What do you think?
Rate this book
Decoded
Shay Cooper was good at her job. As an FBI agent she broke criminals—until they broke her.
Recovery seems unlikely until her mentor proposes she return to work at the training academy near her hometown of Chicago. Life in the slow lane definitely appeals, but her contentment lasts only until she meets the academy’s biggest Agent Kate Harris.
Kate Harris has made her mistakes and carries her own secrets. Her former partner—a brilliant profiler and author of true crime blockbusters—has disappeared. She’s determined to find him, orders for more training be damned. The horror she uncovers collides with Shay’s own nightmarish past. The only thing they agree on is that they can’t trust anyone, not even each other.
Sara Marx, author of the breakout hit Before I Died , returns with an unforgettable thriller teeming with the risks of passion and love.
Recovery seems unlikely until her mentor proposes she return to work at the training academy near her hometown of Chicago. Life in the slow lane definitely appeals, but her contentment lasts only until she meets the academy’s biggest Agent Kate Harris.
Kate Harris has made her mistakes and carries her own secrets. Her former partner—a brilliant profiler and author of true crime blockbusters—has disappeared. She’s determined to find him, orders for more training be damned. The horror she uncovers collides with Shay’s own nightmarish past. The only thing they agree on is that they can’t trust anyone, not even each other.
Sara Marx, author of the breakout hit Before I Died , returns with an unforgettable thriller teeming with the risks of passion and love.
272 pages, Paperback
First published November 14, 2011
1 person is currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Sara Marx
9 books11 followersSara Marx begged for her start in radio, lying about her age and qualifications, and ended up on air that night. She has since appeared in TV commercials and infomercials and radio voice over work. Her radio career spanned 15 years. She can be seen guest-hosting on the Home Shopping Network and has been featured with her children on The Travel Channel enjoying Central Florida Attractions. Actively involved in an LGBT film group, she also supports The Humane Society and Children's and Human Rights. Sara spends her downtime at the beach where she writes and attempts (and mostly fails) dangerous surfing maneuvers.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 4, 2017
Thrilled! a real page turner,an awesome plotline including a believable romantic love story..mystery,angst,murder,thriller and some very good storytelling..recommend
May 8, 2016
3 1/2 Stars. Not one of the better mysteries I've read lately, but a decent thriller to keep the pages turning. Two damaged agents have to learn to rely on each other, to catch a serial killer, before he catches them.
Both characters are OK, but you feel more for Shay as you are in her head-space the most. As for Kate shes mostly a mystery. As a reader you find out about her as Shay does. The romance was decent. It was very slow moving which made sense considering how distrustful both agents were of each other. I was a bit disappointed in the mystery, while it keeps you guessing with twists and turns, there wasn't much in the way of clues for the reader to figure out on their own. And it did get a bit convoluted towards the end, everything is kind of dumped on the reader. But overall, it was pretty exciting and made for a decent thriller.
Both characters are OK, but you feel more for Shay as you are in her head-space the most. As for Kate shes mostly a mystery. As a reader you find out about her as Shay does. The romance was decent. It was very slow moving which made sense considering how distrustful both agents were of each other. I was a bit disappointed in the mystery, while it keeps you guessing with twists and turns, there wasn't much in the way of clues for the reader to figure out on their own. And it did get a bit convoluted towards the end, everything is kind of dumped on the reader. But overall, it was pretty exciting and made for a decent thriller.
August 6, 2014
This book sits in a genre I truly love. My favorite books are the Rainey Bell thrillers, and this one almost makes it there.
Almost, because while Decoded has the same premise (sick psychopath and broken FBI agent who finds the strength and love to overcome the challenges), it falls a bit short for me.
In this case, we have two FBI agents who both have a very troubled past who are forced to work together but absolutely hate eachother. The first half of the book is spent on that and it's hard to see how they will ever get along.
But then a clue comes along in a longstanding case of missing persons, and then everything spirals out of control, with both women at the centre of it.
And that's when the story kind of falls apart.
The thing I had a problem with was that the utter distrust and paranoia changed into trust and love almost overnight. I suppose that can happen when the clues point to something that puts both of them in danger and the best course of action is to set the grudges aside, but it felt a bit too sudden for me.
Then the story develops into a tangled web of relations between victims, unsubs and the two leads. Again, maybe it's just me, but I kind of got lost. Maybe I'll have to re-read the second half again.
Also, the story fell victim to an overused cliché: The villain deems it necessary to explain everything to the victim while he knows they are coming for him as he speaks. Really, he has it all planned out, all he has to do is move on, but no, he needs to tell everything. No biggie, it's used all the time, I'm used to it. Heck, it even happened in Rainey Nights, and I love that book to pieces.
All in all, it's a good book, the first half is great, the second a bit less.
Almost, because while Decoded has the same premise (sick psychopath and broken FBI agent who finds the strength and love to overcome the challenges), it falls a bit short for me.
In this case, we have two FBI agents who both have a very troubled past who are forced to work together but absolutely hate eachother. The first half of the book is spent on that and it's hard to see how they will ever get along.
But then a clue comes along in a longstanding case of missing persons, and then everything spirals out of control, with both women at the centre of it.
And that's when the story kind of falls apart.
The thing I had a problem with was that the utter distrust and paranoia changed into trust and love almost overnight. I suppose that can happen when the clues point to something that puts both of them in danger and the best course of action is to set the grudges aside, but it felt a bit too sudden for me.
Then the story develops into a tangled web of relations between victims, unsubs and the two leads. Again, maybe it's just me, but I kind of got lost. Maybe I'll have to re-read the second half again.
Also, the story fell victim to an overused cliché: The villain deems it necessary to explain everything to the victim while he knows they are coming for him as he speaks. Really, he has it all planned out, all he has to do is move on, but no, he needs to tell everything. No biggie, it's used all the time, I'm used to it. Heck, it even happened in Rainey Nights, and I love that book to pieces.
All in all, it's a good book, the first half is great, the second a bit less.
August 22, 2017
This book is the second I've read by Sara Marx and it is a doozy. It's a thriller and a romance that I couldn't put down. In fact, it's 2:28 am when I'm writing this review. I complained there was instalove in the other book but that's not the case here. The romance develops slowly and it seems much more believable. Add in the twists (I never saw coming) and you've got one hell of a story.
December 6, 2011
Loved it, great suspense, kept me alert and wanting more. Loved it.
August 25, 2024
Shay and Kate are FBI agents who meet when Shay is persuaded to return to investigative work instead of training new agents. The women don’t get along too well when they’re paired together. Kate is used to being a loner and doesn’t want a partner. They both have their own past traumas to deal with.
There are what feels like millions of characters in this mystery thriller novel, from agents to criminals to family members. Some characters are introduced as benign characters, but turn out to be not so benign after all, and vice versa. There is a large death toll. Pretty soon, we no longer know who is trustworthy and who isn’t. I got confused several times and had to reread previous chapters to see what I’d missed. By the end of the book, the clues came together, mostly as the characters piece them together, and the tale becomes a taut race against time. Even though I lost the thread a few times, I enjoyed the two agents putting things together, including their own lives.
There are what feels like millions of characters in this mystery thriller novel, from agents to criminals to family members. Some characters are introduced as benign characters, but turn out to be not so benign after all, and vice versa. There is a large death toll. Pretty soon, we no longer know who is trustworthy and who isn’t. I got confused several times and had to reread previous chapters to see what I’d missed. By the end of the book, the clues came together, mostly as the characters piece them together, and the tale becomes a taut race against time. Even though I lost the thread a few times, I enjoyed the two agents putting things together, including their own lives.
January 2, 2012
Let’s be honest I read quite a few books; not as many as some, but enough. It’s easier than watching TV in German. That and I enjoy reading. That being said, it’s pretty rare when I (a) laugh out loud while reading a book (b) can hear the characters in my head as they speak and (c) finish reading a story and the first words out of my mouth are “Wow that was a really good book, a really good book”
Decoded hit all three with flying colors and to top it off the only time I was able to figure out what might happen next was when the author wanted me to know what was going to happen. I’m not sure that the book description does this story justice. I personally picked it up because I had read “Before I Died” and liked that one enough to want to read this one. So let me give you a couple of hints. This is definitely more of a Mystery/Thriller/Intrigue book than a Romance, although there is just enough romance to give the characters a different dimension without going overboard.
Shay Cooper and Kate Harris are FBI agents thrown together because Kate Harris appears to be in a downward spiral since her FBI partner Williams disappeared. Shay is assigned to her in a last ditch effort to save Kate’s career and hopefully to get Shay back into the game. The story revolves around Shay and Kate’s off the books investigation into William’s disappearance and his possible connection to a serial killer.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Intrigue and Mysteries. It was an excellent read!
Decoded hit all three with flying colors and to top it off the only time I was able to figure out what might happen next was when the author wanted me to know what was going to happen. I’m not sure that the book description does this story justice. I personally picked it up because I had read “Before I Died” and liked that one enough to want to read this one. So let me give you a couple of hints. This is definitely more of a Mystery/Thriller/Intrigue book than a Romance, although there is just enough romance to give the characters a different dimension without going overboard.
Shay Cooper and Kate Harris are FBI agents thrown together because Kate Harris appears to be in a downward spiral since her FBI partner Williams disappeared. Shay is assigned to her in a last ditch effort to save Kate’s career and hopefully to get Shay back into the game. The story revolves around Shay and Kate’s off the books investigation into William’s disappearance and his possible connection to a serial killer.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Intrigue and Mysteries. It was an excellent read!
May 7, 2013
A complicated murder mystery / police procedural. More twists and surprises than your typical Gerri Hill mystery. There's a lot of angst as the lead characters (both FBI agents) both carry incredible loads of baggage from their pasts. The author very successfully weaved the personal conflicts (arising out of the 2 ladies' pasts, personality clashes and misunderstandings) with the tense and thrilling hunt for the serial killer. The author continually surprises you with new twists after you think you've figured out who the bad guy really is. The sex does not disappoint either.
April 9, 2014
By no means a great book here, and only a passable plot--but this did seem slightly noir (which was nice) and gets an extra star for an attempt at decent procedural story.
December 27, 2015
ok, it wasn't that bad after all. It picked up in the second half and ended up being an enjoyable read. Read if you enjoy twists and turns.
November 2, 2017
Suspense, thriller and romance. I jumped a number of pages I guess because the dialogue bored me but the suspense and thrilled were good. Romance not so much it felt more like Kate conditioned herself to fall for her Knight(Shay) rather than through the the force of nature
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews