Like so many thrillers, the idea for the plot of The Cutting came from something I found in the news.
I read an article about so-called “organ tourism.” Americans traveling to foreign countries for transplants they couldn’t qualify for here at home.
As most of us know, there’s of a chronic shortage of organ donors and organs available for transplant in the US and other first world countries. People in desperate need of kidneys, livers, and hearts die each year because there simply aren’t enough. Some of these people are considered too old to qualify for legitimate transplant programs in the US. Others are deemed to be too sick to benefit from a new organ.
This has given rise to a new and thriving international black market in organs.
Desperately poor people in countries like China, India and in South America often sell organs for money. A thousand dollars for a kidney may not seem like much to us but it’s considered a fortune to poor people in third world countries.
And the trade isn’t just limited to kidneys. There are many documented cases where people have been kidnapped and murdered so their organs, the ones they can’t live without like their hearts, could be harvested and sold to an unknowing American in desperate need of one.
There are a lot of problems inherent in becoming a so-called “organ tourist.” You don’t know if the organ you’re buying is healthy. You don’t know if the surgeon is competent by American standards. You don’t know if kidnapping, coercion or even murder was involved in obtaining it.
So I just said “What if?”
What if, instead of happening in some third world country, it was happening right here in the US?
What if there were a number of very rich, very sick old men who couldn’t qualify for legitimate transplant programs because of their age and condition who were willing to pay an immoral but highly qualified surgeon just about anything to get a new heart?
What if they could be assured that the blood type and tissue would be compatible to their needs.
What if the brilliant surgeon also happened to be a sadistic psychopathic killer?
That’s the basic premise behind The Cutting (though the story takes a number of unexpected twists and turns in the telling.)
The Cutting opens as a beautiful young woman is abducted while jogging through the idyllic streets of Portland, Maine’s upscale West End. The very same night the body of a pretty young high school soccer star is found in an abandoned scrap yard, her heart cut from her body with medical precision.
Former NYPD homicide detective and single father, Michael McCabe, left New York and moved to Portland to find a safer and more wholesome place in which to raise his teenage daughter. But he suddenly realizes he found a lot more than he bargained for.
As it says in The Cutting “standing here in a scrap yard in Portland, Maine, McCabe suddenly…knew with an absolute certainty that…no matter how far he ran, no matter how well he hid, he’d never leave the violence or his fascination with it behind.”
The Cutting is the first in a series of thrillers featuring Michael McCabe. The second, called The Chill of Night, is due out from St. Martin’s/Minotaur in late June of 2010. That too was inspired by something I read in the news.
Like McCabe, I’m a native New Yorker. He was born in the Bronx. I was born in Brooklyn. We both grew up in the city. He dropped out of NYU Film School and joined the NYPD, rising through the ranks to become the top homicide cop at the Midtown North Precinct. I graduated from Brown and joined a major New York ad agency, rising through the ranks to become creative director on accounts like the US Army, Procter & Gamble, and Lincoln/Mercury.
We both married beautiful brunettes. McCabe’s wife, Sandy dumped him to marry a rich investment banker who had “no interest in raising other people’s children.” My wife, Jeanne, though often given good reason to leave me in the lurch, has stuck it out through thick and thin and is still my wife. She is also my best friend, my most attentive reader and a perceptive critic.
Both McCabe and I eventually left New York for Portland, Maine. I arrived in August 2001, shortly before the 9/11 attacks, in search of the right place to begin a new career as a fiction writer. He came to town a year later, to escape a dark secret in his past and to find a safe place to raise his teenage daughter, Casey.
There are other similarities between us. We both love good Scotch whiskey, old movie trivia and the New York Giants. And we both live with and love women who are talented artists.
There are also quite a few differences. McCabe’s a lot braver than me. He’s a better shot. He likes boxing. He doesn’t throw up at autopsies. And he’s far more likely to take risks. McCabe’s favorite Portland bar, Tallulah’s, is, sadly, a figment of my imagination. My favorite Portland bars are all very real.
You can visit our website at www.jameshaymanthrillers.com.
You can purchase The Cutting at Amazon by clicking here!
Closing Molly and Danny’s love story in Against Doctors Orders, we sighed and relished their happily ever after. Bobbie Leighton, Molly’s live in house keeper and caregiver to her daughter, Amy, was on the mend after suffering an attack from a crazed killer at the book’s conclusion. We trusted that she’d deal with her estrangement from the younger Sullivan brother, Joe, who had not only captured her interest, but had also captured that serial killer who had threatened her life.
K.M. Daughters is the multi-published writing team of sisters Pat Casiello and Kathie Clare. Their penname is dedicated to their parents Katherine and Michael, the “K” and “M” in K.M. Daughters. Their author career began in January 2008 with contracts from The Wild Rose Press for an inspirational romance, Jewel of the Adriatic, and a romantic suspense novel, Against Doctors Orders, Book #1 in The Sullivan Boys Series. Beyond The Code of Conduct, Book 2 in the series, is rated 4-stars, compelling, page turner, by Donna M. Brown, Reviewer for Romantic Times Book Reviews (June 2009 Issue #304). A contemporary romance, Past, Present and Forever is available in E-book from Sapphire Blue Publishing. Residing in Illinois and New Jersey, the sisters continue to work on The Sullivan Boys Series. Book #3 will release later this year and two additional books are anticipated to complete the series. You can visit their website at 
My husband used to drive big rigs cross country and one night he had a dream that he’d been attacked by a werewolf. He’s a big sci-fi fan! Anyway, as he was telling me the story, I thought, hey, this could be a book, so I started writing, asking him for more details and adding to it. Before I knew it, I had a book! I have always loved vampire and werewolf stories, but always felt werewolves got a bum rap, so my werewolves are different than any I’ve ever read about. They are intelligent human beings who just happen to have a little extra something whenever the moon is full. They’re also likable characters, tough when they have to be, and very, very sexy! I’ve also been working on the sequel, called Ancient Blood that delves into the life of one of the most lovable characters, Ganda. The reviews for Blood! Line have been awesome, but most of the comments are about Ganda and I am constantly being asked if her story continues, so the answer is Yes, it does!
Years ago, as is still true now, I found I would happen upon some small event or object that would practically insist that it be written about. I’ve always leaned toward short stories because of their urgency and ability to deliver a satisfying beginning, middle, and end in a short period of time.
A few years back I was a single gal who had great friends and worked a bit too much. After many years of setups and dating, I still had not met the right person yet. I had an otherwise great life but didn’t have that special someone to share it with.
Cherie Burbach used her experience with meeting her husband online to pen At the Coffee Shop, a humorous look at the world of Internet dating. Cherie went on over 60 coffee dates in just six months. She met lots of great people and one of those turned out to be the guy she would marry just one year later.
