The Alienist

I have donated more books than I want to admit to the library. The fact that I can part with the stacks so easily means I have been buying indiscriminately. After heaving the latest bulk to the library's reception, I have made a solemn promise to myself to think through before buying and pick only those that hold the promise of immense satisfaction after reading them.

I am patiently waiting for The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown to come out in paperback, still no sign of it. Feeling disappointed I am about to get "a book" to fill the loss when I remember my promise of no splurging. I come out of the bookstore empty handed. Being a voracious reader and book lover it's no minor feat. Itching for something to read one sleepless night I succumb to combing my bookshelf. I am about to give up when my wandering eyes stop at the spine of The Alienist.

Armed with the musty paperback I turn the yellowing pages to the preface where I write down the date for every read, October 2, 1995. Whoa, this is a 15 year old book! A even more surprising find is a boarding pass stub from Los Angeles. Huh, Los Angeles, 1995? I have racked my brain to place the trip but so far it has eluded me.

Well, it's been quite a while since I devour a book with reckless abandon, reading into the wee hours of the morning. After two consecutive nights of marathon reading, by the time I put down The Alienist the following night it's 4am.

I am drawn to detective and crime novels, especially those with historical settings. Aside from the riveting guessing of who-dun-it, I love to see how the author interweaves the fictional characters within the context of true events into a seamless plot. I am always awed by the research behind the writing, the imagination of the author and the technique to place fact and fiction together.

Set in New York 1896, the story follows the cracking of a series of grisly and gruesome murders of young boys. The alienist, Dr. Kreizler has taken a personal interest in the case and along with his team, has managed to construct the profile of the killer, a method rarely used in those days.

Psychology is a relatively new science back then and criminals have two fates awaitng them, that of the gallows or the asylums. They are either born bad, therefore sane or born crazy, therefore insane when committing the crimes.

Dr. Kreizler has an alternate belief that murderers are molded from childhood nurturing. People are not born bad by nature. As the story pans out you will find yourself sympathizing with the murdurer, the torturer has been a tortured child once. The piecing of the missing puzzle is gripping till the very end.

All in all, it's a page turner. Since I don't recollect the details after a fifteen year span, it is a brand new read, well except for the musty smell. The case is solved but I am still perplexed as ever about the 1995 trip.