I read CUT TO THE BONE by Ellison Cooper in three days and I loved it! Cooper’s Agent Sayer Altair series is a must read! The books just get better and better. I loved the intricate crime Cooper created and the details added throughout to make readers think. I was on the edge of my seat throughout. The incorporation of Egyptian culture added a whole layer to the story that enhanced this mystery. This aspect was well done. The twists thrown in there, as well, kept me on my toes and guessing what would happen until the very end! Looking forward to more from this author!

An engaging book with all the right elements. Ellison Cooper fully emerges the reader in multiple subplots, intriguing character lines, and a tense theme. While this is book three in the series, it can be read as a stand alone. Great read.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC of #CutToTheBone which was read and reviewed voluntarily by @wayward_readers

I enjoyed Cut to the Bone. It was the first Agent Sayer book for me, but there is enough back story provided that I didn't feel as though I missed anything by not reading the other 2 first. This book had a smart, interesting mystery. The book was full of well rounded characters that really added to the story.

This was fast paced and dynamic. It was well paced and I really appreciate that it could be read as a standalone book or as part of the series.

I really, really enjoyed this book! While I have not read the whole series, I definitely want to now. I do agree that you don't need to have read the past books to enjoy this, but there is always that added connection to the book if you have read past titles. This book has so many great twists and turns! I can't wait to start at the beginning!

This series will be one I will read again and again. Warning You need to start with book 1 to completely understand what is happening in book 3.

Ellison Cooper is able to weave a story that will have reader engaged in the sub plot lines as well as the major story line. Ellison weaves a story of betrayal, curiosity, friendships and family with so much ease authors and readers alike will find themselves needing more from this author to see where her writing will take her.

The author background in Anthropology is very much obvious as she tells her story with a scientific background



The story creates a world with a woman who grieves for those she lost as well as those she might lose. Sayer wants to understand how the mind works in psychopaths to better understand what turns a person to kill vs being successful. Awhile saving the world and the FBI she loves!

The cast of characters are amazing, flawed, relatable and very human. Sayer is able to bring the misfits of the work into her working and home life where everyone is able to fall in love with the banter, communication and the overwhelming love the author put into each and everyone of these characters.



This a can't miss series!!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of Ellison Cooper Cut to the Bone

I was so intrigued by the synopsis of this book! It sounded right up my alley!  This book was pretty fast paced at the beginning.  I always love a badass female detective, and Agent Altair's character was no exception.

The story started off strong with the investigation into two homicides, one being a police officer.  Then a bus full of kids go missing.  Some are found dead because the killer only wants a certain gender.  Then it all ties back to one of the first homicides.  I'm not one for ritualistic killings.  I'm more of a serial killer type of girl.  Don't get me wrong, the killer is fifty sheets to crazy, but just not the crazy I gravitate towards.  Once you go down the explanation of an ancient ritual, my eyes start to water over.

It picked up again later when the detective and her crew follow bad lead after bad lead.  Your hopes are up, and then immediately diminished!  The author did a good job of throwing in a few twists you can't see coming.  That alone peaked my interest more.

I did like how the chapters alternated between the search and the kids still alive on the bus.  It's always interesting to read both sides.

This is book #3 in a series, and I wonder if I read the first two books if I would have liked it more.

Thank you Minotaur Books for sending this one my way!  Grab your copy July 14th!

I'm very excited to have a new series to read! This is actually the third book in the series, but you're able to follow along, though as always, reading the first two would be beneficial. There has been a deluge of books like this, criminal procedurals and police dramas, and many of them just don't really hold your attention, but this one was really surprising and just plain GOOD.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ellison Cooper and St. Martin’s Press for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Guys, this remains my VERY FAVORITE series of all time! I couldn’t put this one down; I literally ignored being an adult for the day and just read instead! This is an action packed, fast-paced, shocking thriller that you DEFINITELY need to read! Every single shock was unexpected and I loved it! I adore how Cooper always seems to create a criminal that is just so unique and just impossible to guess the entire way through! This has been my favorite book of the series so far and I needed to talk about this one with someone right away because the ending was so shocking! I cannot wait for the next one!

Out July 14th!

This book is soo smart. It revolves around a bus load of STEM students that are kidnapped, and the FBI expert on the brain and psychopathy must lead a task force trying to save them from a psycho!

Diversity was off the chart in this book, and it was great. There is not usually a lot of diversity in myster/thriller/detective books, and it was very enjoyable that they were realistic characters. While not too graphic, the book deals with violence in a very real way, and I absolutely LOVED the dogs in the story! This was a solid book in a detective series. However, I probably will not be reading more in this series, but I would read more from the author.

Didn’t realize this was the third book in a series! It wasn’t confusing and I was able to follow a long. Though I will be reading the first two books. Great book!

3 for neutral. I did not finish and will update when able to read prior books. I am very weird about series and can’t get into books if I find out they’re not beginning and I’ve not read prior books. I did try a few times, will be looking to get first two and update when I’ve read all 3!

Great thriller!

This is book 3 in the Agent Sayer Altair series. I hadn't read the first 2 books yet but I didn't think it was a problem as the author did a nice job of filling in any necessary back storylines as needed throughout the book.

The cast of characters that work with Agent Altair were interesting. Enough so that I may want to go back and read the first 2 books in this series.

The murders to solve in this book were creative and overall this was a really great thriller! I will look for more books by this author in the future!

Thanks to #NetGalley for #CutToTheBone in exchange for an honest review.

I felt while reading it, that I needed to go back and read the other books in the series. The book gives you details from the previous books, but kinda hard to get the sense of the characters. Agent Sayer Altair is on a case of a young high school student found dead in a circle of animal figurines and leads to a bus full of students, 24 kids to have disappeared. False leads leads Agent Sayer on a goose chase, and it doesn't look well for her since she almost lost her job on a previous case.

If you are a fan of Robert Dugoni’s Tracy Crosswhite and Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scrapetta, then you should also have Ellison Cooper’s Agent Sayer Altair in your reading repertoire. If you don’t, what are you waiting for, go get it now.

In Cut to the Bone, Ellison Cooper delivers on a fast paced, action packed, and suspenseful third installment to the Agent Sayer Altair series. This time we find Sayer’s newfound happiness at stake when she is assigned a case what first appears to be a double homicide quickly evolves to a kidnapping of a twenty-four high school students, tangled web of fake identities and false leads, and an unknown person out to get her. Will Sayer untangle the web, keep her family safe, and find the children before more of them meet an untimely death?

Wow. Ellison Cooper has just rocketed to the top of my must buy author list. After finishing my favorite female detective series I had a void and she and Sayer have filled it. Sayer and her motley crew are relatable, likeable, and just asking for me to root them on. Her story offers a diverse background into the mind and knowledge of the Unsub (unknown suspect) allowing you to stand right along Sayer and her crew as you and them track him/her down… and the cliffhanger ending, leaves the reader with So. Many. Unanswered. Questions. I literally feel like I am going to just be hanging out waiting for book four to see what happens next.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Ellison Cooper for the gifted eARC in exchange for my honest review. As always, all opinions are my own.

"Cut to the Bone", by Ellison Cooper was much more intense than I expected. FBI agent Sayer Altair must save the day and rescue a bus full of high schoolers who have been kidnapped. This book is full of twists, turns, and thrills. If you're a fan of thrillers, you will enjoy this book. I just found it too extreme for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are mine.

Agent Sayer is back on the hunt for a mass murderer and Ezra and Tino are right by her side. A fast-paced read with some well-developed ancillary characters. I also learned a lot about the funerary rituals of the Egyptians. My only complaint was that the plot takes a strange turn toward the end and it really tested my credulity.

This is a strange book for me to rate. Typically I don’t give 5 stars unless the book has shook me to the core, and although this book has no done that, it would be unfair to give it anything less than 5.

Cooper checks off everything needed for a great book. I absolutely loved the incorporation of Egyptian history & afterlife in the case, it took the whole story up to a whole other notch.

The characters were diverse, well rounded, and like able. Sayer had a fine crew of side characters to help her along. She was level headed and smart, and her intuition was fascinating to follow.

The story contains plot twists, corruption, and surprises at every chapter. I would recommend you pick it up!

Best in the series to Date!!
This is the third book in the Agent Sayer. Altair series. A ritualistic murder and a bus load of Washington DC teens missing. FBI Agent Sayer Altair is head of the task force. She is being stonewalled at every turn.
This story has so much action, crazy twists and shocking turns it’s hard to put down. I wish every crime fiction suspense was as good as this book. This author us fast becoming one of my favorite authors.
Thank you NetGalley and St Martins Press for the Advanced Copy.

FBI Agent Sayer Altair is back! Cut To The Bone is the third entry in this amazing series. Sayer is trying to recover after her last harrowing case. The former director of the FBI, Holt , has been forced out and there’s a new director, Anderson. He hates Sayer and is determined to make her look bad. He assigns Sayer to a high profile abduction hoping she will fail. A school bus full of teenagers has been kidnapped on their way to a field trip. One of the girls is found murdered and posed with weird baboon statues around her. Sayer assembles her best team to tackle
this strange murder. All my favorite characters return in this book, Ezra, Max and Kona, and Holt. This case may prove to be the death of Sayers as she is being followed and attacked at every turn. There is a major surprise in this book and the ending is unbelievable! If you haven’t read the first two, you must read the first two books before reading this one. I can’t wait for the fourth installment! Thank you to net galley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Cut to the Bone (Ellison Cooper) is the third story of a series (Caged and Buried  #1 and #2). All are stand alone because Ms Cooper gives just enough back story as the stories unfolds. But the reader is going to enjoy the books so much more by starting with Caged as I did. My only complaint is I wish Ms Cooper wrote a little faster as I can't wait to read the next in this series that often keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. I want to thank Net Galley and St. Martins Press for an early copy to review.