Killing Time (Carr novel)

Killing Time is a dystopian novel by Caleb Carr set in the Mid-21st Century. It was initially serialized in TIME and later published in 2000 by Random House. It includes criticisms of the information age (see quotes below). The book was a departure for Carr, whose previous two novels (and his subsequent one) were crime thrillers set in the Victorian era.

First edition

Characters

Main Characters

• Dr. Gideon Wolfe: the criminal and psychiatrist.
• Dov Eshkol: the antagonist, a ruthless, fanatic agent of the Israeli Mossad

Other Team-Members

• Prof. Julien Fouché: the molecular biologist
• Dr. Eli Kuperman: the anthropologist
• Dr. Jonah Kuperman: the archaeologist
• Colonel Slayton: the (ex-US-)soldier
• Dr. Leon Tarbell: the documents expert
• Larissa Tressalian: Gideon's lover/ former assassin
• Malcom Tressalian: leader of the team/ Larissa's brother

Minor Characters

• Chief Dugumbe: leader of the African tribe, with which Dr. Gideon Wolfe lives upon writing down his story
• Mutesa: member of the African tribe, who becomes Dr. Wolfe's host and sponsor
• General Said: Malaysian warlord and arms dealer

Quotes

• "Mundus vult decipi" is a Latin phrase meaning "The world wants to be deceived"
• "It is the greatest truth of our age: Information is not knowledge."
• I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know no way of judging the future but by the past. -- Patrick Henry, 1775