Alex Finlay did not disappoint with The Night Shift.
Fast paced full of suspense. This was hard to put down. The characters and the story meshed so well and had me guessing until the end.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My biggest issue with The Night Shift by Alex Finlay is that a woman who is eight and a half months pregnant, with twins no less, is not running around trying to solve a cold case, heck she wouldn’t even be on desk duty at that point. Otherwise this was a fast paced thriller that really kept me on my toes. I did figure out who the killer was, but Finlay does a good job at pointing you in a bunch of directions!
Ella and Chris had clearly suffered some trauma over the years so it was really interesting to see how it affected them years later. Sarah Keller was a badass, even if she was a little reckless at that stage of pregnancy, and her husband was so supportive of her! Finally, Jesse was also quite the little badass, she had been through a lot over the years but all in all she was a strong young woman!
The similarities between the two cases was startling, and this definitely read like an episode of dateline!
This was my first time reading Alex Finlay but will definitely be reading more!

All I can say is WOW! I loved Alex Finlay's latest thriller novel. Having parts of the book set in the 90's brought on the full nostalgia vibes. There were plenty of twists, turns and red herrings to keep the reader guessing throughout the book.

On New Years Eve 1999, 4 girls are attacked at a Blockbuster Video in the small town of Linden, New Jersey. Three of the girls and one manager are killed, leaving 1 surviving girl. Linden is the type of town where everyone knows each other and most people stay in the town their entire lives. Fast forward to today, where 4 girls are attacked at an ice cream shop, in an eerily similar manner. Again, there is one lone survivor of the attack.

The surviving girl in both instances recalls the killer saying "goodnight, pretty girl...", leaving detectives to wonder if it is copycat, or if the same killer is at it again.

The story is told from several points of view: the female detective in present day trying to solve the crimes, the survivor from the 1999 attack and Chris, the criminal defense attorney assigned to the present day murder case.

The story weaves together flawlessly, in an unputdownable, suspenseful tale that keeps the reader engaged to the very end. The characters are great - I hope that Finlay writes another book about Detective Keller. There are just enough clues and red herrings that you aren't entirely sure who the killer(s) are/is til the very end. In a jaw-dropping finale, the conclusion is fantastic. I highly recommend this book to thriller lovers!

Special thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The plot : A killer murders a group of teens after the night shift at a Blockbuster, fast-forward 15 years and there's been another murder that closely resembles it.

I can see why a lot of people will really enjoy The Night Shift by Alex Finlay. For me, one thing I hate in any type of book is cheating and this literally begins with Ella, one of the main POVs, nonchalantly cheating on her fiancé not for the first time. Therefore, that left me with one out of three POVs that I had absolutely no interest in reading even if she was the sole survivor of the original Blockbuster crime. However, I did very much enjoy the other two point of views, which were the younger brother of the man convicted of the Blockbuster crime and an FBI agent. Both of their characters kept my attention and I generally cared about their outcomes.

The mystery itself was decent, with quality twists and turns, even a few I didn't see coming. I also really appreciated that it had a very satisfying epilogue. In the end, I think that The Night Shift will be a new favorite for many mystery thriller readers.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martins Press for the eArc in return for an honest review.
The Night Shift is a story of 2 mass murders that take place several years apart but have similarities. Both have final girls. Ella's story is from 1999 at a Blockbuster Video and Jessica's story is present day and it takes place at an ice cream shop. Told in past and present timelines and multiple povs this book is fast paced and full of twists as we uncover the killer.
I enjoyed this book and it kept me guessing.

Alex Finlay is a master with opening lines that grab your attention and won't let you go; " The night was expected to bring tragedy." How can you not keep reading after that?? I devoured it! All in one day. FInlay is also a master at creating characters with so much depth you'll be left clinging to their stories as if you actually knew these people. So many unexpected twist, so much suspense. I did not see the ending until it was right in my face! And for someone how reads thrillers by the ton, it takes a lot to do that for me. BRAVO!!!

This was so fun. Finlayś last book wasn´t my favorite but this felt like a campy Scream novel. I enjoyed this book. The prose was well-written, and the characters were dynamic and jumped off the page. I thought the story was interesting and the plot kept me guessing.

Absolutely loved this twisty new thriller. It had lots of small surprises throughout the book but I didn’t know the big reveal until it happened. There are three equally interesting POV which totally made me buy in and not be able to stop reading. This is one I’ll definitely be recommending. I’m very lucky to have received this as an ARC from Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I devoured this book! I loved it. Read it in two days. There was a lot going on, but, somehow it all seemed to work together to keep me so very engrossed!

I really really really enjoyed this book! This was the most intriguing and well-thought murder thriller I’ve read in a long time (or perhaps ever). At first, it was very confusing following 3 separate characters and all their side characters but it clicked eventually and that’s when I started to enjoy the story more. already planning for a re-read later on in the year bc it was that good and I want to know if I’ll be able to pick up on anything the second time around.

Lots of possible culprits in this thriller. It was a fast-paced read with an interesting plot. My only down side was everyone’s life was entwined with everyone else’s by the end of the novel…a little too convenient, even for fiction!

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC to read and review.

I blame my pain meds for not binging this one. This is sure to satisfy the masses. It’s not slow in the beginning per say but I will say I read the second half in one sitting.

Likable characters, twists and turns (I predicted some) and even a bit emotional this is most definitely worth your reading time. I’d be surprised if it’s not optioned for a movie or tv series.

Thank you to NetGalley, Alex Finlay and St Martin's Press for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Right away this novel was interesting and I knew right from that first chapter that I would love this one. First off, I miss Blockbuster and I loved it, so having that in the beginning was awesome. I loved the characters and the storyline was unique and fast paced. There was a ton of action and the story moved so fast that you just want to binge read the entire thing. I flew through it and there wasn't a page I didn't enjoy. I definitely recommend reading this one!

So good! Page turning, edge of my seat, and stay up late to finish kind of book. Loved how fast paced it was and I was trying to guess who did it throughout the entire book which kept me hooked. There were a lot of characters which made it hard to keep track of initially but as it progressed I became really invested and it was easier to navigate. Would absolutely recommend!

Staying up late to finish a book is something that I seldom do. But that’s exactly what I did with The Night Shift! Alex Finlay has woven a terrific story, centered in Linden, New Jersey, starting with a multiple murder at a Blockbuster video store on New Year’s Eve, 1999. Is there a link between those murders and another multiple murder in the same town in 2015, which bears some eerie similarities? We get to follow three different people along the way: a heavily pregnant FBI agent, a public defender with a hidden link to the first case, and the long survivor of the Blockbuster murders who is now a therapist. The characters are realistically drawn and have distinct personalities, foibles and “baggage.” The chapters are short and to the point. I found myself saying “just one more chapter” over and over again! Expect lots of twists and turns and some red herrings. And if you’re “of a certain age” you’ll love some of the 90’s nostalgia/trivia. (Another plus for me is that I’m familiar with this general area.) I suspect that, like me, you won’t be able to put it down.

One tiny thing - I couldn’t imagine doing some of the things Agent Keller did while 8 1/2 months pregnant with twins. Nope.

This is my first book by Alex Finlay and I will definitely turn to him when I’m in the mood for an exciting thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books / St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

The Night Shift by Alex Finlay is a fast-paced, adventurous murder mystery. There are a lot of characters in this novel. So many that I almost felt I like I needed to take notes to keep track of everyone!

With many interesting characters, and several plot twists to keep readers guessing, The Night Shift is highly entertaining. The novel follows multiple people, each on their own journey to discover the killer.

Who will be the one to solve the crime? Is there only one killer or does this new murder mean a new killer is in town? As our characters try to answer this question, we learn about who they are, and how they came to be involved. Each of our main characters is invested in finding the murderer, each for their own, very different, reasons.

At first, I wasn’t sure I would enjoy this novel. In the first chapter, something about the writing style bothered me. I also generally don’t like books with so many characters, it’s so much work to keep them all straight in my head. However, I was soon hooked and needed to solve the murder myself. Any issues with the writing style and numerous characters were quickly forgotten, and I finished the book within a few days and as many sittings.

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for an advance copy. All opinions in this review are my own.

5 Truly Satisfying Stars
* * * * * Spoiler Free
So, there is a time when reading an engrossing book where your mind is so active trying to figure things out that you can think you know it all. Authors work hard to make that happen and when they do, and then they cause the reader to forget what they thought until the very end, bingo, they have accomplished their goal. At least that is my personal theory.

Because this book HAD ME. From the very start until the end. I dare you to read the blurb and not be intrigued.

For me, this was a winner, keeping me interested, trying to figure out who was what, then thinking I knew all, and then rushing to the end to find out what was what for real. As I said, a truly satisfying read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC of this title for an honest review.

After reading [book:Every Last Fear|53138046] last year, I was excited to see a new title by Alex Finlay on the horizon. This story also has to do with a murder where not everything is as simple as it appears on the surface. In 1999, a brutal series of murders happens in a Blockbuster at the end of the night where three girls and their manager were killed with no rhyme or reason and one survivor left with a lot of baggage after the fact. Fast forward 15 years and a crime scene eerily similar to the events at the Blockbuster have happened, but only this time it's at an ice cream parlor.

Alex Finlay knows how to make the pages fly with quick chapters and changing POV's that tell the whole story of both past and present events. While I had an inkling of the "who" about halfway through the book, it was still fun to see all the strings being pulled together and I thought it was actually a better storytelling experience than Every Last Fear, but it's most likely due to the cast of characters.

Highly recommend if you are looking for a quick whodunit read!

Edge of seat thriller for sure and loved this author. It takes you back to 1999 on New Year’s Eve when Y2K was suppose to blow up computers possibly end everything that we know exist. Will it did for three teenagers in Linden, New Jersey working at Blockbuster video store. One survived Ella who is now a therapist and trying to forget what happened to her. Then the book takes you to fifteen years later and another four girls attacked at an ice cream store and only Jesse survived. Sarah Keller was assigned to to help solve these latest murders and she was working with an upcoming detective named Atticus. Sarah was close to delivering her twins and when Atticus says he will drive he had a run down little bitty car so that didn’t happen. Jesse wouldn’t talk to anyone except Ella. Jesse was definitely a tough cookie and some of the stunts she pulled had me screaming don’t do it! The journey that those two women took was heartbreaking for Ella to have to relive but it helped Jesse to figure things out.
There are so many twists and turns but while hadn’t they caught the first killer? They had their suspicions and that individual left town. Was he framed, was he a jilted lover or just a killer? This book does has a lot of heartbreaking in it due to the loss of daughters, mothers that leave, fathers that are cruel but it is worth reading. I would love to read more from this author.

I received this ARC from Netgalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Alex Finlay knocks it out of the park yet again. Somehow his writing, plot, and characters scratch so many itches: they're true crime, thriller, whodunit, procedural drama, all wrapped into one package - and it's easy to follow! Not too ambitious and enough time is spent with each character that you really get to know them, despite there being many rotating perspectives and intricately tied-together relationships.

It's New Year's Eve 1999, and instead of partying [like it's the year that it is], an outcast Blockbuster store manager and his four employees, all high school girls, are closing up shop for the evening. Unbeknownst to them, their place of employment is about to be the scene of a headline-hitting, bloody, violent quadruple homicide. There's one survivor, high schooler Ella Monroe. The cops are under pressure to make an arrest, and after finding a couple pieces of evidence (an anonymous tip, a fingerprint, and a weapon in his locker), they arrest fellow high schooler Vince Whitaker. Supported by an excellent public defender, Vince is sprung on insufficient probable cause, and promptly skips town.

Fifteen years later in the same New Jersey town, another quadruple homicide with one survivor - this time, at an ice cream shop. The story is now told in three rotating perspectives:
• The lone survivor of the first 1999 murder, who's now a therapist and is called in to help the new final girl deal with her trauma while reliving her own trauma;
• The brother of Vince Whitaker (the original suspect), who's now a public defender and is trying to find the nobility in the profession that saved his brother - and maybe even find his own brother now, too; and
• FBI Agent Keller, a badass agent on the case who's also pregnant with two twin boys and determined to get justice for the victims of both crimes.

Just like in his previous book, Every Last Fear, Finlay lays out the exposition of the story perfectly, and spends a well-deserved amount of time getting to know his characters, their trauma, their thoughts, their motivations, and so much more. While the investigation is pulsing forward, you learn so much about these crimes, the damage that they wrought on a small town and its families, and the secrets hidden beneath the surface. It's salacious and thrilling without being too fast paced, exploitative, or confusing. It's an excellent balancing act of plot and characterization that seems complex, but you feel guided through it easily with Finlay's writing. I loved every minute of it, and by the end, I was shocked by the twist that I definitely did not see coming.

Highly recommend picking up this book, especially if you liked Finlay's previous works. Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the ARC via Netgalley!