The Alienist - Caleb Carr [266]
As always, Suzanne Gluck and Ann Godoff guided me from wild idea to completed project with grace, skill, and affection. All writers should have such agents and editors. Susan Jensen’s skill, speed, and good humor often helped keep the wolf from the door, and I thank her.
Through his own psychological insight, Tom Pivinski helped turn nightmares into prose. He has been a rock.
In the years since this book was first published, the world and I have lost James Chace, whose advice and friendship were so important to all my work. He is still missed terribly.
David Fromkin, Rob Cowley, and Ezequiel Viñao have continued to provide unflagging comradeship. I am in their debt.
Special gratitude goes to my fellow members of the Core Four at La Tourette: Martin Signore, Debbie Deuble, and Yong Yoon.
I would also like to thank my family, in particular my cousins, Maria and William von Hartz.
A personal note to those who found the quote from John Ray in the original dedication to this book either arcane or, apparently, untenable: Its “secret” (not so very secret after all) was and remains loyalty. It’s been my luck to know so many people, some of whom are listed above, who could grasp this essential notion; and it has saddened me beyond measure to have encountered others who found it a puzzle too complex to unravel.
Finally, for their thoughtfulness in publishing this edition, with its clarifications and afterword, I would like to thank Gina Centrello, Jennifer Hershey, Laura Ford, Caitlin Newman, and Evan Camfield.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bestselling and critically acclaimed author Caleb Carr’s books include The Angel of Darkness, The Lessons of Terror, Killing Time, The Devil Soldier, and The Italian Secretary. His titles have been translated into twenty languages worldwide. A contributing editor to MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History and the series editor of the Modern Library War Series, he lives in upstate New York and teaches at Bard College.
ALSO BY CALEB CARR
The Italian Secretary
The Lessons of Terror
Killing Time
The Angel of Darkness
The Devil Soldier
America Invulnerable (with James Chace)
Casing the Promised Land
Praise for
The Alienist
“Keeps readers turning pages well past their bedtime.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“Harrowing, fascinating…will please fans of Ragtime and The Silence of the Lambs.”
—The Flint Journal
“Caleb Carr’s rich period thriller takes us back to the moment in history when the modern idea of the serial killer became available to us…[and] tracks the efforts of a team of farsighted investigators working frantically to solve a string of hideous murders…. Absorbing…suspenseful…gratifying.”
—The Detroit News
“Engrossing.”
—Newsweek
“A ripsnorter of a plot…a fine dark ride.”
—The Arizona Daily Star
“[A] delicious premise…Its settings and characterizations are much more sophisticated than the run-of-the-mill thrillers that line the shelves in bookstores.”
—The Washington Post Book World
“The method of the hunt and the disparate team of hunters lift the tale beyond the level of a good thriller—way beyond…. A remarkable combination of historical novel and psychological thriller.”
—The Buffalo News
“Mesmerizing.”
—Detroit Free Press
“Remarkable…The reader is taken on a whirlwind tour of the Gilded Age metropolis, climbing up tenement stairs, scrambling across rooftops, and witnessing midnight autopsies…. A breathtaking, finely crafted mystery.”
—Richmond Times-Dispatch
This is a work of historical fiction. Apart from the well-known actual people, events, and locales that figure in the narrative, all names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to current events or locales, or to living persons, is entirely coincidental.
2006 Random House Trade Paperback Edition
Copyright © 1994 by Caleb Carr
Afterword copyright © 2006 by Caleb