The Cutting

I thoroughly enjoyed The Cutting, and couldn't put it down till I had devoured every page. Towards the end, I was so spooked that after work I had to sit in the park and finish reading the book, because my boyfriend wasn't home and I was too scared to come home to an empty house! Now that's the mark of a good thriller! I can't wait for Hayman's next...

Chances are you've never heard of James Hayman before, but you're going to hear a lot more about him. THE CUTTING is a first novel, but it doesn't read like an apprentice effort. Hayman's getting a late start as a fiction writer, but he's right up there with his idol Michael Connelly as a master of the police suspense thriller. Michael McCabe, is a cop who's left New York for a new job in Portland, Maine -- not exactly known as a high crime city. Only a young girl has turned up murdered, and another has disappeared -- and if he's right about the motive involved, that second girl has only a week to live. It doesn't help that the local powers-that-be are getting on his case as he works the case. As if that weren't enough, he has personal crises to deal with -- including his ex-wife who wants to get back into his daughter's life after ignoring her for years (McCabe has another woman in his life -- two, if you count his partner on the case.). But while mastering all the ins-and-outs of the police procedural, Hayman adds some delicious variations of his own -- a vital clue to the mystery lies in movie lore. Your next step: order THE CUTTING here, or run (do not walk) to your book store. --John J. Pierce

From the moment Lucy began her jog around Western Promenade I was hooked. I stayed up all night reading this book, cheering on Detective McCabe, hoping against hope that there wouldn't be another victim. This book is a must read. It's gripping. It's smart. And you'll love the characters. It's a complex thriller with layers of crime and interpersonal relationships brilliantly intertwined. I highly recommend this book for your summer reading.

The Cutting is a great read from beginning to end. It kept me wanting to know what was going to happen on the next page so I had trouble putting it down. A great setting, wonderful characters, a compelling story and timeline. I hope this is the beginning of a long series of Sergeant Michael McCabe books. For those of us who love the genre, it is to be savored and shared.

The Cutting breaks with tradition and moves the genre outside the big cities. I am reminded of the Swedish writers Maj S? and Per Wahloo who took their mysteries to an unexpected and intriguing locale. This is, I hope, the beginnining of a new character who can last in a locale that has much to be explored. This is a dynamite read. Kept me up til the wee hours. Bill Green, New York