Carr’s Yarn Due in the New Year

We’ve been hearing for months about plans to turn Caleb Carr’s 1994 novel, The Alienist, into a series for U.S. cable-TV network TNT, but it has never been clear as to when the program might air. Until now. Mystery Fanfare reports that this 10-episode psychological thriller—starring Daniel Brühl (Rush), Luke Evans (The Girl on the Train), Dakota Fanning (American Pastoral), and Brian Geraghty (The Hurt Locker)—will debut on Monday, January 22, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

“Set in 1896 amidst a backdrop of vast wealth, extreme poverty, and technological innovation …,” writes Mystery Fanfare’s Janet Rudolph, “The Alienist opens when a series of haunting, gruesome murders of boy prostitutes grips New York City. Newly appointed police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt (Geraghty) calls upon criminal psychologist (aka ‘alienist’) Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (Brühl) and newspaper illustrator John Moore (Evans) to conduct the investigation in secret. They are joined by Sara Howard (Fanning), a headstrong secretary determined to become the city’s first female police detective. Using the emerging disciplines of psychology and early forensic investigation techniques, this band of social outsiders set out to find and apprehend one of New York City’s first serial killers.”

Rudolph has embedded a trailer for The Alienist in her post.