I had previously read and loved Every Last Fear, so the bar was set high for this one. Very worthy successor. The characterization was well done, especially after reading several books in a row with mostly unlikeable characters. It was treat to realize that I loved each main character and the supporting ones. The interaction of Ella and Atticus made me smile more than once. The Y2K aspect was cool, as I was in my early 30's back then and remember it well.. Also, I have so many good Friday night with Blockbuster memories. I soaked up every detail from the video store scenes. Really, the only negative I have is that the culprit was pretty obvious, but there was so much else going on and the pace was so fast, that this was just a small blip. Definitely looking to the next one and Alex Finlay has just been added to my Must Read author list!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Alex Finlay and St. Martin's Press for this much appreciated ARC!

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

I loved this one. Very fast paced, had me turning pages as I tore through it – I had to see how it would end. The characters were well rounded and the narrative felt believable. Gave me chills. Solid five

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of The Night Shift.

I had high hopes for this, but I found this novel to be boring with a lot of police procedural talk and also was confusing with the many alternating characters. I did enjoy the timeline of 1999/Y2K and the nostalgic from that time. Sad to say I was very disappointed.

I was slightly underwhelmed by this book. This was my first time reading Alex Finlay, and I’d heard such good things, I thought this would be a five star book for sure. It was a good book, but nothing I’d call especially memorable or brilliant.

The night of Y2K (oh the nostalgia!), a group of kids working at Blockbuster end up getting killed, but there was one survivor: Ella. Fifteen years later, Ella is a therapist, and one night she gets a horrible phone call. Some kids working at the Dairy Creamery (I think that’s supposed to be Dairy Queen but maybe they didn’t want their chain used) have been killed, just like her friends at Blockbuster.

There is one survivor in this attack too: Jesse. At the hospital, she refuses to talk to the doctors or nurses about what happened, so Ella is called in. Having been the lone survivor of a similar situation, Jesse feels like she can trust Ella, so the story begins to come out. As Jesse talks, Ella is brought back to the night she almost died, and wonders if there is a connection.

The book goes through solving these crimes and bringing justice to all the families affected. There were almost too many characters, which made it a little convoluted at times, but it was a pretty good read anyway. There were plenty of twists, but none that really blew my mind. The ending was neatly done, and overall I enjoyed this one, just not as much as I was expecting to. I’m giving this a 3.5, rounded up because the writing was good and it kept me interested the whole time.

(Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, Alex Finlay and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.)

#FirstLine - The night was expected to bring tragedy.

I think that Alex Lake is becoming a new favorite writer of mine. This story is outstanding. I was gripped from the start and could not figure out the ending. I was blown away by how the story slowly unraveled. I also was fascinated by the way Lake developed the characters and laid out their Individual stories. It was brilliance. I adored this book and I loved being taken into this thrilling suspenseful mystery. It is an absolute must read!!! Loved it!

This was a great read and a five star follow up to The Last Fear. Findlay knows the formula for a fantastic thriller and has mastered the idea that we need fleshed out characters with believable motives to carry us past the ending and keep there exploits in our heads long after the novel is over. This has all the good plot lines : strong female protagonists, copycat/repeat scenarios, good//bad cops and a heavily pregnant FBI agent determined to solve two crimes years apart possibly committed by the same person but not the one the police suspected. While we can guess the real killer early on, that didn’t stop my enjoyment as there was so much else going on I really needed a whiteboard to keep track.

New Year’s Eve 1999. I remember the anxiety surrounding the date and the terrifying news stories of what could potentially happen: cars wouldn’t work, planes would fall from the sky, the power grid would fail. People were hoarding food and bottled water. I also remember those same news casters 1 minute after midnight, starting their vehicles, swiping their ATM cards and it all worked! What a relief!

It is in the midst of the fear of a potential digital apocalypse that our story takes place. Even better, it starts at a Blockbuster Video (I LOVE all this ‘90’s nostalgia! I am here for it!!) where four teenage girls are working alongside their manager, then all but one of the workers are brutally murdered. A suspect is soon arrested and subsequently released. Then, they are never to be seen or heard from again.

Fast forward 15 years and there is another murder in the same town. Obviously since Blockbuster is long gone (but forever in my heart!) this murder takes place at the Dairy Creamery. Yet again, it’s the night shift, teenagers are murdered and there is a lone survivor. The crimes are very similar ( both involved teenagers in the same town, during the night shift, a lone survivor) Surely there is a connection? Told from the dual perspectives of FBI agent Keller and public defender Chris, they investigate this probable connection and try to discover who the killer (or killers?) are.

I enjoyed the split perspectives and even when I thought I had figured it out, I was wrong! The first half of the book is a bit slow but the writing is genuinely good so that helped. I’m glad I stuck with it for the twists and turns that came later in the book that I was most definitely not expecting.

I really liked the FBI agent, Sarah Keller. I have heard she is in a previous book by this author so I am going to read that next .

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Expected Publication Date: 3/1/22.

This is a very good book, one of the main characters is from the author's previous book Every Last Fear, FBI agent Keller, now 8 months pregnant with twins is asked to investigate a multiple murder at an ice cream parlour. Three teens are dead and one has survived. The similarities to an unsolved murder that took place 15 years ago at a Blockbuster that also involved the murder of 3 teens and one survivor cannot be ignored. Agent Kellar teams up with a young officer Atticus (yes named after the character in To Kill A Mockingbird) to investigate both the present and past murders. A suspect had been quickly arrested after the first murders but was released and has not been seen to date, Vince Whitaker, is quickly a prime suspect for the new killings. Chris Ford, Vince's younger brother, is a lawyer, working as a public defender and in his spare time follows on Instagram a vlogger who he is convinced is his brother. Vince and Chris had a terrible upbringing, violence against them and their mother a frequent occurrence, Chris still bears scars from that time. Ella, the lone survivor from the original killings, is a therapist, she's asked to talk to Jesse, the lone survivor from the most recent killing. The author does a very good job at doling out clues and maintaining suspense. The story moves along quickly and I highly enjoyed. Thanks to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC.

Excellent story! Totally engrossing!. Looking forward to reading more by this author! Could not put this down!

I have to agree with another reviewer. I liked this a lot, but thought it wasn't as good as Every Last Fear. Still, that's a high bar and this one is still a good and compelling book.

Blew me out of the water. This book was SO good - I had an accurate prediction about things, but that honestly didn’t take away from the story at all. I read this book essentially in a sitting - devoured it - and was so thrilled about it. I was lucky enough to snag an ARC of Finlay’s last book, and though that was good, The Night Shift was stellar.

🍿 This book was SO GOOD. I finished it in one sitting. It starts with a bang but slows a bit to introduce all the characters and backstories, but once all that’s out of the way it’s action packed. There are plenty of shocking twists and turns throughout. I did have a guess at who the bad guy was but could not figure out the why. Overall I loved this book and think my thriller loving friends will too. Thank you to @netgalley and @minotaur_books for an eARC of this book.

Loved this book! It might be because I worked at a Blockbuster in high school (no murders though), and enjoyed the 90s references. But, overall a great, fast-paced read.
The book takes place in Linden, NJ, a town that has faced eerily similar crimes fifteen years apart. Has the serial killer returned? A copycat? As the police work to uncover the truth, the only survivor of the first murder works with the only survivor of the second to try to understand what happened.
A great thriller!

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy.

I felt the story was slow and I was extremely bored with this one.

The Night Shift opens on Y2K in the most 90s place imaginable: a Blockbuster Video. From there, it switches between 1999 and current day, with both timelines including a mass murder that occurred late at night at a store. The star of the book is super-pregnant FBI agent Sarah Keller who is indeed quite the badass.

Alex Finlay's earlier book, Every Last Fear, is one of my favorite thrillers in recent years. The Night Shift doesn't disappoint, but I found the pacing a little slower and the outcome a little more predictable than the previous book. Still, it's an entertaining and dramatic read and worth picking up.

Many thanks to Alex Finlay, St. Martin’s Press, and Net Galley for providing me with a digital advance copy of this novel. I was excited to read Finlay’s new book, and it did not disappoint. It’s a well-crafted mystery/thriller with several engaging characters, at least that I could see as a basis for a continuing series. It kept my interest and was almost impossible to put down. Highly recommend!

I really enjoyed this one and will definitely be adding it to my "teachers only" section in our library! I especially loved the ending and was surprised at how poignant it felt. In general I found this to be a solidly written thriller with an intriguing storyline and felt it was perfect for spooky season--it was like reading a slasher movie (though not as gory). The two murders decades apart gave me Scream 4 vibes in that "here we go again" way. Really enjoyed!

First off thank you to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for this eARC of The Night Shift by Alex Finlay!

I haven't read Finlay's other book (that was huge), but this one sounded so good I had to have it. Now, I think the writing in this book was a tad cheesy for me, like an episode of Law and Order if it was produced by Hallmark (minus all the grotesque-ness) BUT I also think I needed that and it made me into it even more. I loved the fact that the first case we learn about happened in the 90's and trying to figure out if/how these cases were connected. It gave me the same vibes as a true crime podcast gives me (I think because this reminded me of the real life Yogurt Shop Murders). There were at times too many POVs but once I got to the second half I wanted all of them and could see it all clicking together.

This was a solid suspense read that will be perfect to devour when it is released on 03/01/22.

This is one of the best books that I have read all year. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. This story involves multiple characters but ultimately is about two gruesome crimes and the race to discover who committed them. The characters were well developed but I would have liked to hear more about the person responsible for the crimes; I think a look into that person's background or even a prequel would be amazing!

I got through the book in two days. Definitely a page turner. Great characters and good build up. Ending didn't do it for me. I was disappointed.