The Cutting by James Hayman

I think I might have actually talked out loud to this book in the first chapter. Similar to talking to the TV screen when the spooky music comes on and the girl insists on going down into the dark basement to find out what made a noise. This is similar in a sense that the victim doesn't seem to show much common sense at all, and she most certainly can't hear the sinister music playing in the background.

This is a psychological thriller with elements of medical politics and crimes that cross every border and boundary.

There was one thing that bugged me, when the victim used a term of endearment to refer to her captor. Keeping Stockholm Syndrome in mind, I think after a week of confinement it would be too early to suggest that sort of connection between the two of them. Perhaps she used the term to make her kidnapper view her in the way someone in an intimate relationship would, ergo less likely to kill her.

Either way, it was uncomfortable to hear her or read the word she used to refer to her rapist. It was only one scene and one word, and yet it has stuck in my mind.

Hayman has used an eclectic mix of serial killer and true crime. As the story or plot unfolds a secondary motivation becomes apparent on top of the psychopathic necessity to torture and kill.

This secondary plot has an element of crime we are seeing more often on a global level in our era. Kudos to the author for incorporating it in a way, which does not glamorize for an added portion of gruesome, but instead may make people aware of the issue.

The rich and influential are often willing to do anything to live, and the poorest in the world often desperate enough to pay the price. When the perfect fit isn't there, sometimes there are criminals ruthless enough to find the right fit for the right price. A scary thought.
I received a copy of this book courtesy of HarperCollins.