This was a fantastic thriller from Alex Finlay, just as his last couple have been for me. Fast-paced, interesting characters, and plot. He doesn't typically disappoint!

Listen, I have read all three of Alex Finlay's books released over the past few years. I have enjoyed each of them. Alex Finlay is a must-read author for me, and whatever I thought of this novel won't change that. That said, What Have We Done was a very different novel than his previous two. What Have We Done is much more soap-opera-esque. And while that is not always something that turns me off, it is certainly not what I would have expected from Mr. Finlay based on his previous novels. It was a fun novel with occasionally funny, over the top villains. I loved the idea of these friends from rough childhoods coming back together to solve the mystery of who is trying to kill them (and why) so many years after a mysterious event that shaped them all. The book never lost my attention, but it did make my eyes roll a few times from its sheer eccentricity. I would recommend What Have We Done with the warning that it is not as realistic as what I usually like.

ʙᴏᴏᴋ ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ
ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴡᴇ ᴅᴏɴᴇ ʙʏ ᴀʟᴇx ғɪɴʟᴀʏ
3.5/5

Summary:
Jenna, Nico, and Donnie were best friends who endured abuse and neglect while they were living in a group home for teenagers who didn’t have parents. The home was shut down after several teenage residents went missing and the three friends were separated. They haven’t seen or spoken to each other since their time at the home but have recently been reunited because someone is trying to kill them. Why? That is the question the book answers through a series of perspectives told by each character. In order to live, they will all have to confront the horrors of their past- a past with a secret that they all share that may just be the reason why someone wants to kill them now.

My Thoughts:
This book was good, but not great. I liked it, but did not love it. It was definitely thrilling, and had me on the edge of my seat several times, especially in the end with the ultimate twist. Overall, it was a fast read for me and I did enjoy it. However, there were a couple of issues that I had with it. There were SO. MANY. CHARACTERS. The story was told from several different perspectives that switched each chapter. At times it was hard to follow and I found myself flipping back to refresh my memory. The plot also resembled that of an action movie, with multiple different things going on at one time and never a solid path to follow. I also felt like the ending left me with many different questions, which I won’t put here to avoid there being spoilers in the review. With that being said, it was a book with a unique story and there were things I did like about the book. Also Jenna is a complete bada**!!

Read this if you like:
-fast paced thrillers
-stories told from different perspectives
-books with A LOT of characters

Trigger Warnings: Childhood abuse and neglect, gambling, gun violence, substance abuse/addiction.

Thank you NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and Alex Finlay for a copy of What Have We Done to review!

Finlay does it again. I am a MAJOR Alex Finlay fan and his newest novel didn't disappoint. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough and always was upset when I had to put the book down to be a responsible human being. Finlay has an uncanny ability to get your heart racing and have you rooting for his characters at the same time.

25 years ago a group of kids formed a bond at a foster home called the Savior House. After it was shut down, they grew apart, hoping to never see each other again. That is, until someone decides to start killing them one by one. A forced reunion no one wants, revisiting old memories and bringing up the question, what actually happened to the owner of the foster home, will have everyone wondering who is responsible.

Page-turning thriller. By shifting point of view between a group of people, now grown, who knew each other in a children's home years ago, Finlay keeps you going as you need to know what happens to each of them. There are many surprising twists and I really enjoyed them all.

Twenty-five years ago, Jenna, Nico, and Donnie formed a strong bond when they survived being residents of Savior House. After several kids disappeared, the home was shut down and the kids separated. Years later, they are unexpectedly reunited. Someone is trying to kill them. Surviving means reliving the past and confronting the nightmare that was their shared childhood.

As much as I enjoyed The Night Shift, this one just didn’t do it for me. I’m big fan of books with multiple points of view but this one was just very all over the place and I really struggled to keep people/events straight. Typically, I enjoy books set in the present with flashbacks to the past, but the flashbacks in this book came without any warning and I’d end up having to backtrack a little bit. Out of all the characters, I enjoyed reading Jenna’s perspective the most and loved her assassin background. I really didn’t care for the twins, they came off as very cheesy and awkward. Although the pacing felt off for most of the book, the last 25% was good and kept me on the edge of my seat! Just because this wasn’t the book for me, doesn’t mean it won’t be for you. Thank you to Minotaur Books, Alex Finlay, and NetGalley for my gifted e-arc. This book is out now!

I need to give up on Finlay. His books are just not for me. I dislike his characters and his writing style is not my thing.

This was such an easy thriller to read. Overall I enjoyed the story, I thought it was entertaining and it had me hooked from the very beginning. I liked reading from each MC's POV, I thought it made the story much better knowing each perspective. Some of it was a little farfetched to me (the assassin, the twin murder chicks, you know) but I still liked it regardless.

Thank you St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for inviting me to read my first Alex Finlay, WHAT HAVE WE DONE!

I requested this book because I liked the author's last book Night Shift, but I learned too late this book is about youths with traumatic pasts and that is triggering for me. Also I reached out to the author (he follws me on Instagram) and didn't get a response so I lost interest. I want the book finally off my shelf so I'm leaving a review.

I truly couldn’t tell you what happened in this book. I binged it on audio in 24 hours while cleaning my apartment and it was fast-paced and “thrilling” but I just felt like it was trying to do too much. The amount of characters and the switching between past and present day within the same chapters made my head hurt a bit.

But take this review with a grain of salt because I didn’t love THE NIGHT SHIFT either (for many of the same reasons). I thought I would give Finlay’s books another try but probably just not for me 🤷🏻‍♀️

TLDR: this thriller fell into the trap of being too confusing and too many characters in order to get a good “twist”

Hmm. I do love a multiple POV book but it has to be done right and I'm just not sure this one worked? It just seemed like there was so much going on and I had to keep track of so so much that I forgot a lot that happened in the mean time. It almost felt a bit like the author was trying to distract me, which I get for this kind of book, but I do not want it to feel so intentional.. The pacing was just a bit off. Some moments I was totally engrossed, others I was just trying to muscle through. It was not bad by any means, I just needed a little bit more (or less) from it.

I’m sad to say I didn’t enjoy this! I absolutely loved The Night Shift, it was one of my favorite thrillers last year and I’m bummed this was such a miss for me.

This read like an action film — extremely fast paced with character backstory revealed in flashbacks over the entire book. There were a large number of characters that would reappear later in the book, and it was difficult for me to keep track of them all.

I felt some of the big reveal twists didn’t need to be withheld from the reader — it made the experience confusing and to me didn’t have the “big twist” intended impact… it just left me thinking, this could’ve been revealed a lot sooner.

I think this would make a great Netflix series or movie, but as a book I’m sad it didn’t work for me

Book: What Have We Done
Author: Alex Finlay
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Pages: 368
Genre: Mystery Thriller
A stay-at-home mom with a past.
A has-been rock star with a habit.
A reality TV producer with a debt.
Six kids meet in at the very misnamed Savior House, a group home for teens without parents. The place is a house of horrors with bullying and inappropriate adult caretaking. And girls go missing, never to be seen again.
Now one of them is dead and it seems an assassin is trying to kill the rest of them. These adults are going to have to dive back into their past to stop what is happening now. The narrative alternates between the three, with a few additional chapters thrown in from the killer point of view.
The book has a lot of action. While reading it, I imagined that I was watching a movie.

Alex Finlay has written some of my favorite thrillers of the past couple of years so I was curious to see what his latest had in store. Right from the start, it’s very different from his first two novels, leaning more in the action/thriller genres than your typical procedural mystery.

While the action starts immediately with assassins and shady organizations chasing Jenna, Donnie, and Nico, it takes a little longer for the mystery to unfold, which is another departure from his previous work. I was left with a few lingering questions at the end, but I largely enjoyed the reading experience.

Jenna’s chapters were my favorite as they felt a little more fleshed out and her action scenes made it hard to put down and added to the cinematic feel of the novel. As a bonus to any DC bookstagrammers who may read this, part of the story takes place in the city, providing a bonus activity of looking for all of the local landmarks mentioned throughout.

What Have We Done is out now. Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is not my first Alex Finlay novel, I have enjoyed his novels in the past. This one did not live up to the others I have read.

There is little character development even though they are shown as teenagers and adults. Some of the MCs seemed to add fluff rather than real substance. There are multiple POVs, but it is easy to keep track of what the current plot line is. The main focus is current events, with very little about the past. An expansion of the past would have helped to explain more of what was going on in the present. The past is the reason all MCs are connected, yet this potion was extremely skimmed over.

I was also disappointed that Agent Keller did not make a small appearance.

I want to thank Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for an ARC.

What Have We Done by Alex Finlay
4 Stars
I wish to thank Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an eARC of this book. The strength of this book was the character development, the action scenes and the many twists as the book progressed. Five teenagers committed a terrible crime which would connect them for the rest of their lives. As adults now, with jobs and families, life becomes a whirlwind when they become targets of a killer looking for answers. I liked the short chapters, the alternating points of view and the very real action that propelled the story. I thought Jenna was an outstanding character that had as many moves as Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible, with an underground corporation to watch her back. Good story, Alex Finlay!

Alex Finlay knows how to write a solid thriller and he packed in the action and larger than life characters. While it was wholly unbelievable all the highly successful and/or famous people in the book came from one group home and friend group, I did find them all very interesting! The story was layered and kept me guessing and invested and I liked the rolling reveals scattered throughout.

With some suspension of disbelief, this really worked and I could absolutely see this becoming a tv show with the potential for spin offs as I loved finding out more about all the characters. Definitely a recommended read for something fast-paced and engaging!

A very interesting read! i highly recommend this tale for those that like drama. A group of kids that have all become fostered at Savior House. Young girls have gone missing. They form a bond and a deadly secret. Twenty five years have passed and they all have formed their lives. But now someone is trying to kill them, one by one. Follow the clues and survivors from failed death attempts. A great author!

Another thriller by Alex Finlay. Multiple POV with flashbacks from characters who share a past. These characters were very flawed (both good and bad!), but their development was minimal. Lots of action, some suspense, revenge and conspiracy. Good ending! Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. 3.5 Stars

What Have We Done was thrilling and twisty enough to hold my interest but I must say I enjoyed Every Last Fear more. Someone is hunting 5 adults that share a troubled past. Who will survive? You'll have to read it to find out.

Thanks NetGalley for an electronic ARC!