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Sisterhood #11

Collateral Damage

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Through all their adventures, the bond of the Sisterhood has remained steadfast and unshakeable.
But for the first time, the Sisterhood verges on falling apart when the ladies have to choose between two difficult assignments. The first job guarantees a huge paycheck; the second offers a presidential pardon — and a chance to finally emerge from hiding.

For the sake of their union, the gals put aside their differences and focus on a new mission. A mysterious Washington, D.C. political operative needs them to track down a computer hacker who has stolen a highly classified list of fundraisers’ names. With a presidential election looming, the girls soon realize the job is a lot more dangerous than they had anticipated.
Will their client come through with his promise? And can the ladies stop fighting — and stay alive — long enough to see it happen?

249 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

1056 people are currently reading
6633 people want to read

About the author

Fern Michaels

424 books6,512 followers
Fern Michaels isn’t a person. I’m not sure she’s an entity either since an entity is something with separate existence. Fern Michaels® is what I DO. Me, Mary Ruth Kuczkir. Growing up in Hastings, Pennsylvania, I was called Ruth. I became Mary when I entered the business world where first names were the order of the day. To this day, family and friends call me Dink, a name my father gave me when I was born because according to him I was ‘a dinky little thing’ weighing in at four and a half pounds. However, I answer to Fern since people are more comfortable with a name they can pronounce.

As they say, the past is prologue. I grew up, got a job, got married, had five kids. When my youngest went off to Kindergarten, my husband told me to get off my ass and get a job. Those were his exact words. I didn’t know how to do anything except be a wife and mother. I was also a voracious reader having cut my teeth on The Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Cherry Ames and the like. The library was a magical place for me. It still is to this day. Rather than face the outside world with no skills, I decided to write a book. For some reason that didn’t intimidate me. As my husband said at the time, stupid is as stupid does. Guess what, I don’t have that husband any more. Guess what else! I wrote 99 books, most of them New York Times Best Sellers.

Moving right along here . . . Several years ago I left Ballantine Books, parted company with my agent, sold my house in New Jersey that I had lived in all my married life and in 1993 moved to South Carolina. I figured if I was going to go through trauma let it be all at one time. It was a breeze. The kids were all on their own at that point. The dump was a 300 year old plantation house that is listed in the National Registry that I remodeled. Today it is beyond belief as are the gardens and the equally old Angel Oaks that drip Spanish moss. Unfortunately, I could not get my ghost to relocate. This ghost has been documented by previous owners. Mary Margaret as we call her, is “a friendly”. She is also mischievous. It took me two weeks to figure out that she didn’t like my coffee cups. They would slide off the table or counter or else they’d break in the dishwasher. I bought red checkered ones. All are intact as of this writing. She moves pillows from one room to the other and she stops all the clocks in the house at 9:10 in the a.m. at least once a week. When the Azaleas are in bloom, and only then, I find blooms on my night stand. I have this glorious front porch and during the warm months I see my swing moving early in the morning when the air is still and again late in the day. She doesn’t spook the dogs. I always know when she’s around because the five of them line up and look like they’re at a tennis match. As of this writing we’re co-habiting nicely.

Most writers love what they do and I’m no exception. I love it when I get a germ of an idea and get it down on paper. I love breathing life into my characters. I love writing about women who persevere and prevail because that’s what I had to do to get to this point in time. It’s another way of saying it doesn’t matter where you’ve been, what matters is where you’re going and how you get there. The day I finally prevailed was the day I was inducted into the New Jersey Literary Hall of Fame. For me it was an awesome day and there are no words to describe it.
I’ve been telling stories and scribbling for 37 years. I hope I can continue for another 37 years. It wasn’t easy during some of those years. As I said, I had to persevere. My old Polish grandmother said something to me when I was little that I never forgot. She said when God is good to you, you have to give back. For a while I didn’t know how to do that. When I finally figured it out I set up The Fern Michaels® Foundation.

READ FERN MICHAELS' FULL BIOGRAPHY HERE: http://www.fernmichaels.com/biography/

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5 stars
3,234 (53%)
4 stars
1,779 (29%)
3 stars
854 (14%)
2 stars
157 (2%)
1 star
42 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 189 reviews
Profile Image for Carol Gil.
884 reviews3 followers
August 20, 2023
Great read

It is great to re-read the series. It is not a disappointment and I love the characters and the story even more. They all stick together and really help each other out when they need it. As the way this book ended you really could see that. Can't wait to read what is next for these ladies!
Profile Image for Kathy Davie.
4,876 reviews738 followers
October 31, 2011
Eleventh in the Sisterhood series; fourth in the Rules of the Game series. The story is, as usual, set in Washington D.C. and is another outside job contracted with the vigilantes.

The Story
The girls are getting bored. Again. Then Charles pops up with a "dicey" job. Seems both the Republicans and Democrats lost their donor lists with all their identities. The Republicans are promising a presidential pardon to the ladies but without guarantees.

The ladies just ain't that stupid and they decide to gather as much intel on their cloaked contractors before they actually do anything. In the meantime, Elias Cummings, the FBI Director, is setting up a new task force. One headed up by Erin Powell, a former best friend of both Barbara Rutledge and Nikki's with Bert Navarro on board as well.

Nothing feels right to any of them but the ladies go ahead and poke and prod their way through getting reactions. Erin certainly helps by insisting that her team members pick up Judge Easter, Ted Robinson, Maggie Spritzer, Jack Emery, and Harry Wong for starters. Even though her agents are issued strict orders to do it by the book, not all of them seem to have gotten that message and it whittles down task force members bit by bit. Physical force. Reminders of upcoming retirement. Bad publicity. Bert is suspected of being the mole. And each one of them hires Lizzie Fox as their lawyer. Further intel warns the ladies and their new back up plans consist of lots of kidnappings.

The Characters
Pretty much everyone from the last book including Justice Pearl Barnes. A new character was introduced: Chuck Dalton is a CIA operative and I suspect he's being set up as Alexis' love interest. We also learn of a horrible event in Lizzie's past while Annie finally gets her one-on-one with her own ghostly daughter.

Ah, jeez, Michaels provides more of Paula Woodley's past history with her abusive husband...it's disgusting to hear what she's doing to him but then she relates a little "memory" to him of whether he remembers the time he held her hands to the stove top, or when he held her feet to the fire, or… Makes me want to stop by and help Paula with some more torture.

My Take
For all that the ladies pride themselves on how smart they are and how they don't need the men at all, they sure do rely on the men a lot to get their asses out of trouble. And they are constantly mouthing off to everyone they meet. What is with that!!!??? Jack, Harry, and Bert kidnap two highly, highly-powered men and don't leave their disguises on? One couple "helped" by the vigilantes has to be "moved" because of the bragging.

An FBI agent is kidnapped out of her life and given another; admittedly, she wasn't being very happy with her life, but still. Sloppy, ladies. I sure would like to understand how this agent simply disappearing is enough to make her look like the mole. Unless they intend for Nellie's dinner with Elias to do the trick. Lazy. Sloppy. Lizzie's mouthing off to two of her friends and "converting" Ted Robinson. Yuh, uh-huh…

Sure hope space travel becomes viable soon 'cause that's all that's gonna be left as a refuge for these idjits.

The Cover
The cover is in shades of pink looking out from a mountaintop at a series of mountains in the near distance. A close-up of fence posts is in the forefront. The title is oh-so-true and most of the Collateral Damage wouldn't have been necessary if the sisters were as smart as they keep assuring themselves. In my view, methinks they doth protest too much. Street translation: dumb bunch of women.
1,921 reviews5 followers
July 10, 2021
Collateral Damage

Another great book in this series of the sisterhood and the good deeds they do to help the community they are working in at that time. This is my review and review and mine alone. Norma Gorrill
Profile Image for Beth Peninger.
1,883 reviews2 followers
November 11, 2024
The Sisterhood has a chance to emerge from exile when the promise of a presidential pardon is mentioned in exchange for exposing a hacker who has gained access to the lists of big-name, big-money donors for both political parties. But threatening this opportunity at freedom is Special Agent Erin Powell and the FBI special task force she has been charged with heading up to find the Sisterhood and bring them in. Erin has a history with Myra and Nikki. Still, she chooses to put her career above her relationships and goes after the Sisters with everything she's got, despite the pushback she's getting from some jealous men on the task force and her number two, Bert Navarro, working with her yet also against her as he's a male member of the Sisterhood. The Sisters head back to D.C., determined to earn the pardon and stay out of the grasp of Special Agent Erin Powell and her task force. Who will win this game of "cat and mouse?"

After book 10, I was sure this title would be my last in this series. But then, this title surprised me by reading more like the first couple of titles—forgoing the pairing of members of the Sisterhood with various outsiders, which has gotten pretty annoying. Having the FBI task force hot on their tales made for an interesting dynamic, as the Sisterhood had several people interested in keeping them from being successful in their mission. This story was good enough that I decided to continue with the series, at least as far as book 12.
Profile Image for Pam.
4,625 reviews67 followers
February 1, 2025
The Sisterhood has a chance for a Presidential pardon if they can complete another mission. Some unknown benefactor has hired them to find the hacker who stole the list of fundraiser names from both the Republican and Democrat parties before the information gets out. Presidential candidate Martine Connor seems to be running ahead; but it is still a guess who will win the election. Meantime, they need to figure out what is going on. Now the FBI has set a special task force to find the Sisters. Erin Powell is running the task force with Bert as her second in command; but Erin sends him to Chicago to get him out of the way so she can try to get to the Woodleys to see if Mr. Woodley can tell them who attacked him and put him in a wheelchair to be tended to by his wife. He can only communicate by blinking but his wife threatens him not to give any indication he can communicate. She had been abused for so long that she hates him; but his punishment was to be cared for by her. Will Erin make a dent in trying to catch the vigilantes?
860 reviews6 followers
July 18, 2020
Its always a guess when I pick up a Fern Michaels book. I either love it or hate. Some authors I love every single book they write. Others, no way will I even pick another one up, the dislike is that bad. With Fern Michaels, it is never the same. Swings to one extreme or the other. This one, huge thumbs down. Oh my gosh. Apparently, this is one of a long running series which I have (thankfully)not come across before. Ugh. I had a difficult time trying to figure out the basic blot. And all the cutesy phrases when a dialog was needed....just awful. picture this. Four men in a car i the middle of a kidnap of high ranking government officials...one of the men suggest they have a singalong. REALLY. I almost lost it right there, but it was so close to the end of the book I decided to power through it. Ugh ugh ugh. It will be a very long time before I pick up another Fern MIchaels. I usually donate my used books to Goodwill. Not this one. Straight to the trash.
Profile Image for Linda.
184 reviews
November 25, 2018
I didn't really enjoy this book so much, the reason being I found the women and the men to some point, unnecessarily cruel and vindictive.
I the previous books I could wholeheartedly appreciate the need for vengeance for the wrongs that were done to the ladies involved, but this time all that I could see that had been really done wrong was a plot to capture them, they are fugitives, rightly or wrongly, they have broke the law.
It made the book a little uncomfortable to read, are they going to make people disappear for any slight wrong doing.
I'm going to wait before I move onto the next one, perhaps reading the first 11 straight after each other was a mistake and once I go back I will love them just as much as the beginning.
One other little gripe is the "spirit daughters" again a little over the top and unbelievable (and I do believe in the spirit world).
Profile Image for Suzanne.
1,802 reviews
November 22, 2020
Review: In this Sisterhood story, an FBI agent that knew some of the sisterhood founders in the past is given the task of tracking them down. Her job won't be easy, as the vigilantes have SO many friends in both high and low places. Meanwhile, the Sisterhood is offered a job to find the hacker who somehow stole lists of political donors - from both parties. Somehow the release of these lists would be catastrophic, and the ladies are offered a highly desirable presidential pardon if they succeed.

Once again, I somehow fell into a political story when I'm just so discouraged about politics....sigh. I keep thinking "they think this is a mess? They should see 2020!" But fiction is certainly nicer than reality - things get wrapped up and we know what really happens. AND we can throw the book across the room when it bugs us. I need a real life equivalent for that :)
Profile Image for Irene.
835 reviews
July 27, 2023
One way to get the girls attention is saying "Presidential Pardon"
However the case they were asked to look into seemed a bit fishy. The ladies wanted it all in writing with the presidential seal.
As they were going about their mission, somethings didn't click. They quickly put the pieces of the puzzle together and turned the table on the people who asked for their help.
It was a little quicker than the last few missions. Seemed to flow nicely. Like how Fern puts some romance into it. Kathryn she is one of my favorites. Nice to see that she let her past be that, her past. She is able to move on with Bert. Go Kathryn!!
Did they get their pardon? Who asked for their assistance this time? Oh child....you need to read this. These ladies have every trick up their sleeve for when they get put into a sticky situation.
Profile Image for Lisa.
399 reviews7 followers
June 27, 2024
The Sisterhood gets a call to Washington DC to help find a hacker who got the names and addresses of donors of the DNC. In reality, it was a ruse to get the Sisterhood back in town. The ladies assumed it was a scheme. However, they did find out that the Republican president, soon up for re-election was trying to falsely accuse the democratic candidate of something she didn’t do. The Sisterhood had a fundraiser in her honor for her campaign. They were able to find out who the person at the White House was who started the smear campaign. Anne bought the Post. She swung positive press about the democrats and the fundraiser in the paper. It is presumed that the democrats won the election thanks to the Sisterhood aka vigilantes.
Profile Image for Patricia M Lewis.
260 reviews1 follower
December 7, 2021
Great!!

I know I keep repeating myself that this series is so very good. 😊 Maybe it's not for everyone but I love it. The characters and scenes are so competently described that you feel you're there watching the action yourself! I haven't read the books in order but that hasn't been an issue. Only on one occasion did I feel like a previous book would have helped me with what had occurred. However it did not interfere with the story in the particular book. These are all stand-alone stories with characters carried forth and new ones joining in. I can't wait to start another one!
16 reviews
February 7, 2024
Not sure if I ever read any of Fern's books but as I was looking through new books to read I ran across this series. So i gave it a shot & started reading. I am this far already & just cant hardly put the books down. Sometimes when there is a serious that is this many books I take a break then go back. Not this one!! Sometimes I read for hours at a time & continue until I'm done.
I love the sisters friendships but i'm not so sure about their isolation from others. I like how they stick together & help others.
Profile Image for Janet Graham.
2,506 reviews11 followers
August 30, 2024
Standing Too Close Is Dangerous
This is the eleventh book in a series centering around a group of women who have been let down by the justice system. These women, and some friends, have become vigilantes pursuing their own brand of justice, Because each book builds on the last, the reader will enjoy it more by reading the series in sequence. There have been no cliffhangers, each book is a complete story. This is a clean story with minimal foul language, minimal violence, and no bedroom scenes. I have been reading the entire series and am, not yet tired of it.
877 reviews25 followers
August 14, 2021
Damage??

What a wonderful book! I tried reading without stopping but unfortunately I went to sleep, dropped my phone and slept like a log. I was only a few pages to the end but I was so calm that I wasn’t able to finish until this morning!! I don’t remember reading a book quite like this one before! It made my heart stop a couple of times and it made me both laugh and cry!! These women are ALL WONDER WOMEN!!!
Profile Image for Mary.
641 reviews5 followers
April 2, 2024
I very much liked this installment of this series. I was a bit annoyed by the celebrations of the sisterhood, claiming that their accomplishments are accomplished entirely by women. The only reason that they have ever had any success at all is that Charles was MI6. and since the first book, they have absorbed the talents of several other men. They lack of appreciation of Charles in particular has always rubbed me wrong. However, this is a good story.
16 reviews
August 28, 2020
It keeps getting better!

I just absolutely love the sister hood series, these ladies make me cry and laugh out loud, I can’t get enough of them. This is my 12th book, I really try to read slowly so that I can enjoy them longer. These girls are like family and I feel like I am part of the their world.
468 reviews4 followers
January 20, 2025
Great exciting read

This has been so far one of the best series that I have read. I have laughed, cried, cheered and had to read on because I didn’t know what would happen next. A good sign that this is a great book/series is that I have lost sleep because I couldn’t put it down. Thank you for writing these books.
76 reviews
June 21, 2017
This is the first book by fern Michaels I've read. Totally out order in the series but it was a good read. Do not have a good sense of who the individuals are in the vigilantes but it will likely get better as I read more books of the series.
Profile Image for JANE WILLIS.
4 reviews
June 27, 2017
The sisters were brilliant

The little troop keeps growing and the deeds are getting more dangerous! If you haven't started this series, I strongly suggest you read them in order. I somehow managed to get out of order and now am backtracking.
Enjoy the ride!
Profile Image for Judith Doyel.
134 reviews
November 19, 2018
Twisty with lots of turns and snags

A quick read. It was fun all the way around. The numbers of people involved with the vigilantes is ever expanding, and the missions continue to be fun. Can’t wait to see what is next and what other men get in on the act!
Profile Image for Melissa.
65 reviews
June 12, 2019
I enjoyed this book. I like Fern Michaels books a lot. the only negative thing I can say is I didn't like the language (swearing and taking God's name in vein). I can do without that in a book. Other than that I enjoyed the book a lot.
431 reviews
February 28, 2020
My first book in this series, and I'm not sure I'll read/listen to another. I listened to the audio version which killed some travel time, but I thought most of these people were unnecessarily mean and cruel. The author didn't give me anyone to cheer for - just so so.
15 reviews
August 11, 2020
Love the entire series

On number 12, each one is different and unique in its self. The main characters are constant but even they change occasionally. I am really enjoying this series as they are engaging and easy to read.
134 reviews
August 30, 2021
The sisterhood have done it again!

A nefarious group have attempted to outwit the vigilantes and the boys. Charles does some of his snooping with the aid of his cohorts and the girls once again triumph.
291 reviews1 follower
June 9, 2022
Loved it!!

Better watch what you promise!!The chief of staff and a huge fundraiser found out the hard way and were left dangling over quicksand. Has Alexis found her man?? Only time will tell!!
2 reviews
October 1, 2022
interested and injouables

Have been enjoying reading the sisterhood books.
Entertaining and it keeps you interested to the last page then you want to read another book to see what their next mission will be. I have read and read again same book

97 reviews1 follower
November 27, 2022
Love the vigilantes.

The super women that make things right and bring vigilante justice with a little help from the men this time around. How they go about it is always fun to read.
44 reviews
August 14, 2023
The Feds mess up again due to how smart the Sisterhood is!

Loved everything, did see alot of what would happen ahead of time. I love when I am surprised. If you love good plot with many interesting turns, you will really enjoy this book.
Profile Image for Rebekah Carulli Hanson.
980 reviews1 follower
November 3, 2024
Awesome!

It’s like a modern day version of Charlie’s Angels! These books are hilarious and heartwarming. When I pick up a new book it’s like sitting down and visiting with family. You will not be disappointed in any of the books in this series. Keep rocking Fern!
Profile Image for Nikki.
1,565 reviews
March 9, 2018
There is something about this series that just draws me in. I enjoyed this one a bit more than several of the later ones. Their plan this time wasn't as graphic as usual.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 189 reviews

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