Buried: A Novel

Buried by Ellison Cooper is an intense and gritty mystery. If you have not read Caged, you will not be lost. The author provides background information on Sayer Altair and a summary of what occurred in Caged. I believe, though, that it would be a better reading experience if the series is read in order. Sayer Altair is an FBI neuroscientist who studies serial killers’ brains when not in the field. She has been benched after what happened in Caged, and this new case is her first time back in the field. Max Cho is enjoying a day off hiking when Kana alerts to the presence of a cadaver. A wrong step has Max falling into a cavern full of skeletons. Sayer along with forensic anthropologist, Dana Wilbanks find two fresh victims after a harrowing encounter. There is plenty of action in Buried as Sayer and the team search for the killer who recently kidnapped a woman and her little girl. The authors vivid descriptions allowed me to visualize the grisly scene Max found in that cave. It was interesting to see things from Sayer’s perspective. I liked that the mystery was complex with one exception. There are a number of victims over two decades. The one downfall of Buried is that I could solve the whodunit before I was a quarter of a way through the book. I prefer a mystery that scatters the clues throughout the book with surprising twists, so I am kept guessing. Sayer is still investigating the death of her fiancé, Jake. She has a feeling that what is in the case file is not the true story. Plus, there still might be repercussions from the case in Caged. Buried does contain graphic violence and foul language (these two things seem to par for the course with chilling crime novels). Buried is a psychological thriller with curious clues, a variety of victims, irksome incidents, a pathological predator, and colossal changes.