BOOKS: A Case for Sherlock Freud

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Carr sets up a good puzzle, and his story is so well told that Paramount has paid $500,000 for the film rights to The Alienist, but it is his ability to re-create the past that is truly impressive (his last book was a biography of an American who led Chinese armies in the 19th century). The brooding, detailed cityscapes and rich historical set pieces are the best parts of The Alienist. Carr -- and the reader -- has great fun, in particular, with a chaotic scene in Theodore Roosevelt's parlor, as T.R.'s thoroughly modern children coax a pet owl to eat a defunct rat.