I wanted to like this book, but I struggled to maintain interest throughout. The concept was interesting enough, but the plot felt strung out and laggy.

I enjoyed the heck out of The Night Shift, but this title missed the mark for me. I typically am a fan of multiple POV and timelines, but this felt disjointed to me. I found myself getting distracted easily reading this, but I think the plot itself was decent. May be better as audiobook or in final print/digital form

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Surprising amount of assassins. 5 stars for a DNF as I cannot comment on the overall quality of this book

This was such a fun fast paced thriller. The different perspectives kept the story line moving quickly. Leaving me at cliff hangers, I would have to read until I found out what happened to whoever was in trouble! The story line was a little far fetched, but it wasn't so unbelievable that it was distracting. I thought it was the perfect thriller to get me out of my reading slump. I always enjoy what Alex Finlay writes! I'm looking forward to his next one!

“𝑶𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. 𝒀𝒆𝒂𝒉, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒆’𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒔. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆.”

To quote my friend Dennis (@ScaredStraightReads): “is it possible to have mixed opinions about a book and still enjoy it?!”; I think the answer is yes!

For the last three years, I have anticipated Alex Finlay’s newest thriller and this one was no different. Finlay once again does multiple perspectives so well, allowing you to get into the heads of three former siblings in foster care at a place called Saviour House: Jenna, Donnie, and Nico. It’s fun to discover all of their connections from living in Saviour House and wondering why someone wants to hunt them down hunt them down. Nico and Donnie are a bit whiney and it took me a while to connect with them, but Jenna is a pure badass. Her association with The Cooperation reminded me of something out of a James Patterson novel or the second season of the tv series Revenge. The prose is propulsive and well constructed, and I found myself very quickly turning the pages. I did miss the subtly and tension of Finlay’s other thrillers; this one is pure over-the-top action and is most definitely unbelievable. At the same time, I felt like that is part of its charm? The last 20% had some really good reveals in typical Finlay fashion. If you can imagine it as an action film, it offers a lot of entertainment.

What Have We Done is a story of hiding from the past, friendship, bravery, revenge, and betrayal. It is a cat and mouse thrill ride that is a pure popcorn thriller. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books for the ARC!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of What Have We Done by Alex Finlay. I really enjoyed Every Last Fear so I was excited to read another book by this author. This book is told by three different main characters and frequently bounces between the past and present day. The last part of the book was addicting and hard to put down. However, it could have been a little clearer and left some room for a more satisfyingly ending. I would certainly keep Alex Finlay on must read list

While I enjoyed this one, to be up front it was probably my least favorite of Alex Finlay’s books.
I think fans of Jason Borne or Jack Reacher will enjoy this one. It was very action packed with that kind of over the top badass action. I would also kinda describe the characters as over the top too.
It was fun! Just maybe not my typical cup of tea.
I will say the ending was great though. The whole last few chapters were so twisty I couldn’t figure out what was going to happen next.
So maybe the typical mystery/thriller reader might not love this one action fans will!

What Have We Done by Alex Finlay is an explosive thriller about three orphans from the same foster home as teens, with a secret from their past that is haunting them twenty five years later. Jenna is a stay at home mom, she has a voting husband and two step daughters she adores. Nico is a reality star with a hidden gambling problem that is catching up to him, and Donnie was the rocker from a decade ago with a drug and alcohol habit that he can’t seem to shake. As teenagers, the unlikely trio all lived at Savior House, until the group home was shut down after reports of kids disappearing under mysterious circumstances. It was also a time when the trio, plus two other teens, did something so bad, they swore to keep it a secret forever. But someone knows about their past, and they are now trying to kill them, a quarter of a century later. They must now come together once more, after all this time, to figure out who has dug up the nightmare they thought they left behind, before they each end up dead.

This was a tough one to get through. I have read other books by Alex Finley, and absolutely loved them, I feel this wasn’t his best work. The characters lacked something, they weren’t very likable, but Jenna’s story peaked my interest most. I was confused often, not really seeing where the connection was, especially when the contract killers were exposed. The ending picked up, there was a lot of action, and a twist with a surprise ending, that I enjoyed. Some of this was predictable, but most of it was just meh. I’ll still keep Alex Finlay on my list of favorite authors, and chalk this one up to a one-off.

I would like to thank Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books and Alex Finlay for an advanced reader copy of this novel in exchange for an honest opinion.

This book starts off like an action movie and I was entirely into it. I accepted that yes, this would be unrealistic and far from life and I loved the story until the 60% mark. After that, something happened, and the whole thing became a mess. The revealing twist was weird, to say the least, there were so many better ways to handle the situation (but of course then we wouldn't have a book).
Overall, this is not a bad book to read between heavier reads, it was fun and full of action. However, it all felt too easy, and messy, and had me roll my eyes so many times.

This was my first book by this author. I will say I felt as though this was your average thriller. Medium paced with a description that hooks a reader but a story line that has little plot twists. Everything was much expected in this story and the plot twists (assuming it had any) were very much expected. Still the story was overall good and I would recommend to other readers.

Findlay did it again! Decent pacing, unique characters, and twists and turns. I would have finished this much faster, but life got in the way. Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much Netgalley and Minotaur books for the gifted ARC of this one!

Overall I really enjoyed this book! I loved the back and forth between past and present. It kept the book so interesting. I also liked the multiple point of views. This was unlike any thriller I’ve read before and I liked the group home background. It made it that much more intriguing.
The narrators for this audiobook were fantastic! I always really enjoy books read by Brittany Pressley - she does such a good job!
Overall I definitely recommend this book!

This was a fast-paced thriller that actually gave me a satisfying ending!

Alex Finlay brings us What Have We Done where four old friends are reunited after 25 years… the reunion being their failed assassinations.

They soon learn they have become targets due to a secret of their past. The story alternates between past and present with multiple POVs bringing forth the horrors of their childhood in a group home for foster children.

I read this book in less than 2 days. It’s fast paced and intriguing. The characters are interesting and multifaceted. I would recommend this to those looking for their next thriller novel.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher St-Martin’s Press and the author Alex Finlay.
I was so ecstatic to be approved for the latest novel by this author. I really enjoyed the mystery, the characters, the crazy dilemma they were in.
How your actions from your past affect your future. How it traumatized people.
Overall a good read.
Recommend

This was yet ANOTHER incredible read by Finlay. Such a different take on the thriller with so many twists and turns and dynamic and interesting characters. And the best part....I did NOT see the twist coming! This was a face-paced, action packed thriller that had my adrenaline pumping from page-one and is definitely one of my favorite books so far in 2023.

This was a quick, entertaining and fun read! A popcorn thriller. Be ready to suspend disbelief though. I don't usually have a hard time with that, because that's just the fun of it. That's why it's fiction. Lol!! Just go with it. I was really into the whole story. It was twisty and caught me off guard so many times. Lots of action. This would be great on the big screen! Told through 3 characters POV. They are Jenna, Nico and Donnie. They all were in a group home together when they were younger, until it was shut down. Now, years later, they must come together again, because someone is trying to kill them! Not going to give it away…but I will say that I really did enjoy this.

Our NOW!! Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own. My review will be posted on Goodreads Instagram Bookbub and Amazon.

I am really enjoying Finlay's thrillers even if they have more action than my normal thrillers that I'd read. Something about his stories are very compelling to me.

2.5/5 Stars

Jenna, Donnie, Art, Ben and Nico were all residents of a group home called Savior House. When multiple girls went missing, the home was shut down, separating the five teens. As adults, they went on to live some-what successful lives. They are reunited after the death Ben as well as the realization that someone is trying to kill them over a secret they've been hiding for the past 25 years.

I don't know what it was about this but I could not get into it. I found it such a struggle to get through. I was invested enough in the story to continue reading as I wanted to know what they were hiding... but it was ultimately a let down in the end once it was revealed. The story is told in two different timelines, the past and the present. I was definitely more interested in the past, and what happened at Savior House. I listened to this on audio, which had different narrators for the
cast of characters. I definitely think that made me give the book a higher rating, as I said, I struggled a bit to get through this.

Four once-friends reunite when a secret from their past makes them a target—in Alex Finlay’s new fast-paced thriller, WHAT HAVE WE DONE.

Jenna, Donnie, Nico, Arty, and Ben were best friends, having become close after the nightmares they endured in foster care. Twenty-five years later, Jenna is a former assassin and now stepmother to two girls, Donnie is a washed-up rockstar with a drinking problem, Nico is a reality TV producer with debts to pay, and Arty a tech billionaire. But when Ben—a judge—is murdered, and each barely survives their own assassination attempt, they realize the key to everything lies within their shared past, and a secret they swore to never talk about again.

Through alternating past and present chapters, we learn their backstories and what led them to do what they did so many years ago. This very much felt like a ‘popcorn thriller’ with unrelenting twists and fast-paced action. Each character was troubled and multifaceted, uniquely shaped by the trauma of their past. Taut and tangled, this is one that will keep you guessing all the way to its white-knuckle ending. Finlay is quite the exciting thriller writer and this one reads like a pulse-pounding action movie from which you can’t look away.

I really liked this one! Creepy and mysterious without being obvious, it's the story of 4 adults who are all connected by one major thing from their past: the time they spent at a group home for foster children. It has shaped all of their lives in one way or another, some faring better than others, but the one thing uniting them seems to have come back to haunt them as they realize that someone is trying to kill each of them.

I loved that this was a fast paced book without reading at a breakneck pace. This way, I felt like I got to truly know each of the characters on a deeper level than the reader is normally allowed in thrillers in this same genre. I read it quickly because I was really invested in the story AND the people. I woulds recommend this one to fans of thrillers, but also fans of well crafted stories.