Really enjoyed this one. I like Alex Finlay’s writing, and he crafts a great plot. Character development and action throughout the book was top tier. Highly recommend!

I liked this book a lot. It is the story of a group of kids that became friends at a home for orphan children. They bonded while they were there because the place was so horrible. They were treated badly by a corrupt system and the adults at the home were unethical. While they were at the home, girls started disappearing and they tried to help but couldn't. This is told in flash backs from all of the characters after things begin to happen to them and one of them is killed, I like the character development and th story kept me involved and interested throughout. I recommend this book and gave it 4 stars.

25 years before the mystery's main events, 5 teenagers from the Savior House group home' in Chesterton, Pennsylvania shoot into a shallow grave. They lose touch after the home is shut down.

Then they are targeted one by one. 3 survivors end up back in Chesterton, desperate to understand why this is happening to them.

I highly recommend this action packed chiller.

This was a very middle of the road thriller for me. I did enjoy Nigh Shift last year, but it wasn't a favorite. I think I loose interest halfway through on most of these thrillers. I really need a senerios, and atmosphere that draws me in. Whether it is fast paced or slow burn, I need it to grip me. If you are an all around thriller lover, you will really enjoy this. If you are looking for something page turning, I am not sure you will find it here. I did enjoy this one, but I don't think I will pick it up again.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for a honest review.

If you haven't yet read a story by Alex Finlay, this is your sign to do it! Don't sleep on this author and the stories! This is the third gem by this author I've read, the third tense, thriller that's kept me on the edge of my seat and guessing until the very end. I absolutely flew through these short, well-woven chapters and managed to guess almost none of the twists!

We have kids who grew up together in a foster care type home. They are now adults and something, or someone, is threatening them and forcing them all back together. They are being forced to go back to their small town, their nightmare childhood, to finally find out what happened all those years ago.

I loved these characters. This author has a unique way of giving short, snappy chapters but giving us just enough details to really know our characters. The tension is always high, the story plays out like a movie in my head, and I love the twists and turns of this one. Trust me, don't skip this story or this author, both are a must read!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

This story was told from four different perspectives. From kids in a group home to their current lives. When mysterious things keep happening to each of them, it brings them back to a place they have all been trying to forget.

I enjoyed this read and it held my attention! I did guess the big twist but even with that I still enjoyed this read! I am a big fan of Alex Finlays books and I think this was my least favourite of them all so I would definitely start with his others!

Read if you like:
The last thing he told me

This was a GREAT READ. Definite page-turner & quick read (because you won't want to put it down).

SKILLFUL story-telling and momentum gathering with each chapter. The plot unfolds through alternating perspectives, providing insights from all angles. This technique adds depth to the story—kept me guessing and engrossed in the unraveling mystery.

The characters are well-developed and relatable; their flaws and vulnerabilities make them feel authentic. The psychological nuances and emotional depth given to the characters enhanced my investment in the story, making the stakes feel higher.

My face at the end of this book probably resembled the "mind exploding" emoji. I absolutely did not predict at least 2/3 of the big reveals at the end. This book kept me on my toes. This book has a rotating series of perspectives. We get the viewpoints of each of the individuals who lived in the very shady group home (all of whom have somehow done exceptionally well for themselves). We also get the viewpoint of the big bad's hired assassins. The plot dragged a bit in places and there were some details we didn't need and were probably supposed to be red herrings, but it didn't slow me down enough to feel inclined to stop reading.

Bottom line? Finlay, as always, delivered a thriller that I absolutely couldn't put down.

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

I was so confused the entire story. Literally had no clue what was going on pretty much the entire time and even at the end, I felt like I was still scratching my head. Just wasn’t a fan.

Alex Finlay's What Have We Done is not my favorite of his works. It wasn't that I didn't not like it but I just wasn't that into it. It is a far cry from The Night Shift.
I do look forward to reading more books from Alex Finlay in the future.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

To be completely honest here, I did debate on my rating for this one for a little bit, because a two star seemed a bit generous to me, but a one star a bit too harsh. I typically keep one stars for books I absolutely HATED, and this is not that, but compared to my other two stars this book was shit. So yeah, we've landed here anyway. I think my main problem with this book is that I just simply did not connect to the writing. I just think it kept me at arms distance from what was happening in the actual book. I did not care about anything that was happening really. On top of that I also felt like the three different perspectives just felt like three different books, even when they are all in the same place. The vibes are just so incredibly different for the three of them that I just never felt like one cohesive story to me. When it came to the reveals and twists I think this book just went a bit too much. So many difficult topics were thrown in, but in a way that just felt for shock value as we never get to properly delve into them. So yeah, this really just wasn't for me. You might like it, but I definitely didn't. This was an extremely quick read though, so there's that.

"As the bus disappears in a trail of black exhaust, Jenna notices a woman across the street who seems to be staring at her. She’s not one of the usual bus-stop parents. She has a pretty heart-shaped face, high cheekbones. Someone new in the neighborhood maybe. Too young to be a mom. An au pair? Jenna raises her hand to wave, but the woman turns away. Not even fellow outcasts want to be friends. Jenna watches a long moment as the woman crosses the street to avoid the other parents chatting on the sidewalk."

"No matter how bad the person, we all cling to the days of innocence we remember from our youth."

Of course, not everyone was innocent. Savior House was less of a group home and more a ring of hell for Jenna, Donnie, and Nico. When they were teens, their female peers were disappearing at an alarming rate. This on top of unhealthy quantities of brutality to endure or evade, not to mention a strange rich person who stopped by occasionally with mysterious purpose. Twenty-five years ago, the three, together with two other friends, committed a homicide. (It’s in the prologue) Today, one of their group is already dead, and the rest are in mortal peril. Can any of them be saved? What goes around…

We follow the three as they try to survive. The action is mostly contemporary, with looks back at their teen experience, which was not pretty, and the events that led up to that fateful day. They did not escape Savior House unscathed.

"I love exploring how people deal with, and overcome, trauma. I’d read somewhere about how many people with childhood trauma somehow later channel that into highly successful careers. That was the spark for the idea of a group of teenagers in an abusive foster home growing up and having accomplished lives, but also a secret that will come back to haunt them 25 years later." – from 2023 The Big Thrill interview

Jenna is a DC-suburb stay-at-home stepmom, with a particularly dark past, which she believed she had left behind. Donnie was in a popular band twenty years ago, and is now playing the oldies circuit, currently working a cruise ship. He has issues with substances. Nico is an executive producer for a successful reality TV show, set in a mine. He has issues with gambling. Maybe their troubles are a form of penance. Attempts are made on all their lives.

Asked in the above interview how he came up with the unusual characters in this book, Finlay said,

"For Donnie, I’ve long wanted to create an aging rocker as a character. In fact, seven years ago I interviewed the members of a popular 80s band knowing that someday I’d use it for a character. That day came when I wrote my first Donnie chapter for WHAT HAVE WE DONE. For Nico, I have a friend who’s an executive producer of hit reality TV shows, so I had access to someone with a unique job. And the great fictional characters of others—Jason Bourne, Nikita, and Orphan X to name a few—inspired Jenna."

The book is divided into three parts. In The Targets, we meet and spend some time with each of the three, get to know them, their situations in life, their strengths and their issues. The Reunion brings at least some of the group back together, and The Truth is self-explanatory.

It is a wild ride, as Finlay keeps the action moving, and the pages flipping, as the three do their best to remain alive in a hostile world. There are plenty of white-knuckle passages, and chapter-ending questions left to be answered. Finlay knows how to end his chapters with a hook, to keep you from switching off that bedside lamp (or e-reader). He keeps you wondering who can be trusted.

The chapters are short, averaging a little over four pages per, and many, eighty-six, so you can pop into the book for a few minutes at a time, and still scarf down a chapter or five.

Some moral questions are raised. You will pick up some unexpected bits of intel. A killer uses an unusual weapon for their dark purpose. And there is some useful info on mining safety. You are hardly likely to fall in love with any of the characters, particularly any with a psycho-killer persuasion, but you will like them enough, particularly Jenna, (who, BTW, gets 36 of the 86 total chapters; Donnie and Nico get 22 and 16 respectively) to care about how things go for them, to hope that they can find some redemption, in addition to surviving. But this is pretty much a pure entertainment. Don’t worry about underlying content, themes, or larger issues. Just see what happens next, and then, and then, and then. It is a wonderful beach read. You won’t wonder what you have done once you finish reading. You’ll know. You will have had a good time.

"he’s startled by a memory: the four of them at the bank of the river, on their knees, the gun barrel put to the back of Donnie’s head.
Ben’s voice echoes in his head. You don’t have to be scared anymore, Donnie.
A tear rolls down Donnie’s cheek.
I’m not so sure about that, Benny. I’m not so sure."

Review posted – 5/5/23

Publication date – 3/7/23

I received AREs of What Have We Done from Minotaur Books in return for a fair review. Now, would you please tell that person who keeps following me to go away. Thanks, folks, and thanks to NetGalley for facilitating.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Minotaur Books for the eARC of What Have We Done in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows the trajectory of five foster children. One becomes a T.V star, a judge, a assassin, a rock star, and a millionaire.

This book was well written but over all kind of run of the mill for me. The twists and turns were somewhat obvious and some parts of the book weren’t all that believable.

I think overall Jenna was my favourite character even if her being an assassin wasn’t overly believable. I think the characters vices and how they dealt with the event from their childhood made the story more manageable to accept.

I think this book was good, but I just wanted more from it overall.

Unfortunately this book wasn't a favorite for me. I felt the pacing was off + I wasn't super engaged in the story. I think the multiple POVs made it a bit hard to understand. Reeves being in on everything was a great twist, but I feel like most of the others I predicted. I think there are people who would love this book, it just wasn't for me.

What have we done was a dual timeline i think? It wasn’t my favorite of Alex finlay but it was very capturing, the beginning was so good and action packed and towards the end it fell a bit flat. I’d just say the end was disappointing and leave it at that.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review.*

3.25 ⭐️

What Have We Done follows a group of adults who were in the same foster home when they were in their early teens. You know, going into this book that they were all responsible for something really bad in their youth. This book has a lot of twists and turns, but it takes a while to get there.

Jenna, Nico, Donnie, and Artemis all get their own chapters, along with a few others in this book. The chapters were short and quick, but the overall plot kind of dragged up until the last part of this book.

All of these characters have their own skill sets and use them well during the mystery and action that happens in this book. It is apparent that they all have an unspeakable bond with each other. You slowly find out how their time at Savior House was and how they dealt with the trauma into their adult hood.

The premise of this book is that the group from the Savior House is being targeted, and someone is trying to kill all of them after they find out their friend Ben was killed. I can say the twist as to why and who was trying to kill the group surprised me. I liked those chapters a lot.

I did feel that Nico and Donnie's characters slowed the story down for me. I didn't particularly care about either of their POVs, but I understood why they were added. Jenna was by far my favorite character. I ate her chapters up. I even enjoyed the other women's chapters in this book as well. I wanted more background about them!

Overall, this book wasn't a bad action/mystery thriller at all. It just kind of dragged and took me a while to get into the story.

One of the Most Anticipated Books of 2023:• BookPage • BookBub • Go BookMart • The Every Girl • She Reads • Beyond the Bookends

A stay-at-home mom with a past.
A has-been rock star with a habit.
A reality TV producer with a debt.
Three disparate lives.
One deadly secret.

I loved the writing and the way Alex Finlay tells the story of Jenna, Donnie and Nico in the present some twenty five odd years later, who are now being hunted down one by one.

It’s just so thrilling to read an Alex Finlay novel that you feel so giddy when you crack that spine, settle in, take a deep breath, and then off to a wild ride never looking back.

What Have We Done is a great thriller and coming of age read that is exhilarating and oh so fun!

I enjoyed this book! I didn’t know who was going to be the person after all of them. I didn’t expect it to be one of the fellow former foster kids! The twist about him also killing other people when he was younger was interesting too!

I loved the premise and the execution of this book, and it reminded me why I am currently binging the author’s entire catalog.

This book was quite a ride! Someone is out to kill 3 people who used to be at a youth home together. Now as adults (some with very interesting and a wee far fetched) careers Donnie, Nico, and Jenna have to come back together to figure out who is after them and why and how it ties back to their time at Savior House. This is very intense and fast paced and in my head I kept picturing the villain assassins as the Waif from GoT (x2). I can't say I was too surprised by the big reveal of the culprit at the end but I still really enjoyed this one.