The plot follows an English teacher at New York University who becomes entangled in a sexual relationship with a detective investigating a series of gruesome murders in her neighborhood.

She notes two minor details: A spade tattoo on the man's wrist, and the woman's painted fingernails, but most of the scene is obscured in shadow.

The question is: will readers be disturbed--and perhaps repelled by--explicit descriptions of sexual acts, scatological language and gruesome violence?

"[2] Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly was highly critical, describing the novel as one "of breathtaking condescension and snobbism trying to pass itself off as an ironic serial-killer thriller.

"[3] Joy Press of The Baltimore Sun gave a mixed review, noting it as "a stark, stylish, and graphic erotic thriller - quite a departure for Susanna Moore, whose previous books Sleeping Beauties and The Whiteness of Bones, were far more quietly literary affairs set in Hawaii," but ultimately felt that "while beautifully written, [it] relies too heavily on sex for its shock value.

"[4] The New York Times's Michiko Kakutani criticized Moore for "sensationalizing..  with highly graphic descriptions of violence and sex, as if she were trying to translate the work of Joe Eszterhas and Paul Verhoeven to the page," but conceded: "What saves In the Cut from becoming a run-of-the-mill hothouse thriller -- and what ultimately keeps the reader reading -- is Ms. Moore's strong, tactile prose.