The Alienist by Caleb Carr
The Alienist is pretty exceptional. It's a smart book that manages to not bore with idiot ramblings about the meaning of life or other pointless shit. It manages to tell an actual story and thrill without the basic storyline being particularly original. You won't be surprised by anything except the fact that you are entertained. It's a thriller that thrills, take that Tom Clancy! I would liken it to Tom Harrison's best work (Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs), only less original and much smarter. The setting is what gets you, Caleb Carr knows his history, I mean the motherfucker really knows his history.He gets you with the details of turn-of-the-century New York, that's the main character. Not the Bertie Wooster-like "hero" or the characters even if he does do a very good job of bringing them to life as well. You feel and breath old New York, which is not necessarily a good thing, but he does a very good job. You also learn a lot of psych-history as the team of detectives profile and track their serial killer.

The best part of Caleb Carr's writing, however is the way he twists the narrative. He knows what you are going to think when you read x (because "x" has been done before) so he makes it into xy. He modifies cliches and makes subtle plot points original. In this he reminds me a lot of Chuck Palahniuk. Both of these guys know how to keep the seasoned reader turning the page. The basic serial-killer plotline will also hook your non-readers, who think it's original ("a book about a serial-killer, wow!") and the fact that the history would be interesting even to a simpleton.