CUT TO THE BONE (AGENT SAYER ALTAIR, #3)

When I requested this high octane, action packed novel, I did so because the premise sounded fascinating. I didn't realize until after reading it that this is book three in a series that I have not been aware of which is why I felt like I had to pay close attention. I absolutely loved Dr. Sayer Altair's character development. She has quite the background as a neuroscience expert on studying the behaviors of psychopath's. Throughout this multilayered mystery subject 037 who is a psychopath that kept in touch with her added intrigue but I felt there was some backstory that I wasn't always sure that I had all of their uncanny relationship details. He seemed harmless although I guessed wrongly that he could have been the mysterious background character that helped intervene in aiding her by saving her life both from a gun shot and fire which was purposefully set. The true behind the scenes helper was mind blowing and quite a twist to her personal life.

This was most definitely a standalone But now I am pleased to know that I can deliciously devour books one and two in this series and get more finely attuned with her personal life. FBI Special Agent Sayer Altair is so interesting because of her background with understanding the brain functions of the amygdala and pre-frontal Lobe functions which interest me and this author gets it right. Sayer is such a noble, non corrupt, clever and caring strong female lead in this race to save a busload of High school students who have been kidnapped by a deranged and deluded serial killer.

From the first page the action starts when a Washington DC policeman is shot while one of the girls is found dead on Albert Einstein's Monument and she is surrounded by baboons. This ritualized murder is when Sayer is assigned to investigate and solve this case which is convoluted but fabulously plotted with Egyptian symbolism and the famous monuments in Washington DC. She assembles her team and it is a race against the clock before another murder is committed. I never guessed who was the serial killer nor whom was her guardian Angel but it was a roller coaster of a five star reading experience that left me wanting more.

I also loved that the High school girls rallied to overcome their sadistic kidnapper by fighting and injuring him while Kate tried to sprint to escape. Kate's ingenious splicing together the colored wires to create the electric circuit on an outdated rotary phone helped Special Agent Sayer and her team to locate the survivors by her description of the cryptic hideout. This book was like peeling back layer by layer of an onion to unravel the plot. Everything about this novel kept me invested and I am excited to go and read book's one and two because of the complex lovable Special Agent Sayer Altair of the FBI as the admirable and riveting strong female sleuth at the helm. Easily now my favorite series for both mystery and thriller genres.

Thank you to Net Galley, Ellison Cooper and St. Martin's/Minotaur Books for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinion's are my own,

Publication Date: July 14, 2020

#CutToTheBone #EllisonCooper #StMartin's&MinotaurBooks #NetGalley

I could immediately tell this book was not the first of a series, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but did occasionally take me out of the story. While the pacing was good and the concept interesting, the characters and dialogue fell really flat for me. I simply didn't buy it.

WOW !!!
I had no idea that this was a part of a series, but you would have never known. This book came on hard and it kept going strong until the end. Yes i took a little while for me to read it but its due to time commitments, not because of the story. I haven't been this excited about an FBI book in a really long time. I can't wait for the next one.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

I normally don't jump into the middle of a series, but the premise of Ellison Cooper's most recent Agent Sayer Altair novel sounded too good to pass up. Something about being in quarantine makes me crave a good, fast paced thriller, and this one delivered. I'm already dying to get my sticky little hands on the next one in the series because come on, that ENDING.

"Cut to the Bone" is the third book in the Agent Sayer Altair series, and you can read it without having read the previous installments (I did!). Cooper does a fantastic job of laying out everything that has happened and introducing all the characters without being overwhelming. I actually really want to go back and read the previous books because several times I found myself going "holy crap! THAT happened?!".

The pacing was excellent, and Cooper weaves together plots seamlessly. Right from the beginning I was hooked, and the more the story progressed, the deeper it sank its claws into me. I really enjoyed the way scenes changed, and how we were given chapters from other points of view. I also loved the characters, including Sayer's ragtag family she cobbled together. I'm a firm believer that you can choose your family, and this series shows that really well.

As far as plots go, this one kept me guessing up until the very end, while also staying realistic. I audibly gasped at multiple points in the end while also smacking myself in the forehead for not putting the pieces together sooner. The unexpected nod to Egyptology was also a pleasant addition and made for a great history lesson.

My only complaint was that for a decent part of the book Sayer felt a little...flat? At times she felt like only a vessel for information, while other parts had her feeling like a badass strong character. I fully acknowledge that this could be due to me not reading the previous books and having a stronger baseline. Sayer's inner conflict with Jake at the end though...oh, man. That hit too close to home and I appreciated how Cooper made it clear that Sayer still loved him, but could also acknowledge the severity and consequences of his actions.

Overall, I loved this book and it was a pleasure to read. I'm looking forward to going back and reading the previous ones in the series (even if I have spoiled them for myself a bit). Huge thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the review copy!

I went in this one not knowing it was the third book in a series but I believe the author does a great job of giving just enough back story that as a reader we are not lost.

This book was pretty engaging from the very beginning. Although I thought the story line was a bit farfetched as far as the killer goes but maybe not unbelievable given the background of the suspect.

There was A LOT going on in this one. Sometimes it was a bit hard to remember who was on who's side and why certain things were happening but by the end of the book it all came together.

The one aspect I am most intrigued by in this story is more so of the mysterious Subject 037. I think for this reason alone I will check out the first two books and remain on this journey with Sayer.

A terrific addition to this series .Characters that come alive a storyline that kept me racing through the pages.Read this series each book will grab you in.#netgalley#st.martins

Admittedly, when I requested an ARC of Cut to the Bone, I did not realize that this was the third book in a series. Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was able to read from the get-go. Ellison Cooper gave just enough information/backstory that I did not feel like I was missing too much by starting on Book 3. (Note: I do plan to go back and read the first two but heard what great reviews this book had so wanted to dive right in).

Cut to the Bone starts with 24 high school students going missing on a trip to Atlanta. And a serial killer that no one seems to see. That's where FBI Special Agent Sayer Altair comes in. Using her background in neuroscience, Agent Altair really tires to get into the mind of the serial killer she's hunting.

Cut to the Bone was the perfect blend of action and mystery. This was my first Ellison Cooper book but certainly not my last!

I had no idea what to expect when I started this book because Ellison Cooper had flown under the radar for me before this. I w3as totally blown away! This book started out good and got better and better as it went on. It didn't even matter that it's the third book in a series. If you want a well-written book that is full of excitement this is the book for you. If you want great characters this is the book for you. If you want surprises this is the book for you. I bought the first two books as soon as I finished this one. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. I found a new favorite author.

An excellent and very thrilling edition to this series!

Fans of the TV show Criminal Minds and Meg Gardiner's Unsub series will devour these books.

The 3rd book in the series with Agent Sayer Altair is just as interesting as the first two. This time the actual murders are less gruesome, but there's an added element of conspiracy that made this fascinating reading.

I love how much background information the author adds into each crime and character to truly bring the story to life.

I cannot wait to read the 4th book! The only thing I disliked is the cliff hanger ending.

There is so much depth to the story it's hard to review without giving anything away! Serial Killer, new relationships, old relationships friendships, colleagues, and more. It's a tangled web to weave and Ellison Cooper does a fantastic job. The characters are so wonderful I do hope we see them again in future books.

Cut to the Bone is an entertaining and well written psychological thriller. Real edge of your seat plot. Suspense fans will not want to miss this book. I received an arc from the publisher and Netgalley and this is my unbiased review.

Let me just start my review by saying, wow! This was the best Agent Altair book so far and I am so hoping that their is going to be a fourth one. I just hope I don't have to wait until next year for the fourth one if it is coming.

There are a lot of familiar characters that have been in all three of the Agent Altair books: Holt, Tino, Vesper, Nana, and Adi. There is also the return of Max and his FBI dog, who we were all introduced to in the second Agent Altar book, Buried. I was really happy to see Max and his dog return. There is also Jake, who is Agent Altair's husband who passed away four years ago. Agent Altair has been looking into his death since the previous book, Buried, where she learned new information about it.

Cut to to the Bone mentions the first book, Caged, on several occasions. If you have not read Caged or Buried though, I still think you will be able to follow the story fairly easy. But it might not hurt to at least read Caged so you have a better understanding of when they reference the Caged killer, especially since that is the story of Adi. Cut to the Bone also continues with the same patterns that were found in the previous two books, which is, there is usually a death or serious injury to a law enforcement agent and the serial killer in the book is usually using an MO that is tied to an ancient mythology. This time the ancient mythology is Egyptian.

Agent Altair is an FBI field agent but she is also a "neuroscientist who studied the brains of serial killers for the FBI's National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime" (Ellison Cooper). In the previous books, Agent Altair was looking at MRI scans of serial killers and psychopaths and in Buried, she interviewed some of them, which is also when we were introduced to Subject 037. Subject 037 scared a perfect score on the Psychopathy Checklist and has managed to creepily intervene in Agent Altair's life in numerous ways, especially at the end of Buried. In Cut to the Bun, Subject 037 continues to involve himself in Agent Altair's life and we learn some surprising things about him. I am hoping that we will continue to learn about Subject 037 in the 4th book, which I am hoping there will be a 4th one.

The story was extremely well written and kept me at the edge of my seat. I read this book within only a few days. I found that I did not want to put it down. There are a ton of twists and turns in this book and some huge surprises that I just did not see coming that blew me away. However, I did figure out who the unsub (unknown subject) was when I was about 60% through the book and the story itself doesn't reveal who the unsub is until about 75% in.

Rating: I am giving this book a 5 out of 5. I would even consider giving it a 6 out of 5 if I could because that is just how good it was. This was seriously the best Agent Altair book so far, and was better than the previous two. I am dying to know what happens next with Agent Altair, Subject 037, Tino, Vesper, Max, Holt, and Adi. I sure hope that I don't have to wait another year because that will be sooo difficult.

Thank you Minotaur books for letting me read and review this book early. Release date: July 14, 2020.

Cut to the Bone is the third book in the Sayer Altair series, but it reads just as well as a stand-alone. I've read at least one other novel by Ms. Cooper, but this was my first in this series. I thought it was terrific and will go back and read the first two in the series.

This novel starts with a macabre murder scene of a high school girl. The girl has been displayed amid a circle of baboon figurines and includes a strange message written in blood. FBI agent and neuroscientist Sayer Altair is assigned to the case by the head of the agency and, for some reason, she is given no back-up. Nonetheless, she puts together a small task force, and they quickly discover that the murdered girl is one of 24 STEM students who was on a school bus heading to a special event. And now only does the FBI have a ritualistic murder, but the entire busload of students is missing!

Cooper writes a tight plot and develops her characters beautifully. It was a quick read with lots of huge twists, turns, and intrigue. I highly recommend it for all lovers of suspense/thrillers.

My thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This third book in the series is a thrill ride from the very beginning. I'm a big fan of these books. Sayer is a strong, independent, and determined agent and woman. The character has really grown since the first book. This case of missing teenagers is intense and an emotional rollercoaster. All of our favorite characters are back and several are involved in helping Sayer.

There is a lot going on here and the missing kids case is just the beginning and full of action and suspense. Plenty of surprises will keep you guessing. There are also some answers for things that have been building throughout the series. And that shocking ending had me gasping aloud! I can't wait for more.

*Thanks to St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books + NetGalley for the ARC!*

This is my first time reading the Agent Altair series, and I didn't realize it was the third book until *after* I started reading, so I just went with it! I really liked this story and I'll be going back to read the first two now.

I never guess the ending so I'm VERY proud to report that I immediately guessed that Nana would be bringing home Subject 037 - like just of course, that's what Sayer needs on top of the other stuff going on!

The motive for the murders here was COMPLICATED. I don't know if that's normal for the series or not, but I'll be interested to see if all plots are this layered.

I liked it! I dropped off a little bit around halfway but then got sucked back in. And then the ending, of course, made me desire the next one IMMEDIATELY.

I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for letting me read this book.

If a friend asked me to describe this book I would have to say its a mix of the two TV shows Bones and Criminal minds with a hint of Dan Browns DaVinci Code. Since I love 2 out of the 3 of these things, I enjoyed reading this book and was drawn in right away. This book is the third in a series but it was the first one that I have read. There were a few times that I could tell the author was reffering to a previous book, but I never felt lost or like I didn't know what was going on because I had not read those books.

This book starts off with the murder of a a teenage girl and the police officer that finds her. It quickly becomes a case that the FBI start investigating. The main character is the lead detective on the case, Sayer. She soon discovers that the teenage girl that was killed, was kidnapped along with 24 other students. The case now becomes a race to find the missing teenagers before the killer strikes again. Of course Sayer cannot solve this case alone, she has a group of people and agents (Booth from Bones would call them Squints) helping her along the way.

I liked several things about this book. The first being how short the chapters were making the book fast paced and kept me wanting to read more. I also enjoyed the ties to Ancient Egypt. I think it gave the book something a little different than your typical FBI murder mystery. There were a few turns to this book that I did not see coming. After reading many crime novels and watching crime TV shows, sometimes they can feel repetitive and predictable. I did not feel this way with this book, it felt new and refreshing to me. The only thing about this book that I did not care for, was the deaths of the students. When Sayer finds the bus with the missing students on it, they discover that the all the male students and the two adults have been shot mass execution style. The story has no use for the male students, they are not important to the story very much except to be killed. But if they were not in the story at all, I don't think it would have taken away from it. I'm not one to shy away from violence and death in books, but this just felt a little unnecessary to me.

When I began reading the storyline gripped my attention from the first page and never released me. It impressed me that I was able to come into this series at book three and not once felt as though I was missing any pieces to the plot. The entire story was well written and allows the book to stand on its own.

FBI Senior Special Agent Sayer Altair is not the type of neuroscientist with a focus on psychopathy you expect to meet. She is a smart and critically thinking person but also very relatable with her sarcasm, wit, fierce loyalty to her friends and family. As well as her ambition and no-nonsense attitude towards her job. I greatly enjoyed spending my day living in the life of Sayer Altair.

Director Anderson assigns Agent Altair to a potentially high profile case due to the holidays with zero support from the agency. Just another day at the office for someone like Sayer whose boss has been out to get her since day one. What starts as a simple double homicide with ritualistic elements hinting at a serial killer emerging quickly turns out to something vastly disingenuous. In identifying the dead teenager they discover an entire busload of STEM students from various high schools were hijacked en route to a competition. The deeper they dig into the meaning of the murders and kidnappings the more perplexing, and lethal, the investigation becomes.

With changes on the horizon in her home life, a mysterious stalker following her, one of her prior research subjects tinkering into her investigation, a few near-death experiences that are all just part of the job, and more than a few twists to keep you dazed and panting for more. This is by far a great read and my new favorite author.

This was a very interesting book. The plot moved along well and the storyline was good. I was a little lost on a lot of the character's backstory. Some of it was filled in, but not enough for everything to be clear. It was really hard to tell where the plot was going at different points, though the reveal of the bad guy was somewhat predictable. I think it would have had a little more impact if I was more familiar with the previous books.

I should start by saying I did not know this book was part of a series when I read it, however, I think you don't need to read the other books to enjoy this one.

This book was really interesting and grabbed you from the very beginning. It follows agent Sayer Altair hunt for a missing bus full of high school teens. The book takes you on this journey and twists that keep you engaged until the last page.

This book did not disappoint and I will be grabbing the other two in the series. I will definitely recommended it.

I received this ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What do you get if you cross "Silence of the Lambs", "The Blacklist" and "The A-team"? Perhaps this book. And this is not meant as a criticism at all. The reason why such movies and TV programmes are so popular is because they work. Yes, there is a predictability about certain elements - but so what? So long as there are some interesting characters, a solid base story, drama, and the occasional twist, it works. And it works in this book. Although it pushed the limits of believability a few times (time appears to be a very variable construct, for example), I couldn't put it down and wanted to get to the end as soon as possible to see how it all would pan out. I was not disappointed. And although it has set it itself up for a possible series, in some ways I think the ending is so strong it deserves to be left as a stand alone book. Perhaps the ending speaks to the title, but otherwise, I'd say the title is the weakest part of the book as it doesn't really speak to the overall strengths of the book's story.