I am a huge fan of Alison Gaylin's books (also written under A.L. Gaylin), The Collective being the fourth of her standalone thrillers which I've read. And in all honesty, if I wasn't already a fan, there would be no way on this earth that I would be able to resist the pull of this book! That striking red cover with the silhouettes, that utterly intriguing tagline on the US version (it's 'no killer goes unpunished' if you haven't already seen it) and that 'grab you by the throat' blurb. Getting hold of a copy of this book became a priority!

Camille Gardener is a woman consumed by grief following the death of her 15-year-old daughter, Emily, five years earlier. She blames high achieving college student Harris Blanchard for Emily's death but Harris is the college's golden boy and has never been held to account. When Camille is approached by a stranger and given information about a Facebook group called Niobe for grieving mothers, she signs up. But the group is different to others she's joined in the past. Their anger matches her own, the women openly discuss the most horrific deaths they can imagine for those they feel are responsible for their child's death. But Niobe is only the start. Before long Camille is introduced to the Collective and things start to spiral out of control. Camille has been accepted into the Collective, but there's a good chance she won't make it out alive...

The Collective is so GOOD! Gaylin has once again produced an absolute page turner of a novel which I found near impossible to put down. Camille is a fascinating character and I watched, open mouthed, as she dug herself deeper and deeper into what felt like an inescapable hole. My heart was in my mouth and I was on the edge of my seat wondering how far things were going to go for the character. The more I read, the more I liked her. The more I read, the more I needed to know about the Collective. Gaylin has written such a brilliantly addictive thriller and I flew through the pages, desperate to find out where the author was going to take this misguided, grief-stricken woman. And oh my gosh, what a perfect ending.

The book is set around the Hudson Valley and I really enjoyed Gaylin's vivid descriptions of the area. The setting felt like a complete contrast to the dark events unfolding before me on the page. Proof that terrible things can happen to nice, normal people. And terrible is a pretty massive understatement when it comes to some of the grisly ways the members of the group fantasise about killing off those responsible for their children's deaths. Oh my goodness, you wouldn't want to cross any of those moms!

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. The Collective is an utterly captivating, highly addictive read which hooked me in from the opening pages and didn't let go until the shocking end. Such a thrilling plot, skilfully executed, featuring terrific characters and jaw-dropping twists. The Collective demonstrates how raw, how powerful, how completely destructive one woman's grief can be when fed. It's certainly a dark read but I thoroughly enjoyed the ride! Full of suspense, secrets and overflowing with revenge. Gaylin has done it again and I remain a huge fan. Highly recommended.

This review will be published on damppebbles.com on 11th August 2022.

Heartbroken Camille wants the man who killed her daughter to pay. Her life has gone downhill since her daughter's death, and she feels revenge is the only thing left. When Camille stumbles upon a group of mothers who have lost their children, she sees hope for the first time in 5 years. But Camille could not comprehend how connected, how far this group is willing to go...

An absolute gripper of a book! I was hooked the whole way through, desperate to find out what happened next. This is so unlike anything I've read before and it was absolutely brilliant!

I’ve not read any of this authors books before, but it looks like I’ve really been missing out!
This one in particular caught my attention, due to the extremely hard hitting premise.
A mother, seeking revenge for the death of her child. This immediately hits you in the feels and you can’t help but think…. “What would I do? How would I cope?”
Think of how dark you could get and then go that bit further, that’s this book!

Really enjoyed the writing style, the pace of it was good and the plot itself was fantastic.

All in all a 5 star read!

Thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for my arc.