Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay is a thriller about the murder of the Pine family. Those murders happen after Danny Pine was (presumably wrongly) convicted of the murder of his girlfriend. The book goes through many point of views but the main POV is Matt Pine. He and his brother Danny are the only survivors. Matt is the only one who can find out why his family was killed. Was it because of the conviction of Danny or because of the controversial documentary on the case?

Every Last Fear has a pretty interesting premise. I was captivated by the plot and its mystery in the first few chapters. I am still interested in what really happened to the Pine Family. However, I decided to DNF this book after over 50% through. My biggest problem with the book was the characters were not developed well enough for me to be interested in them or their lives. Matt and his life were perhaps the most boring. Since he is the surviving and free Pine; he is the main focal point of the book. Yet, I skimmed his chapters. More problematic is his friends of color. They read like tokens and I am not sure they had much purpose in the story. Also, the cops in the story were horrible or overly perfect. I think if Finlay would have focused on fewer POVs and characters, their stories would be more developed and interesting.

Otherwise, I would have enjoyed the book more if it was purely plot driven. But, the character based scenes were too telling and not enough action. I think editing out some scenes and wordiness would have made this a more fast pace and enjoyable read.

Even though, I didn't finish for now; I am given Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay 3 stars out of 5 stars because the premise is original and interesting. Also, I think people who don't need character driven stores might enjoy this more than me.

NYU student Matt Pine’s older brother, Danny, is in jail for the murder of his girlfriend, although his family never gave up on Danny’s innocence. Then his mother, father, sister, and younger brother are found dead while vacationing in Mexico. Why did they choose Mexico and why is the FBI involved in the investigation of their death?

The story is told in shifting timelines and shifting points of view, but never confusing. Although the ending was no real surprise, I found this a fast, engrossing read with good character development.

I’d heard rave reviews about Every Last Fear, so I was looking forward to reading this one, as it’s been a little while since I’ve read a thriller I got super excited about. Every Last Fear starts with Matt finding out that his family died while on a trip to Mexico. This was a trauma added on top of the fact that Matt’s brother Danny is in prison for killing his girlfriend, though Matt’s family always maintained that he was innocent.

The story alternates between POVs as well as past and present. We see Matt’s dad and sister, obsessed with trying to find a way to prove Danny’s innocence, his mom dealing with her ailing father, his family’s upcoming trip to Mexico, and then we have the present day, where Matt is working with authorities to try and figure out what really happened in Mexico. I’m not always a big fan of books with multiple POVs, and while this one worked well, it did take me a few chapters to get into the swing of not just the multiple characters, but also the multiple timelines. In addition to our main characters, there were also several side characters to keep track of.

While I did enjoy the book, it didn’t feel “unputdownable” to me. I felt like something was missing, and I can’t exactly pinpoint what it is. Maybe it was the number of characters, or maybe it was the hype, but I was missing that “spark” that would have made this a 5 star read for me. It felt like there was a lot going on, and took a while for some of the plot points to progress. All of that aside, I did still rate the book 4 stars, so it’s not that I didn’t like it! I think it might just be me – I’ve been feeling like I’m in a thriller slump lately.

If you’re a fan of smartly written, multiple POV thrillers, with a “true crime podcast” feel, this will be a great choice for you.

Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and Alex Finlay for free e-ARC in return of my honest review.

NYU student Matt Pine return from a party and has an FBI agent on his door step. He learns that his whole family is gone. His family was vacationing in Mexico, and local police claims it was an accident. However, FBI does not believe it. The story makes all major newspaper headlines, and it was not the first time Pine family made headlines. There is a documentary about the murder, the older son of Pines was accused of.

The layers of mysteries are slowly unravelled, though present and past, through many narrators the truth comes out. Page turning, heard spinning thriller. I was intrigued by the way Alex Finlay has decided to relay the story.

Is it just me or does it feel like the publishing industry is oversaturated with thrillers / whodunnits that fall flat? I'm struggling to be wowed by new releases. This certainly wpuld appeal to the casual reader, however.

What an amazing thriller! I can only say that everything about how this book is written is amazing, the Povs are just amazing, everything is described in some way that you, as a rader, have to find out what is going on! Matt is the main character and he's the perfect guy to find justice for his family that has been murdered in Mexico, but he has to do so at the risk of being murder as well.
Overall the characters are so good, Sarah the FBI agent is so badass, and Maggie is so smart and brave, I definitely recommend reading this book I if you are looking for a good suspense story.

It is hard for a book to live up to the hype surrounding it, especially so in today's world where the many forms of media make it so the hype can be literally everywhere.

This is a book that absolutely lives up to the hype.

As perfectly described by other authors and publicists:

"One of the most anticipated thrillers of 2021, Every Last Fear is about a family, made infamous by a true crime documentary, found dead. A mourning son risks his life to uncover the truth about their final days. A must-read!"

Finlay has created a gripping psychological thriller that itself employs multiple types of media woven throughout the text. We never see the videos, but they are described so that we feel like we do. The same is true for social media posts, a Netflix documentary, and various websites and internet searches. A poster was even created for the documentary (which does not actually exist outside the world of the book).

This is what I want every book centered around a fictional true crime documentary or podcast to be like (and there are many out there). There was so much suspense, so many shocking moments, and everything was weaved together expertly. The ending completely shocked me, and worked so well. I'm really excited to see what Alex Finlay does next.

This book started out so strong and I was so interested in the mystery, but I found the ending to be a bit of a letdown after such a strong start.

I thought the storytelling was really unique. There were multiple POVs, which could get confusing at times, but reading what happened to the Pine family in the days leading up to their murder kept me guessing. Who was truly to blame? What was the motive?

There were also POVs from the surviving son and the FBI detective assigned to the case as they both worked to piece together what had happened and how it connected to the murder the oldest Pine son had be accused of year ago.

I recommend checking this one out if you are a fan of true crime documentaries or podcasts.

Many thanks to the publisher for an advance copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

If you’re looking for a fast-paced, twist-filled thriller, Every Last Fear is for you!

It follows the Pine family – the parents, Evan and Oliva, and their four kids Danny, Matt, Maggie, and Tommy – who were an average American family until they were thrust the limelight when Danny was convicted of murdering his girlfriend, Charlotte, and when his case became the focus of a Netflix true crime documentary. The book opens with the deaths of Evan, Olivia, Maggie and Tommy while on vacation in Mexico. While at first attributed to a gas leak, it becomes increasingly apparent that their deaths are more suspicious than they seem. Matt, with the help of FBI agent, Sarah Keller, are left to uncover the truth behind their deaths and the truth of what happened on the night Charlotte was murdered.

Every Last Fear is told from multiple points-of-view and alternating time periods, which keeps you on your toes and engaged throughout. I do wish there was a bit more depth to the characters and that the side characters weren’t so stereotypical.

This is a dark and twisty thriller that will you have you biting your nails late at night! This story is told from multiple perspectives and different timelines, and I didn't love it. Those who have been reading my reviews for awhile know that about me, and authors really have to be perfect at executing it for me to be okay with it. Besides that, the red herrings in the book were so entertaining to follow, I felt like an FBI agent trying to piece the puzzle together myself! An enjoyable read, and I will certainly be reading the next book by this author.

This thriller was interesting and had me captivated. I never guessed any of the plot twists and I would get creeped out during parts. It was creepy, thrilling, and everything you'd expect. I found the different POV hard to follow sometimes and couldn't always remember who or when things were happening. This was good but not great

There is so much going on in this book! Every Last Fear is part tragedy, mystery, thriller. This is a fast passed read that will grab you and take you for a ride. A thoroughly enjoyable journey.

**I received an electronic ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

This story is gripping and very true to our current times. A bit of the story centers around the use of social media/computers. I felt bad for Matt, having to deal with so much loss and then going to Mexico to claim his family and being hunted and having his life threatened. There were plenty of twists and turns. It made me sad that some of the chapters were from "before" in the families words and they were already gone.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Minotaur Books for letting me read an eARC of this FANTASTIC thriller through NetGalley!

This book had me on the edge of my seat the entire read! At the end of each chapter I had to keep going to find out what was going to happen next with Matt and his family. I'm normally not one for multiple POV's in a story, but this one flowed so nicely that it didn't even bother me or get confusing. The small details that were dropped over time and the way everything came together was just *chef's kiss*! I highly recommend picking this one up! I can't wait to read more from Alex Finlay!

What a fast ride through this plot-driven thriller with good characters and lots of potential outcomes. The ending was probably a bit predictable though I didn’t see it coming! I was a bit bothered by the stereotyping of several of the characters, especially those encountered in Mexico.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for the ARC to read and review.

EVERY LAST FEAR was a suspenseful read! The first line on the first page alone made me 😮 This thriller kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Although this book had many character and timeline switches between chapters, making reading it a little confusing at times, I kept wanting to know more. There wasn’t a lot of depth to this story but it was an entertaining thriller.

I could not put this down. This is a mystery. There is murder and intrigue. Before that, it was a family drama. Some families seemed cursed. Some are just targeted. Which is this one? As the book opens, an entire family lies dead. A small boy. A teenage girl about ready to head off to college. A mother with regrets and love for her children. A father who has been obsessed. The police in Mexico say it is just a tragic accident. A gas leak. And maybe if it had been another family, that would have been true.

The only thing left of the family are an estranged son in college and an infamous son in jail. Did his crime have anything to do with he death of his family? Or is it a coincidence? Heading back to a small town in Nebraska, one torn apart by a prosecution based on a questionable confession and the Netflix documentary that followed, one son wants to lay his family to rest. And then there is the one FBI agent who just wants to be sure.

There was so much going on in this book that I am not exaggerating when I say that I couldn't put it down. There are the politics of small town and big corruption. There are cartels and crooked businessmen. There are long held grudges and small town secrets. There are family members who never give up looking. In the end, it is just a tragedy of a family, already beaten down, being taken out. You will not leave this one feeling good that the mystery is solved. You will still feel sad for the 6 year old boy dead in a small rented house. For the daughter who wanted her dad at peace and her brother free.

In Alex Finlay debut novel readers are introduced to family that has given everything to prove the innocence of their oldest son:

The Pine family has suffered a great loss of their eldest son to the judicial system, as they all believe that Danny is innocent of the murder he was convicted for. The Pine Family, especially the Dad, Ethan Pine, has dedicated everything to proving that his son is innocent and Maggie Pine, sister, who knows how to use the internet and Social Media to get armchair detectives going. With the airing of a doc-series send the trail back into the public's eye they are sure that they are going to finally get the answers they seek. But the Pine family has more to give and their middle son Matt, the one that wanted nothing more to do with Danny's case, is about to give everything he loves for it and return to a place he never thought he would visit again.

I was really impressed with this book especially since it was was Finlay's debut (at least I think it is a debut as Alex Finlay is a pseudonym). Finlay shows a seasoned ability to weave an intricate story that will have readers on the edge of their seat from the very first pages. This was a great book, with lots of twists and turns throughout as you try to figure out two different crimes, one current and one from the past and whether or not they are linked together. I will say that for all the red herrings thrown in the book that will have you questioning many aspects of the murder and murders, I was able to figure it out quite early what kept me reading was Finlay's ability to tell a story, and of course to make sure I had it right.
I feel like this story is very Now / in this moment, with the use of a Making a Murderer style docu-series that was released in order to highlight the injustices that the Pine Family has faced and even having some of the scenes from within the movie play out in the book. I think that this modern take would really appeal to audiences even though it is something that is becoming used more often in books. However, I feel like Finlay does it in a fresh way by having the docu-series crew in the book as well, wanting to make a followup to their hit show, this changes some of the dynamics. Finlay also shows the power of social media in the book and how it can sway things, for example the FBI being put under more pressure because the President's daughter is #TeamDanny.

I felt like Matt was really well developed as a character and you feel his pain about what his family has gone through, what he is going through and his reluctance to be apart of it all until he is forced to. However, I do think that the secondary characters that could have been interesting were not well expanded on. Finlay tries a bit more Sarah, but I still feel like she isn't that fleshed out as a character. Sarah seems like such an interesting character to me, a Economic Crimes investigator who gets thrown into this new role for dubious reasons, but she just comes across as a typical FBI agent and I feel like there is more to here. Additionally, I wish there would have been more in Mexico, that story did not feel like it had fully played out and there was more there than what was let on, or maybe that was just me as I liked Carlita Escobar as a character. I just want to throw this out there but a Sarah Keller and Carlita Escobar book sounds like an amazing idea to me. I will say that I did have a problem with Matt's group as it was basically had every stereotype you could think of for a group of people of and call them the the Misfit Toys, just didn't sit well with me.

This was a great debut novel and Finlay has set the bar high for himself for the next book. I hope that the great story telling ability shown here continues on. I look forward to seeing what he comes up with next.

Enjoy!!!

This story!

I love a fast paced story and that’s what this was. I felt so glued to this story because I wanted to know what was going on. I hope this becomes a movie because I could see this becoming that. I highly recommend to anyone looking for a great thriller.

With so many bestselling mystery and thriller writers, it has to be hard to establish yourself in the genres as a debut author. Alex Finlay, however, will not have that problem. They have written a strong debut!

Finlay’s novel, Every Last Fear, explores every parent’s worst nightmare: a child wrongfully accused (and convicted) of a crime. Through unconventional storytelling (nonlinear timeline, mixed media, and multiple POVs), Finlay unspools the tragedy of the Pines family. The story is so well-written that I was not able to solve the mystery until right before the “big reveal.” I cannot wait to see what Finlay writes next!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the e-ARC! All opinions are my own.