The Alienist by Caleb Carr

For August we read The Alienist by Caleb Carr
We met at Andrea's for tacos on August 21, at 6:00 pm.

We were split in our love of the book. Judy, for whom this was a reread, enjoyed the book, as did Pam who was pages away from finishing it. Both Carmyn and Brian who were midway through the story liked what they'd read so far, but Kristine and Andrea were less than impressed. Andrea was abandoning it, whereas Kristine read the entire thing.

It was fun to read about H.H. Holmes in the first chapter because many of us had read about him in an earlier book club pick, The Devil in the White City. Though that book was a nonfiction read and this one a fictional account with only a few mentions of historical figures. It was interesting to learn about the time period and more than once I wished I could dine at Delmonico's with the gang--the food descriptions were heavenly. The serial killer bits were pretty much the opposite. While this book didn't rock my world, it was a pleasurable read and worth the time it took.

Pam told us about another book she'd read by Caleb Carr --The Italian Secretary. That book was written as part of a commission by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's estate for a group of current authors to write new tales. Carr's story emerged in the form of a novel and so it was published separately rather than as part of the collection. So, if you've run out of the original Sherlock Holmes' stories, you'll have to give this collection a try or check out Carr's novel.