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The Alienist

The Alienist is a psychological thriller set in late 19th century New York City. In order to catch a serial killer, police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt puts together a secret forensic team that includes New York Times journalist John Moore, police secretary Sara Howard, the Detective Sergeants Isaacson, and the "alienist" himself, Dr. Laszlo Kreizler. Within the pages of this book, the reader follows this unlikely team in an investigation that takes them from the poorest neighbourhoods of the Lower East Side to the wealthiest mansions of Fifth Avenue.

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Timeline & Series of Events | Quiz

Quiz

Test your knowledge on the content of The Alienist by completing the following quiz. The quiz contains 40 questions with varying levels of difficulty. Once you have selected an answer for every question, click on the "Check Answers" button at the bottom of the page. If you need to clear your answers for any reason, click on the "Clear Answers" button at the bottom of the page.

Question 1

Why were psychiatrists known as "alienists" prior to the twentieth century?
(A) Persons suffering from mental illness were thought to be "alienated" from the rest of society.
(B) Persons suffering from mental illness were thought to be inhabited by demons, spirits, and "alien" forms of life.
(C) Persons suffering from mental illness were thought to be "alienated" from their true natures.
(D) Both A and C.

Question 2

Whose funeral does John Moore attend in the opening of the novel?
(A) Quentin Roosevelt
(B) Theodore Roosevelt
(C) Edith Roosevelt
(D) Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.

Question 3

In which year are the main events of the novel centered?
(A) 1919
(B) 1896
(C) 1897
(D) 1894

Question 4

Why is John living with his grandmother throughout the novel?
(A) In accordance with the custom of many wealthy young bachelors in the nineteenth century, he is living in the family home until he marries.
(B) His engagement to Julia Pratt was broken off and he prefers his grandmother's company to living alone.
(C) He doesn't live with his grandmother; he owns a bachelor flat at 34 Gramercy Park.
(D) He can't afford a bachelor flat due to his gambling habits.

Question 5

Why did Dr. Kreizler want John to view the body of Giorgio Santorelli?
(A) He wanted John to see what they would be dealing with.
(B) He wanted John to report the crime in The New York Times.
(C) He wanted John to read a note he had left at the scene.
(D) He wanted John to pass a message onto Roosevelt.

Question 6

Why does Dr. Kreizler want John to be a principle member of the investigative team?
(A) His ability to handle a gun.
(B) His knowledge of New York crime.
(C) His access to privileged information through his position at The New York Times.
(D) His friendship with Roosevelt.

Question 7

In a meeting the morning after Giorgio Santorelli's murder, Roosevelt informs Dr. Kreizler that several similar murders have taken place recently. What key aspect of the victims' mutilations indicates that a single serial killer is responsible?
(A) The removal of the hearts of the victims.
(B) The large cuts that crisscross the abdomens of the victims.
(C) The removal of the eyes of the victims.
(D) The removal of the right hands of the victims.

Question 8

What is Sara Howard's profession during the novel?
(A) Nurse
(B) Police secretary
(C) Detective
(D) Private detective

Question 9

What training did the Detective Sergeants Marcus and Lucius Isaacson originally receive, either individually or as a pair?
(A) Law and medicine
(B) Law and psychology
(C) Medicine and psychology
(D) Medicine only

Question 10

Which of Dr. Kreizler's employees have a criminal background?
(A) Cyrus Montrose
(B) Mary Palmer
(C) Stevie Taggert
(D) All of the above

Question 11

What do John and Sara Howard discover upon visiting the Santorelli's tenement flat?
(A) Two priests have attempted to pay off Mr. and Mrs. Santorelli.
(B) A group of detectives and ex-cops threatened and attacked Mr. Santorelli.
(C) Mr. and Mrs. Santorelli claim that they have no son.
(D) Both A and B.

Question 12

What is the first opera John and Dr. Kreizler attend in the novel?
(A) Rigoletto
(B) Pagliacci
(C) Don Giovanni
(D) Faust

Question 13

What is not one of the important findings made by Marcus and Lucius Isaacson in their post-mortem of the Zweig children?
(A) They find a fingerprint belonging to the murderer.
(B) They are able to determine the height of the murderer.
(C) They are able to determine what kind of knife the murderer used.
(D) They find a hair belonging to the murderer.

Question 14

What happens to John when he visits Paresis Hall?
(A) He is chased by two thugs who turn out to be ex-cops.
(B) He is drugged.
(C) He is not allowed to enter Paresis Hall.
(D) He is beaten and left for dead.

Question 15

What important information does John obtain at Paresis Hall?
(A) He discovers that the murderer can only have exited out of a window.
(B) He discovers that the murderer was well-known at the establishment.
(C) Both A and B.
(D) Nothing.

Question 16

How many murders does the serial killer commit during the novel?
(A) 3
(B) 5
(C) 4
(D) 6

Question 17

What does Lucius discover when conducting the post-mortem on Ali ibn-Ghazi?
(A) An absence of bruises on the body suggesting that the boy trusted the murderer.
(B) Rope fibres indicating that the murderer was a mountain climber.
(C) Another fingerprint confirming that it is the same murderer.
(D) Both B and C.

Question 18

Who is stirring up trouble among immigrant communities over the murders?
(A) Biff Ellison
(B) Paul Kelly
(C) Razor Riley
(D) Jack McManus

Question 19

What did Joseph, Ali ibn-Ghazi's friend, say that Ali had called the murderer?
(A) The devil.
(B) An angel.
(C) A saint.
(D) A demon.

Question 20

What does the murderer send to Mrs. Santorelli?
(A) A letter.
(B) A letter and one of her son's eyes.
(C) A letter and a bloodied piece of her son's clothing.
(D) A letter and a newspaper clipping.

Question 21

What is one of the key pieces of information the team learn from the murderer's letter?
(A) The murderer is a cannibal.
(B) The murderer had a frontier upbringing.
(C) The murderer is poorly educated.
(D) The murderer spent time in the military.

Question 22

Why did Dr. Kreizler travel to Sing Sing Prison to interview Jesse Pomeroy?
(A) Jesse also cut off the right hands of his victims.
(B) Jesse's primary influence in childhood was his mother.
(C) Dr. Kreizler wanted to prove Sara wrong.
(D) Dr. Kreizler did not interview Jesse Pomeroy.

Question 23

What is the name of the third person the murderer kills during the novel?
(A) Joseph
(B) Mary
(C) Ernst
(D) Josiah

Question 24

What timetable is the murderer killing to?
(A) The lunar cycle.
(B) Evenings preceding religious holidays.
(C) Evenings of religious holidays.
(D) Mornings of religious holidays.

Question 25

Which member of the team is attacked by the murderer?
(A) Stevie Taggert
(B) Cyrus Montrose
(C) Sara Howard
(D) Lucius Isaacson

Question 26

What do the team discover when they first catch a glimpse of the murderer?
(A) He has a facial disfigurement.
(B) He has a facial tick.
(C) He is balding.
(D) He is bald.

Question 27

Who do John and Dr. Kreizler visit at the Museum of Natural History?
(A) Adolf Meyer
(B) William James
(C) Franz Boas
(D) Hobart Weaver

Question 28

Who is the principal figure behind the priests paying out the families of the victims?
(A) Cornelius Vanderbilt II
(B) John Jacob Astor IV
(C) The murderer
(D) John Pierpont Morgan

Question 29

Why does Dr. Kreizler travel to Washington D.C.?
(A) To search hospital records for soldiers who fit the murderer's profile.
(B) To search Patent Office records for incidents between settlers and Sioux tribes.
(C) To search hospital records for stretcher bearers who fit the murderer's profile.
(D) To search Patent Office records for incidents between settlers and Lakota tribes.

Question 30

After visiting Washington D.C., where do John and Dr. Kreizler go to make further investigations?
(A) Deadwood, South Dakota
(B) Newton, Massachusetts
(C) New Paltz, New York
(D) Fort Yates, North Dakota

Question 31

What do John and Dr. Kreizler discover the murderer's name and alias are?
(A) Japheth Dury; John Beecham
(B) Japheth Dury; George Beecham
(C) John Dury; John Beecham
(D) John Dury; George Beecham

Question 32

What happened to Victor Dury?
(A) He was murdered by a farmhand called George Beecham.
(B) He was murdered by a farmhand called John Beecham.
(C) He was murdered by Japheth Dury.
(D) Nothing, he is alive and well.

Question 33

Who kills Mary Palmer while John and Dr. Kreizler were away?
(A) The murderer
(B) Patrick Connor
(C) Thomas Byrnes
(D) Anthony Comstock

Question 34

Where do the team discover that the murderer has worked in the past?
(A) The United States Bureau of Census.
(B) An Accounts Settled firm.
(C) As a priest in the Episcopal Church.
(D) Both A and B.

Question 35

In addition to a jar of eye balls and a map of the New York water system, what do the team find in the murderer's flat?
(A) A box containing the hearts of his victims.
(B) A box containing his mother's heart.
(C) A dead cat.
(D) A box containing a cat's heart.

Question 36

Where do the team believe the next murder will take place and where does Dr. Kreizler select instead?
(A) The High Bridge Tower; The Croton Reservoir
(B) The Croton Reservoir; The High Bridge Tower
(C) The Williamsburg Bridge; The Croton Reservoir
(D) The Croton Reservoir; The Williamsburg Bridge

Question 37

Who does Dr. Kreizler hire to protect John and himself when they ambush the murderer alone?
(A) Razor Riley
(B) Biff Ellison
(C) Jack McManus
(D) Patrick Connor

Question 38

Who kills the murderer?
(A) John Moore
(B) Patrick Connor
(C) Sara Howard
(D) Razor Riley

Question 39

Who does Sara kill?
(A) The murderer
(B) Jack McManus
(C) Patrick Connor
(D) Razor Riley

Question 40

What brain degeneration do Dr. Kreizler and Lucius find when they perform a post-mortem on the murderer?
(A) None, his brain is normal.
(B) Degeneration in his right frontal lobe.
(C) Degeneration in his medial temporal lobe.
(D) Degeneration in his left frontal lobe.