Caleb Carr is back with SURRENDER, NEW YORK

Surrender, New York is a new crime novel by Caleb Carr. His earlier bestselling novel, The Alienist, dealt with the first use of psychological profiling to solve crimes in 1900 New York City.

Carr's new novel is set in the upstate New York town of Surrender, where a series of grotesque deaths of local teenagers has occurred. The novel's main character is Dr. Trajan Jones, a criminal profiler, who works with Dr. Mike Li, a trace evidence expert.

The teenage victims were all part of a class called "throwaway children," who were abandoned by or kicked out of their original families. Jones and Li believe some unknown predators are targeting these rootless kids. But their theory puts them in conflict with authorities who may be covering up a disturbing conspiracy.

The author uses the novel to advance his criticism that crime investigation now relies too much on CSI-type physical evidence that points in only one direction. Trajan Jones argues that profiling the entire psychological context of the crime is better able to consider all potential motives and suspects.

 Surrender, New York is a densely written, overly long novel which could be shorter by two hundred pages and suffers from some weak plot elements. Recommended only for dedicated Caleb Carr fans.