The Alienist cover

The Alienist

Laszlo Kreizler and John Schuyler Moore • Book 1

by Caleb Carr

Narrated by George Guidall

4.34 ABR Score (190.0K ratings)
★ 4.06 Goodreads (182.1K) ★ 4.49 Audible (7.9K)
20h Released 2012 Mystery

Why Listen to This Audiobook?

George Guidall's voice turns 1890s New York into something you can smell — gas lamps, river rot, and ambition.

  • Great if you want: historical crime fiction with real psychological depth
  • Listening experience: deliberate and atmospheric — rewards patience over 20 hours
  • Narration: Guidall's baritone gives the period gravitas without feeling stagey
  • Skip if: procedural detail bores you more than the mystery pulls you

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About This Audiobook

In 1896 New York City, a series of gruesome murders targeting young male prostitutes draws together an unlikely investigative team. Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, a pioneering psychologist known as an "alienist," partners with newspaper reporter John Schuyler Moore and police secretary Sara Howard to hunt a serial killer using revolutionary methods. With the blessing of Police Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt, they work in secrecy to build a psychological profile of their quarry, venturing into the city's darkest corners where Gilded Age opulence masks brutal poverty and corruption.

George Guidall's masterful narration transforms Carr's atmospheric thriller into a richly immersive experience. His measured delivery perfectly captures the formal cadences of 1890s speech while maintaining modern accessibility, allowing listeners to sink deeply into the meticulously researched historical setting. Guidall's nuanced character work distinguishes each member of the investigative team, from Kreizler's intellectual intensity to Sara's quiet determination. The twenty-hour runtime becomes an asset rather than a challenge, as his steady pacing mirrors the methodical nature of the investigation itself, building tension through careful accumulation of psychological insights and period detail.