I had heard so much about this book, and it did not disappoint! I did not see the twist coming! I liked the switching back and forth from past to present and the different POVs.

Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay is a rollercoaster of a thriller that had me hooked from start to finish. With a gripping plot and intriguing characters, this novel delivers a suspenseful and mind-bending experience that will leave you guessing until the very end.

The premise of the book intrigued me and the first half kept my interest but then there were too many characters to keep it all straight. The ending was a surprise and was well done. Although not a big fan of multiple timelines. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

An absolutely fantastic mystery/ thriller/ crime procedural or whatever genre you want to call it, this book will blow your idea of WHAT you think it's about. Alex Finlay gives you a menu of a few different crimes and their suspects, even one who has been convicted but just might be innocent....or again, he might be guility as charged. A young college student wakes up as a member of a family of six. During the routine of his daily life, he suddenly finds four of his family members have died in a horrible accident. He must then share this information with his remaining family member, who was convicted and is serving time for the murder of his girlfriend. And that's just the beginning of the story......

Alex Finlay takes these characters into places and events that you'll hope never to find yourself in and then amps up the tension. Just get comfortable, you are going to be here for awhile......

There were so many great characters in this book. Almost everyone is likable. Likable characters aren't a must for me, but they do make the reading experience so much more pleasant and enjoyable. I found the twists to be fun and the ending satisfying. Because of the taut pacing, I was immersed in the story immediately. This story just sucked me in and kept me riveted until the very end.

I put this book off for way too long, it was such a compulsive read that once I started I couldn't stop! I had read The Night Shift prior to this one and I think I liked this one even better! Looking forward to what Finlay has in store for future books.

There were too many characters to keep up with which made me struggle to finish. I was not invested in what was happening because I didn’t care about the characters. The timelines also threw me off. Overall there were too many things happening.

Thank you to the publishers at St. Martins Press and Netgalley for a copy of Every Last Fear in exchange go an honest review.

Thoroughly enjoyed this one. Still not as good as first book but this one was fast paced and easy to read. Highly recommend.

3.5 stars

For a debut thriller, "Every Last Fear" is a solid read. Alex Finlay knows how to spin a propulsive tale that keeps the pages turning.

But contrary to so many thriller fans, my mind wasn’t blown by it. I was invested in the tragedy of the Pine Family’s death and felt for the two surviving brothers, Matt and Danny (the latter of which is in prison for killing his teenage girlfriend), yet I don’t know … I just never felt "all in" with the story.

And this is mainly because, aside from one final twist, I figured the denouement out before I hit the halfway mark.

Which took some of the fun out of it. And then if you add in a couple of messy loose ends and a plot point left unexplained … well … you get the picture.

I got niggles. Some unignorable niggles.

But this isn’t to say I won’t read Finlay again. "Every Last Fear" is great entertainment. It’s suspenseful, twisty, and the story even has a nice touch of emotion to it.

A reader could do far worse.


My sincerest appreciation to Alex Finlay, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions included herein are my own.

This was definitely one of my favorite books once I finished it. And I couldn't imagine not being able to go through such a wild ride. I had so much fun trying to figure out what was really happening and who did what within the storyline. I can't wait to read another from this author!

First thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for gifting me this book in exchange for an honest review (I'm sorry it took me awhile). I'm torn between 3.5 and 4 stars but I think the amount of quality in this book overpowers the few things I hated so 4 it is. I really liked the book and I did not guess the twist, should have, didn't. However I did NOT love the end. I know it's a fiction book, and people like to tie everything up in a neat little bow in a chapter and a half, but that's one of my pet peeves. I suppose having their entire family die isn't perfection, but still, the perfect ending (immediately) ruins all the real life, believable parts of a good book. So well written, fast pace, well twisted, corny, unrealistic ending. I'll definitely be reading more by this author though!.

I struggled with this one. I just couldn't emotionally connect with any of the characters.
The writing was good as well as the pace but I found it to have too many characters.
I found the ending to be over the top.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book

Full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing right up until the end. Do not start this book if you want to get anything else done with your day because you will become hooked and obsessed with finding out everything there is to know in between these pages.

After lots of partying Matt finds out his entire family is dead from a gas leak in Mexico. His older brother is already in prison for murdering his girlfriend. Matt returns to his hometown to bury his family where he learns the truth about his older brother and the secrets he holds. The book is very suspenseful and very well written.

I did not enjoy this book at all. I thought it was boring & just dragged on & on. It was hard to keep track of all the characters which made it impossible to connect with any of them. Won’t be recommending.

I was so excited to get this book. I was immediately captivated by the synopsis and couldn't wait to dive in. Every Last Fear is a nonstop thriller filled with action and it grasps you from the first page.

I love the fact that there are multiple POV's. It gives you a taste of every bit of information you need to eventually come to the correct conclusion. I do wish the characters had more depth, but the plot of the overall story definitely makes up for it. One of my favorite reads of 2021

The good: intriguing concept as we know from the beginning that Matt's family dies. It was a good idea for a plot.

The bad: too long and dragged out in parts, could easily be 100 pages shorter. It felt predicable in a lot of areas.

The ick: the ways that he described Mexican people was really stereotypical and problematic.

Matt gets the devastating news that his family was killed on a vacation. And thus begins his quest for finding out what happened to his family, with the help of detective Keller.
But this isn't the first tragedy that befell the Pine family. Matt's brother, Danny, is in prison serving time for murdering Charlotte and their family was famous due to a documentary made on the case.

The plot was engrossing but this wasn't a favorite from Finlay. It felt predictable and kept me wishing for more.

This book was excellent! Great plot, great characters, great pace. Every time I put it down I couldn't wait to pick it back up again. 4.5 stars and I can't wait to see what he writes next!

I love the way the author includes the entire families view points to fill in the vacation leading up to the murder. I was able to see the full story as it developed. This book had me guessing the entire way through. I loved the way she told the story and developed the characters and plot.