Posted on  20/08/2024 16:04:50

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This short story reminded me of one of my favourite TV series: The Twilight Zone .

It starts of on the same intriguing note and keeps bringing in twists and turns up to the very end, when you get the real finale and you just have to say: Oh, boy! I did NOT see that coming!

There was a mention of grammatical errors on other reviews, but the author must have corrected those in between, because the story I read was clean. No awkward phrasing and no errors and it read like a charm.

The story itself opens with an intriguing mystery as we get to see George, a normal human man, waking up in a strange room with all sorts of tubes connected to his body. With no recollection whatsoever of how he got there, George has to keep clear head and submit to an unknown presence that is compelling him to head out and follow the path.

As he advances on the path, George gets to meet other humans, starting with Victoria, the waitress who served him drinks at the bar he had been crashing the night before. And from here onward, the POV unexpectedly starts to shift from George to Victoria and back again, until we get the story fully from from Victoria's POV in the end. The shift came naturally and was also in theme with the general surprise element the story delivers every few pages. And that's what I loved most about The Collector! It kept me on my toes and kept delivering unexpected twists and turns till the very end.

As it turns out, Victoria and George are not the only ones who woke up that day in the room with the tubes. Other people from all over Earth, as well as children of all ages, found themselves in the same predicament. And they all realise they had been brought there for a purpose. What that purpose is? You're going to have to read this to find out! :D I will only tell you this: it's not going to be something you see coming!

There is no romance here, so don't expect it :D. But we do get emotion and feeling. This is a beautiful story of survival and KUDOS to the author for writing up something that could easily be a hit on The Twilight Zone .
Great imagination that will hook you up and entertain till the very end!
I highly recommend it to all Sci-Fi fans in search of a short and intriguing read!
Happy reading. :)

Check out this novella and more of Stjepan Varesevac Cobets here