Caged

Caged starts out strong with our neuroscientist main character getting called to a disturbing crime scene. From what they find there, I was expecting a thriller that I could really sink my teeth into, and in part, I got that. Parts of the story were dark, a bit twisted, and even creepy, but as things progress, the book is more police procedural than gripping thriller. That's not necessarily a bad thing, just not what I was expecting. But, here's the rub - with the exception of Sayer and maybe one or two others, the secondary characters are almost cookie-cutter perfect for any other procedural, including the hard to work with but really knows his stuff, second in command. There are a few interesting twists and of course, we get some red herrings along the way. I'll admit that the big reveal was a new one for me - Not so much the who, as that was easy enough to figure out, but the why. It felt a little out there, but was interesting nonetheless. As a debut novel, the writing is solid with the exception of some over the top descriptions throughout the book, especially when it comes to reactions. I fully appreciate giving the reader a good grasp on the character's emotions, etc, but sometimes, a normal reaction is okay and even expected. We do get a satisfactory, if somewhat convoluted, conclusion to this case, but there are a number of loose ends left at the close of the story, most pertaining to Sayer's personal life, leaving me to believe this may be the start of a series. The story did hold my interest and I'll be curious to see how this debut author progresses with future books.