The Emotion Collector: Awakening

by Richard French

In a world where emotions are harvested as hazardous waste, an elite Collector absorbs a child's love—and awakens.Senior Collector Emma Thorne is the state's most precise weapon until a four-year-old's pure love fractures her conditioning. When her collection field fails on an immune stranger, everything she believes crumbles.

Emma discovers the brutal emotions aren't waste—they're living energy linked to planetary health, and the Council's "peace" is killing the world. Her mother is the architect of suppression. Project Terminus will permanently sever human feeling within hours.

For readers who devoured Delirium and The Giver, but crave the hard science and hope of Nexus.

To save humanity, she must sacrifice everything she is to restore the world's heart.

Pre-order your copy now and be one of the first to discover what happens when the weapon learns to love.

396 pages, Paperback

Published November 17, 2025

About the author

Richard French writes at the intersection of technology, transformation, and storytelling. A former executive at Oracle and Nokia, and a serial startup leader, Richard brings decades of leadership experience to his books.

His non-fiction works include Daniel as a Blueprint for Navigating Ethical Dilemmas, The Journaling Mastery Series, and The Journaling Prompts Series. In fiction, his Convergence Series explores quantum physics, high fantasy, and human connection in richly imagined worlds.

Richard lives in the Pacific Northwest, where he writes full time and races GT cars on weekends. He believes in challenging limits—on the track, in business, and on the page.

Reviews

[Sherry Fundin · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Emotional Collector: Awakening by Richard French, we meet Senior Collector Emma Thorne. Emma is the state’s most powerful weapon…until she opens herself up to a four year old’s feelings of love. She has been conditioned to collect feelings, which are considered waste, not to empathize or sympathize. Now she was beginning to question her purpose.

Evan Cross is part of the resistance. These are the kind of characters I find most interesting. They come across as real, fighting against suppression, wearing a white hat. He is immune to the dampening technology. And, of course, anyone that knows me, knows I love a good villain and I was surprised that it was Emma’s mother that surprised me the most.

The state had been updating the dampening technology, increasing the efficiency, causing the planet to die at a faster rate. Emma begins to think that her real purpose was not to destroy the planet, but to save it.

The Emotional Collector made me think of Avatar, how everything was connected. By killing emotions, they were killing the planet.

The state wants to study Emma, and we know what that means…nothing good for her. And…it’s her mother leading the way. She can save the people and the planet, but at what cost to her? Is the Awakening a good thing, or will it doom the planet and everyone on it? Doesn’t really matter because the state had begun Project Terminus and it would permanently cut out human feeling within hours, killing the plane anyway.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from The Emotion Collector, but I loved it. The more characters I met, the more characters there were to love and others to try to understand their motivations. It’s one of those things, just because you can do something, should you?

I love this thought provoking novel. Once I started, I didn’t want to stop. I love novels that surprise me, and I was surprised at the twists and turns that Richard French threw my way.

See more at https://www.fundinmental.com

[Kat M · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was everything that was promised from the cover and description and was glad I was able to read this. It does an amazing job in writing this cyberpunk novel. I was hooked from the first page and was invested in what was happening. Richard French wrote this well and I hope to read more from him.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Maya Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Emotion Collector: Awakening delivers a fresh and gripping twist on dystopian sci-fi. Emma Thorne’s journey from a perfectly conditioned Collector to someone forced to confront real feelings is both tense and surprisingly moving. Her awakening after absorbing a child’s love feels genuine and sets off a chain of revelations that completely reshape the world around her.
The idea that emotions are actually living energy tied to the planet adds a smart, compelling layer, and the conflict with the Council, especially her own mother, raises the stakes in a personal way. The story blends high tension, strong world building, and a thread of hope that keeps it from feeling bleak.
A great pick for readers who like dystopias with heart, science, and a heroine worth rooting for.

[VDKeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Y’all! This is a knockout. In a world where feelings are outlawed, Emma Thorne is the Council’s deadliest weapon—until one stolen tear awakens love, grief, and rage she can’t unfeel. Suddenly, the sterile hum of New Geneva is shattered with raw, electric humanity.

Emma is fierce yet fragile, Evan is the spark that ignites her rebellion, and the Council is chilling in its antiseptic perfection. French’s writing is cinematic—you hear the neural hum, taste molten emotion, and feel every pulse of danger.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — Bold, addictive, and emotionally charged. This isn’t just a dystopian thriller—it’s a sensory experience that makes you grateful for every messy, beautiful feeling.