Far From Hope

Mary Cage FBI Suspense Thriller

by Taylor Stark

After 48 hours, the chances of finding a missing person diminish drastically, and FBI Agent Mary Cage and her task force race to find victims that others can’t—before they’re lost forever.

When a young adult woman vanishes from her birthday party, FBI Agent Mary Cage and her task force must decipher the startling links between victims and rescue them before it's too late.

FAR FROM HOPE (A Mary Cage FBI Suspense Thriller—Book 2) is the second novel in a new series by mystery and suspense author Taylor Stark. The series begins with FAR FROM HERE (Book #1).

An intense and gripping thriller featuring a complex and tormented female protagonist, the Mary Cage series provides a riveting mystery packed with suspense, surprise twists, and an exhilarating pace that will have you turning pages late into the night. Fans of Karin Slaughter, Lisa Regan, and Robert Dugoni are sure to fall in love.

Future books in the series are also available!

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Suspense

164 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 24, 2024

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another one of those books that follows the same formula. Someone is murdered or kidnapped, the police start searching for a suspect, numerous more people are kidnapped or murdered, they figure out a common link between them and a common suspect, there is a chase when questioning a suspect making him seem guilty, the main detective has a gut feeling which is later confirmed by an alibi, another good suspect comes up that doesn't have an alibi so everyone is convinced they are guilty but the main detective isn't so sure and keeps investigating and she comes across a new clue which leads to the actual suspect, she pursues them alone and is lead in to the ultimate showdown where she comes out on top and rescues the final victim.

Almost all of Taylor Stark's books follow the same formula and some other authors too. However, they are still pretty easy to get along with if the story-line makes up for the lack of originality. This book more than makes up for it as the story-line within it is interesting. The killer in this story leaves charm bracelets and the investigation into what each charm on each bracelet means adds an interesting twist in the story. Plus the mystery as to why he targets the women he targets leaves you wondering and trying to guess for yourself his motives.

Like a lot of books like this and as I have said many times in my reviews, this book has the vibe of a lifetime movie. It's something you can kick back and relax and read on a Sunday afternoon and although the book isn't really memorable after you have finished it, it still leaves you gripped while reading.

I usually give these books a fair and even 3 stars, however this one and the last one in the Mary Cage series I have given 4 stars as the story-line was interesting and is what kept me gripped.

Would recommend to anyone that likes to relax to a lifetime movie, except obviously it is in book form

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[Liza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Something that confused me: In ch 9, Mary has a phone chat with her father (okay, they hadn't talked for a year) about her missing brother... includes him telling her not to blame herself. The conversation is good natured, mostly about her current case. In ch 39, he comes to see her and she is /steeling herself for the confrontation that had been years in the making./

The interactions don't match.

[Debra · Rating 2 out of 5]

An overly dramatic writing style that would be better suited for a harlequin romance than a suspense thriller. I was annoyed by the author’s over use of descriptive similes and repeated phrases. Additionally, there were several instances where characters names were mixed up including one name that appeared but no such character was ever in the book. If you are a serious reader of thrillers then I don’t recommend reading this one.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this series. The stories are good, and the characters are real and consistent. Plenty of action/suspense and not a lot of gore. I think the author tends to be too wordy, for lack of a better term. She will write a paragraph where a sentence would do, but that's just an opinion. Overall, good book and I have already started #3 in the series.

[Michelle Makepeace · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a frustrating read, mostly because the kindle version was so poorly edited. For me, it distracted me quite substantially. The story itself was OK, but the rate from which we went from 'no real clue who the suspect is' to 'it's this person and we've caught him' was exceptionally quick. I don't feel the desire to read the rest of the series based on this book.

[Dawn Mccordic · Rating 2 out of 5]

SLOW —I need 5 stars for finishing it!

Way too wordy and feels like the author wrote it with a thesaurus open. Also unrealistic police/FBI procedures. I felt like the author wrote until they met the number of needed pages.

[Cathy Field · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review of Far From Hope

Too much philosophy and hyperbole that took up space on the page. The hyperbole became tiring to read in every scene. The plot was good and there were plenty of twists and turns that kept me reading.

[Garrett Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A super story with anger and heart and well told.

Matt Cage and her partner have their hands full trying to catch the killer before he kills again. The carbon but at hard cost for Mary.

[Linda Hattlestad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Over the top

Way too descriptive of everything. Found myself skipping over so many pages trying to find the root of the story. Found the heroine characterized as a self indulgent expert in all phases of investigative work to the point of boredom. Do not recommend this book.

[Dot Hochstrasser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly excellent read

Excellent read especially if you enjoy thriller/mystery books. I would highly recommend this book. Was a fast paced read keeping you guessing the whole way thru.

[Jacques Obringer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Carbon copies

You read one book from this author’s series and the next one is no more than a carbon copy, so predictable in the various stages. Except for the solution, like pull out of a magic hat: .. and here is the culprit.

[GTO Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not great

The story had potential. There were too many words describing things that had no relevance, in my opinion. Mary seemed too self righteous and self absorbed. I need to like the hero/heroine of a plot. I didn’t care for Mary.

[Laurie S Kelly]

Didn't anyone proofread this?

I read the prologue and gave up. The prose was like that of a C average high school sophomore, full of grammatical errors and awkward analogies. Good thing I didn't pay $ for this book!

[Cynthia A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Determination

Mary Cage was no ordinary FBI agent. She had a way to look at a crime scene and see pieces of a puzzle others didn’t see. The author built the characters to work as a team. Mary , Jake, and Sam will solve many cases.

[L Balderrama · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fractured reading

So many typos, poor word choices and grammatical errors made reading this book a torture of obstacles. So many distractions from the story.

[Josephine Pizzimenti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous read

Enjoyable story of tenacity and knowing the mindset of evil all to help catch the crazed kidnappers and murderers in their midst.

[Maryam J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too graphic

Characters are well described and interesting. Most of the places are so well described, you can picture them. Great suspense.

[Linda Look · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary and her partner try to find missing women before they are killed. The clues are few and as the bodies pile up, hopes are dim. Fast moving, strong characters. I rate this a 5.0.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Am I the only person wondering why single women would be going to a fertility clinic?

[Kathleen E Cook · Rating 1 out of 5]

A lot of wasted filler and repetitive comments.