FBI neuroscientist Sayer Altair studies the brains of serial killers, but even she's not prepared for a blood-chilling case involving the death of a senator's daughter, caged and slowly starved to death. A big-news debut, sold to seven countries.

A teenage girl found starved to death in a medieval torture cage, booby traps set to thwart rescue, a leak inside the investigation. For FBI Special Agent Sayer Altair, nothing in this case makes sense. But as a neuroscientist studying the brains of serial killers, she knows only too well how psychopaths can hide in the skins of normal people. As the pool of potential killers shrinks, Sayer has no idea who she can trust. Snares set by the killer wreak havoc on law enforcement during their pursuit, and casualties quickly multiply. Sayer must think outside the box to separate the real clues from those planted to deceive the team, while also dealing with her own demons—the loneliness she feels after her fiancé's death and her disappointment in her flailing research. VERDICT Forensic mystery fans who enjoy deciphering clues while peeking inside the mind of a killer will be entertained by this pathologically twisted tale by a first-time author. A good choice for fans of Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs. [See Prepub Alert, 1/22/18.]—K.L. Romo, Duncanville, TX

Cooper leaves no serial killer thriller cliché behind in her debut, starting with a lead burdened with a tragic backstory. FBI special agent Sayer Altair's parents died in a car crash, and her fiancé, a fellow agent, was killed on duty under mysterious circumstances. Sayer's research into the brain patterns of murderers is put on hold when the emaciated corpse of Gwendolyn Van Hurst, an ambitious senator's teenage daughter who went missing a year earlier, is found in a cage in the basement of a Washington, D.C., house. The victim's captor booby-trapped the building, and more than one investigator is either wounded or killed. The search for the girl's killer gains urgency after Sayer learns another caged captive may still be alive. Readers should be prepared for melodramatic writing ("As Sayer drifted off to sleep, she vowed to herself that she would find that girl if it was the last thing she did") and implausible law enforcement decisions (Sayer is content to wait a day for access to vital government records stored in an office closed for the weekend). Hopefully, Cooper will do better next time. Agent: Amy Tannenbaum, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (July)