"Boredom dulls your ability to do the right things.."
Camille's daughter was murdered five years ago. She cannot "move on", and doesn't want to. She doesn't want to wait for karma. She believes that revenge will provide "closure". She learns that the desire for revenge can create monsters...
and sometimes, "the monster outlives her creators."
( )

3.5 stars. I predicted a few of the twists but not all of them. ( )

A perfect sort of low stakes beach read. You could read this at the beach or half-drunk or sun-dazed and love it. An easy, accessible thriller that doesn't insult the reader. Well written to boot. ( )

4-4.5 stars.

“When you’ve been through fire you can’t feel that burn every day”

Initial thoughts
I can’t imagine the devastation as a mother to lose your child. Especially at the hands of someone else, who has gotten away scot free? Enter The Collective an online dark web “support group” of mothers that share that same turmoil and grief.
Revenge is what each seeks since the justice system has failed them completely. How far would you go for revenge in your child’s honor?

The ending was tragic and not expected but I loved it! ( )

Three and one-half stars

Review of eBook

Camille Gardener lost her fifteen-year-old daughter, Emily, some five years ago after a gone-tragically-wrong fraternity party she’d attended with Harris Blanchard, a college freshman she’d deemed a “nice” boy. But, exonerated in court, he returns to his rich and privileged life, leaving Camille incensed over the lack of justice for her daughter.

When the young man receives a prestigious accolade, Camille creates a scene at the ceremony. Shortly afterward, she finds herself with an invitation to join a group of mothers in similar circumstances . . . they’d lost a child and the legal system failed to hold the responsible person accountable.

As Camille becomes entrenched in this group, known as the Collective, she finds some peace with the knowledge that, finally, there is some justice for a grieving mother.

But who exactly is in charge of the collector? And is their justice truly justice?

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Filled with a group of largely unlikeable characters and a plot that, at times, seems to glorify vigilante justice, the narrative, ultimately, presents a morality that is gray and rather difficult to defend. It’s a story that’s dark and sad, overflowing with grief. Still, readers are likely to find the vehement hatred that follows the grief a bit difficult to accept.

In this often-predictable narrative, the rich and privileged become the “antagonist” group always absolved of all blame and never held accountable for their actions. [This is the failure of the justice system.] And while mothers who have lost a child form a group that no one wants to become a member of, readers may find it difficult to accept so many women bent on dishing out retribution. By naming themselves judge, jury, and executioner, they become no better than the people who stole their children’s lives in the first place.

And while the plot may make for an exciting tale, readers are sure to find they need a strong dose of suspension of disbelief. No one [except Luke, one of the few likable characters in the telling of this tale] comes close to realistic behavior; contrary to the opinion expressed here, the tragedy of losing a child does not turn every mother into a crusading avenger.

Nevertheless, most of the story is intriguing; however, readers may find the rather disappointing denouement a let-down. ( )