It is not often that you come along a book where you hear it is a long read and then you devour it in a matter of hours.

My friend read this and she was not impresses, me I loved it. There was so much detail that the story was brought to life in technicolour that you could feel the emotions of the characters.

I am already in possesion of the second in this series and am looking forward to reading it, just that there are quite a few books on my shelf that are in line to be read first.

I really would give this book closer to a 3.5 but I rounded down. It's got some high points, and I thought it worked as an atmospheric mystery set at the turn of the last century (though Stefanie Pintoff does it better). But Rubenfeld also stuffed the book with what are obviously, from his bio, very personal interests in Freud and in Hamlet. Those, especially the analysis of Hamlet, really slowed the story down.

I found this book very clever but it was almost as though it was deliberately trying to be clever for effect, and not because that was the story. Having said that I enjoyed it and thought that the central story was a good one. I did not guess the ending and I learnt a lot about America during the period around 1909 when the book is set. I knew almost nothing about Freud save for his famous theories on the Oedipus Complex and so I enjoyed expanding that knowledge. I thought this read was thoughtful and clever but it didn't blow me away.

It's a murder mystery in 1909 based around Freud's first and only visit to the US and revolves around the building of the Manhatten Bridge, Hamlet, psychoanalysis, and high society, how could you not find this book interesting? AND somehow there is a love story between someone who is old enough to be a doctor and a 17 year old.
In all seriousness, I found the book engaging and interesting. Not a beach mystery, but it sucks you in the same sort of way.

Gripping with twists

This was a fun and interesting read!

I love true crime, but struggle to get through fiction. This novel is a great blend of historical characters and true tidbits with all the best things about fiction: a quick-turning plot and shocking reveals.

Interesting.. but I took a break for a few days from reading, which messed up my rhythm and took me out of the story. Not really the book's fault. My bad for trying to read several books at once!

This book has a very surprising ending. Although you start to get an idea of what is going, you still aren't sure if it is correct. I recommend this novel to all who like a good and exciting crime story with historical facts.

When I heard of the premise of this novel, I was very interested in it. Historical fiction is not an easy genre to conquer and I was intrigued by this particular author's take on Sigmund Freud and his American visit.

One thing that Rubenfeld does particularly well is his research. Freud is portrayed exactly the way that he is when taught, as an erudite scholar. However, it seems that fiction is something that he needs to work on.

Rubenfeld's descriptions of turn of the century New York City are very pleasing, however his characters are somewhat bloodless, as it is very hard to engage with some of them. Some plot twists are easy to guess and somewhat disappointing when finally borne out. It is a quick read and entertaining if you like Freud or historical fiction. Not the best, but okay.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read. This work of fiction takes places in with people of history that once lived. By doing so these characters became very vivid in my mind. Freud assists in a murder investigation during a his sole trip to America. The story did not actually happen but the possibility that it could have was enough for me to keep the pages turning quickly.