The Collective: A Novel

by Alison Gaylin

Overview

"Chilling...this terrific novel is...propelled by an iron-tight plot that becomes increasingly tense." —New York Times Book Review

"It’s a nerve-shredding, emotionally harrowing ride. Don’t miss it.” —Megan Abbott, New York Times bestselling author

The USA Today bestselling and Edgar Award–winning author of Never Look Back and If I Die Tonight asks how far a grieving mother will go to right a tragic wrong in this propulsive novel of psychological suspense.

Camille Gardener is a grieving—and angry—mother who, five years after her daughter’s death, is still obsessed with the privileged young man she believes to be responsible.

When her rash actions draw the attention of a secret group of women—the collective— Camille is drawn into a dark web where these mothers share their wildly different stories of loss as well as their desire for justice in a world where privilege denies accountability. Fueled by mutual rage, the collective members devise and act out retribution fantasies via precise, anonymous, highly coordinated revenge killings.

As Camille struggles to comprehend whether this is a role-playing exercise or terrifying reality, she must decide if these women are truly avenging angels or monsters. Becoming more deeply enmeshed in the group, Camille learns truths about the collective—and about herself—that she may not be able to survive

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063090415
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	11/02/2021
Edition description:	Large Print
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	1,101,433
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Alison Gaylin is the USA Today and international bestselling author of thirteen books, including the stand-alones The Collective and If I Die Tonight (winner of the Edgar Award) and the Brenna Spector series: And She Was (winner of the Shamus Award), Into the Dark, and Stay With Me. Nominated for the Edgar four times, she has also been a finalist for numerous awards, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Strand Book Award and the ITW Thriller, Macavity and Anthony Awards. She lives with her husband in Woodstock, New York.

Editorial Reviews

"Brutal, raw, and beautifully wrought THE COLLECTIVE is psychological suspense of the first order. A mother’s grief ignites into rage, leading her down a dark, twisting, dangerous road to a certain brand of justice. Alison Gaylin doesn’t pull a single punch in this layered, engrossing, and nerve shattering thriller where wrong is right and revenge is a dish served white hot.

Lisa Unger

Alison Gaylin’s The Collective is an astonishing feat. In the tradition of Ira Levin’s unforgettable social thrillers (Rosemary’s Baby, Stepford Wives), it’s a nerve-shredding, emotionally harrowing ride that also speaks volumes about our current moment, the dangers of our digital world, the potency of female rage. Don’t miss it.”  

Megan Abbott

Alison Gaylin’s The Collective is your next addiction: A diabolically clever thriller filled with spine-tingling twists, it’s also a psychologically rich exploration of vengeance and justice. I can’t stop thinking about this book.” 

Alafair Burke

Nothing is as it seems in Gaylin’s addictive, shape-shifting thriller... a twisty-turny plot that will sizzle your summer.” 

People (Included in “The Best New Books”)

Aflame with tension, this intricate, powerful thriller rips a tunnel into a past as deep and dark as the midnight sky.

A. J. Finn

Nothing is as it seems in Gaylin’s addictive, shape-shifting thriller... a twisty-turny plot that will sizzle your summer.” 

null People (Included in “The Best New Books”)

08/30/2021

Camille Gardener, the grief-stricken narrator of this gripping psychological thriller from Edgar winner Gaylin (If I Die Tonight), knows who raped her only child, Emily, at a Brayburn College frat party in upstate New York and left her to die in the woods one winter night. Five years after Emily’s accused killer, Harris Blanchard, was acquitted at trial, Camille attends a ceremony at Manhattan’s Brayburn Club, where Blanchard’s receiving a humanitarian award. Enraged that Blanchard will never suffer any consequences for his crime, Camille barely notices the two women observing her, until one passes her a card with one word on it: Niobe. When Camille seeks out Niobe (also known as the Collective), she enters the darkest corners of the internet, where mothers intent on punishing their children’s killers share their rage. At first, Camille eagerly participates in the real-world activities, like buying a hunting knife, assigned to her by the Collective, anxious to do unto killers as they had done to their victims. The tension rises when Camille puts her own life in peril by breaking one of the Collective’s rules. A breathtaking twist will catch readers by surprise. This tale of justice without mercy is a page-turner. Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider Literary. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

Gaylin, using a skillful balance of tension and intimacy, pulls us in to consider the implications of using vengeance and vigilantism in seeking justice and to find solace for overwhelming grief.” 

Chronogram Magazine

Dark and daring, The Collective by Alison Gaylin is a revenge thriller with an unexpected twist.

Popsugar

"The Collective is quite possibly Alison Gaylin’s best book yet—and that’s saying a lot. The grieving-moms-as-avengers premise is entirely gripping in and of itself, but it’s the underlying emotion and subsequent action that makes reading it an all-consuming, immersive experience. Like anything worthy of thoughtful consideration and debate, this book may make you deeply uncomfortable at times but will ultimately win you over with its bold, beating heart."

CriminalElement.com

"This electrifying thriller dares us to walk a thin line between justice and bloodlust."

People

"Gaylin’s prose, so achingly pure yet electric in its gathering rage, pulls readers so far into the abyss… Even after reading its shattering conclusion, you might be drawn back to the beginning of this blistering novel in search of every last breadcrumb Gaylin has dropped.”

|Los Angeles Times

"It's gripping, suspenseful, and dark. This is one you want to read first."

Harlan Coben (on The TODAY Show)

Gaylin imbues The Collective with solid suspense that grows from myriad twists, each of which is a surprise. [It] careens to a perfectly noir—and totally believable—finale, showcasing Gaylin’s storytelling skills.

South Florida Sun Sentinel

Fans of dark psychological suspense will be unable to put this one down.

Booklist

Fans of dark psychological suspense will be unable to put this one down.

Booklist

"Gaylin’s prose, so achingly pure yet electric in its gathering rage, pulls readers so far into the abyss… Even after reading its shattering conclusion, you might be drawn back to the beginning of this blistering novel in search of every last breadcrumb Gaylin has dropped.”

Los Angeles Times

"It's gripping, suspenseful, and dark. This is one you want to read first."

Harlan Coben (on the Today Show)

Alison Gaylin's The Collective feels like the book of the moment, the year. Clever, compassionate and all too believable, it's a stunning achievement by one of my favorite writers

Laura Lippman

"The Collective is a propulsive, emotional conspiracy thriller powered by the all-consuming fire of maternal rage. Without pretty moralizing, Gaylin shows both the destruction and visceral satisfaction that come with revenge. I am a peaceful person, but also a mother, and I read the whole book with a killer's heart.”

Steph Cha

Alison Gaylin’s 11th novel perceptively examines family dynamics, the domino effects of violence and our personal stories — real or invented — that help us maneuver through life. The strong tension that launches Never Look Back only intensifies with each surprising twist… Never Look Back is another superior outing from Gaylin.” 

Associated Press

Alison Gaylin's The Collective is a dark and sinister ride that goes straight to the heart of revenge. Not just what it means, but what it costs. This is a highly entertaining, and terrifying, read."

Peter Swanson

Nothing is as it seems in Gaylin’s addictive, shape-shifting thriller... a twisty-turny plot that will sizzle your summer.”  %COMM_CONTRIB%People (Included in “The Best New Books”)

12/01/2020

Blaming her daughter's death five years previously on a privileged young man who went unpunished, Camille Gardner joins a secret group of women anguished over the unavenged deaths of loved ones. But are their carefully plotted revenge killings role playing or soon-to-be icy reality? From USA TODAY best-selling and Edgar Award-winning Gaylin; with a 100,000-copy paperback and 30,000-copy hardcover first printing.

Library Journal

2021-08-18
Bereaved mothers seek solace in vigilantism.

Five years ago, Matt and Camille Gardener’s 15-year-old daughter, Emily, attended a frat party at nearby Brayburn College in upstate New York. There, 17-year-old Harris Blanchard plied Emily with booze, led her into the woods, raped her, and left her to fend for herself in the bitter January cold. Emily was suffering from exposure by the time she was found, and she died three days later. Harris’ trial ended in acquittal, and Matt and Camille split. Matt made a fresh start in Colorado, but Camille still lives in the home she once shared with her family, mired in anger and grief. After Camille causes a scene at an awards banquet honoring Harris, who is now a Brayburn senior, she receives an invitation to join a Facebook group for mothers “robbed of their children by the actions of others.” Her interactions there trigger another invitation—this one to a secret, anonymous dark web collective comprising mourning mothers with no desire to move on. Initially, Camille assumes the forum is just a safe space to express violent revenge fantasies, and she even posts one of her own. Then she gets a private message from the site’s administrator: “Did you mean it?” Escalating stakes and a tight, twisty plot fuel this timely domestic thriller, which unfolds through a visceral first-person-present narration. Camille’s pain and fury are so palpable they’re contagious, and while the too-neat and somewhat rushed conclusion undermines the story’s impact, Gaylin delivers a thought-provoking page-turner that grips and gratifies.

An all-too-plausible tale of Highsmith-ian vengeance.

Kirkus Reviews