THE ANGEL OF DARKNESS

This sequel to Carr's bestselling Alienist harkens back to earlier times in more ways than one. Most obviously, it contains fascinating minutiae about its setting, late nineteenth-century New York. But it also reminds one of a kind of pulp and penny dreadful fiction in which a club of eccentric and talented heroes fights crime under a charismatic leader, such as Doc Savage. In radio, this genre reached its apotheosis with the long-running series "I Love a Mystery." In this novel, the leader is Laszlo Kreizler, one of the world's first "profilers," or forensic psychiatrists--"alienists" in the parlance of the day. This particular case is told by Stevie Taggert, the street-urchin protégé of the good doctor. Boyd Gaines plays him well, negotiating as best he can around the author's anachronisms and inconsistencies of diction. Further, Gaines's listener-friendly voice emphasizes Carr's strengths--atmosphere and plotting. Y.R. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB 98]