I enjoyed this book. I thought it was quick read and very entertaining, I did guess the twist early one but I still enjoyed reading this.
Alex Finlay does know how to write a Thriller. Was this as good as his First release. NO but it has its own merits to being a good book.

Wow. This book hooks you from the first chapter. I enjoyed Finlay's Every Last Fear so I knew I would have to check out any follow ups. This had a lot of twists and turns, some of which I guessed and others which I didn't see coming. Finlay did a great job showing how trauma can look difference for different people. Ella and Jesse, with their questionable decisions and hidden motives, were perfectly balanced by "good guy" types of Agent Keller and Chris. I highly recommend this book!

I really enjoyed Every Last Fear by Alex Finaly and was looking forward to reading this, his newest work. It definitely did not disappoint! It is a well-plotted mystery, with interesting, likable and well-developed characters and with plenty of twists and turns along the way -- especially towards the end. All in all, this was a real page turner and a great read.

Right from the beginning, Alex Finlay grabs the reader's attention. We are introduced to teenagers working in a Blockbuster store in NJ in 1999. Shortly after I started to care about these characters, a horrific event occurs and I just needed to know who did it and why. The chapters alternate between various law enforcement personnel, families, and others trying to unravel what happened. At the beginning, I thought it was just going to be another 'Final Girls' type story but it was so much more than that. Fans of fast-paced suspense thrillers are going to want to put this one on their list.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins press for providing a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Great thriller with lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing. I really enjoyed the character development and parallel storylines that all came together in the end. The culture references and reality of the state of the world in 1999 was very well done and added a bit of nostalgia to the story.

I liked this one even more than Every Last Fear and the plot was definitely more complex and involved. It had me captured from the beginning and I gave up sleep to stay up late and binge read into the wee hours just to see how things were going to end.

The Night Shift was a great ride. The story is told from multiple POVs with flashbacks between the past and present. There are quite a few characters to keep track of and did get a little confusing at times.

The story was paced well and the twists and turns kept me on my toes. I guessed the killer but still wanted to see how everything connected. I really liked the pregnant FBI agent and reminded me of a similar character in Fargo. The ending was very satisfying.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Ella is working at Blockbuster Video on New Year's Eve 1999 when she and her coworkers are attacked. Ella is the only survivor. She grows up to be a therapist and is called in when the town has another attack, this time at an ice cream shop. Ella speaks to the victim and tries to uncover who was capable of these attacks. With the help of Chris, a public defender and brother of the number one suspect of the Blockbuster attack, and FBI Agent Sarah Keller, can they put together the pieces to charge a suspect with these two gruesome crimes?

I really enjoyed this book and read it quickly. I liked all the characters, especially Ella. She really helped tie things together from the past attack and the recent attack. I liked the way all the information revealed came together in the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for my advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Wow! I devoured this book. The Night Shift is told by 3 POV's, Ella, Chris, and Agent Keller.

Back in 1999, 4 people were murdered at their night shift at Blockbuster, Ella being the only survivor. The suspect was released from jail and never seen again.

Years go by, and 4 other girls were murdered at their night shift at an ice cream parlor. The story is told in short chapters that keep the reader guessing.
I loved the characters and how they all tied together at the end. While the end was a little predictable, that did not take away from the rest of the book.

Overall, a great read by Alex Finlay!

Read this if you:
*if you remember Blockbuster
*like fast-paced thrillers
*love trying to guess what’s going to happen next

I loved this so much! I guessed a few of the twists, but not all. It kept me engaged from the beginning. 2 incidents that mirror one another 15 years apart, with one survivor in each incident? Super intriguing. I loved the multiple POCs, since there was so much going on with each of the characters. There are a lot of books with “final girls” out right now, but this was just an element of the plot rather than the entire plot, which was exactly what I would’ve wanted. Alex Finlay is now an auto-buy author!

Thank you NetGalley & Minotaur for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: March 1

There are a few major criteria when reading a thriller: it has to be fast-paced, intriguing, and you have to care about the characters. All of that is true in The Night Shift, a story that revolves around two crimes, fifteen years apart that eerily resemble each other. In 1999, a group of Blockbuster employees are all killed during the night shift, with the exception of one survivor. Fifteen years later, a group of employees at an ice cream store are killed with the exception of one survivor, yet again.

While I really enjoyed the book, I do think that the ending felt a bit too rushed. It felt like it was in a rush to be tied up without really delving into the motive of the murderer and what happens to the characters afterward. The epilogue focused on the character that I was least interested by with only a passing mention of the characters who are more integral to the actual mystery and who faced the most trauma because of the two crimes. Ultimately though, this was a great read and I hope to read more from this author in the future.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

OMG I know the setting of this book! I'm a jersey girl who frequented Blockbusters including the one in Linden so when the book opened with that., I smiled like a school girl. with all the memories.
Its easy to get lost in a book when you know the setting like you know the back of your hand. I have to be honest if it wasn't for the Jersey connection, I probably wouldnt have enjoy it that much because it did seem like your ordinary run of the mill mystery.

What a fantastic book! After diving into the story, my attention was held with twists and turns that were well played. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a great read!

What a ride! The Night Shift is a true thriller about the night crew of a Blockbuster being murdered on the eve of Y2K. 15 years later, another night crew at an ice cream shop are murdered in the same way. Is this a copy cat or is the original killer back. If so, why?

The story is told from multiple POVs with flashbacks between the past and present. At times, the multiple POVs can be confusing. There are quite a few characters to keep track of between the victims of both murders, the survivors of both murders and their families. I always started out a little confused but eventually was able to recognize which POV I was reading.

Overall, the story was well paced and the twists keep you guessing. Even if you guess the killer (I did), the story is told in way that connects the clues provided throughout and provides a satisfying ending.

If you love thrillers, this is a must read! There are also some themes on family, sacrifice and dealing with past trauma.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing this digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest review.

Wow! It is extremely rare for me to give a Thriller a 5 star rating. I think I rate this genre the harshest. In most cases I have an issue with at least one part - the character development, the twist, the guilty character just thrown in at the end, the piece of evidence that is not divulged until the very end - or my pet peeve - a bad ending which takes away 1 star. For me this one was pretty close to perfection! The ending was a touch Polyanna but I was able to overlook it while rating because this one had me riveted the whole book!

The writing was so good and the pace was great. The basic premise is of a New Year's Eve 1999 murder at a Blockbuster, resulting in 3 dead teenagers, 1 dead manager and 1 lone survivor. This book opens with the murder scene and the reader learns that there was a slam-dunk suspect who was able to flee after capture, leaving the authorities and the parents of the murder victims with no closure. The book then moves to a present day murder spree at a small ice cream shop that seems very reminiscent of the Blockbuster murders - with only 1 survivor. Could the two grisly events be connected, or could there be a copycat killer?

I think it's better not to know too much more than this going in to this read. The story unfolds quickly and the characters are engaging. There were several twists that were unexpected and a few that I figured out based on the information given. This thriller kept me tense the entire time and I had to stop reading whenever I got tired because I did not want to miss one clue or piece of evidence nonchalantly thrown in! The way this story unravelled was brilliant in my book.

"She said there's a saying, "The sheep spends its life worried about the wolf, only to be eaten by the farmer."

Huge thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur book for the ARC to read and review.
Pub date: 3.1.22

Highly recommend with no hesitation!!

Quite an interesting read from Alex Finlay although I think his first book was a lot better and more enthralling.

The Night Shift is a great thriller with numerous twists that you won't see coming.One item I didn't like what the amount of perspectives throughout the book, it seemed to jump around too much. However, overall A suspenseful suspenseful who did it that helps you on your toes!

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review of the book.

Well, Alex Finlay is officially on my "immediate read" list. This is the second book I have read by him and I think this sophomore effort even surpasses his first.

This book is a mystery and a bit of a police procedural. But more than that, it's a drama about people involved in terrible events. At the heart of this story is a workplace shooting on New Year's Eve 1999 that left several young adults dead. When a similar attack occurs 15 years later, attention is quickly drawn back to the earlier unsolved attack, its lone survivor, and those others caught up in the web of how that earlier tragedy unfolded. Like the best writers of stories like these, Finlay makes his reader care deeply about the characters. There are places where you'll gasp and others where you'll want to sob. I was a bit disappointed that I figured out some of the resolution early on, but there were certainly things I didn't see coming and it didn't impact my overall engagement with the story.

If you like your mystery stories to come with compelling characters and a rich narrative surrounding the events, then this is for you. I can't wait to see what Finlay does next.

The multiple murders of teenage girls happens twice, 15 years apart, in the same town. Is it the same killer? He was let out on a technicality and never seen again. That could have been the start of a good story, but the characters left a lot to be desired.
One was a survivor of the first incident, but appears integral to the second one as she is now a therapist who relates well to the survivor of the second. Then we get to see that she is in serious need of a therapist for herself. A serial cheater is what she is called, one who actually would rather have quick sex in a bathroom than go home with the man who just picked her up in a bar. To me, that is not a mentally healthy professional.
Another is the brother of the alleged killer who is now a lawyer who wants to find his brother and fight for justice, yet doesn't recuse himself from a conflict of interest that could jeopardize the case.
Who says things like, me and the Fed's, but someone uneducated? Vast quantities of alcohol consumed, but at least uber was used instead of driving.
I was not impressed. Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader in exchange for an honest opinion.

On New Year’s Eve in 1999 four teenage girls are working the late shift at a Blockbuster Video store in New Jersey when they are attacked. Only one of the girls survives and although the police are able to quickly identify a suspect, he quickly disappears and is never found. Fast forward 15 years later and in the same exact town in New Jersey, four teenage girls are attacked while working the late shift at an ice cream store. Once again, only one survivor. Is it the same killer, or a copy cat? The town of Linden, New Jersey will never be the same.

THE NIGHT SHIFT was an excellent thriller by Alex Finlay! I really loved the short chapters and the rapid pace that was set right from the first page. You will also find plenty of twists and turns here which kept me guessing throughout the book. I definitely look forward to the author’s future works.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to my Instagram Blog (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

I loved the author's previous book and I was so excited to receive the digital ARC for The Night Shift.

This is a compulsive and riveting thriller. It keeps you hooked from the start and doesn't let up till the end.
It is a well developed, complex and layered story with memorable and nuanced characters.

Two murders fifteen years apart. The story is told from multiple POVs which adds to the layered plot.

The author has done a marvellous job with the plotting and pace of the story. The twists and turns keep you enthralled and one can't stop reading. I did guess the culprit but that did not take away from the thrilling story.

Just grab your copy blindly. Highly highly recommend it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a Digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.