In the bustling streets of 1896 New York City, a series of gruesome murders targeting young male prostitutes sends shockwaves through an already corrupt city. The newly appointed police commissioner, Theodore Roosevelt, determined to catch the perpetrator, enlists the help of Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, a psychologist or 'alienist.' Together with New York Times reporter John Schuyler Moore and Sara Howard, the first woman employed by the NYPD, Kreizler forms a clandestine team dedicated to creating a psychological profile of the murderer. Utilizing methods that challenge the prevailing attitudes of the time, this groundbreaking team unravels a twisted tapestry of crime. As they delve into the abyss of the killer's mind, they not only confront the horrors of the case but also the societal prejudices that regard alienists and the mentally ill with scorn. 'The Alienist' is both a riveting psychological thriller and a richly detailed historical novel, portraying the emergence of early forensic psychology during the Gilded Age.