Ellison Cooper Books In Order
Book links take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.Publication Order of Agent Sayer Altair Books
| Caged | (2018) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Buried | (2019) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Cut to the Bone | (2020) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Author Ellison Cooper is a dual Irish and American citizen and was born near Washington D. C., a place she grew up near supreme court justices and senators. She got her PhD in anthropology from UCLA, and has a background in colonialism, archaeology, ancient religion, cultural neuroscience, and human rights.
Ellison spent twelve years working at a career as an academic. She loves history, anthropology, and the way that the human mind works. Her PhD allowed her to combine the study of each thing. She traveled all over the world and was able to live in some places that not many humans know exist. There were some detours along the way for her, like: professional dog walking, law school, and writing video games, among other things.
Cooper has always loved writing and spent some of her free time doing it, but had no goal of seriously doing it, not for a living anyway.
Originally, her goal was to get a professor job at a small liberal arts university, something that she actually did. She was able to get her dream job as a tenure track professor and got to teach dream courses, things like: international conflict resolution, human rights, social justice, and history of globalization (which is a personal favorite of Cooper’s).
Ellison’s short fiction has appeared in many anthologies, like Crime & Mystery and magazines like Daily Science Fiction and Interzone.
Cooper has done fieldwork in places such as: Micronesia, Central America, West Africa, and Western Europe. She spent nine years in Central America, living in a tent in jungles in Belize while looking for lost Maya ruins.
In Washington D. C. she worked investigating murder, and is certified in K9 Search and Rescue Federal Disaster Worker. For a short time, she went to law school at Georgetown University. She lives in the Bay Area with her son and husband.
Ellison Cooper started writing fiction when she was doing research while she was on the island of Yap, Micronesia. It wasn’t until she left her post as Assistant Professor so she could care for her sick son that she was able to finish a novel. It would become “Caged” after quite a few rewrites, her debut novel which was released in the year 2018 by Minotaur Books.
She loved being able to stay home and take care of her son, and he needed full time support. It left her lacking in having mental stimulation and adult conversation, making her feel isolated. All of a sudden, she was taking care of a two year old while they were at medical appointments. All she could talk about was poop and play dates.
Gradually, his health got better and she became able to do what she wanted to. It was at this time that she rediscovered writing. It was something that was totally her own and allowed her to think about things that were totally her own. Cooper could do something in those rare stolen moments when she wasn’t doing anything for her son.
She began writing just for fun, and fill the space in her mind, which is overactive. It was here that she started a crime thriller, and got quite far into it before she found that she had a lot to learn about writing fiction. It is a book that is never going to see the light of day.
Since there was no money or time for her to take any courses on writing, she began writing short stories to work on her writing ability. Then she spent two years writing one to two stories per month and submitted them to different magazines. The rejections were form rejections and nothing more at first. Then, they got more personal and feedback was included from the editors. Then, the stories finally started selling.
She finally sat down to write a novel, and knew right from the start that she wanted it to be a crime thriller. She wanted it to be one that allowed her to think about the things she loves the most. Things like neurobiology, cultural history, and dogs. This is how her novel “Caged” was born.
“Caged” has made many lists for being the best new thriller, or one of the best summer reads. Some of these include: BookBub, NY Post, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Barnes & Noble Reads. The book has been praised by different thriller authors, some of which include: F. Paul Wilson, Lisa Gardner, W. Michael Gear, and Chelsea Cain.
“Caged” is the first novel in the “Agent Sayer Altair” series, which was released in the year 2018. Sayer Altair (a neuroscientist with the FBI) hunts for evil in the deepest parts of the human mind. After her fiance died, she just wants to focus on the minds of serial killers.
That plan is wrecked when the Washington D. C. cops find a brutal murder scene that involves a female that was slowly starved while being kept in a cage. Sayer is called to head up the investigation. The victim is identified as a high profile senator’s daughter. It puts Sayer right into the spotlight.
The pressure from the public mounts, she finds out about another girl that has been taken and is close to dying. Evidence ravels around her, and she races to rescue the second victim. She quickly realizes that the police are hunting down a killer that not only has a dangerous obsession, but is much closer than she thought.
Fans of the novel found this one does a great job of combining psychologically complex and character driven serial killer hunts and elements of a thriller. The book has a breakneck pace and there is a strong female in the lead. The book is compulsively readable and totally original. The book is something you can start and won’t be able to stop until you are done. The book is intricately plotted, smart, fast, and well crafted.
“Buried” is the second novel in the “Agent Sayer Altair” series, which was released in the year 2019. Sayer Altair (who is an FBI neuroscientist) gets called in to investigate a cave in the Virginia mountains that is full of human bones.
Book Series In Order » Authors »
Any issues with the book list you are seeing? Or is there an author or series we don’t have? Let me know!
I loved these books so much! I was so sad to finish them. The last one left on a cliff hanger and I am impatiently waiting for the fourth book. Please let there be one!
I’m with everyone else! Please say there’s a 4th book coming!
This series is the best! I have just gotten back into reading, and this
was certainly a great series to jump into to do just that. Ellison, you left us hanging on your every word…don’t stop now!!
5 stars
Please say there is a book four coming for the Agent Slayer series. 🙂
Hi Ellison,
I really enjoyed reading your 3 books. Do you plan on writing any more?
Thanks,
Richard
To say that this series is “compulsively readable” is an understatement. These 3 books I could hardly put down. There MUST be a 4th book coming and I hope it comes soon. You can’t end a story the way she did in the 3rd book and leave us hanging for long! Immensely enjoyable. Greatly appreciated.