Probably just not my type of book, although the opening chapter grabbed my attention. I found it difficult to stay interested.

i absolutely LOVED this book and couldn't put it down. This really gave me the nostalgia (blockbuster!) and the perfect amount of thrill and suspense. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review and I really cannot wait to get my hands on Finlay's next book because i'm sure it will be just as amazing as his others!

This was my first book by Alex Finlay and it was a good one!

I could not pass up the opportunity to read a book about a serial killer set in the 90's - in a Blockbuster of all places!

The Night Shift was reminiscent of the cult classic slasher film Scream. The concept was not exactly original, but I loved this book and found myself reading it in 2 sittings. I loved the short chapters and multiple perspectives.

I really enjoyed Agent Keller's character - I would love to read an ongoing series based on her character! She's tough, strong, smart, and desperate to find the person responsible for the killings in the Blockbuster, and later, at the ice cream shop. My only issue with Agent Keller is that she was eight months pregnant with twins. I just didn't feel like that aspect of her character was truly believable.

Overall if you are looking for a fun, fast paced suspenseful mystery, The Night Shift is for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advanced e-book.

My first book by the author and won’t be my last. This book kept my attentions through all the twists and turns until the very end.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books and the author for allowing me to read an advanced reader copy of this book. The book published on March 1, 2022.
The story starts out with Ella, Candy, Katie and Mandy as they are all closing up the Blockbuster on New Year’s Eve 1999 with their manager, Steve. Ella is the only survivor of a brutal attack that night. Fifteen years later, she receives a phone call from someone in her past asking her to go to the hospital to talk to another victim – this time Jesse is the only survivor of a very similar attack on a local business.
An arrest was made in the 1999 attack; but he was released on a technicality and virtually disappeared. Did he come back 15 years later and, if so, what is the connection between the two events? Told in multiple points of view, we have Ella, now a therapist and dealing with her own demons from the 1999 attack, FBI Agent Keller, who is pregnant with twins and teams up with Atticus to investigate, Chris, an attorney, who is connected to the attacker, and was adopted and given a new name.
I had figured out one aspect of the story relatively early and easily but wanted to see how it all played out. Overall, I thought it was well-written and will read his other books. The ending was dramatic…and the Epilogue could have been a bit more descriptive.

I really enjoyed this book. A few things I figured out but a lot I didn't. There were several characters that I would like to see in a sequel. They were all written very well. You knew their whole story and anyone of them could be in a future book and you would remember them. I can see why people kept recommending this book.
Look forward to reading more from this author.

This was my first Alex Finlay book and I was pleasantly surprised with it! This was a thriller but I feel like it mixed up a lot of elements but did it well. It had slasher, final girl, detective story vibes all wrapped up in one. It was pretty fast paced and it kept you guessing. There was one plot twist that surprised me and one that didn't. It's hard to do something new when it comes to thrillers but this gave me creepy slasher vibes in the beginning and then moved more into a faster paced mystery and then ended with a little thriller toward the end. I liked that we got multiple points of views but they were very different perspectives. I liked most of the characters in this book.... a few of them being quite endearing. I will definitely read Finlay books in the future.

I was pretty sure the perp figured out fairly early on, but it was fun watching it all come together, and finding out I was correct in my guess. I found the story entertaining, and liked that part of the story was in the late 90's, my early college days. If you like thrillers, this is definitely one to check out.

I really enjoyed this. I thought it was super unique. The imagery/setting was so vivid- great writing. The one thing I didn’t love is the sheer # of characters. It got confusing at times.. especially with similar names (Ella, Keller/ Candy/Mandy, and I think there was Bob and another B male name) anyway. I was glad to be reading the ebook so I could highlight the names and jog my memory. I did not know how it was going to end.

I’ve been enjoying reading Alex Finlay books and this one was pretty good too! I give it 4 stars as I felt it was a little slow and predictable. I did love the intensity and the action-packed moments, but a lot of it felt just really conversational. Definitely a fun, quick read!

3.5/5

This book kept me interested and I didn’t guess the ending. Some of the plot points were a little far fetched but overall a decent book. Thank you to the publisher for gifting me an early copy to review in exchange for my honest opinion!

Okay how is it 11 on a work night - I stayed up way past my bed time to finish this ! Thank you NetGalley for approving me and thanks to Alex Finlay for keeping me enthralled and up past my bed time ! What a great murder mystery with so much action and twists and turns!! If you like FBI/ police procedure and investigation, or serial killers - this is likely a good book for you! I really enjoyed it and haven’t been up so late without notice or question in a while so it will def keep you turning the pages !

Side note what a trip down memory lane with BLOCKBUSTER -talk about a center part of teen years and movie filled weekends - really glad my memories are great and nothing like the workers experience in this story …

Possible spoilers :
Loved agent bad ass!!!
Going to pretend that Atticus lives happily ever after I mean we met his mom and all !!!

This was one of the best written books I have read in a while. It kept me up into the wee hours of the night because I never wanted to put it down, the book starts with a murder spree at the local Blockbuster in 1999 with a sole survivor. Flash forward to present day, and there is a very similar murder spree at the local ice cream shop. Both homicides had young teens as the main victims and left one survivor. The survivor from the original tragedy is now a social worker who was called to counsel the surviving victim. This reopens the Blockbuster cold case as the question arises, did they have the wrong suspect or is it’s copycat killer. Highly recommended, but you might want to wait for the weekend when you can devour the book without being completely sleep deprived for work!

More nostalgia than you can shake a stick at! I thoroughly loved this book! So much fun! Great story, great writing, and a great ending! Alex Finlay has become an absolute must read!

Despite going through a huge book funk and taking a lot longer than normal to read this book, it was an amazing read. The writing is excellent, making this one seem like a movie I was watching the entire time. There were quite a few plot twists that came out of nowhere and had me grabbing on the edge of my seat. This is the first book I read by this author and definitely won’t be my last.

Thanks to the publisher for my copy - all opinions are my own.

I have to admit, this quickly became my favorite Alex Finlay book to date. There is something so perfectly crafted about this book that pulls in those nostalgic 90's slasher vibes that are near and dear to my heart, and I devoured this entire book in one afternoon.

I love the premise of this book, and the pacing was bang on. Give me any book that shifts perspectives between characters and I am sold. It kept the plot unfolding with just enough tidbits to keep me hooked for "just one more chapter".

No spoilers, but this is the perfect summer escapism reading you need on your list!

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Night Shift brought me back in time. Mostly because of the Blockbuster vibes because I used to love that place. So, when a murder happens within one in the very beginning, well, my heart was a little sad. Then I got very invested pretty quickly because it was time to solve a freaking murder.

Long story short, I had no idea who the murderer was until the very big reveal. One would think that I would be able to put the clues together. Unfortunately, I self-sabotaged myself in the very beginning because I kept thinking it would be a copycat killer. My mind couldn't get around it being the same person until my eyes read it. Then things started to click into place, and I was mad at myself for not seeing it.

Other than that, I was honestly suspicious of every person throughout this. Especially when trying to figure out who was the actual murderer because people kept hiding things. I needed all the secrets and information so that I could process everything. Then when people started dying my suspect pool because smaller and smaller.

In the end, I'm still creeped out with who it was and why everything went down the way it did. It also made me really sad with how many people died throughout this. The number was way more than I originally thought it would be. Definitely enjoyed the murder mystery because it kept me on my toes. I also can't wait for the next book that Alex writes. I seriously need more murder mysteries stat!

This book was exactly what I needed!! It is a very faced past thriller and I was on the edge on my seat the entire time. There were so many twists and I was second guessing what I thought was going on the whole entire time. I cannot wait for more from this author and highly highly recommend this to any thriller fan!

In a batch of “final girl” novels hitting the shelves, Alex Finlay’s story stands out. The multiple viewpoints really helped me immerse myself in the story. The characters were well-developed and although I was able to guess “whodunit”, there were plenty of twists and turns to keep me engaged. Finally, the sense of nostalgia is strong – anyone who grew up going to Blockbuster to get the latest VHS will appreciate it!

3.5 stars

I love a fast-paced, page-turning thriller when I am trying to get my reading mojo back. I read an ARC of this (thanks to NetGalley). I did accurately predict almost every major reveal here, but I don't think that's a bad thing personally. To me, it means the author set up some believable twists. I ultimately enjoyed the whole experience, but I do wish that the pacing had been more even. The ending felt SUPER rushed compared to the first third in my opinion, but I was still having fun from page one to the end! I definitely recommend it, it's the perfect poolside read.

(Review posted on Goodreads originally)