The Angel of Darkness - Caleb Carr [0]
VIVID AND ENTHRALLING.”
—Entertainment Weekly
“Suspenseful … Through the observations, discoveries, and confusions of his idiosyncratic detective squad, Carr deftly scrutinizes ‘the secret sins of American society’ and the perpetual proposition that the greatest mystery is the human mind.”
—Los Angeles Times Book Review
“[An] adept mixture of period detail and psychological sleuthing … Filled with enough outsized personalities and sensational events to keep the most jaded tabloid reader eagerly turning its pages.”
—The Wall Street Journal
“Here’s New York circa 1897, city of unparalleled corruption and splendor, city of fine dining and seedy taverns…. Few writers are as adept [as Carr] at fashioning revelations that detonate, chapter by chapter, like carefully positioned explosions.”
—Chicago Tribune
“Penetrating … An entertainingly convincing read.”
—People
“SOLIDLY SCARY…
A terrific sequel … Better and more suspenseful than its pulse-pounding predecessor.”
—The Cleveland Plain Dealer
“[A] labyrinth of crime and psychology … What worked so well in the first book—late-nineteenth-century New York City with all its splendor and warts—is just as engaging in the second Is The Angel of Darkness as good as its predecessor? No. It’s better.”
—San Diego Union-Tribune
“Another crowd-pleaser … This case begins with the brazen kidnapping of an infant. Before it’s over, readers will be treated to some chilling insights from one of the earliest practitioners in psychology; plunge into a courtroom battle pitted against none other than Clarence Darrow; and follow Teddy Roosevelt with a handpicked batch of sailors through the gang-infested streets of lower Manhattan.”
—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“A spirited yarn … Both a tale of serial murder and an argument for understanding the criminal mind.”
—Boston Sunday Herald
“COMPELLING…
A HISTORY-RICH
PAGE-TURNER …
One that will keep you entranced until the final pages.”
—Memphis Commercial Appeal
“As it was for Arthur Conan Doyle in the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, the late nineteenth century is a fascinating backdrop for a detective story…. For the millions of readers who enjoyed The Alienist, this book is a delight.”
—Fresno Bee
“A bewitching and richly fabricated plot, dark and dangerous and as cluttered with unexpected horrors as some of the alleys down which Kreizler and company trod in pursuit of grim justice.”
—Eastsideweek (Seattle)
“Entertaining and enthralling.”
—The State (South Carolina)
“Absorbing… The ambiance is convincingly thick and period-flavorful, the murderous details satisfyingly gruesome An enormously entertaining and satisfying reading experience.”
—Kirkus Reviews
By Caleb Carr:
CASING THE PROMISED LAND
AMERICA INVULNERABLE (with James Chace)
THE DEVIL SOLDIER
THE ALIENIST
THE ANGEL OF DARKNESS*
Published by Ballantine Books
Books published by The Random House Publishing Group are available at quantity discounts on bulk purchases for premium, educational, fund-raising, and special sales use. For details, please call 1-800-733-3000.
To my mother and father
“It is not having been in the dark house,
but having left it, that counts.”
—THEODORE ROOSEVELT
CHAPTER 1
June 19th, 1919
There’s likely some polished way of starting a story like this, a clever bit of gaming that’d sucker people in surer than the best banco feeler in town. But the truth is that I haven’t got the quick tongue or the slick wit for that kind of game. Words haven’t figured much in my life, and though over the years I’ve met many of what the world counts to be the big thinkers and talkers of our times, I’ve stayed what most would call a plain man. And so a plain way of starting will suit me well.
The first thing to do, along these plain lines, is to say why I’ve closed the shop up and come into the back office on a night when there’s still plenty of business that might be done. It’s a fine evening, the kind what I used to live for: a night when you