The Alienist

If you liked...Suggestions for further reading

 The Alienist

• Caleb Carr, The Angel of Darkness (1997)
  Set in 1897 New York this book reunites many of the original investigators from The Alienist with Stevie as the narrator. The mystery begins with the kidnapping of the Spanish ambassador’s baby.
• Iain Pears, An Instance of the Fingerpost (1998)
  A literary thriller set in 17th century Oxford, England. A young man from New College is poisoned and a young woman is accused. Only after reading the first-person accounts of four different people is the full truth revealed.
• James Lardner & Thomas Repetto, NYPD: A City and Its Police (2000)
  Over the last 150 years the New York Police Department has seen corruption and reform, the adoption of firearms, gangs and scandals. Drawing from personal memoirs, newspaper accounts and legislative committee reports this book recounts the history of the NYPD in events both large and small.
• Jody Shields, The Fig Eater (2000)
  A young woman’s death in 1910 Vienna launches two investigations. The official investigation relies heavily on physical evidence and psychoanalysis. The second, unofficial, investigation by the wife of the investigating police officer draws heavily on arcane gypsy folklore.
• Matthew Pearl, The Dante Club (2003)
  A well-crafted literary mystery set in post-Civil War Boston. Publisher J. T. Fields and writers Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Russell Lowell and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow pursue a serial killer after recognizing elements of the murders from Dante’s Inferno.
• Mike Dash, Satan's Circus: Murder, Vice, Police Corruption, and New York's Trial of the Century (2007)
  The tale of a crooked cop in what was a corrupt and crime-ridden city in the early 20th century. Based on legal documents, newspaper and magazine accounts, detective reports from the Municipal Archives and the family’s private collection of papers, Dash traces Charles Becker’s life, and downfall, as a cop in New York City until Decker’s execution in 1915. Sprinkled with appearances by characters from the time (including Police Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt) and colloquialisms he freely explains, Dash creates an intriguing story that will interest historians and general readers alike.
• Peter Høeg, Smilla’s Sense of Snow (1993)
  A literary thriller with a strong female protagonist. Smilla, an expert on snow, doesn’t believe the death of her young Inuit friend was an accident. Despite the police’s reluctance Smilla’s investigation leads her to secrets from the past and an explanation for why her friend died.
• Thomas Cook, The Chatham School Affair (1996)
  A genre-stretching crime novel that explores how our secrets control our destinies. Chatham School, a private school for wealthy families, hires Miss Elizabeth Channing to teach art. A passionate love affair between Miss Channing and another teacher leads to murder, suicide and the destruction of lives.

Major Character List

The Alienist

• Cyrus Montrose – Kreizler’s valet, occasional driver, bodyguard and alter ego; former patient of Kreizler’s; not formally a part of Kreizler’s group, he does provide assistance with the investigation
• Eat-‘Em-Up Jack McManus – bouncer for Kelly; former boxer
• John Schuyler Moore – narrator; police reporter for the Times; college chums with Kreizler & Roosevelt; part of Kreizler’s group
• Laszlo Kreizler – physician and alienist; practices forensic psychiatry; organizes and leads a group to find the killer
• Lucius Isaacson – cop, a Detective Sgt.; Marcus’ brother; part of Kreizler’s group
• Marcus Isaacson – cop, a Detective Sgt.; Lucius’ brother; part of Kreizler’s group
• Mary Palmer – Kreizler’s maid and housekeeper; former patient of Kreizler’s; murdered her father; suffers from aphasia
• Patrick Connor – Sgt of Detectives; fired by Roosevelt shortly after Kreizler’s group begins their investigation
• Paul Kelly – head of Five Pointers gang; stirs up immigrants about the murders
• Sara Howard – old friend of John’s; wants to be first female detective; part of Kreizler’s group
• Stevie “the Stevepiper” Taggert – teenager; driver and errand boy for Kreizler; former patient of Kreizler’s; not formally a part of Kreizler’s group, he does provide assistance with the investigation
• Theodore Roosevelt – President of the Board of Commissioners of New York City’s police department; proposes the creation of Kreizler’s group

Discussion Questions

The Alienist

1. The first scene of the novel, coupled with the first person narration, makes it clear that John and Kreizler at least survive the events chronicled in 1896. Does this knowledge affect the tension of the novel?
2. Everything we see, hear and learn comes from John. Do you think he is a reliable narrator? Is he honest? How do his opinions and assumptions influence the story we read?
3. There are lots of historical touches in the story. (For example, the history of the Delmonico family and their affect on American eating habits, Br?bacher’s Wine Garden on Union Square and its rowdy gamblers.) Do these touches enhance or detract from the mystery and the novel as a whole for you?
4. Who did you find the most compelling character? Why?
5. What purpose did Mary’s death serve?
6. What do you think of Carr’s use of foreshadowing? (Such as John’s observations, p. 361 “never had I seen [Laszlo] look or sound so completely human as he did on that train ride. And never would I see him so again.”)
7. How did you feel about the frequent appearance of historical people as characters, such as Kreizler and John’s meeting with with JP Morgan and Anthony Comstock? Did the appearances lend a sense of historical accuracy? Did they detract from the story?
8. How much do you think this story would change if it took place in another place or time? (Would placing the story further back in time, before telephones were in use, have caused fundamental changes? Would moving the story forward in time, say to the 1930s, have changed the story? Would the story be different if it was set in Chicago, or San Francisco, or London?)
9. Was the murderer a monster? Or was he a tormented child acting out? He almost certainly killed his parents. Was that more justified than the deaths of the children?
10. John tells the readers he felt faint and as though he might be sick upon seeing the first body. He doesn’t say he felt shocked or horrified. Did you believe his reaction? What do John’s reactions say about his character?
11. The murders and mutilation are supposed to be shocking. Did you feel shocked, horrified, etc? How well (or poorly) do you think the author did in evoking an emotional reaction to the murdered children?