Surrender, New York: a novel

*Starred Review* Twenty years after the success of The Alienist (1994) and The Angel of Darkness (1997), Carr once again delivers a high-stakes thriller featuring a new band of clever, determined outcasts. When the bodies of throwaway teenagers or abandoned children accumulate in upstate New York, police suspect it's the work of a serial killer. Using Dr. Laszlo Kreizler's investigative methods, however, criminal psychologists Trajan Jones and Mike Li (with the help of a varied cast, which includes two preteens and a cheetah) soon determine that the staged suicides are too complex for one person. In the same way turn-of-the-century politics permeated Carr's historical mysteries, today's controversies inform the conflict in Surrender, New York (or provide context, as his protagonists would say). A justice system distorted by post-9/11 paranoia, trigger-happy cops, and self-appointed forensic experts constantly impedes the gang's efforts, making their frustration palpable. However, the characters' budding relationships soften the biting commentary, and their genuine desire to find the truth results in a compulsive read as secrets surface layer by layer. With gut-punching twists and the potential for a sequel, this intelligent, timely thriller will be savored by Carr's fans and new readers alike.--Hyzy, Biz Copyright 2016 Booklist

Bestseller Carr's ambitious, modern-day crime novel, a potential series kickoff, starts off strong but loses its way. Psychologist Trajan Jones and Mike Li, an "expert in trace and DNA evidence," now teach online forensic courses out of a classroom in upstate New York, after their work discrediting official crime labs led to their exile from New York City. Their focus is on rebutting the notion that hard science has made criminal psychology and profiling obsolete. But certain odd details, such as Jones owning a pet cheetah, distract from that genuinely interesting debate and tend to make the central plot line less plausible, which involves the deaths of "throwaway children" that the authorities want to pass off, in an overly contrived scenario, as the work of a serial killer. Fans of Carr's two superior historical mysteries, The Alienist and The Angle of Darkness, should be prepared for heavy foreshadowing and ponderous prose ("But this conception of our foray was to prove wholly inadequate, in manifold ways"). Agent: Suzanne Gluck, WME. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

After writing novels set in the past and future, Carr situates his latest in the present, featuring Trajan Jones, criminal psychologist and expert on Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (the hero of the best-selling The Alienist). Using Kreizler's profiling methods, Jones had much success solving crimes for the NYPD until the political winds changed, and he was fired and exiled to upstate New York. Living on his aunt's farm, Jones enlists his former police partner Mike Li, an expert in trace evidence, to help him teach an online criminal justice class. Soon, though, Jones and Li are asked to consult on a local suspicious death of a "throwaway" kid, a teen who had been abandoned by his parents. As similar deaths occur and are not thoroughly investigated, Jones and Li begin to suspect that someone in power is trying to cover up these crimes. The deeper they dig, the more danger they encounter, and they won't be out of harm's way until they expose the perpetrators. VERDICT Carr fans will welcome another weighty foray into criminal psychology, but several tirades against TV forensics shows such as CSI and current forensics practices occasionally bog down the engrossing mystery. [TNT is adapting The Alienist for television.-Ed.]-Melissa DeWild, BookOps, New York P.L. © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

*Starred Review* Twenty years after the success of The Alienist (1994) and The Angel of Darkness (1997), Carr once again delivers a high-stakes thriller featuring a new band of clever, determined outcasts. When the bodies of "throwaway teenagers"—or abandoned children—accumulate in upstate New York, police suspect it's the work of a serial killer. Using Dr. Laszlo Kreizler's investigative methods, however, criminal psychologists Trajan Jones and Mike Li (with the help of a varied cast, which includes two preteens and a cheetah) soon determine that the staged suicides are too complex for one person. In the same way turn-of-the-century politics permeated Carr's historical mysteries, today's controversies inform the conflict in Surrender, New York (or provide "context," as his protagonists would say). A justice system distorted by post-9/11 paranoia, trigger-happy cops, and self-appointed forensic experts constantly impedes the gang's efforts, making their frustration palpable. However, the characters' budding relationships soften the biting commentary, and their genuine desire to find the truth results in a compulsive read as secrets surface layer by layer. With gut-punching twists and the potential for a sequel, this intelligent, timely thriller will be savored by Carr's fans and new readers alike. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

After writing novels set in the past and future, Carr situates his latest in the present, featuring Trajan Jones, criminal psychologist and expert on Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (the hero of the best-selling The Alienist). Using Kreizler's profiling methods, Jones had much success solving crimes for the NYPD until the political winds changed, and he was fired and exiled to upstate New York. Living on his aunt's farm, Jones enlists his former police partner Mike Li, an expert in trace evidence, to help him teach an online criminal justice class. Soon, though, Jones and Li are asked to consult on a local suspicious death of a "throwaway" kid, a teen who had been abandoned by his parents. As similar deaths occur and are not thoroughly investigated, Jones and Li begin to suspect that someone in power is trying to cover up these crimes. The deeper they dig, the more danger they encounter, and they won't be out of harm's way until they expose the perpetrators. VERDICT Carr fans will welcome another weighty foray into criminal psychology, but several tirades against TV forensics shows such as CSI and current forensics practices occasionally bog down the engrossing mystery. [TNT is adapting The Alienist for television.—Ed.]—Melissa DeWild, BookOps, New York P.L.

Bestseller Carr's ambitious, modern-day crime novel, a potential series kickoff, starts off strong but loses its way. Psychologist Trajan Jones and Mike Li, an "expert in trace and DNA evidence," now teach online forensic courses out of a classroom in upstate New York, after their work discrediting official crime labs led to their exile from New York City. Their focus is on rebutting the notion that hard science has made criminal psychology and profiling obsolete. But certain odd details, such as Jones owning a pet cheetah, distract from that genuinely interesting debate and tend to make the central plot line less plausible, which involves the deaths of "throwaway children" that the authorities want to pass off, in an overly contrived scenario, as the work of a serial killer. Fans of Carr's two superior historical mysteries, The Alienist and The Angle of Darkness, should be prepared for heavy foreshadowing and ponderous prose ("But this conception of our foray was to prove wholly inadequate, in manifold ways"). Agent: Suzanne Gluck, WME. (Aug.)