THE ANGEL OF DARKNESS

New York City, NY: Random House, 1997. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: Random House, 1997. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 629 pages. The author's third novel. His brilliant sequel to "The Alienist". The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a regular first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Caleb Carr's "The Angel of Darkness". About a profoundly mysterious female criminal mind. Demonstrates once again both the author's vivid historical imagination - the author is a historian by training - and acute psychological insight. In our time, a "monster" is understood as self-alienated (precisely the premise of the alienist), as the ultimate divided self, that is, someone whose mind has gained near-total control of its owner ("psychosis") when the human being normally retains control of her - or his - mind ("rationality"). The author brilliantly suggests a more nuanced opposite: "Something connects the two sides of the character. What we are faced with is not an inconsistency so much as a troubled unity" (Caleb Carr). An Angel, but of Darkness, in other words, and surely the essence of psychopathology. Together with his masterly breakthrough, "The Alienist" (1994), and commissioned Sherlock Holmes mystery, "The Italian Secretary" (2005), Caleb Carr cemented his position as perhaps the preeminent literary mystery/thriller writer of our time. The basis of the streaming series adaptation, for which the author served as Executive Producer. An absolute "must-have" title for Caleb Carr collectors. This copy is very prominently, self-deprecatingly, and beautifully signed, dated, and inscribed in black ink-pen on the title page by the author: "To Jonathan Miller: In the hope of one day being able to offer a fraction of the fascination and amusement you've always given me, Caleb Carr 9/27/99". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. The recipient is the great British Renaissance Man of our time. This title is a contemporary classic. This is the only such signed, dated, and inscribed copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Random House indicated its First Editions at the time with the statement followed by a number line that begins or ends with the Number 2. Copies available online have serious flaws, are in multiple subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. One of the most brilliant writers of our time. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER CALEB CARR TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0679435328.