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    Collateral
    Collateral
    Collateral
    Audiobook11 hours

    Collateral

    Written by De'Nesha Diamond

    Narrated by Shari Peele

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Within D.C.’s ruthless halls of power, the conspiracies are killer—and the endgame is anything but fake news . . .

    With her name finally cleared of a murder charge, Abrianna Parker can at last marry her partner, Kadir Kahlifa. But the two have barely shared the news with their team of street rebels and digital revolutionaries when a disturbing disappearance throws everything off course. A reporter is missing, but not just any reporter—Tomi Lehane, whose articles exposed Abrianna’s parents and the shadow group behind the experiments that changed her life.

    Now Abrianna must decide if she will put aside her plans in order to save the woman who nearly cost her everything. With the government one step behind, the mission to rescues Tomi goes off the rails. Another team has been there first, one with more firepower than even the US Government. With more players on the scene and no idea who to trust, Abrianna, Kadir, and the rest of the team are flying blind—and all of their special skills combined might not be enough to protect them from the fallout. With enemies all around and nowhere to turn, the only way out may be to burn it all down.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateNov 24, 2020
    ISBN9781980023050
    Author

    De'Nesha Diamond

    De'nesha Diamond is the author of almost a dozen street lit novels and short stories, including the gritty Desperate Hoodwives tales. This edgy Memphis native aims to deliver hope in tales that walk the fine line between glorifying thug life and telling it like it is. Visit De'nesha online at DeneshaDiamond.com.

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    Reviews for Collateral

    4/5

    10 ratings6 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A review copy of Collateral was kindly provided to me by Atria Books.

      'Each returning soldier is an in-the-flesh memoir of war. Their chapters might vary, but similar imagery fills the pages, and the theme of every book is the same - profound change. The big question became, could I live with that kind of change?'

      Alternating between the past and present, Collateral tells the story of Ashley and a marine named Cole. How they met. How they fell in love. How Ashley was transformed by Cole's deployment and how she struggled to make it through by using pills and alcohol to quiet her constant fears. Collateral was a deeply moving story that tells the tale of the one left behind in time of war, and how life can be when you love a soldier.

      Collateral is a realistic story in every sense because the war depicted within the pages is the exact war we're all living with today. Just as dark, gritty, and emotional as her other works with just enough hint at reality to make you wonder just how fictional it really is. Collateral does showcase the ‘worst-case scenario’ of loving a soldier, but that certainly makes it no less tangible. My heart ached for Ashley, her pain being so evident. I loved the snippets of Cole’s poetry, being able to see his outlook on his life in contrast with Ashley’s. Ellen Hopkins is truly an amazing writer and I'm so thankful for her stories. She uses no different words than any normal person but the way she uses them ends up turning them into something truly profound.

      'Alone in this untamed
      empty place, I free
      a relentless volley
      of words. They
      rage
      against the pages, a torrent
      of what was, what is,
      what yet may come.
      And when at last the spirits
      recede,
      I find echoed
      in their retreat, stories
      I dare not give voice to -
      nightmares set adrift
      in my paper harbor.'
    • 3/5
      It took some time getting used to the verse style of this book and I'm about 90% sure that my ebook version had some major formatting issues ( or else I got less from this than I thought).

      Overall I found the story enjoyable although sometime it did get confusing going back and forth in the verse style. The ending left a lot to be desired though.
    • 2/5
      I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway. I found I did not really enjoy the book even though the story line was ok. I just did not like the jumping back and forth between past and present(my personal preference).
    • 3/5
      Collateral is the first book I've read by Ellen Hopkins and I approached it with hopeful optimism - mostly because I had heard that it was written in free verse style and, after having immersed myself in poetry this year, I thought it would be fun to try something like this.At first the story really worked for me. It was the same story told a hundred times over - girl meets boy, boy is charming/cute/wonderful/strong/respectful/perfect, boy is in the military and is taken away from girl, etc... All of this told through free-verse that was simple and easy to read. The story in its most condensed form. Then things got a little weird for me. You see, the boy in this case is a poet and the love interest takes his poetry to her professor and has her professor read it, and the professor proclaims about the talent of the boy (essentially indicating that he is talented and wasted in the military). All of those things are fine on their own except for one: the complimenting of the poetry. This is where things really started to rub me the wrong way. If you are an author who writes in free-style poetry a story and then, in a round-about way, compliments your own poetry, it just makes me go "ick" a little bit. Because, honestly, the book would have been just fine had Cole not been a poet - sure there would have been tweaks needed here or there, but writing poetry and then writing in another poem how wonderful your previous poem was... yeah, it just didn't work for me.And, sadly, that spoiled the rest of the book. It's funny how little things like that can color the way a reader interacts with a story but, as time has proven in my case, one of my biggest pet peeves is the patting of oneself on the pack through fictional characters.p.s. The rhyming poems really didn't work for me. Please stick to the free-verse, Ms. Hopkins.
    • 5/5
      Wow, this is a gut-wrenching emotional tale of love and passion between a civilian and a soldier. Their relationship survives years of separation and deployments. But will their commitment, love, and determination be enough? Ashley is forced to make a choice to marry the man she loves and live a life full of war and uncertainty or to give herself a chance of a normal life outside of military. But will the soldier who owns her heart make the decision for her?Ashley and Cole are well-developed and likable characters. I shed tears and laughter for both of them throughout this novel and wanted nothing more than for them to finally have their happy ever after. But life (and books) do not always go the way you want them to. The ending was heart breaking, but sadly realistic. Collateral is beautifully written in Hopkins' signature poetic verse style that alternates between present and past. This book flows well and draws you in from the first words. I couldn't put it down. I cannot wait to read more from this author.
    • 5/5
      I loooove this narrator. I've heard her a few times and she is the BOMB. Good read too. Love how it got into the scandals of the government