Kevin G. (2littletime) reviewed on 3/23/2019 + 57 more book reviews

This was a very dark book that goes deep into the life of a serial killer, set in the late 1800's in New York city. Descriptions of the murders were very graphic and hard to read at times. The serial killer we learn later as to why he was the way he was and what he was doing, but no I am not giving that away. The main characters of the book were very well developed which were basically a team of friends headed up by an Alienist Dr. Lasslo Kreizler (back in the 1890's an alienist was a psychiatrist). The team consisted of John Moore a times reporter, Sara a secretary for the police commisioner, and a pair of brothers who were detectives, just to name a few of the team. It took a cast of many to pick up clues to try to catch the monster that was preying on young boys who to make it worse were prostitutes. The book's settings almost reminded me of another team of the era Sherlock Holmes and Watson. This was so diverse and complex as such. Clues were sparingly given to us along the way almost to the point where we delved on to get more. Still the tragedies that took place, and the cat and mouse game the team experienced with the killer was brilliant. The last 1/4 of the book really ratchets up as the team gets close to solving the case, so much so it's hard to put the book down at that point! The settings were very descriptive almost putting you back into the day of horse and carriage. At first I didn't know if the book would be lost in the time period, but not so as it really put you back into the time so you could envision it. I am glad I read the book even though at times it was tough to read, but this is what you would call a true mystery in my opinion and very well done!

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