murdering her own kids . . . could actually be looked at as her trying to gain control over her life and her world''--is quite convincingly presented. As for the nefarious Libby--presented, with perfect appropriateness, only as others see and hear her--she rivals Lydia Gwilt of Wilkie Collins's Armadale as the pluperfect villainess, and the centerpiece of an enormously entertaining and satisfying reading experience. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Book Description
In one of the most critically acclaimed novels of the year, Caleb Carr-- bestselling author of The Alienist--pits Dr. Laszlo Kreizler and his colleagues against a murderer as evil as the darkest night. . . .
From the Publisher
From the bestselling author of THE ALIENIST, this is his second tale of murderous deeds in 19th century New York. The book is a taut drama packed with memorable characters. I live in old downtown New York (and love history as well as mysteries) and I especially enjoy how well Caleb Carr has recreated the look and feel of (the optimism and depravity, the glory and darkness) of old New York and its multifarious nefarious denizens. If you like the life and times of Theodore Roosevelt, Jack Finney's TIME AND AGAIN or the film THE NAKED CITY (even though it is a different time period) you'll get totally caught up in ANGEL OF DARKNESS.
Teri Henry, Director of Subsidiary Rights
From the Publisher
A must read if you are a fan of American history or just enjoy a good yarn. Carr created something special with ALIENIST and he continues many of the same characters in this novel. He's at his best when he stays in the New York setting. A best seller in both hardcover and paperback, and well deserving of both.--Ron Lundquist, Ballantine Sales Rep.
From the Publisher
I was so excited when I heard that we would be publishing Caleb Carr's follow-up to his first book, THE ALIENIST. ANGEL OF DARKNESS starrs the same characters whom I loved in THE ALIENIST: Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, Cyrus, Stevie, Lucius and Marcus, Miss Howard, and Mr. Moore. And like THE ALIENIST, ANGEL OF DARKNESS describes New York circa the late 19th century.It's a real thrill to read this book and imagine where all of the action is taking place. After reading both of Carr's works, I've taken his books with me and walked through the different New York neighborhoods that he so wonderfully illustrates. It's really fun to look at the neighborhoods as they stand today and to picture how they were back then. It's also interesting to note how neighborhoods have changed demographically. -- Jennifer RichardsPublicity
From the Inside Flap
In one of the most critically acclaimed novels of the year, Caleb Carr-- bestselling author of The Alienist--pits Dr. Laszlo Kreizler and his colleagues against a murderer as evil as the darkest night. . . .
From the Back Cover
"As winning a historical thriller as The Alienist. . . . The reader keeps right on turning the pages."
--The New York Times
"A RIPPING YARN TOLD WITH VERVE, INTENSITY, AND A FEEL FOR HISTORICAL DETAIL . . . Once again we are careening around the gaslighted New York that Carr knows, and depicts, so well."
--The New York Times Book Review
"GRIPPING . . . Carr is at his strongest, exploring the dark underside of the human psyche and ferreting out the terrors and tragedies that drive men--and women--to kill. . . . In Libby Hatch, Carr has created a villain whose cunning is nearly equal to his detectives' crime-solving prowess. . . . The mystery is plotted with military precision."
--USA Today
"[A] WHOPPING THRILLER . . . Carr keeps us racing along with him to the very end."
--The Washington Post Book World
About the Author
Caleb Carr was born in Manhattan and grew up on the Lower East Side, where he still lives. He attended Kenyon College and New York University, earning a degree in history. In addition to fiction, Mr. Carr writes frequently on military and political affairs and is a contributing editor of MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History. His previous books include The Alienist and The Devil Soldier. He has also worked in television, film, and the theater.
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