The Angel of Darkness

This book has a different narrator, and that fact alone adds so much to the story and to the understanding we have of the characters. The general plot is different too. This is more of a psychological thriller with legal suspense plot that fits perfectly with the feeling of the book. I don't know why there aren't more books in this series, because I'd love to read more cases by the team!

I really enjoyed the author's first book, “The Alienist”, and had great expectations for this sequel, but I was quite disappointed. I know it can sound picky, but I wanted to go through the book with “search and replace” on my computer to change every instance of “what” coming from Stevie's narration into “that”. The attempt to stay true to an early New York City slum dialect read as very contrived and even patronizing to me, as the reader, and it just didn't work with the characterization of Stevie as narrator (a secondary, though interesting character in the first book) in general.

The plot and psychological elements were interesting and unusual enough to keep me reading through to the end, but the climax involving the chase for Libby Hatch (the psycho mom/villain) was written like a half-hearted attempt to get the book finished and wrapped up, and tie in a little historical ambiance. Huge disappointment.

If you read the first book and liked it and were intrigued by the characters and the developing science of forensics and psychology during the era, I would still suggest this book. But this book just doesn't ring true in the narration or in the character development, so don't expect it to give you even half of the connection the first one did.