Tag: Third Alienist Book

Caleb Carr Talks to WAMC

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Caleb Carr appeared on WAMC Public Radio on Monday, talking to Joe Donahue in an interview that can be heard on the WAMC website. In the interview, he primarily discussed current affairs but also touched on his latest novel Surrender, New York, the TV adaptation of The Alienist, and his plans for the next two Alienist novels–namely, revealing the long-awaited news that they will be narrated from Dr. Kreizler’s point of view. He appeared on WAMC again on Tuesday afternoon’s book show to discuss Surrender, New York in more depth.

For more, you can listen to Monday’s full interview and Tuesday’s book show on the WAMC website.

New Interviews with Caleb Carr

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Caleb CarrNew interviews with Caleb Carr appeared earlier this week on the August 20 episode of The New York Times Close Up and Literary Hub. In The New York Times Close Up interview, which can be viewed around 10 minutes into the episode (view here), Mr. Carr discusses his new novel Surrender, New York which was released on August 23 by Random House. In the Literary Hub interview, Mr. Carr discusses growing up with the Beats, living on Misery Mountain, plans for his continuation of the Alienist series, and his new novel Surrender, New York. An excerpt from the Literary Hub interview appears below along with a link to the full article.

Now Carr has published his first thriller in 15 years with Surrender, New York, a contemporary story set in the fictional Burgoyne County in upstate New York, full of ominous mountain passes and bankrupt factory towns. Returning to the theme of murdered children, several abandoned teenagers have turned up dead and a serial killer may be at work. Dr. Trajan Jones, a bitingly cynical profiler and a 21st century disciple of Kreizler, has been called in to consult on the case.

“I had planned to write a simple book about these dead children,” said the 61-year-old Carr in a telephone interview from his stone house on the top of Misery Mountain, in Renssalaer County, New York. “I was going through these New York State documents, and I kept finding references to ‘throwaway children,'” where in post-2008 Great Recession America, some desperate parents have been abandoning their children and even moving out of state. “It turns out it is a widespread problem. That is the pitfall of research. It takes you places you didn’t plan to go. It stopped being a simple book.”

Continue reading at Literary Hub.

Third And Fourth Alienist Novel Announced!

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In an exclusive with Entertainment Weekly, it was revealed this morning that Caleb Carr will be returning to the Alienist series. Mulholland Books have announced that they will be publishing two new Alienist novels that will act as ‘bookends’ for the two current novels in the series, The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness.

The first of the two new novels will be set 18 years after The Angel of Darkness, in New York City of 1915. Josh Kendall, VP, Executive Editor, and Editorial Director of Mulholland Books explained that this book, “set against a stage of rising nationalist violence and the early spy state,” is “centered on nativist violence and terrorism during America’s involvement in World War I.”

The second of the novels will take us back in time again, presumably to the late 1870s or early 1880s (assuming the events in the summary from the publisher’s press release matches the timeline already established in the series so far). In this novel, titled The Strange Case of Miss Sara X, “a youthful Kreizler, after finishing his psychology training at Harvard, falls under the spell of William James, has his first run-in with Roosevelt, and delves into the secret life of Sara Howard, heroine of the first books.”

For those of us who have wondered if there would ever be a third novel, official confirmation of two new Alienist novels is something to be excited about! However, the wait need not be arduous; we are also lucky enough to have Caleb Carr’s upcoming contemporary thriller Surrender, New York to look forward to! If you haven’t already done so, I recommend reading more about the novel and pre-order before its release on August 23.

Third Book News!

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I hope you all enjoyed the live discussion yesterday at the Big City Book Club with Caleb Carr as a special guest. Most excitingly for regular visitors to 17th Street and long-time readers of the Alienist books, Mr. Carr has confirmed that a third book is indeed planned! In addition, another crime novel with “historical overtones” is also in the pipeline. The full question with Mr. Carr’s response is below.

Question: Do you have any plans to write a third book?

Caleb Carr: Well, not exactly the time to ask this: I have just finished a massive new work, “The Legend of Broken,” which is very different, and yet, at its core, not so different at all. An experiment in the theory that most of the questions we’ve been discussing are philosophically eternal, like nobility, greed, and stupidity; and I hope everyone will give it a chance, even if it is not set in New York.

And so I can’t set RIGHT off to do another long Alienist book. I have another crime novel in mind, with many historical overtones, and if all goes well, I will tackle the last in the Alienist trilogy thereafter.

And yes, it will unravel the mystery of Sara Howard…

You can read the rest of the questions submitted to Mr. Carr and his answers at the Big City Book Club or on the message board. There was some really interesting discussion about the characters, the social issues at the heart of The Alienist, the question of whether the book will ever make it to the screen (or the stage?), and the history of New York City itself. Enjoy!