An Alexandria music lover

Not sure the murders are all resolved

Revisado: 10-04-24

Perhaps at least one of the murder victims was him/herself a red herring. Warning: The intricacies of the plot may be too convoluted for some puzzled and/or cognitively challenged readers to follow.

The narrator was charming, witty, and excellent. The writer’s style may have inspired this excellence.

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An edit chopping out 1/3 of text would be helpful

Revisado: 06-09-24

The author, Caleb Carr, died recently, inspiring obituaries in two papers I read daily, the NY Times and Washington Post. Both obituaries were laudatory, emphasizing in particular Carr's most widely read book, "The Alienist." I wondered whether the quality of the book matched the praise I found in the obituaries. I had read the book shortly after it was published, about three decades ago (in 1994). The novel's atmosphere left a vivid impression of New York shortly before 1900, and I remembered that the central character was the "alienist" of the title. Alienists were a subspecies of the broader profession of psychologist, though perhaps psychoanalyst would be a better description. What is strange is that I could hardly remember a single notable feature of the plot, except that it involved a serial killer and an alienist, who, with help from his friends and supporters, is bent on capturing or extinguishing the killer. This happy result, the protagonist hopes, can be accomplished using clues that can best be interpreted by a practitioner of the new alienist science.

I managed to finish the over-long story, but only just. The novel has interesting characters, gaudy slayings, vivid descriptions of violence and a series of desecrated corpses, and, yes, ultimate vindication of the alienist's theories and detecting abilities. The dialog, however, is repetitive and the narrative is considerably too long to be engrossing all the way through. Carr would have benefited from editing by a sympathetic but merciless wordsmith. He was so interested in his own research notes that he, alas, forgot that 95% of his readers would prefer a well-told story to the regurgitation of encyclopedic details of late nineteenth century alienist theories, transit modes in turn-of-the-last-century Manhattan and Massachusetts, and the social pecking order of a now vanished New York.

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Pondering the morality of archeology/grave robbing

Revisado: 04-09-23

The connection between the mystery’s subplots is somewhat obscure, but the introduction to Navajo cosmology & ritual is, as always, fascinating.

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Slow, deliberate but thought-provoking and moving

Revisado: 09-02-21

Readers who know nothing about the story when they begin listening may find the deliberate pace of the writing to be too slow, possibly even boring. These readers may reasonably wonder what is going on. The mystery is gradually and beautifully revealed. Some reviewers of the book seem to believe the novel was first and foremost a story about friendship. I found the more interesting and thought-provoking elements of the story were [SPOILER ALERT!] the two classes of human beings presented in the novel, the guilty knowledge of the superior class and its strategies for obscuring their guilt (to themselves and to the lesser beings), and the astonishing acceptance of their condition by the sensitive and intelligent (and probably more worthy) lesser class. Extremely artful, with outstanding narration. Based on my reading of just four Ishiguro novels, I believe he has wonderful gifts.

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Very, very, VERY long. Too long. Overlong.

Revisado: 09-14-20

And did I mention, it’s long? A good editor, and a sensible author, would have trimmed about 50% of the length and uncovered a decently interesting novel. Tragically, the publisher didn’t supply such an editor, the author neglected the editor’s suggestion to shorten, or the author got way too attached to his perfectly decent prose to see the advantage of converting his draft into a book more readers would find enjoyable. Did I mention that the novel contains far more words and paragraphs to keep readers — or at least this reader — entertained?

I found myself skipping to the end of chapters, skipping ahead 30 seconds, then 60 seconds, then 120 seconds .... and I apparently missed nothing of even mInor importance in understanding the plot, the relevant law, or the characters. Each paragraph was perfectly serviceable, and many were attractively, written. Sadly, many were simply unneeded.

The narrator was excellent.

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Too long, too many beatings, too many dead

Revisado: 10-02-19

If you get tired of hearing about the hero’s repeated beatings — he’s a VERY slow learner — and think a basically predictable plot may have a few too many twists and turns, this mystery novel may not be for you.

A pretty good narrator, though.

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A great story, told with authority

Revisado: 09-11-19

Those who've read "Is Paris Burning?" a 1965 best-seller by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre, will not be surprised by the outcome of this story. Paris is liberated by the Americans, by the French army, and by its own citizens, and it is not blown up or burned down in the process. Still, it's worthwhile hearing the story told with authority and precision by a first-rate historian. It's an exciting story and an inspiring one. It's probably safe to say that for many of the participants on the Allied side who were in Paris while it was happening or being celebrated, it was one of the highlights of their lives. The disagreements and debates among the Allied leaders -- de Gaulle, Churchill, Roosevelt, Eisenhower -- are interesting, but the mystery here is the behavior of von Choltitz and his immediate German superiors in France. Why did they disobey der Fuhrer's direct orders to destroy the place, and how did they get away with their disobedience? Full marks to Jean Edward Smith for telling a gripping story, and to Fred Sanders for narrating it so ably.

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Very good novel with varied & realistic characters

Revisado: 09-11-19

Richard Russo has written earlier novels that I've found interesting and memorable. This is another rewarding read. Many listeners will be kept engaged by the mystery that is near the heart of the story, but the reason I liked the novel is that the characters are varied, believable, and, even at age 66, still learning about themselves through the wisdom they're accumulating from (and about) their oldest friends. The writerly craft is first rate, and the narrator, Fred Sanders, is excellent.

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Woman in peril narrative; Some peril for readers

Revisado: 08-18-19

Actually, this novel is not just "Woman in peril." It's also "Women and children in peril" or even "Women and children succumb horribly to peril." Torture to fictional characters is one thing, but squeamish readers should be warned that they, too, may feel the slash of a knife when it's fictional counterpart enters the bodies of perfectly innocent made-up characters. For the reader's entertainment, I suppose.

The book contains many ingredients of an interesting, well-written mystery. But the huge helping of torture and physical suffering, reasonably well described, may not be to everyone's taste. My final Tami Hoag mystery, I'm afraid.

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Not badly written, but pretty badly plotted

Revisado: 07-19-18

The English sentences are o.k., and a few of the characters are realistic enough. However, there are way too many cliff-hanger plot elements and zany out-of-the-blue revelations for the novel to hold the most tenuous connection to plausibility.


On the other hand, the author -- Brian Freeman -- must have congratulated himself on his anticipation of the flood of harassment stories spilling out of Hollywood, the restaurant kitchens of New York and DC, governors' mansions, and the halls of the national and state legislature.


Joe Barrett is an excellent narrator, as usual.

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