Book Review: The Cutting by James Hayman (Blog Tour)

"The panic rose like a living thing, up through her body and into her throat, where it came bursting out in a long scream, uncontrolled and uncontrollable. She thrashed against the restraints, up and down, side to side, yanking and pulling until she could feel her wrists and ankles begin to bleed. None of it helped. No matter how loudly she screamed or how fiercely she struggled, the blackness closed in from every side."

There is a killer on the loose and he is cutting out the hearts of beautiful young women.

Detective Michael McCabe has moved to Maine from New York City to escape the crime and violence and to remove his daughter from its influence. But what he encounters is more evil than anything he has ever seen before: a man determined to kidnap and torture young women, then murder them and remove their hearts with a surgical knife. When one is found dead, McCabe and his partner, Maggie Savage, begin to investigate. However, when a second woman goes missing, the detectives suspect they have a serial killer on their hands. 

Who is this mad butcher? Will McCabe stop him before he kills again?

Review:

The story of this serial killer and his victims pulled me in right from the start. Hayman's writing style is fast-paced and captivating. I immediately identified with the characters and willingly entered into the drama that Hayman created so well. As I made my way through the first several chapters, I knew that I was in for an exciting read.

However, as I got further into it, there were some things I didn't like about this book. The swearing was unecessary and the s*x scenes non-entertaining. Also, the homosexual characters appeared to me to be quite unbelievable and stereotypical. Although the homosexuality was part of the plot, this book could have been better without it.

With those things in mind, I would give this book an A- for readability and suspense, and a C for overall content. It was okay, but I don't think I'll want to read it again.

To read more about The Cutting and author James Hayman, click here and here. Or, visit the author's website and blog.

To read another review of this book, click here.

This review is written as part of a Pump Up Your Book! Blog Tour.

(This book was sent to me by the author for review purposes. I received no monetary compensation. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)