Ｆｒａｎｋｈ’s Reviews > The Alienist > Status Update

This is still a very compelling book. The sequence of events from the show is different here, so I'm not sure how far along I am in the story. I feel like there are other things that will occur here that aren't in the show. I'm excited.

The recent chapter had criminal profiling based on the psychology of the criminal behavior. Much like in the show, we get Sara and Dr. Kreizler having that argument about mothers. I mean, we all know by now that mommy issues is where serial killers are at. Kreizler being so blinded by his prejudice concerning maternal figures will come back to haunt him; Sara was right that this was more about a mother than a father.

Moore talks to the boy whore Joseph about his friend Fatima. The chapter also mentioned that children were not recognized as minors to be protected by law which is explains the rampant prostitution. Back then children were treated as adults who are responsible for their choices. That explains the blatant disregard when immigrant you boys go into prostitution and are now getting killed. This book is really disturbing.

Tʜᴇ ᴘʀᴏғᴏᴜɴᴅ ɪʀᴏɴʏ ᴡᴀs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴏᴜʀ ᴋɪʟʟᴇʀ ʙᴇʟɪᴇᴠᴇᴅ ʜᴇ ᴡᴀs ᴘʀᴏᴠɪᴅɪɴɢ ʜɪᴍsᴇʟғ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴊᴜsᴛ ᴛʜᴏsᴇ ᴛʜɪɴɢs: ᴠᴇɴɢᴇᴀɴᴄᴇ ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʜɪʟᴅ ʜᴇ ʜᴀᴅ ʙᴇᴇɴ, ᴘʀᴏᴛᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ғʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴏʀᴛᴜʀᴇᴅ sᴏᴜʟ ʜᴇ ʜᴀᴅ ʙᴇᴄᴏᴍᴇ.

Second body was just found. Sara's reaction mirrors the same way the show portrayed it plus her insight that the brutal killings were indeed a man's work. The chapter ends with a mob coming to the crime scene cos the papers sensationalized the news about this.

...our killer's path from birth to savagery had not been the random results of physical processes that we would have been powerless to chart but rather the product of conceivable events. What most men consider rational choices are idiosyncratic responses (established during childhood) that grew strong enough, through repeated use, to overpower other urges and reactions and won the mental battle for survival.

Our man is not murdering children out of any perverse desire to attend to their spiritual well-being. The furious mutilation after their deaths made that plain. It was apparent from his handiwork, as Laszlo explained, an implicit entreaty for apprehension; that the killings did disturb some part of him. There were evidence in the bodies not of the murderer's derangement but of his sanity.

The visit to the Santorellis played differently in the book. Sara was a former nurse and was able to help Giorgio's father heal from his injuries. And she had a fucking Colt from the very start! I guess the writers tamed her a little in the show which is puzzling to me.

Giorgio Santorelli's childhood was even more grim in the book. He was sexually abused at seven in school by older boys. His dad beat him regularly when the parents found out and later on he became a streetwalker. Probably he's only 12-13 when he got brutalized and killed :(

The chapter also mentions the sergeant detectives: Isaacson twins Marcus and Lucius who are basically pioneers in forensic investigation during such downtrodden times. They're an absolute delight in the show and I hope to spend more time with them too here in the book.