I have squandered my resistance: BURIED.

Buried by Ellison Cooper

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


It's been six months since Sayer Altair discovered a prolific serial killer inside the FBI. She's still dealing with the fallout--including Congressional hearings and independent counsel combing through hundreds of past cases. Her boss, Assistant Director Janice Holt, is testifying at Capitol Hill. Sayer, a neurobiologist with FBI's National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime, has been recovering from her injuries from her previous case and working on her research of serial killer brains, when Holt calls. Max Cho, an off-duty FBI agent and his Human Remains Detection dog, found a cave full of bodies in the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. The FBI is thin on agents during the hearings and investigations and Sayer is called back to duty. Her "team" is slight--Max; Piper, a park ranger; Kyle, the local sheriff; Ezra, our beloved IT whiz; and Dana, a FBI medical examiner just back from overseas. Together they set up shop in the National Park and investigate the gruesome scene. Before they know it, they are being attacked by the presumed killer--and they quickly have two fresh bodies dumped on their crime scene. Even worse, one of Sayer's research subjects starts meddling in her case, and she quickly realizes this supposed psychopath is a high-ranking Washington official. Can Sayer solve these cases in time, or will she lose her job during the craziness that's happening in Washington?

This book gets started with a bang, as Max and Kona find a cave full of skeletons. Sayer and Dana are attacked as they investigate the new findings, and things never slow down from there. Sayer is the same tough cookie from the first book--driving her motorcycle around and taking no prisoners. Luckily, she's at least found a bit of family now and she seems to be maturing. It was nice to see her make some personal strides.


"The only benefit to being on TV was that at least no one was surprised anymore when the FBI agent turned out to be a thirty-something brown-skinned woman."


There is a ton of stuff happening in this book, but Cooper handles it all really well. The cave full of skeletons, two more fresh bodies, the hearings and their impact on the FBI/Sayer's career, her research and one of her subjects meddling in her career, her personal investigation into the death of her late fiance, Jake, also an agent... It's definitely a lot, but all the threads work together. This is shaping up to be a really good series. I enjoyed this book more than the first, even. The writing is stronger, Sayer's character is tightening up, and while the case is resolved at the end, there are loose ends that lead me to hope there is a book three coming.


"She hated that she even thought it, but she'd learned the hard way not to trust anyone, not even her own coworkers at the FBI."


Sayer is a great character--complex, intelligent, and tough. She dives right in to any challenge, and her team is loyal to her because of it. Which is good, because man, does trouble follow this woman! They are attacked constantly! They also see a lot of gruesome things. You'll need to be the type who enjoys a good twisted, dark mystery. This is no light and fluffy thriller. But Cooper clearly knows her stuff--police procedures, DNA, psychology, and more. It makes for a really good read.

I especially enjoyed the local angle for this one. It's practically set in my backyard, and I actually read portions of the book where they were occurring, at the University of Virginia campus and such. It's always fun to read about places you actually know. (Maybe not so fun when people are being abducted from there, but...)

Overall, I really enjoyed this mystery. It features a strong main (female!) character in Sayer, a great twisted story that keeps you guessing, and the true star of the show, Kona, the cadaver dog, whom I adored. Definitely recommend! You can read this as part of the series or a standalone. 4+ stars.

I received a copy of this novel from Minotaur Books and Netgalley in return for a honest review.

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