I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Caged by Ellison Cooper Published by St. Martin's Press on July 10, 2018
Genres: Crime, Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Women Sleuths
Pages: 368
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher
Sayer Altair is an neuroscientist working for the FBI; her research has her studying the brains of serial killers. She's devoting nearly all of her time to this research, so when she's called away to a scene discovered by DC metro police, it must be important.
There, she discovers the body of a young woman kept in a cage, slowly starved to death. Details of the scene allude to a serial killer, and Sayer is quickly made lead on the case. When the victim is identified as the daughter of a senator, everyone on the case is thrust into the spotlight. A leak in the FBI means the press are often a step ahead of Sayer, putting even more pressure on this horrific case.
Another young girl is taken and Sayer and her team must rush to put the details together before yet another innocent girl loses her life. Slowly, she begins to realize that the killer has a dangerous obsession, one that has appeared in cases before. As she uncovers more details, she is horrified to learn that the killer has been right beside her this entire time....
I’m all about trying debut thrillers. I was drawn to this one to due to the setting (Washington DC metro) and the science behind the main character’s research. A student of psychology and criminal justice myself, I’ve always been drawn to the psychological and physiological “motives” of serial killers.
What kept me captivated was the truly unique motive of this killer; the killings were truly just a means to a truly bizarre end. Additionally, I appreciated that two of the lead characters were female, a trend in thrillers that I’m pleased to see increasing. While there are aspects of this book that I wish were delved into a bit more, I do understand that this is a debut. I do hope Cooper plans to follow Sayer’s character in another book; her character is one I’m not quite ready to part ways with yet!
All in all, a truly captivating (though, I’ll give you a warning, a bit dark!) read! Highly recommended.
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