Review: The Collector (The Bone Collector #2) by Fiona Cummins

Print Length: 432 pages

Publisher: Pinnacle (December 18, 2018)

From Goodreads.com: It was only months ago that Detective Sergeant Etta Fitzroy was held captive by serial killer Brian Howley. Incredibly, she escaped. But so did he. What was found in the macabre museum Howley called home was unnerving enough. For Fitzroy, what the Butcher of Bromley didn’t leave behind chills her to the bone: not a single trace of his most recent abductee. All Fitzroy wants to know now is . . . dead or alive, where is the girl? 

 
Hiding in plain sight with a new name and a new identity, Howley is making plans for an ingenious new start, and he’s daring Fitzroy to come along. Clue by terrifying clue, she’s following in a killer’s footsteps, but even she can’t imagine where they’ll lead. Because Howley’s endgame has a terrifying twist—one that will not only change his fate, but the fate of everyone Fitzroy is risking her life to protect.

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My Rating: 2 stars out of 5

Let me being with the disclaimer that I have NOT read the first book. And honestly, after reading this one, I don't feel like I needed to. There is enough backstory woven in to this one that it was easy to understand what motivated these people. I can even praise the fact that this story moved at a very steady pace. 

However. I just never got into it. 

To begin with the points of view changed in such a way that it was sometimes hard to figure out who you were reading. I found myself having to go back and re-read sections to figure it out. This is a story that has been published before, and to be honest, the original synopsis was better than this one. 

My main problems with this story was not only the implausible story-lines but the seeming lack of real character development, and characters acting well, completely out of character as well. 

Instead of being the main character I expected DS Fitzroy to be, she more or less faded into the background. Then you expect me to believe that someone as cunning as the Collector is going to pick a random TEENAGER to "mold in his image"? Get out of here! There is no way someone like Howely would ever bring another person into his inner circle. I also found it hard to believe that Jakey's parents wouldn't have listened to their son when he told them that Ol' Bloody Bones was back.

Overall this story had the potential to be amazing. Instead it was a seemingly thrown together mishmash of characters and stories that just fell apart. 

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

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                              The Collector is available from Amazon.com