The third novel in the gripping supernatural thriller series from international bestselling author Jodi Taylor, perfect for fans of Sarah Painter, Genevieve Cogman and Ben Aaronovitch.
'I don't know who I am. I don't know what I am.'
The identity of Elizabeth Cage has always been a mystery. Even she doesn't know who she is.
But someone has suspicions. Someone has played the long game. Someone is about to find out.
Jodi Taylor is the internationally bestselling author of the Chronicles of St Mary's series, the story of a bunch of disaster prone individuals who investigate major historical events in contemporary time. Do NOT call it time travel! She is also the author of the Time Police series - a St Mary's spinoff and gateway into the world of an all-powerful, international organisation who are NOTHING like St Mary's. Except, when they are.
Alongside these, Jodi is known for her gripping supernatural thrillers featuring Elizabeth Cage together with the enchanting Frogmorton Farm series - a fairy story for adults.
Born in Bristol and now living in Gloucester (facts both cities vigorously deny), she spent many years with her head somewhere else, much to the dismay of family, teachers and employers, before finally deciding to put all that daydreaming to good use and write a novel. Over twenty books later, she still has no idea what she wants to do when she grows up.
I really wish Jodi Taylor had been around when George Lucas was not planning the Star Wars prequels because she could give a Master Class on continuity of story, story arc, and delivering earth shattering surprises. It’s not often I am taken aback with an original plot twist. Last time was finding out that Scabbers was really Peter Pettigrew. Long Shadows has one too.
Well, I don’t know what to say. Jodi Taylor’s books are so hard to review as the issue of spoilers is huge especially with this one. Once again there is the give and take banter of Michael Jones and Elizabeth, secrets unfold and I can’t say any more.
This is NOT a stand alone book. The other two Elizabeth Cage are pretty mandatory in the lead up.
I also recommend not reading lengthy reviews in case they are undisclosed spoilers as this book is best read going in blind.
Well now! This was rather surprising. I mean, we did get a few hints and the OP moments from the previous books almost spell it out... but not quite. However, the big reveal...
I can't say ANYTHING.
The calm housewife that always seems to get in over her head, seeing auras and fixing problems both ghostly or mythological, is a pretty fun UF on the surface. The love interest is pretty wholesome. The Fae side characters are fascinating, as is the long shadow that is cast over the entire series, taunting us with great things.
Of course, that great thing, the sleeper within, is just a *tad* bigger than anything I had previously thought.
Very cool. I like the oddities and the progression, but that end? Truly aggravating. Good grief.
I thought this was *mostly* very good although it got a bit weird towards the end but then so did the second book in the series. I really do love Jones and Cage together. The ending was very abrupt.
This was a most enjoyable book until Elizabeth's mystery was finally cracked wide open and I felt like everything derailed like a train-wreck.
Book before The Awful XMas Dinner from Hell: 4 enjoyable stars Book after: 2 bleak stars
I ... just ... didn't like the whole "vessel for a god" thing. I wanted to sigh, roll my eyes and have a "throw the book across the room" moment. (Which really doesn't work well with an audiobook because my poor, stupid mobile phone isn't to blame.) I huffed and puffed and felt like everything was destroyed - and then it seemed it wasn't. "Because reasons!" Deus ex machina style. *siiiiiigh*
I must say, this book contained what must have been the worst cock blocks ever. I don't know if it was meant to be funny, but it didn't work for me. I just felt sad and then angry with Jones. His character takes a hell of a beating from left to right just for the author's sheer amusement, it seems. I fail to see the point, somehow. It's just frustrating and not my thing.
So... I guess this whole thing will be dragged out for gods know how many books. And while that felt like it could be fun when I was finishing book 2, it doesn't feel as appealing after this book. I will probably return for book 4, but for now... I will leave this series disgruntled and with a lingering dislike of what happened towards the end and hope my feelings will change for the better in the future, because right now I'm just somewhat upset and disappointed. 😒
Is this the end of the Elizabeth Cage series? I hope not. But this one certainly explains a lot. What I liked: the characters; the writing; the author’s fabulous sense of humor. What I didn’t like: the strange leaps in perspective; the nebulous Sorensen; the suddenly resolved ending. Love Jodi Taylor.
It's been a long wait for book 3 of this series and that's a bit of a problem. I really had no idea what was going on for a lot of the story. I eventually figured out what went where and just started to enjoy the ride when it completely went off the rails.
The best thing about this series is it's charming....like James Bond meets Inspector Morse. And honestly that was missing in book 3.
It was entertaining and original but just lacked that something extra that would have made it great.
And for the anime fans, book 3 reminded me a little of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya...I won't say why.
Oh my God, the cliffhanger! It pisses me off, to no end. The whole time, I had the feeling that this book was suffering from the "middle book" syndrome, as it had multiple sub-plots develop, intertwine and resolve, but near the end, around the 80% mark, everything seemed nice and wrapped up, but wait, don't get your hopes up, Taylor shakes everything up and then ends it! She did put a nice little bandaid on it at the end, but still, it hurts that I now have to wait for the next one to resolve all my feelings.
All that said, I loved it. From start to finish, it was a great ride, with lots of dry humor and plenty of excitement. 5 stars!
I'm usually too lazy to write reviews but the ending pissed me off so badly I had to.
Seriously?! Wtf?! First of all, it's confusing because she has the memories, except of what happened on Christmas, but they're fuzzy enough that she just ignores them and acts like everything is fine? That's some next level denial that is seriously unhealthy. And then Jones comes back because his boss orders him to, which also makes no sense, because he would have told his boss what happened and anyone with any common sense would not want to work with that person. Speaking of Jones, f**k that dude for just walking out on Christmas. Cage just learned that basically her whole life was fake and he just abandons her? Cause he's scared? What a d**k. But then when he does come back, for previously mentioned job related reasons, he takes pity on her cause she's lonely enough to want to adopt a ghost child. And just like that, everything is back to normal?! Gtfo. No. I'm done.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
As this story unfolds, book three offered more information about Elizabeth Cage but less humor and whimsy than the first two books. I still enjoyed it, but maybe not quite as much.
"My breath was coming in terrified sobs. I just wanted everything to be over, to be finished. I wanted the peaceful sleep of death without the pain of dying. And then, the thing that lives inside my head opened its eyes, uncurled itself, and spoke in it’s own voice. “No.”"
Is it just me or does Jodi Taylor have such an amazing writing style? I couldn’t help but fall head over heels in love with the characters in this book, and the best part, smartarse snarky banter. BRILLIANT.
This is the third book in the Elizabeth Cage series and we got a lot more insight into exactly who Elizabeth is, something that was lacking in books one and two. Sometimes a series can start to drag a bit after the first couple of books but Jodi shows no signs of this happening in her writing, I was just as excited reading this book as I was when I read the first one.
I won’t give too many spoilers away but the ending gave me more questions than answers about what happens with Elizabeth and her situation.
"Slowly, as inevitably as time itself, she turned to face me. She could see me. Unlike everyone else here, she could see me. The world receded. It was just the two of us. Despite the massive heat coming off the burning stones, I turned cold all over. My blood congealed. My breath caught in my throat. Because I was looking at myself."
Thank you to Headline publishing for the review copy!
First off, DO NOT start the series with this book, it is complicated enough for those of us who have read the preceding books, for a new reader I think it would be almost impossible.
Elizabeth Cage was a very boring, ordinary, housewife, married to the head of security for a local research facility. But she has a secret, she can see people's auras (or colours as she describes it) and that can give her insights into people's emotions and whether they are lying. After her husband's death, Elizabeth is pursued by the sinister head of research, Sorenson.
Elizabeth thinks she has found some form of equilibrium/ mutually assured destruction with Sorenson so she and Michael Jones (a shadowy MI5-type character) take a long-overdue holiday in Scotland. Unfortunately, despite their best plans, Elizabeth's 'gift' leads them into conflict almost immediately.
Someone else has said they couldn't describe the plot because 'spoilers'. Suffice it to say this book contains: a hunky secret agent type with witty repartee, a huge sword, a smelly dog, Christmas, several ghosts, ancient gods, demons, murders, kidnapping, and a date. And of course, long dark shadows.
It was mad, gripping, funny, scary, and sweet all at once. Loved it.
After reading 25 Jodi Taylor books and 26 short stories I'm down to 1 unread book of hers 😭 (until she publishes more). I've spent 6 years trying not to catch up to her but it finally happened
I loved this book, and from very early on I hated the idea that it, inevitably, had to end. Once it ended I decided I didn’t like the way it ended. Later, it all made sense and I think this is the strongest of the three very strong Elizabeth Cage novels.
The main ideas behind all three, but this one in particular, were very heady. Deep philosophical questions abound, questions of memory and identity, right and wrong, good and evil, and doing things for love that at first blush may seem cruel or uncaring.
I love it when such challenging ideas are dressed up so nicely.
I’m also torn: I can’t wait for what I hope is the next one in the Cage series, but that would mean I’d have to wait longer for the next St Mary’s novel, or the newest Time Police story. Frankly, Jodi Taylor has more than earned my trust, and like a very few of my most favorite authors, when I see that she has a new one I get it right away - doesn’t matter what it’s about - knowing that the writing will move me, make me laugh, and make me think, sometimes all in the same sentence.
Damn, this is a brilliantly written series. I seriously can’t wait to find out what happens next! So many questions were answered, but now we don’t know what’s going to happen next….. ARGH! I hope it’s not a long wait!
Zara Ramm is the narrator for the audiobook version of this novel, and as usual, she is brilliant. At first, Ramm’s voice made me miss the characters of the Chronicles of Saint Mary’s badly, and I kept thinking one of them would show up. But then pretty quickly, I got caught up in all the action and suspense, and totally forgot about that lol. But I have to say, using the same narrator for both series is rather confusing, and it may cause more issues with your listeners in the future.
This is the best Elizabeth Cage novel yet, and I hope there are more to come. Elizabeth, Jones, Jerry, and the gang are back for another rollercoaster ride through just about every emotion known to mankind. Elizabeth just wants to live a normal life and finally take things up a notch with Jones but as usual, weird things just keep finding her. It's heart in your mouth, page turning excitement, drama, suspense, romance, and the chemistry between Elizabeth and Jones is absolutely electric. And Nigel the dog is back.
Wow... Just when you think Jodi Taylor couldn't get any better, she knocks it out of the park with the third book in the Elizabeth Cage trilogy. More creepy, spooky things are happening and Elizabeth is in the middle of it all again. There are revelations galore and an emotional rollercoaster to ride until the end (The End?).
Recommended reading if you like creepy, spooky, supernatural stories with characters who feel like real people, but read the series in order or you'll be completely lost!
Just love Jodi Taylor. Every thing she writes is pure magic. Such a diverse range of styles. If you haven’t read her stories then do yourself a favour, pick one and make a start….Recommend
Such a fractured collection of ideas and plots and genres and writing styles shouldn’t make for a good book but I’m intrigued to find out what happens next. In places it’s ramblingly repetitive, dwelling on a series of standalone incidents, but then the latter part of the book picks up threads from earlier instalments and heads off in a completely different direction. It veers from light hearted banter and middle-aged romance to something much darker and morally ambiguous. Cage is still rather frumpy and artificial but the big reveal actually suggests that this might be deliberate. Messy but interesting.
Elizabeth Cage's strange and wonderful story continues. A riveting read this story moves quickly with one surprise after another. Honestly, I didn't know where the threads would lead until I was on top of the answer. Part thriller, part fantasy, 100% exciting. The big surprise was totally unexpected and I was at a loss as to how author Jodi Taylor would resolve it but resolve it she did. I love all of Ms. Taylor's series. This one is very different from her Chronicles of St. Mary's and Time Police series and just as satisfying. Highly recommended.
I always love Jodi's incredible "long game" writing. I would absolutely love to delve inside her brain 😂
This book was brilliant, just as the previous two. There were moments that made me laugh out loud, gasp, cry. The works. The ending was just such a bittersweet heartbreak, BUT it was a promising little hanger on that makes me hope that maybe, maybeee one day we might hear more from Elizabeth Cage.
I've now read all three Elizabeth Cage books, and I might abandon this series. I just don't enjoy it as much as the St. Mary's and Time Police books. I find the protagonist boring and sad. She is only interesting when she is with Jones, and it seems like he could disappear at any moment. So bye, bye Mrs. Cage.
While this isn’t my favorite Jodi Taylor series, I return to it when I’ve finished a reread of the other ones — all on Audible because all of her her series are one of those story + narration = the best experience situations. Also, I’ve got #4 of this series on preorder. So I guess “not my favorite” is purely relative here.
It's not quite 3:00 in the morning. I just finished this book and I'm feeling unsettled and sad. But I loved it and will read the whole series again some day. It's so strange and a bit muddled, but it's exactly as it should be.
Jodi Taylor is a buy on sight author for me. We first met Elizabeth Cage and Michael Jones in White Silence. Elizabeth has a supernatural talent, she sees coloured auras around everyone but herself. It tells her their mood and she can see immediately how they react to things. In the first book Elizabeth was being held at a private clinic by the creepy Dr. Sorensen, She and Jones managed to get out, and then had another supernatural encounter in the second book. At the beginning of this one they are talking a well-earned holiday in Scotland. (separate bedrooms despite the obvious sexual tension) when Elizabeth sees a ghost from the past who is exactly like herself. That starts of a sequence which is Elizabeth's road to self discovery. It's complex and there's a big revelation about who and what Elizabeth is, towards the end which I hope is going to lead to another Cage/Jones book. The relationship between these two is what makes the book zing with snarky banter. Ms Taylor is so very good at quirky character voice.
Re-read via Audible 6/11/2025 Audiobook read by Zara Ramm Elizabeth Cage and Michael Jones are taking a well-earned holiday in Scotland to get away from anything supernatural. Unfortunately, the supernatural seems to come to them. Cage has a ghostly encounter with a burning cottage, and a ghost who looks just like her, and that’s just the start of it. Iblis turns up again, with the powerful yet mysterious Melek, Finally, we get some revelations about who Elizabeth really is, but if I told you, I’d have to shoot you. Let me say that this is well worth reading/lidstening, though you should really start from the beginning of the sequence with White Silence. Once again, Zara Ramm’s narration is impeccable.
Each of the books in this series have opened with the protagonist stating that she doesn't know who or what she is. We all finally discover the answer to those questions and it is bigger than any of us expected. As each new danger & twist presented itself, I found myself getting agitated, not only out of fear for what it meant for the characters but for fear that each twist would mean there would be no more books in this series! Quite a bit more mythology, and theology, in this one, as Elizabeth's past & present threaten to overwhelm her. Lots of action, a bit more self-reflection, and, as always, that lovely snarky repartee. Hopefully, Ms. Taylor will continue this series.