The series' main character is the psychologist Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, who is assisted in his adventures by reporter John Schuyler Moore, policewoman Sara Howard and Stevie 'Stevepipe' Taggart. He is a child psychologist who is an early criminal profiler who tracks down serial killers. He works with Police Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt and encounters many other real-life people in the novels. The Alienist and its sequel The Angel of Darkness are set at the end of the 19th century. The next book in the series Surrender, New York is set in 2016, but the main protagonist, Dr. Trajan Jones, is also a criminal psychologist, and is the world's leading expert on the life and work of Dr. Laszlo Kreizler.
Novels
Further books
On April 11, 2016, Entertainment Weekly announced that Caleb Carr will author two new books, one that will be a sequel, and one a prequel, to The Alienist. The first will be a sequel, set 20 years after The Angel of Darkness, in 1915 New York City, and is “centered on nativist violence and terrorism during America’s involvement in World War I". The second book, the prequel will be called The Strange Case of Miss Sarah X, and will see a youthful Kreizler, after finishing his psychology training at Harvard, fall under the spell of William James, have his first run-in with Roosevelt, and delve into the secret life of Sara Howard.
In other media
Television
In April 2015, Deadline reported that Paramount Television had decided to use a three-year, first-look production deal they made with Anonymous Content productions to adapt The Alienist as an event TV series. Paramount also announced that Oscar-winning Forrest Gump screenwriter Eric Roth had come on board the project as executive producer, as did Hossein Amini as both writer for the series and executive producer. It was also announced that the season 1 True Detective director Cary Fukunaga would be brought on board to direct all the episodes and act as an executive producer. In May 2015, Variety reported that TNT had made a deal to produce the series at $5 million per episode. In July 2015, writer/director John Sayles announced on his blog that he was joining the team as writer for the TV series. On July 21, 2015, Caleb Carr made an announcement that he was coming on board the series as a consulting producer. Carr said: "After twenty years of tough struggle and countless failed attempts, I'm delighted that Paramount Television, Anonymous Content and TNT have decided to join forces and bring 'The Alienist' to life in what, based on the material I've read, has the potential to be a faithful and exciting TV series. The array of talent already gathered for the project, for whom I'm pleased to be acting as consultant producer, is deeply impressive: Cary Fukunaga, Eric Roth, Hossein Amini, Gina Gionfriddo, E. Max Frye and the legendary John Sayles seem determined to do what many people said couldn't be done: adapt the story in the 'Alienist' for live action in a way that both preserves the intellectual and historical integrity of the tale, while adding a gripping cinematic dimension to it. It's my hope and expectation that, working together, we can all make this effort meet the standard expected by the very patient fans of the book, whose loyalty I consider a trust that I personally will do everything I can to protect." The ten-episode series premiered on TNT on January 22, 2018. On August 16, 2018, TNT ordered a sequel series based upon the follow-up novel The Angel of Darkness.
