The Pine family made well known by a true crime documentary are on what seems to anyone on the outside a family vacation in Mexico, but this particular family vacation turns deadly when the four family members on the vacation are found dead in their rooms in Mexico.
After a night of partying Matt Pine returns to his dorm room only to be told the devastating news that his sister, little brother and parents were found dead in Mexico. Then, he had to be the one to tell his incarcerated brother Danny the news.
The FBI Agent Keller knows that there is so much more to the case than what meets the eye. The two cases, Danny's case that sent him to prison and the family's murders are all connected and it's up to her and Matt to make the connection and find out what actually happened that night at that high school party. Then, who also would go to such lengths to try and cover up a murder of a teenage girl and who would murder a family just to keep a secret buried.
Oh Man! This was a wild ride! I was hooked from the beginning and like always I had different theories about what had actually happened and such but when that twist came a twisting my jaw dropped completely! I loved it! This is a great book for anyone who loves thrillers and a good old fashioned mystery!!! I definitely recommend it!

Every Last Fear is a fast paced action packed thriller, that kept me guessing until the last few pages. I really enjoyed the ending and I think Finlay did a good job to throwing you off to who the killer is and their motives until the very end. I also enjoyed the FBI agent Keller, and I can see her being a character that could lead a series. I would like visit her again as she solves more crimes. I think that anyone who likes mysteries and thrillers will enjoy this book, and I highly recommend it!

I enjoyed this book. It kept my interest and had me guessing for the most part. There really wasn't a dull moment in the whole book and I felt really invested in the character of Matt to keep reading.

Matt is in college when he finds out his family including two younger siblings died on a vacation to Mexico. At first their deaths seem accidental but further investigation leads the FBI to believe they were murdered. He is pulled into the case when he has to identify the bodies. His family is well known because his older brother was convicted of killing his girlfriend in high school and later his family appeared in a documentary trying to free him. Matt has always believed his brother was guilty but between his family deaths and some new tips, he is questioning everything. Will he find out what happened to his family?

When Matt Pine was a teenager, his older brother Danny was accused of murdering his girlfriend Charlotte for which he is currently serving a life sentence. A crime documentary that suggested Danny was innocent thrust the family into the media spotlight and forced to leave their hometown in hopes escaping the backlash from their community. Now an adult, Matt Pine returns to his NYU dorm after a late night partying to discover the FBI waiting for him with tragic news. His family has just been found dead in their vacation rental in Mexico. The local authorities have deemed it an accident involving what appears to be a gas leak but the FBI is not so sure. Matt is asked to go to Mexico to sign some papers releasing the bodies back to the states but Matt soon finds himself in danger. Clues point to his families deaths being connected to Danny's case and it appears that someone wants Matt dead as well.
Every Last Fear is the highly anticipated debut thriller by author Alex Finlay. The novel alters between the past and present tense as it tells parallel stories involving the Pine family. This was a quick, suspenseful novel which slowly uncovers the truth behind a family fighting to keep their family together while withholding secrets from their past. I know that I am in the minority with my 3.5 star rating. I did enjoy the novel and it was a quick read but I wouldn't say I was blown away by it or that it was a novel I couldn't put down. I think many readers will find this one very enjoyable as it has many twists and turns making it an entertaining and suspenseful whodunit.

I am surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. The writing is lean to the point of starvation. The writer must have been a wire stringer at some point. The characters aren't really developed much, but it's a thriller so that's not really the point. The plot is interesting with plenty of twists and turns, and manages to keep the reader guessing to the end. All in all, fun romp to lose yourself in for a couple of days.

Great thriller. Kept me interested right from the start....read in a day even with small children running around! I love when I get a book like that. There were lots of characters which I found challenging at first, but once I got them sorted out it really picked up.
Definitely recommend!

Find yourself a nice comfy seat because you won't be getting up for a while. You’ll have to strap yourself in for this baby, it’s a wild ride, a twisted tale of mystery and murder. I’ll admit, it took a minute to get into, but once I was hooked, I wasn’t putting it down. The tale is put together like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Each chapter containing bits of the story from the various characters points of view and jumps around in place and time. Until finally, the pieces begin to fit together and illustrate how a family has coped with the unthinkable incarceration of their beloved Danny, a brutal murder and the lies perpetrated to keep a secret. The characters are so real, the plot line, so compelling. Give it a minute to hook you and you will not be disappointed.

Excellent Book. Couldn't put it down!

This book is filled with twists and turns that you will never see coming. Definitely worth the read! Masterfully done debut novel by the author.

#EveryLastFear #NetGalley


Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC and the opportunity to read this!

Your eyes settle down on this novel and you feel like you’re watching a movie—and it might very well be in the future. The multi-character, -timeline narratives; the fast-paced, action-packed mystery; the horror of the premise (a whole family found dead); the unfairness of the tragedies (“the Pine family just couldn’t catch a break.”); it's all there to keep you engaged.
I read this well-written book in one sitting—without realizing it. I played the guessing game, trying to put the pieces together in this jigsaw puzzle. The suspenseful plot is superbly, intricately crafted. You don’t get bored. Never. The story keeps going and going and dragging you along.
The only dark spot is a misleading point in the blurb, asserting that the “surviving son [is left] to uncover the truth about [his family’s] final days.” He doesn’t, really. He never actually takes the lead in uncovering anything, but just goes with the flow, trying not to drown. But while, in another story, you may want to kick him in the butt so he can take action in his own hands, that’s understandable here, given the circumstances, and that makes him stand out from other books’ “heroes”. And yet, somehow, in spite of everything his family went through, I couldn’t be moved by Matt. He didn’t open up enough for me to get inside his, I’m sure, tight chest.
Long story short: it’s a very good debut thriller.

NYU student Matt Pine returns from a party to the most unimaginable news: his entire family was found dead in Mexico, victims of a gas leak at their resort. It's not long before the press gets wind of it--because the Pine family is no stranger to the news cycle. Oldest son Danny is in prison for the murder of his high school girlfriend, a crime that was the subject of a documentary.

When Matt returns to his small Nebraska hometown, he's met with open hostility. The people there weren't treated very kindly by the documentary and they've been taking it out on the pine family ever since. But then Matt gets wind that the Mexican deaths are suspicious, and he must put his own life in danger to find out the truth about his brother and what went down the night he confessed to murder.

Though parts of this book will stretch your ability to cast disbelief aside, Every Last Fear is a GREAT debut. It's told in multiple points of view (Matt and his family as well as an FBI agent) in both the past and present. In some books this is distracting, but author Alex Finlay handles each deftly, allowing to the story and all its pieces to unfold quickly and satisfyingly. I had an easy time connecting to the characters and there was good exploration of a family fighting its way through grief. A quick read, I'd definitely recommend this to thriller/suspense lovers out there. It was even better than I expected.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for giving me the opportunity to review this book.

Every Last Fear is about the notorious Pine family. Their eldest son Danny is the subject of a famous true crime docuseries, imprisoned for killing his girlfriend. But the case was riddled with inconsistencies and the Pines never gave up on proving his innocence. When a horrific tragedy befalls them on a trip to Mexico, NYU student Matt and convict Danny are the only two survivors. Matt travels to Tulum to piece together the mysterious circumstances surrounding his family’s death. Was it a freak accident or cold-blooded murder?

Every Last Fear drew me in from the very first page. Finlay uses alternating POV, switching between ‘before’ and ‘after’ to slowly unravel the plot. I was left shocked and intrigued by each new and unexpected twist. It was a smart choice on the author’s part, because it allowed me to really get in the heads of each of the characters and empathize with their hopes, fears and dreams. This is one of those rare breeds of mystery novels where both the plot and character development are equally fantastic.

I highly recommend Every Last Fear to fans of heart-pounding, gripping and fast-paced mystery/thrillers. Finlay defies the hackneyed tropes of the genre and provides an ending that you’ll never see coming. I loved the true crime backdrop of the novel and was riveted by the psychological portrait of a family grappling with loss.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This story is told in multiple POV giving us bits and pieces of how the tragedy unfolded. The mystery of it is a little predictable but it is still an enjoyable read.

I greatly enjoyed this book. I thought the plot was interesting and it kept my attention. I was eager to see how all the different threads would be woven together and was not disappointed. Overall an entertaining book.

I just finished #EveryLastFear from #NetGalley, and I could not be more proud of my fellow Alabamian, Alex Finlay. This is a solid debut novel, and if it’s not nominated for a best thriller award in 2021, I will be utterly shocked and appalled.

SUMMARY:
Matt Pine’s family is famous…for all the wrong reasons. They were the subject of the binge-worthy Netflix show, A Violent Nature, which featured an investigation into his brother’s wrongful conviction and life-sentence after his high school girlfriend was murdered. Matt had nothing to do with the show because he saw something the night of the murder that makes him sure his brother is guilty.

When his remaining family is found dead while on vacation in Mexico, Matt finds himself orphaned with only his NYU college friends keeping him sane. However, the FBI expects foul play, and Matt realizes that he might have been wrong about everything.

MY TAKE:
Thank you, Alex Finlay, for giving me a love-able protagonist who’s NOT determined to suffer alone. Seriously, I’ve read so many thrillers in which the main character is a loner who’s lost his/her family and therefore can never afford to love anybody ever again.

Matt is not that cliche. In fact, he has a supportive group of college friends (who he lovingly refers to as the “misfit toys”) ready to come to his aid in his time of need. Moreover, Matt lets them come to his aid. It’s like he’s actually looking for healthy ways to deal with his enormous grief, and I approve.

Truthfully, the twists in this novel are great, but the characters are what make it for me. FBI Agent Sarah Keller could easily have been some Quantico knock-off or “g-man” cliche, but she wasn’t! Her motivation is clear and the way her heart breaks for the fate of Matt’s sister, Maggie, is as humanizing as it is grounding.

I really warred with myself over the rating of this novel. I don’t like to hand out five-star ratings, but I honestly could not find anything wrong with this one. It is everything a thriller should be, and you won’t be able to put it down.

ou on the edge of your seat and move you to tears.

After a late night of partying, NYU student Matt Pine returns to his dorm room to devastating news: nearly his entire family—his mom, his dad, his little brother and sister—have been found dead from an apparent gas leak while vacationing in Mexico. The local police claim it was an accident, but the FBI and State Department seem far less certain—and they won’t tell Matt why.

The tragedy makes headlines everywhere because this isn’t the first time the Pine family has been thrust into the media spotlight. Matt’s older brother, Danny—currently serving a life sentence for the murder of his teenage girlfriend Charlotte—was the subject of a viral true crime documentary suggesting that Danny was wrongfully convicted. Though the country has rallied behind Danny, Matt holds a secret about his brother that he’s never told anyone: the night Charlotte was killed Matt saw something that makes him believe his brother is guilty of the crime.

When Matt returns to his small hometown to bury his parents and siblings, he’s faced with a hostile community that was villainized by the documentary, a frenzied media, and memories he’d hoped to leave behind forever. Now, as the deaths in Mexico appear increasingly suspicious and connected to Danny’s case, Matt must unearth the truth behind the crime that sent his brother to prison—putting his own life in peril—and forcing him to confront his every last fear.

I was really impressed by this unknown author’s ability to reveal hints and clues throughout the plot. Alex Finlay is the pseudonym, and this is his/her first book (as far as we know…maybe he/she published under a real name), which impressed me. Oftentimes, new authors end up being not so great. But this book was a fun read, had a great twist, and really kept me guessing.

This was one of the most fascinating novels I’ve read in a long time. It takes place both in the present and the past. The Pine family is deeply damaged when their oldest son, Danny, is convicted of the brutal murder of a high school girlfriend after a party and sent to prison. His family doesn’t believe in his guilt even though he confessed to the murder. Matt, some years later, is attending NYU, when he is contacted by the FBI and told his parents, younger brother and sister had mysteriously died while vacationing in Mexico and that the local Mexican government would not release their remains to anyone other than a family member. Matt goes down to Mexico and there discovers his father was still tracking information about the murder in an attempt to exonerate his son. Different chapters deal with different characters’ actions before the family’s death and following Matt’s return from Mexico. It is very well written and filled with twists. Did I guess who the perpetrator was? Yes, but not until the very end did I learn why and I wanted to know why. Thanks to Net Galley and Minotaur for an ARC for an honest review.

I saw this title and was first drawn to the cover art. It caught my eye, which doesn't happen often. But it was the intriguing plot description that really sold me, so I was thrilled when St. Martins selected me to read a galley proof of this unique and riveting novel. And what a ride it was!

I won't rehash the plot since many reviewers already have, but suffice it to say it really holds true to the description. I'm a huge crime drama and true crime fan, both in book form and in film, and have often wondered what would happen if the subjects of a murder documentary were similarly victimized. This story didn't disappoint.

The writing is taut, the dialogue flows, and the heartbreakingly human characters display believability in the gamut of convoluted actions and emotions that run rampant throughout the various crises they encounter. I stayed up way too late and blinked way to little tearing through this read; my Kindle barely kept up with the page flips. Highly recommended.

Wow, get ready for the twists and turns in this fast-paced thriller!

I want to sincerely thank NetGalley and Minotaur Books for allowing me to read an advance copy of Every Last Fear for an honest review.

Innocence and guilt are not always easily deciphered, and sometimes a clear picture can begin to blur.

Just when you think the Pine family has experienced the ultimate of injuries or grave injustice, here comes another whiplash of heartache.

Agent Keller’s new investigation will lead her and reopen a closed case, a heroic and collaborative effort to dig up the past and get down to the truth.

Sacred familial love, loyal friendships, secrets, betrayals, old flames, self-preservation, power, and corruption . . . this book has it all!

Every Last Fear is a novel that will hook you with the very first paragraph, and keep you flipping pages until the very last. Matt Pine is a student at NYU, and he is severely hungover when an FBI agent finds him to notify him that his parents, sister, and one brother have all been killed in a freak accident while on vacation in Mexico. His other brother (Danny) happens to be in prison for the murder of his high school girlfriend. Matt believes Danny is guilty, but his father and sister are absolutely convinced of his innocence. So convinced that the reason they were in Mexico was to follow a new lead.

This is a plot-driven novel as opposed to character-driven. The only character we really get to know is Matt, who is a sweetheart. I especially loved his group of friends at NYU, the self-named "Misfit Toys." They were a real delight. The novel alternates between Matt's POV and the POV of FBI agent, Sara Keller. There's a tertiary POV that is excerpts from a Netflix documentary made about Danny's case. I honestly thought this was an unnecessary distraction but didn't detract too much from the action.

Every Last Fear is a page-turner even though I thought the real murderer was fairly obvious, though the motive was not. The author did a skilled job of keeping the action moving and sticking the ending. I enjoyed it a lot, and thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.