Cutter [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Thomas Laird (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2002

He’s a cutter. He accosts unsuspecting young women, he overwhelms them with a pad of ether. Then he kills them. And eviscerates the corpses. The crime scenes he leaves behind are not pretty. Nor is the talk, in this tough, tautly plotted, and tersely written crime novel that sets Jimmy Parisi of Chicago Homicide, a strictly no-nonsense kind of Italian cop, on the gruesome trail of an elusive but very efficient—and alarmingly active—killer. The bodies are beginning to pile up. Death in fact is reaping so ghastly a harvest in the city’s parks and streets that the press and police are calling the merciless perpetrator “the Farmer.” When Parisi and his partner, Doc, a homicide cop with an unlikely Ph.D. in English literature, begin to zero in on their quarry, the Farmer abruptly alters his modus operandi. Turning his murderous attention away from attractive, vital young women, he focuses his formidably perverse intelligence instead on investigating detective Jimmy Parisi himself. At a pulse-popping pace, through unexpected twists and surprising turns, from the scenic precincts along Lake Shore Drive to the perilous criminal underbelly of Chicago, Parisi and the Farmer follow the paths that bring them inexorably to a shocking confrontation. The suspense is riveting, and the outcome—as explosive as it is unexpected—will leave the reader gasping.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Thomas Laird has a knack for taking the reader into a very disturbing world. Jimmy Parisi is a successful cop, riding high with the Chicago PD and enjoying his family (two kids he has raised single-handedly) and his beautiful young fianc e. But in the city, someone is raping and murdering young women, and mutilating their corpses unspeakably. The killer, nicknamed The Farmer, becomes an obsession with Jimmy, who is convinced that this is not the work of a psychopath, powered by random impulses. His business is the supplying of fresh organs to the medical black markets. And his brokers are a very sinister group indeed. Familiar territory, yes, but handled with a degree of freshness and innovation. As Parisi and his new wife find their lives on the line, the reader will find that putting the book down is a difficult task. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Thomas Laird has had over twenty short stories published in US literary magazines. He teaches creative writing and literature at a high school in Peoria, Illinois. He lives with his wife Janet and their dogs Rocco and Mike. Laird is currently working on another Jimmy Parisi novel. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 329 pages
• Publisher: Chivers; Lrg edition (June 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0754048799
• ISBN-13: 978-0754048794
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jack the Reaper, April 27, 2002

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cutter (Hardcover)

From the beginning Homicide detective Jimmy Parisi and his partner Doc Gibron know that their killer is something different. The first victim, a runner was attacked, carefully eviscerated, and then mutilated with chilling efficiency. The crime screamed 'serial killer,' but there was something else there as well, something besides uncontrolled rage, something cold and calculating.

Parisi wonders if the careful removal of organs is more than just souvenir taking. Instead, he suspects that he has a killer who has found the perfect job, organ selling. Using modern hi-tech as well as good basic investigation, the theory is confirmed and the chase is on. The trail leads not only through the streets of the city but into the shadowy world of the Chicago mafia. Gradually the detective builds a picture of the killer and begins to narrow down the list of suspects.

Parisi must also come to terms with the involvement of his young wife, Natalie, a rookie police officer, who does not intend to take a back seat while he puts his own life at risk. Inevitably, the killer turns the tables, and Parisi finds the very things he holds dear put at risk.

The book starts out shakily, with a machine gun style of narration and dialogue which does not always make sense in the context of the characters. Having Parisi's partner be a Ph.D. who reads poetry in the patrol car is an interesting device. Having him speak a bit like a Chicago hood is somewhat jarring. Laird has some difficulty giving his characters individual voices (everyone sounds tough and hard-boiled). I am not sure if he improved as the book went on or whether I simply acclimatized to the peculiarities of his writing style, but every thing eventually came together and I quickly found myself enjoying a book I initially did not like.

One thing I do take exception to is long sections of the novel spent inside the killer's head. Even if these are well written they always give away too much information and steal some of the mystery from the plot. 'Cutter' is no exception. I understand the purpose of the plot device, but feel this is done better in the third person than the first. I think that the reader should be discovering the book with the investigator rather than waiting for him to catch up. Laird manages to avoid the worst crimes of this narrative style, but he still manages to give the reader too much information.

Even if this is not a five star novel, it is a very respectable effort by a new writer. Be warned that the violence is quite graphic and that there is a bit too much gratuitous sex for conservative tastes. Thomas Laird has managed to create a book both grim and upbeat with a good, driving plot. Worth looking for.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Twisting suspense and comical banter., December 23, 2001

By 

"fancypants8" (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cutter (Hardcover)

This book was excellent in its' suspense and hilarious bantering between the homicide detectives. This is definitely a book worth reading! Excellent beginning and an even more excellent ending.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars stolen ideas done poorly, July 13, 2002

By 

John Bowes (Oxford, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cutter (Hardcover)

The author may teach writing, but does not fashion any plot that holds the readers' attention. Stock characters and rehased plot.