Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and Alex Finlay. As this being the sophmore book, the writer is still going on well! How do you review a good book without spoiling it? This was a good read and I will first off say to anyone that is curious about reading it, that they should go and read it. It is good. I like the Y2K the New Year's Eve 1999 vibes. I loves the Blockbuster references. I just saw myself in the store as I read it.

The book had good qualites:
-short chapters
-cliffhanger chapters
-very interesting characters

This is a read that will not disappoint.

Thanks again!

The synopsis of this story really intrigued me so I was extremely excited to get a chance to read this book early! I love mysteries and thrillers so this book was right up my alley. I liked that there was so many potential suspects as the story went on and it made the reader doubt who was truly guilty throughout. I found this to be an addictive read and couldn't put it down until I found out who the true culprit was. *SPOILER ALERT* I was kind of disappointed that Vince wasn't alive as the Nirvana blogger, however, I get that he probably would have at least tried to communicate with Chris if he was still alive. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and I'm excited to see what other books Alex Finlay releases!

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book. Alex Finlay is a phenomenal storyteller and he’s done it again with The Night Shift.

On the eve of the year 2000, three employees, all teens, are found murdered in a Blockbuster video store and one employee was seriously injured. Another teen is arrested for the brutal crime only to be released on a technicality. Vince disappears after his release and is never heard from again.

Fifteen years later, a similar crime is committed leaving one sole survivor yet again. The three main characters we hear from are Ella, the original sole survivor, Chris, a public defender who is also intimately involved with the first killings, and Sarah Keller, an FBI agent who is trying to solve the crime. The survivor from the second killing is looking awfully guilty but she wasn’t even born in 2000, so there’s that. Is she trying to cover something up? Is she working for someone? Why is she telling so many lies?

The storytelling is superb and I’m a huge fan of the short chapters. The mystery takes so many twists and turns that you can’t help but turn page after page even when you’re meant to be doing other things.

I’m giving this book 4/5 stars. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced reader’s copy. This is my honest review.

This story is a murder mystery and a survivors tale. It is adult fiction and as such includes some profanity and crime scene descriptions. The location of the crimes is Linden, NJ in Union County with scenes in NY. It's told in alternating chapters by character. There are two multiple murders, at different businesses, fifteen years apart.
Ella, now a therapist, is the only one who made it out alive from the first and still unsolved murders at Blockbuster. She was the rich kid in high school and is still battling her own demons. The teenage victims Candy, Mandy, and Katie all have the usual teen drama, secrets, boys, strict parents and bullying.
Jessica Duvall, (Jesse) is the only survivor in an eerily similar murder at a Dairy Creamery fifteen years later. Ella, as a fellow survivor, is called to assist with the traumatized Jesse. The lines between therapist and friend will blur. Jesse isn't forthright with all the facts.
Chris, a public defender, was adopted when Vince, his older brother, disappeared after the first murders. Vince Whitaker was always the police departments and some parents primary suspect. Chris has a new name now and still believes Vince is out there somewhere. In a twist of fate Chris becomes involved in the defense of the accused murderer in this second massacre.
Sarah Keller, a junior FBI agent, is very pregnant with twins. Her job investigating this case puts her at risk time and again. Her husband, Bob, worries for the safety of his unborn babies and wife. The personal lives of all those connected to the case is well woven throughout the plot.
Having read mystery/thrillers for decades I'm rarely surprised. This twisty plot threw me some curve balls and I didn't figure everything out. Congrats to the author (new to me) for keeping me engaged and guessing. A very well constructed crime drama with relatable characters. I will look for more from this talented author.
Many thanks to Netgalley, Alex Finlay and St. Martins Press for the advance digital copy of "The Night Shift". These are my personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily.

Shout out to Net Galley for this digital ARC. This book was one of my most anticipated thrillers coming out this year, and it did not disappoint!

In 1999 on NYE four teenagers are killed during the night shift at a New Jersey Blockbuster. 15 years later four more teens are killed during the night shift in the same town, both incidents only leaving one survivor. As the investigation into the new massacre unfolds, the original survivor from Blockbuster, the brother of the original suspect, and the FBI agent on the case all are on a mission to find out the truth.

I loved this book! It featured some of my favorite themes like a therapist character, 90s nostalgia, and had some great red herrings that left me unable to guess how this book would end. The story is told through multiple POV which made it interesting because you shift from a therapist to a lawyer, to an FBI agent.

The only thing that bummed me out was that I was hoping more of the narrative would be set in 1999 and it wasn’t, but there were still great nuggets of 90s nostalgia. This one is worth adding to your TBR if you haven’t already. Look out for it on March 1st!

The Night Shift by Alex Finlay

Two timelines, two sets of young people slaughtered, fifteen years apart. Are the two crimes connected? Could the killer be the same person?. FBI agent Sarah Keller is called in to assist the investigation although she's relegated to the sidelines, her questions to the local police not always appreciated. Not to be deterred, Sarah and her temporary partner Atticus Singh, follow every lead they can, seeing signs where no one else is looking. There is a lot going on in this story, with two crime scenes, so much time having passed since the first crime, so many victims, and parents of the first set of victims clamming up whenever Sarah and Atticus try to interview them. Don't they want their children's murderer to be found?

Almost from the beginning, I suspected the identity of the killer, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story. So many people have secrets and are holding things back that watching Sarah and Atticus try to ferret out the false leads from the helpful information was fun. There is also a young public defender who has a tie to the first case and he wants to track down the suspected killer of the first victims for his own personal reasons.

Sarah is 8-8 1/2 months pregnant during this story and it's her actions that brought it down a bit for me. Three distinct times she puts herself in danger, her soon to be born twin babies leading the way, headlong into situations that could end their lives. Sarah has only a few weeks to go before she can toss the babies off to her domestically inclined husband and get back to spending most of her time fighting crime. It's not just that she couldn't put the babies first during this short time in her life, it's also that she is able to perform incredible feats, while 8 1/2 months pregnant, that took away from some of my enjoyment of the story. I really wish the babies could have been kept out of the story, all I could do is decide not to care about them since Sarah didn't seem to care about them either.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

A great thriller! I picked this book up because I had read Alex Finlay's Every Last Fear and enjoyed it. This one was even better.

On New Year's Eve, 1999, all the employees working that shift at a BlockBuster video store in Linden, New Jersey, were murdered except for one - Ella. The sole suspect, Vince Whitaker, was released and immediately disappeared. Fifteen years later all the employees working the closing shift at an ice cream store in Linden were murdered, except for one - Jessica. Are the two mass murders related? Did the suspect from the first murders come back and do it again? Are the survivors involved? What's the real story? Could Vince be innocent?

My favorite character in the book is 'badass' FBI Agent Keller, who is eight months pregnant with twins, but still is a formidable agent with determination and great instincts.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on March 1, 2022.

Alex Finlay is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. He’s a masterful thriller writer and really nails the genre while also lacing in solid mystery and crime elements. I enjoyed “Every Last Fear” and his new one, “The Night Shift” even better. “The Night Shift” is an emotional rollercoaster loaded with shocking twists, and an addictive plot. With short chapters (often with cliffhangers) and multiple narrators, it moves fast. You’ll find yourself more and more invested in the characters and plot as you read. I like how we had perspectives from victims and the investigator and while starting out separately they eventually crash together in a heart pounding climax. Finlay includes enough curveballs that while you may see one coming there’s another right behind it you weren’t expecting.

Finlay knows how to write strong, capable female characters and clearly has a respect for our sex as often his books subtly tackle the sexism faced in workforce and life in general. While many other male authors these days (specifically in this genre) give us unstable and slightly crazy female protagonists, he’s giving us sharp, relatable women who are well aware of their imperfections but fight on despite them. This is a thriller that not only gets your heart racing, but breaking at the same time. Night Shift is filled with characters to love and cheer for, but he isn’t afraid to take them away from us. He gives us the harder ending—making this book that much more realistic and leveling it up into a tier of writing many other thrillers fall short of hitting. 4.5 stars

Thank you Netgalley and Minotaur Books for an advanced copy of The Night Shift.

The story follows two murders, one at Blockbuster on New Year’s Eve 1999 and the second fifteen years later at an ice cream parlor. The connection between the two? There’s one survivor at both crime scenes and when they meet, old and new questions begin to surface.

First off, this book was so nostalgic for me because I worked at Blockbuster as a teen. Yes, I may be aging myself here but we had DVD’s when I worked there, not VHS haha. I highly enjoyed the fast pace of the story and the multiple narrators. We follow three main characters: Ella, the only survivor of the 1999 murders, Chris, a lawyer and the younger brother of the accused of the 1999 murders, and Sarah Keller, an FBI agent working the case.

I loved the whodunnit aspect of the plot and the short chapters helped me fly though this book. There are a lot of side characters which made it a tad difficult to keep track of everyone, but overall this was a fun time.

The negatives: I did predict both of the big twists, including who the killer was. I also thought some of the storylines were a bit too convenient and a couple of my questions were left unanswered.

Overall, this was an intriguing thriller with likable characters that will appeal to many readers. Check it out on pub day on March 1!

This book opens on New Year's Eve 1999 at Blockbuster. 4 employees are murdered at closing time. Fast-forward 15 years and there is another brutal mass murder at the Dairy Creamery, where 3 employees are stabbed. At both crimes, there was a survivor. Everyone is looking for the #1 suspect from the 1999 murders, but he was released on insufficient evidence, and hasn't been seen since.
There is Ella, the Blockbuster survivor turned therapist, who is called the hospital to talk with the Dairy Creamery survivor, Jesse. There is Chris, the brother of the suspected killer, who has tried to rebuild his life. Then there is Sarah Keller, the FBI agent who is tasked with trying to find Vince Whitaker, the suspect.
It amazes me how storylines can weave in out of each other and still be plausible. I didn't find this to be predictable at all. I was very surprised. Even though Jesse appears to be tough, you can see how she just wants to reach out to someone. I did have a problem with Agent Keller being 8 1/2 months pregnant with twins. I feel like she should have been on desk duty. (I am NOT) saying women shouldn't work while pregnant, just that she put herself and the babies in danger). I was annoyed with Ella in the beginning, she's engaged but she appears to be some type of escort. Thankfully that storyline didn't last too long. And then there's Chris. His mom left, his brother left, his dad was abusive, and he was put into foster care. I felt bad for him because I felt like he was still trying to find his way.
Overall, I would recommend this book. It wasn't heart pounding, action packed, but it was an easy fast read.

Y2K, 1999, a murder in a Blockbuster? 15 years later history repeats itself in an ice cream parlor in the same town.

Finlay adds the right amount of thrills mixed with mystery and police procedural plot.

This was a tightly packed page-turner of a mystery. I have next to no free time and still managed to finish this novel in two days because I had to keep reading.
About 50% of the books I read are mysteries so it’s always a treat to be surprised by a book. While at least one reveal can be seen coming early on, there are so many interesting other reveals that feel unexpected.
The story also keeps red herrings to a bare minimum which I really appreciate.
While everything is wrapped up nicely I still hope that there are maybe more Sarah Keller novels as I found the FBI agent to be really compelling.

I love a good thriller.

Fast paced, full of twists and turns, I love it all.

This was my first book by Alex Finlay. and is told from the POV of several unreliable narrators and dual timelines.

New Year's Eve, 1999, 4 teenage girls are working the night shift at Blockbuster video when they are brutally attacked. Only one of them survives.

A suspect is taken into custody, but released due to insufficient evidence and then disappears.

15 years later - another group of teenage girls are killed in the same signature way. Is this a copycat killing or has the murderer come back?

The whodunit portion of this book was not a huge mystery for me, however, there were so many other twists that I didn't see coming that this was still a great thriller. .

What I really appreciated about this book was how accurate the depiction was of what it's like to be a Public Defender.

As a PD for over 15 years, I'll often read books about the legal system that are completely unrealistic and not in line with the actual criminal justice system.

However, Finlay was SPOT ON in his depiction of the legal process and all it's players. Bravo and thank you!

A great read.

Mystery and thriller fans will eat this up. Fast paced, intriguing and written from multiple points of view all caused some confusing transitions but the mystery was good. I think the killer was pretty obvious but liked the twists. The ending felt rushed but overall an enjoyable book.

Another solid, past-paced mystery (didn't really consider this a "thriller') from Finlay that keeps you a bit off-balance trying to figure out just who the bad guy(s) might be. The intense opening scene draws you in and the story develops with some interesting twists and turns.

Thanks to NetGalley & St. Martin's press for the ARC.

This book gave me some serious Law and Order SVU vibes and I LOVED it. With its twisty plot, this book kept me hooked from beginning to end. Agent Keller was a badass character - honestly all the characters were amazing. And the ending?? *chefs kiss*

I try not to bring personal bias or feelings about the author into my reviews, but this story was completely overwhelmed by the way the author spoke about the characters. Whether it be POC or non-male characters, any deviation from a straight white male archetype was written without tact or understanding. I was consistently removed from what was admittedly a fun setting and whirlwind plot by thoughts of how the characters were developed and spoken about. I think this is a trend for me with this author based on my thoughts on this novel as well as his previous work. 2 stars.

Thank you for this ARC! Another Final Girls book but it's different this time!!! (mostly) This was good!! Fast-paced, I could not put it down, so many POVs but executed perfectly. I was getting whiplash at the end I did not see anything coming. Maybe if I hadn't been so swept up in so many directions I could have figured it out but there was just so much going on. Also fun to read a book set in some of where I grew up!

The characterizations of the final girls felt very familiar to me, I had JUST read a final girls book and I don't think it would be an issue if I had some more time between. The similarity between the characters of each of the final girls was the only similarity, the story was totally it's own. My only complaint about the whole book, and the only thing bringing it down from a 5 star, is the Nirvana Vlogger. I understand that Chris needed something to give him hope and distract him maybe but I didn't love it, and for it then to have been a red herring the whole time... Hated that. Also hated the epilogue but I LOVED Agent Keller and I loved Jesse too.

To be frank, I am disappointed.

The Night Shift reads a lot like a knockoff of Riley Sager's Final Girls, only with three points of view and a focus on the legal side of things. I had high hopes; it's undoubtedly a good premise, and when I began, I felt a glimmer of hope. But it was quickly extinguished by the mediocre manner of storytelling and somewhat boring cast of characters.

I typically like stories told from multiple points of view, which is why I was, yet again, so surprised by this book. Two of the main characters narrating the story are varying levels of unlikable, and the other is enjoyable but a bit boring. I truly did not care what happened to any of the three of them. The only character I truly felt anything for was a side character who was discarded in the most boring way possible by the end.

On top of that, (and I'm not usually one to complain about this), but the writing of women was just offputting. The female FBI agent was the only tolerable woman of importance in the story, and she referred to an abortion as "taking care of the baby." Yuck. Just use the word "aborting," please.

The plot, on the other hand, starts off a little hard to follow because of the jumping from one character to another. Or maybe it was just because I was bored. But it eventually resolved itself to a pace I could enjoy a little more, with plot points that I was able to follow and even be intrigued by. The conclusion was pleasant, though it didn't address a number of important issues displayed earlier in the book.

That said, there is more good than bad to The Night Shift. I did eventually find myself wondering what would happen. But it's not one I would recommend to people with my similar taste in thrillers and mysteries. (If you're more interested in the legal side of things and you don't mind some odd writing of female characters, this might actually be the perfect book for you.) The best explanation I can give for The Night Shift is how I started this review: a slightly disappointing retelling of Final Girls with a less-than-sympathetic cast.

4.5 stars. Evem better than Every Last Fear! This book is SO good - I could not stop reading. I really liked the characters - chapters are told from alternating characters POV. Keller is fantastic (I might be partial as a twin mom myself); Ella and Chris are compelling; and Atticus is a gem. I really don't want to say too much more, for fear of ruining the plot. Just read this book.

"It’s New Year’s Eve 1999. Y2K is expected to end in chaos: planes falling from the sky, elevators plunging to earth, world markets collapsing. A digital apocalypse. None of that happens. But at a Blockbuster Video in Linden, New Jersey, four teenage girls working the night shift are attacked. Only one survives. Police quickly identify a suspect who flees and is never seen again.

Fifteen years later, in the same town, four teenage employees working late at an ice cream store are attacked, and again only one makes it out alive.

Both surviving victims recall the killer speaking only a few final words... “Goodnight, pretty girl.”

In the aftermath, three lives intersect: the survivor of the Blockbuster massacre who’s forced to relive her tragedy; the brother of the original suspect, who’s convinced the police have it wrong; and the FBI agent, who’s determined to solve both cases. On a collision course toward the truth, all three lives will forever be changed, and not everyone will make it out alive."

Thanks to NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review.