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Morgan Stark #1

by Rylie Dark

TOO LATE is the debut novel in a new series by #1 bestselling and critically acclaimed mystery and suspense author Rylie Dark.

Morgan Stark is a renowned surgeon, acclaimed by his colleagues for his brilliance as a diagnostician. But when his close friend and protégé resident is murdered, Morgan feels compelled to help the FBI decipher the trail of medical clues and bring the killer to justice.

FBI Special Agent Danielle Hernandez, 28, a rising star in the BAU, equally esteemed by her colleagues for her brilliance and determination, is not used to turning to a doctor for help in solving crimes. This unlikely partnership, though, may just surprise them both.

Yet as brilliant as this team is, they are up against a diabolical mastermind who will stop at nothing to outwit them.

And going too deep into his mind may just undo them both.

A cat-and-mouse thriller with harrowing twists and turns and filled with heart-pounding suspense, the MORGAN STARK mystery series offers a fresh twist on the genre as it introduces two brilliant protagonists who will make you fall in love and keep you turning pages late into the night.

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Audiobook, Fiction, Crime, Suspense, Mystery Thriller

234 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2022

About the author

Rylie Dark is author of the SADIE PRICE FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising six books (and counting); of the CARLY SEE FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising six books (and counting); of the MIA NORTH FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising six books (and counting); of the MORGAN STARK FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising five books (and counting); of the HAILEY ROCK FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising five books (and counting),of the TARA STRONG MYSTERY series, comprising five books (and counting); and of the ALEX QUINN SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising five books (and counting).

Rylie loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.ryliedark.com to receive free ebooks, hear the latest news, and stay in touch.

BOOKS BY RYLIE DARK

ALEX QUINN SUSPENSE THRILLER

FIRST, MURDER (Book #1)

SECOND, DEATH (Book #2)

THIRD, ENVY (Book #3)

FOURTH, LUST (Book #4)

FIFTH, WRATH (Book #5)

HAILEY ROCK FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

BEHIND YOU (Book #1)

BESIDE YOU (Book #2)

AFTER YOU (Book #3)

WATCHING YOU (Book #4)

JUDGING YOU (Book #5)

TARA STRONG MYSTERY

GIRL WITHOUT A CHANCE (Book #1)

GIRL WITHOUT A HOME (Book #2)

GIRL WITHOUT A TRACE (Book #3)

GIRL WITHOUT A NAME (Book #4)

GIRL WITHOUT A PRAYER (Book #5)

SADIE PRICE FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

ONLY MURDER (Book #1)

ONLY RAGE (Book #2)

ONLY HIS (Book #3)

ONLY ONCE (Book #4)

ONLY SPITE (Book #5)

ONLY MADNESS (Book #6)

MIA NORTH FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

SEE HER RUN (Book #1)

SEE HER HIDE (Book #2)

SEE HER SCREAM (Book #3)

SEE HER VANISH (Book #4)

SEE HER GONE (Book #5)

SEE HER DEAD (Book #6)

CARLY SEE FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

NO WAY OUT (Book #1)

NO WAY BACK (Book #2)

NO WAY HOME (Book #3)

NO WAY LEFT (Book #4)

NO WAY UP (Book #5)

NO WAY TO DIE (Book #6)

MORGAN STARK FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

TOO LATE (Book #1)

TOO CLOSE (Book #2)

TOO FAR GONE (Book #3)

TOO LOST (Book #4)

TOO BROKEN (Book #5)

Reviews

[Heather Adores Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐
Genre ~ police procedural
Series ~ Morgan Stark FBI #1
Setting ~ Washington DC
Publication date ~ July 1, 2022
Page Count ~ 162 (p+ 31 chapters)
Audio length ~ 5 hours 10 minutes
Narrator ~ Sarah Kempton
POV ~ dual 3rd
Featuring ~ murder

Morgan is a surgeon helping the FBI when someone is murdered at the hospital.

Does the FBI really request civilians assistance on cases? Especially murders? Doesn't seem plausible to me. I will say it was clever of Morgan to figure out how the murderer was getting his victims though.

Overall, fine. It's fast paced, has short chapters and there's enough action that kept me listening and interested, but ultimately I wasn't blown away. I don't see myself continuing on with the series.

Narration notes:
She sounded alright, but why on earth do we have a British narrator for American characters?

*Thanks to Hoopla bonus borrow so I didn't have to use a credit*

BTW - the GR blurb used to be incorrect, which is why you might see some reviews talking about it. I’ve updated the blurb to match Amazon.

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[Christopher Geraghty · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a great book. Be advised, though, that the synopsis provided on Goodreads is wrong. Morgan Stark is a male, not a female. He is a diagnostician like the TV doctor House, not a forensic psychiatrist. He does not work in a hospital for the criminally insane nor does one of his patients escape. He does help the FBI capture a serial killer, and based on how much I enjoyed reading this book, I will read the other four books in the series.

[Debbie DiFiore · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn't believable and Stark was just too much

I just had a really hard time with this book. First off, the FBI asking him to consult on a case was just too outrageous for me. Yes I know the book is fiction but it didn't make a bit of sense. Then he's a consultant and ignores every boundary she told him to respect. He's tackling guys, calling them liars, and generally behaving like an idiot and she keeps him on. Then he's going into computers after his ex wife told him not to, and giving information about patients to the FBI. He was too much. I just didn't like him and that ruined the book for me. I have the other books though so I will have to read the next one to see if it gets better. Its not the writing really just unbelievable premise. And as I said the hero was just not for me. Personal opinion only. It ruined the book for me unfortunately.

[The Phoenix · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Doctor's power of observation helps the FBI catch a murderer. Pretty ok story.

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

31st on Kindle

[Antigone Walsh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dumb

A doctor joins an FBI agent to capture a serial killer targeting medical personnel.

The pairing is ridiculous. Morgan is about as brilliant as a dull bulb. The agent is not much better. Plot is dumb. Morgan, while acting as a consultant for the feds, improperly and illegally accesses information which means it will be useless in court. Just too dumb to be believed and too dopey to be enjoyed.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was such a pleasant surprise. I love a good fbi mystery/thriller. This one checked nearly all the boxes. I will definitely be adding the other books in this series to my TBR.

[Bob Levine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first free Kindle book I've read that wasn't formulaic and had a good ending. I wouldn't mind it being turned into a movie of the week.

[Patti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, so my rating should be 3-1/2. I love thrillers and add in medicine and I am in. This is the first book I have read by this author and I will likely try another, I like the storyline and the characters and it held my interest. However, there are a few things that bugged me. I did not count them but the author uses “snorts” as a reaction in the book too many times. Also the way Dr. Morgan talks about Lexa you would think that there was a more personal relationship but there was not. Dr. Morgan’s sister Fiona is teased in the book as something has happened to her but we never find out exactly what. It is suggested in the book that Lexa reminds Dr. Morgan of Fiona but that feels a bit creepy. Would an FBI agent really ask a busy doctor to help with finding a suspect? Would that agent let him continue to potentially harm the investigation even though she has given him so many warnings? Having worked for a health care system, I am pretty sure that the digging into patient records would have been caught a lot sooner and the doctor would be dismissed. So, after all is said, I still liked the book for its suspense and connection to medicine.

[Elissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Truly terrible. The writing is juvenile and the story is boring.

[Alice Boulton · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book deserves minus stars it is truly terrible but it did do a good job of sending me to sleep. Unsure how I finished it.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read and good plot. I’m amazed how a doctor is better at finding a murderer than an fbi agent? And then he literally finds the murder and saves a life only to loose his doctor license? Kinda disappointing

[Pary Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very easy and quick read. Story moved along a a foot clip and kept me interested, but the writing was pretty cheesy and a bit cliche. Didn’t buy into the concept of the doctor being asked to be so involved with the FBI and that is pretty fundamental to the story.

Not going to keep reading this series I don’t think.

[A. gale · Rating 3 out of 5]

criminal minds and greys anatomy in one

[Janet Stolp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, but the write-up is wrong - Morgan is a male....🙃

[Jacinta · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 - quick, creepy and a little silly. As if a doctor is asked to join the FBI and he suddenly knows everything and thinks of all of these great ideas no one in the FBI thought of…
WEIRD.

[Skylar Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

actually really enjoyed this one. although reading about lab technicians getting murdered while working in the lab was a bit unsettling lmaooo

[girgix · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF

[B · Rating 1 out of 5]

Book Review: “What Did I Just Read?”
★☆☆☆☆

If you’ve ever wondered what it would look like if House M.D., a mid-tier procedural, and a government PSA on ignoring FBI protocol had a chaotic literary baby, look no further. This book is an absolute train wreck—and not even an entertaining one.

Let’s start with the utterly bizarre choice that Dr. House (yes, essentially that House, with all the antisocial quirks and zero emotional growth) drives… a Nissan Altima. I’m sorry—what? This is a man supposedly brilliant, idiosyncratic, and absurdly arrogant, and you expect me to believe he voluntarily drives the vehicular equivalent of a lukewarm bowl of oatmeal?

Then there’s the FBI, which, in this narrative, could not find its own badge if it were duct-taped to their foreheads. Fake blood is used as bait for victims—and not one trained federal agent raises the possibility that it might also mean fake injuries? Have they never watched CSI, let alone passed Quantico?

The phrase “courage of convictions” is used so often, I began to suspect it was some kind of subliminal programming. After the fifth time, I started muttering it in my sleep. After the tenth, I wanted to gouge it out of the page with a letter opener.

But what truly sinks this already rickety ship is the complete and repeated disregard for FBI protocols. Every. Single. Interview. involves some breach of professional conduct. And for reasons never fully explained (or even vaguely justified), the FBI allows the main character—not a trained agent, by the way—to sit in on interrogations, confront suspects, and generally cause chaos like he’s auditioning for a reality show called Rogue Psychologists of Quantico.

And let’s not forget the pivotal moment which I suppose was meant to be touching: the main character showing up at his mentor’s house unannounced. Because nothing says “healthy professional boundary” like surprise-visiting your trauma-linked former attending physician.

In short: this book wants to be clever, edgy, and emotionally deep. It ends up being implausible, repetitive, and frankly kind of insulting to anyone who’s ever worked in law enforcement or driven a car with actual character. Hard pass.

[Aimee Neild · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book! The amount of twists and turns! Definitely recommend. I could have read it in 1 if I had time!

[Rebecca McMullan · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Couldn't get into it. Pure silliness the FBI trying to get that doctor to work with them

[Spring · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the narrator for the audio book distracts from the story. She's telling an American story in an American town with American characters, but uses British pronunciations (i.e. med-cine vs medicine) or mispronunciations (i.e. cartioid artery instead of carotid artery), which make it very difficult to suspend disbelief.

[Joe Holley · Rating 1 out of 5]

A very simple, formulaic, predictable novel. The writing was rather poor as well.

[Avid · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a riveting book! I couldn't put it down and loved the main characters. The story was great and the continuously twisting plot just added to the suspense of this murder/mystery. Yes, it has the typical female FBI agent and the typical serial murderer but it breaks from the mold after that point which makes it unique. The murderer is not predictable & the FBI agent isn't out to prove to every male how good she is. Instead, there is a solid story and it is great. I highly recommend this book. 👍

📚

[Lisa Eirene · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's bad. The writing is terrible, the plot is dumb, gave up

[chloé g ✺ · Rating 1 out of 5]

what even is this

[Athen Ayres · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story was easy to follow but had clunky writing and an infuriatinly annoying protagonist. Overall it was an okay read and held my attention.

[Gemz Makin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely a page turner. Couldnt put it down!

[Jenni M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not read a thriller before. Really enjoyed it.

[Bette · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good medical mystery. Fast paced. An enjoyable read.