The Cutting - (McCabe and Savage Thrillers) by James Hayman (Paperback)

About the Book

Early on a September evening, the mutilated body of a pretty teenaged girl, a high school soccer star, is found dumped in a scrap-metal yard. She has been viciously assaulted, her heart cut from her chest with surgical precision. The very same day a young businesswoman, also a blonde and an athlete, was abducted as she jogged through the streets of the city's west end. McCabe suspects both crimes are the work of the same man - a killer who's targeting the young, who is clearly well-versed in complex surgical procedures, and who may have struck before. Just as the investigation is beginning, McCabe's ex-wife reemerges, suddenly determined to reclaim the daughter she heedlessly abandoned years earlier. With the help of his straight-talking (and, at times, alluring) partner, Maggie Savage, McCabe begins a race against time to rescue the missing woman and unmask a sadistic killer - before more lives are lost.

Book Synopsis

The first novel in the nationally bestselling McCabe and Savage series--perfect for fans of John Sandford and CJ Box.

Someone is stealing the hearts of beautiful women...

Detective Mike McCabe moved from a top homicide job with the NYPD to Portland, Maine to leave his failed marriage and suspicions of wrongdoing behind, and to find a more peaceful life for himself and his 13 year old daughter.

But the small New England city is not nearly as safe as he thought.

On a warm September night, a missing high-school athlete is found dead in a scrap metal yard, her heart removed from her body with surgical precision. As outrage over the killing spreads, a young business woman disappears while out on a morning jog.

McCabe is certain both crimes are the work of one man--a murderer skilled in cardiac surgery who is using his scalpel to target young women. With the clock ticking, McCabe and his partner Maggie Savage find themselves in a desperate race against time to find and rescue the missing woman before she becomes the next victim of the sadistic killer's blade.

Review Quotes

"Taut, deft and with a delicate sense of place, this is supremely accomplished storytelling--not just another depiction of a serial killer rampage." -- Daily Mail (London) on THE CUTTING

"Hayman's pacing is perfect....THE CUTTING is an unsettling thriller, not because Portland and the state have a history of madmen killing strangers on a rampage. What's frightening is that Hayman makes it seem possible, even probable" -- Bangor Daily News on THE CUTTING

"In THE CUTTING, [Hayman] gives readers a suspenseful police procedural whirling around a character who has the brains, courage and human concern to be the reader's hero from start to finish." -- Portland Press Herald on THE CUTTING