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The final book in the collector series left me with mixed feelings. It’s very much a slow burn, and certainly not a stand alone read. You need to have read the previous books to understand the history and motivations of the characters in this book.

There is also a lot of new characters thrown into the mix as well. This book lacks a lot of mystery, and suspense of previous books and it’s a bit jarring that the crime seems to be easily solved.

However, it does succeed in bringing all the characters together from across previous books, and gives closure to the series.

For the most I really enjoyed reading this series with the good out weighing the bad.

Second in the series from this author, this book has a slightly different style and pace. There are links back to the first book The Butterfly garden, however they do not form part of the main storyline. Instead we have a new main character and new serial killer.

The book is written mostly from the point of view of the main character, but we get glimpses into the dynamic of the FBI agents nicknamed the Quantico Three, and also the point of view of the serial killer and what makes him chose his next victim. So far in each book one of the three agents comes to the forefront leading the case.

Each book, focuses on gruesome crimes, the psychological impact, character strength, building of friendships and found family and although this is a new story I still found it interesting to read.

I really wanted to love this book, considering the hype surrounding it. At just over a thousand pages, its probably one of the largest books I’ve read in a while. The story line is the usual hate to love relationship, intertwined with war, politics, religion, sex and espionage. I almost gave up reading at one point as the story feels like it’s going no where, but perseverance yields reward, and things finally progress. The characters are interesting, with reasonable back stories. The word building can get a tad over complex in places. But that could just be me.

Could the book have been shorter? Yes. Are the characters interesting? Yes. Is it worth the hype? Not so much.

Take this one at a steady pace, after all reading is not a race.