The Cutting [Hardcover]

James Hayman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 23, 2009

From a formidable new voice in suspense fiction comes an edge-of-the-seat story of a homicide detective on the trail of a killer, who slays with exacting precision, and who harbors a terrifying motive

Detective Sergeant Michael McCabe moved from New York City to Portland, Maine, to escape a dark past: both the ex-wife who’d left him for an investment banker, and the tragic death of his brother, a hero cop gone bad. He sought to raise his young daughter away from the violence of the big city . . . so he’s unprepared for the horrific killer he discovers, whose bloody trail may lead to Portland’s social elite.

Early on a September evening, the mutilated body of a pretty teenaged girl, a high school soccer star, is found dumped in a scrap-metal yard. She had been viciously assaulted, but her heart had been cut out of her chest with surgical precision. The very same day a young businesswoman, also a blonde and an athlete, was abducted as she jogged through the streets of the city’s west end. McCabe suspects both crimes are the work of the same man---a killer who’s targeting the young---who is clearly well-versed in complex surgical procedures, and who may have struck before. Just as the investigation is beginning, McCabe’s ex-wife reemerges, suddenly determined to reclaim the daughter she heedlessly abandoned years earlier.

With the help of his straight-talking (and, at times, alluring) partner, Maggie Savage, McCabe begins a race against time to rescue the missing woman and unmask a sadistic killer---before more lives are lost.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hayman's clichéd debut introduces Det. Sgt. Michael McCabe of the Portland, Maine, PD. A former NYPD detective, McCabe relocated to raise his 13-year-old daughter in a supposedly safer place and to escape a nasty divorce. When a young woman disappears soon after the body of a 16-year-old girl turns up in a scrap yard with her heart neatly cut out, McCabe fears a serial killer is on the loose. McCabe's investigation leads him and his partner, Det. Maggie Savage, to a prominent cardiac surgeon specializing in transplants. Racing against the clock even as he uncovers more victims, McCabe is determined to find the killer and rescue the missing woman before time runs out. Hayman treads the well-worn path of troubled cop vs. serial killer without injecting new life into either the hero or the villain. Even thriller fans unfamiliar with the predecessors from whom Hayman borrows will figure out the mystery long before McCabe. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

When a missing 16-year-old is found with her nude body showing signs of torture and her heart removed with surgical precision while she was still alive, the violence of the crime has Portland, Maine, detective sergeant Mike McCabe recalling his days with the NYPD. The case takes on greater urgency with the abduction of another women and the discovery of other similar victims, all young, blond, and athletic. While local cardiac surgeon Philip Spencer assures McCabe that such hearts would not be viable transplant organs, the doctor’s lying and arrogance make him a prime suspect. As McCabe and partner Maggie Savage work tirelessly on the case, a French medical assistant and a former Miami reporter provide breakthrough information, and Spencer’s close friends from medical school come under scrutiny. First-novelist Hayman ratchets up the tension in this engrossing account of a deviously motivated psychopathic serial killer; if some aspects of the crimes strain credulity, it hardly matters, given the thrill of the ride. --Michele Leber

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (June 23, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031253129X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312531294
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,037,652 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

James Hayman - About the Author


Me and Mike McCabe: A Short Bio of the author and his hero.

Like McCabe, I'm a native New Yorker. He was born in the Bronx. I was born in Brooklyn. We both grew up in the city. He dropped out of NYU Film School and joined the NYPD, rising through the ranks to become the top homicide cop at the Midtown North Precinct. I graduated from Brown and joined a major New York ad agency, rising through the ranks to become creative director on accounts like the US Army, Procter & Gamble, and Lincoln/Mercury.

We both married beautiful brunettes. McCabe's wife, Sandy dumped him to marry a rich investment banker who had "no interest in raising other people's children." My wife, Jeanne, though often given good reason to leave me in the lurch, has stuck it out through thick and thin and is still my wife. She is also my best friend, my most attentive reader and a perceptive critic.

Both McCabe and I eventually left New York for Portland, Maine. I arrived in August 2001, shortly before the 9/11 attacks, in search of the right place to begin a new career as a fiction writer. He came to town a year later, to escape a dark secret in his past and to find a safe place to raise his teenage daughter, Casey.

There are other similarities between us. We both love good Scotch whiskey, old movie trivia and the New York Giants. And we both live with and love women who are talented artists.

There are also quite a few differences. McCabe's a lot braver than me. He's a better shot. He likes boxing. He doesn't throw up at autopsies. And he's far more likely to take risks. McCabe's favorite Portland bar, Tallulah's, is, sadly, a figment of my imagination. My favorite Portland bars are all very real.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very thrilling, July 18, 2009

By 

Tina "Tina" (Montreal, Quebec) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Cutting (Kindle Edition)

Although I seem to have stayed a little from my love of thrillers (this was mainly due to the fact that I wasn't finding many good ones) I have to say that I am happy, happy to have discovered The Cutting. This book is absolutely thrilling (yes, pun intended).

Our main character Mike McCabe was a NYPD cop - he has seen it all and frankly, he is tired of it, add to this the fact that his personal life is a mess considering his wife has just walked out on him and their daughter, he decides to needs to move to a quieter and more civilized place - he thinks he has found this in Portland, Maine (which always makes me think of Stephen King-land!!).

However, the horror seems to have found him again. A victim is found murdered, with their hearts surgically (and professionally done?) and now, a young woman is missing - McCabe knows that he is in a time crunch to find her - before this maniac removes her heart and leaves her for dead. Of course, as Murphy's Law would have it, this is also the time where McCabe's "former" wife re-enters his life and demands custody of their daughter.

There is alot going on in this novel and all of it is compulsively readable. I like that McCabe has lots of personal problems going on, while he is trying to deal with a maniac, it made him very down to earth and human to me - I hate it when I read a story about a detective that seems to walk on water somehow. This is a flawed man trying to find a maniac and the lines can get a little blurry at times - great stuff!

The descriptions of the murders and the details of the condition of the victims is just enough to make me engrossed in the storyline without being totally grossed out. The author is very good at pushing his story along at a good pace without rushing it too much or without slowing it down too much with useless details.

I loved the way the author mingles his main character's life as center stage AT THE SAME time as the murder story.

This book is one of those books that I had a hard time putting down and kept saying "one more page".

I loved it.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't put it down!, August 25, 2009

By 

I.S. (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cutting (Hardcover)

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...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A satisfying thriller!, May 21, 2011

By 

Denise Crawford "DC" (Missouri, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Cutting (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed this fast-paced mystery thriller and immediately sought out the next book - The Chill of Night (Det. Michael Mccabe Mysteries) - in what I hope will be a long series featuring Detective Sergeant Michael McCabe and his partner, Maggie Savage.

A young teen-aged girl is found dead and mutilated in a scrap-metal yard. Her heart has been cut out in a manner that could pass for surgical precision. Earlier that morning, a jogger -- another blonde and beautiful athlete -- was abducted by what McCabe fears is a serial killer targeting this type of victim. The suspense builds as he and Maggie race to try to find this kidnapped woman before she too succumbs to the mutilation. They discover a string of similar crimes stretching from Portland, Maine to Florida. Who is behind these murders and what are they doing with the hearts they steal?

Another thing I really liked, besides the well-developed plot, were the two main characters. I want to get to know them and read more about them. Mike McCabe is a single father raising a 13 year old girl with an ex-wife who has returned for a visitation after several years of absence from their lives. Maggie is a bit mysterious and might have some secrets. The partners work well together and there seems to be a bit of chemistry as well.

If you like a good thriller, ignore the fact that you may or may not find some of the book predictable, and open the cover!