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A review by bookhero6
Surrender, New York by Caleb Carr
5.0
So... I see a lot of one star reviews for this book. And I can only assume that those who did so, did not finish this book. There is a lot of exposition in this book, especially in the beginning, and for about the first 150-200 pages it seems more like a discourse than a mystery/suspense. In fact, the first bit reads more like a Sherlock Holmes story than a more modern book. But, seriously, stick with it. You'll reach a point where it is unputdownable. I admit I wondered at first if maybe Mr. Carr wasn't as suited to contemporary fiction as he is to historical. But then, oh my god, it sucked me in just the way The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness did, two books that have long been among my favorites.
Drs. Trajan Jones and Michael Li are former NYC criminal investigators, now professors of criminal science in upstate New York, having been run out of The City. Local law enforcement asks their opinion on a string of recent youth disappearances and deaths, when they don't buy the state party line that it is just a serial killer. Drs. Jones and Li then must uncover the truth, unravel the potential conspiracy, and sweep out institutional corruption, along with a locally recruited teenage sidekick.
I think the inability of some readers to connect with this book comes from the fact that it is not composed of quickly edited bursts of action like certain TV shows that love montages of people in lab coats putting things in vials, and fast scrolling text on a computer monitor, while techs dust for fingerprints, a hold up bullets while wearing earmuffs, while the camera zooms in on striations along the side, then the music cuts out and some middle aged white man says, "So what've we got?" This book does things the old fashioned way and those of us who love the details and don't mind sometimes being left in the dark, and love us some discussion, feel right at home in this book. Plus, there's a kitty cat who features prominently.
Drs. Trajan Jones and Michael Li are former NYC criminal investigators, now professors of criminal science in upstate New York, having been run out of The City. Local law enforcement asks their opinion on a string of recent youth disappearances and deaths, when they don't buy the state party line that it is just a serial killer. Drs. Jones and Li then must uncover the truth, unravel the potential conspiracy, and sweep out institutional corruption, along with a locally recruited teenage sidekick.
I think the inability of some readers to connect with this book comes from the fact that it is not composed of quickly edited bursts of action like certain TV shows that love montages of people in lab coats putting things in vials, and fast scrolling text on a computer monitor, while techs dust for fingerprints, a hold up bullets while wearing earmuffs, while the camera zooms in on striations along the side, then the music cuts out and some middle aged white man says, "So what've we got?" This book does things the old fashioned way and those of us who love the details and don't mind sometimes being left in the dark, and love us some discussion, feel right at home in this book. Plus, there's a kitty cat who features prominently.