The Collector

My rating: * * * * *

Goodreads Description

The Collector by Fiona Cummins is the gripping sequel to Rattle.

Jakey escaped with his life and moved to a new town. His rescue was a miracle but his parents know that the Collector is still out there, watching, waiting…Clara, the girl he left behind, is clinging to the hope that someone will come and save her.

Life has fallen apart for Clara's mother as she starts to lose hope.

The Bone Collector has a new apprentice to take over his family's legacy. But he can't forget the boy who got away and the detective who had destroyed his dreams.

Detective Etta Fitzroy's life collapsed when the Collector escaped. With Clara still missing, and a new wave of uncannily similar murders beginning, will she be able to find him again?

The Collector is back and this time he has nothing to lose . . .

My Review

I've always thought that writing a sequel to a great selling, much loved first novel must be incredibly difficult. The pressure to live up to the expectations of your readers and fans, who are all wanting a cracker of a novel, one that tops the first one, must be a real burden on any author's shoulders. Well, fear not. Fiona Cummins has written a sequel that is every bit as gripping, entertaining and creepy as her first novel. This one is just as good, if not a tiny bit better than Rattle.

This story picks up from where the first one left off, and as such, I do feel that you would be doing yourself a disservice by not reading Rattle first. Although this book could technically be read as a stand alone, I feel that you would be missing out on a whole lot if you weren't familiar with the events that had transpired in the past. Many of the characters are the same, and it's pretty important to the enjoyment of the sequel to know what happened at the end of the first book as things do take off from there.

Just like the first book, this one is very creepy. There were scenes where I had my heart in my throat, where I got chills down my spine, where I wanted to shout out to a certain character and warn them, to "watch out" or to "run faster". The Bone Collector is one creepy dude, and his fascination with people who are in some way deformed is creepy on it's own. Add to that his macabre collection of beetles that he uses to rid human bones of their flesh, and the hook swaying from the attic roof, and you'll be hard pressed to find any reader that isn't disturbed.

One of the things that I really enjoyed about this book was that I was taken back into The Bone Collector's past. I got a glimpse of his family life, at his life as a boy, at his relationship with his parents, and at their relationship with each other. It's always interesting to try and figure out how and why people become the people that they are...the nature versus nurture debate. And so it was great that the author went some way in pulling back the curtain on The Bone Collector's past.

Bookworms, this book is a great sequel. I can almost guarantee you that you'll fly through the pages, that you won't be able to put this one down. Be prepared to lose some sleep, and to ignore your loved ones when you read this one! It's entertainment on steroids.

My Rating: * * * * *

Publication Date: February 2018 (South Africa)

Genre: Crime Thriller

Format: Trade Paperback

Source: Review copy received from the publisher. Many thanks to author, Fiona Cummins and Pan Macmillan SA for my copy. It was my pleasure to read and review this title.