Caged

A Novel

By: Ellison Cooper

Narrated by: Danielle Deadwyler

Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

FBI profiler Sayer Altair hunts a brilliant serial killer with a dangerous obsession in Caged, a gripping thriller audiobook from debut author Ellison Cooper. 

In a residential Washington, D.C., neighborhood, a young woman's body is found in the basement of an abandoned house - starved to death in a cage, along with the video footage of a dark and deadly ritual. The victim is identified as the daughter of a prominent D.C. politician, and it falls to the FBI to track down the unconscionable psychopath who murdered her. 

FBI special agent Sayer Altair would rather conduct research on criminality than catch actual criminals. But when she's offered a promotion hinging on her next assignment, she reluctantly accepts the "Cage Killer" case. Taunted by a photo of another victim at the mercy of this vicious killer, Sayer and her team are driven to put an end to these grisly homicides. During the investigation, clues emerge connecting the murders to Sayer's past. Now, the stakes are personal, and the deeper Sayer is drawn into the deadly web, the more she believes she is the only one who can uncover the killer's identity. 

Told with devastating detail, shocking twists and unrelenting suspense, Cooper proves her exceptional ability to entertain and enthrall.  

©2018 Ellison Cooper (P)2018 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Caged is a pulse-pounding twisted thrill ride that will keep readers guessing - and plotting revenge - right up to its satisfying conclusion." (Chelsea Cain, New York Times best-selling author) 

"A dark and mesmerizing debut. Ellison Cooper channels equal parts Kathy Reichs and Thomas Harris in this fiendishly clever thriller that pits and up and coming FBI agent against an exceptionally cold and calculating killer. You will read till the bitter end... then sleep with the lights on!" (Lisa Gardner, New York Times best-selling author)

This new author should go far...

Debut author Ellison Cooper has written an outrageous police procedural. So glad I decided to give it a try.
The protagonist Sayer Altair is a strong, African American woman, neuroscientist who also happens to be a special agent with the FBI in Washington DC.
In this book young women of different nationalities are disappearing. They have other commonalities but I won't divulge what that is. Anyway, one woman is found murdered. She's in a basement , in a cage, starved and dehydrated with a dog in with her on the brink of death. The house is booby trapped and kills one cop and seriously injures another.
The next woman is found barely clinging to life along with a kitten. Then another goes missing.
The is a very well written book. The characters and the environment are both described vividly and the characters are believable.
Danielle Deadwyler does an excellent job narrating.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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narration was refreshing

Just dropping a line to say that the narration is great. The narrator is skewered in previous reviews by listeners who seem to be unfamiliar with the widely accepted AAVE dialect of English.

If anything, I had a few bones to pick with the word choice, which is a criticism directed towards the author - but certainly not the pronunciation. Interestingly, Michelle Obama pronounces "ambulance" the same way while narrating her book, and she's Michelle Obama.

My point - it was nice that the production team chose to stay true to the culture by choosing a Black narrator to represent a Black protagonist. I'm here for anything else Danielle Deadwyler narrates.

Waste of Time and Money, with Emphasis on TIME

I stuck with it, right to the end, but it was an ordeal. The plot was weak and riddled with holes. It might have survived as a forty-four minute episode of CRIMINAL MINDS, but just does not make it as a book. Cooper's constant use of literary devices such as similes and strained metaphors tries the reader's soul. ("Guilt wrapped its foul fingers around her like a ghost." Gag.)

And the narration: where to begin? Shouting lines at the listener does not convey emotion; it is merely annoying and fatiguing. Then there is the matter of her pronunciation: kill, (kee-ul) fill, (fee-ul) didn't, (ditt'nt) couldn't, (coot'nt) and so on. She even blows everyday words such as ambulance, (am-bu-LANCE) sieve, (seeve) experiment, (ex-PEER-a-ment) "systematic" when clearly, "systemic" is the required word. Teeth-grindingly awful.

Narrator mispronounced so many words!

The story was pretty good. The narrator ruined it. It was so distracting to hear her repeatedly mispronounce words. She continually put a hard G at the end of every ING word. She could not pronounce ambulance correctly-several times. She could not pronounce the word kills and many others. Why would you let someone that ignorant narrate your book?

Wow! Loved this book!

Great book from a new writer,m. A truly compelling story, that supplied twists and unforeseenturns galore. An excellent read that was so hard to put down! Sequel please!?

Amazing!!

One of the best books I have ever listened to. I almost didn’t purchase this book due to the lack of reviews. So glad I did!!! This is my first review I have made for the hundreds of books I have purchased. I hope this turns into a series!!

I enjoyed it!

I enjoyed listening to this book and thought it was well written, as well as narrated. It held my attention and I found the story interesting and suspenseful. I listen to a lot of thrillers/mysteries, and have listened to books from seasoned thriller writers that weren't as good. Looking forward to more from this author!
Audible addict,
Santa Fe, NM

Solid Story

Worth the read. Nice twist. Kept the mystery intact. Love that the characters had African decent. We don't see this enough in the genre.

Engaging story

I saw a review saying that it was poorly narrated which is a real problem for me so I listened to a sample and didn't hear what was being referred to. After finishing the book I have to say this is a fresh narration, well done, and very engaging. The story was fun in that sort of murder mystery way and I highly recommend this book.

decent

The overall story was pretty good, but the author gives away a major clue in the form of a partial physical description early on in the book that completely negates all the twists and turns they try to use to entertain you. I am by no means good at solving crimes or with putting pieces together in this way, but I still knew exactly who it was by the halfway mark. Also, the narrators voices were a bit annoying and took me a while to get used to her pronunciation of the word "ambulance" with the emphasis on the "Ance" part at the end. It was a decent story and good listening for my commute to and from work, but I won't be listening to this again in the future.