The Collector – Fiona Cummins

Published by Macmillan, January 2018
Source: provided by the author (thanks Fiona!)
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 …

I loved Fiona Cummins’ first book, Rattle. It was splendidly creepy with a fantastic serial killer, full of twists and turns. Great stuff! The Collector sees a return of the Bone Collector, thwarted by Detective Etta Fitzroy, and now looking for revenge. Except this time he’s got help…

The story picks up not long after the events of Rattle. Jakey has moved to a new town with his family, but is convinced that he sees a familiar shadow. Detective Fitzroy is convinced that Clara is still alive, and there are a number of creepily similar murders happening.

Great characters, gripping plot and just a fantastic story. I rattled through (sorry) The Collector in the course of a day. Definitely a page-turner, one more chapter sort of a book, Fiona Cummins has a knack for ratcheting up the tension a notch further than you think possible, until the breathtaking final third, where she just turns the dial all the way up to eleven.

The Collector is one of the more memorable serial killers I’ve read for quite some time, and it’s fascinating to see part of the story from his point of view – it’s disturbing and twisted, but well thought out – he’s not just killing for the sake of it, he has his own, albeit warped, reasoning for doing what he does.

The other characters are all equally well drawn too, there’s no dead weight here. Everyone is in play for a reason, and they certainly take you on a rollercoaster ride through the book.

Highly recommended, though you definitely need to read Rattle first! You won’t regret it though.

The Collector by Fiona Cummins is published by Macmillan, and is out now. You can find Fiona on twitter @FionaAnnCummins.