Ugh, I love Alex Finlay's writing. I binged Every Last Fear in a single read and The Night Shift was equally engrossing. I've had this on my TBR for too long and was thrilled to finally have a chance to dive in this week.

From Goodreads: 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.

Twenty five years ago, Jenna, Donnie, and Nico were the best of friends, having forged a bond through the abuse and neglect they endured as residents of Savior House, a group home for parentless teens. When the home was shut down―after the disappearance of several kids―the three were split up.

Though the trauma of their childhood has never left them, each went on to live accomplished―if troubled―lives. They haven’t seen one another since they were teens but now are reunited for a single haunting reason: someone is trying to kill them.

To survive, the group will have to revisit the nightmares of their childhoods and confront their shared past―a past that holds the secret to why someone wants them dead.

I loved this book.

In true Finlay fashion, I finished this in a single sitting. Jenna was definitely my favorite POV, but the others were also well-written, engaging, and dynamic. I loved the almost Umbrella Academy vibes from the found family. The switch from POVs, too, worked really well, keeping the pace moving and the conflict front and center. Cinematic, I could definitely see this translating to a Prime series, so if you like your thrillers in the vein of Jack Ryan or 24, you will devour this book.

Clever, fun, and expertly woven, What Have We Done is one of my favorites of the year.

Huge thanks to Minotaur and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for review consideration.

This is my second read of Finlay’s and it was another fast paced thriller that starts off fast and doesn’t quit until it is over, and I thoroughly enjoyed it all. Told in three POV’s, twenty five years ago Jennie, Donnie, and Nico were best friends after surviving abuse as residents of Savior House, a group home for parentless teens. They were split up after the home was shut down when several teens disappeared. They are reunited in present day as someone is trying to kill them.

I enjoyed the different POVs and revisiting each character’s past and how they handled their trauma to the current day situation, all the while Finlay is slowing revealing what happened back then and tying it to what is going on current day. The suspense did not let up all the way until the very end which was incredibly satisfying. I still have one more of his backlist books to read but I also cannot wait to see what he does next.

Thank you to NetGalley / Minotaur Books for the digital galley to review.

What a wild ride! I couldn’t put this one down. Tons of action, and twists and turns. I deducted a few stars because it felt like some of the story lines just didn’t add up, or were incomplete. But it overall, a great thriller that moved at a fast pace from the first chapter (and short chapters - you know I love those!)

What Have We Done is the newest fast-paced thriller from Alex Finlay. In this story, the past of a group of friends appears to be catching up with them. After years of separation, four friends all have attempts on their life within a matter of days. As they start to put the pieces together, they all head back to the hometown they hoped to never return to. Who knows their secret? And why are they trying to punish them after all these years?

I LOVED Alex Finlay’s other two books but this one was just ok for me. The story was fast moving and kept me engaged but I never really connected with the characters. I found myself able to put this one down and come back to it later. As the story progressed, I got more interested and wanted to find out what happened and the second half picked up. Overall, good story but not my favorite Alex Finlay.

I’ve heard a lot of great things about this author, so I was excited to read this! It was a very intriguing thriller told from multiple POVs. It started off a little slow for me, but picked up about 30% in! The pacing was perfect and definitely had me wondering who was involved in what. I guessed some of the things that were coming, but not everything. This was a fun one! Thanks for my gifted copy.

Raw, gritty, an excellent read. Action-packed and incredibly unique, What Have We Done follows three individuals as their lives are threatened by a contracted killer. Written in a distinctive way, What Have We Done is one of those thrillers that will check boxes for thriller fans of every type. While the characters are older, and in incredibly different careers now, their past was once shared and it's that past that has come back to haunt them. With alternating narrators and dual timelines, readers see the abusive foster home and the monster in those walls that shaped the adults they are today. Twisted and totally a read that's impossible to untangle, What Have We Done was a fun, fast-paced read for me that I could not put down.

Many thanks to Alex Finlay, St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Alex Finlay is quickly becoming an auto-buy author for me. I loved his other two books and What Have We Done did not disappoint either.

Jenna, Donnie, Ben, Art, and Nico met each other as teens at the Savior House a home for orphans. While at the house, girls are going missing. Something happens and 25 years later they are making up for their past. Someone knows about their past and is trying to kill them off one by one, will the truth finally come out of what happened.

The book is fast past, multiple POV narration, and twist and turns to keep you guessing. Alex Finlay knows how to write suspenseful books with compelling characters and a lot of drama. However, the genre is listed as thriller and I would say it is more of a spy book, but I still enjoyed reading it.

What Have We Done starts with some very unexpected events. I was immediately enraptured!

Jenna, Donnie, and Nico were orphans together until the group home where they lived was shut down after a girl disappeared. Now someone is seemingly attacking them one by one. What happened all those years ago and who wants them gone?

I thought I was going to love this one, and I did love the multiple points of view, but overall I lost interest before the story resolved itself.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my complimentary copy!

Five foster siblings are being targeted 25 years after leaving Savior House… but the question is why and who?

This book had some great twists and turns but I found myself confused at times. Some of the events that happened seemed random. Finlay did a good job wrapping it up at the end and made sense of everything, but I found myself lost and confused at times.
I did enjoy the multiple POV. Finlay did a good job of making it easy to follow each character without loosing you.

Overall I give this a 3/5 stars.
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the digital ARC of “What Have We Done” by Alex Finlay in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Finlay’s earlier novels so was looking forward to this one. Unfortunately it was a miss for me - just felt too over the top and the characters all felt like caricatures to me. I decided to DNF but will still be looking forward to whatever Finlay writes next! Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free review copy.

Talk about a fast-paced and exciting story. What Have We Done was my first book by Alex Finlay, and I can see why his books are so popular.

As soon as I read the prologue, I was immediately pulled into the story. We are introduced to Nico, Donnie, Ben, Art andJenna. They are kids, almost teenagers, and they are outside in the woods on a stormy night. They are making a pact as to never talk about what happened. Fast forward twenty-five years, and we see what has become of them. Some of them have become members of the community, and the rest have traveled through life as best they can.

When they find out that someone is trying to kill them one by one, they must reunite and try and work together to figure out what is going on. The characters in the story have such unique back stories, and we get to know them as the chapters get more and more exciting. Definitely recommend if you love fast-paced thrillers, and I will definitely be reading more from the author.

A group of adults, who knew each from a traumatic children’s home, are brought back together by the fact that someone is trying to kill them. Readers learn about their dark childhood secret as they attempt to figure out who is after them and why.

This is not my favorite Alex Finlay book, but it’s still a good reas, as all Alex Finlay books are. It’s very suspenseful, with compelling characters, and a lot of drama. If you’ve never read Alex Finlay before, start with a different book first, but if you’re an Alex Finlay fan, definitely check out this book.

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

What the hell was that???????

The synopsis and the actual content are 100% different, just as a heads up. If you feel like you are going to get a thriller out of this, you absolutely are not. Spoiler-ish alert, this is a spy book and felt like the most boring action movie ever.

I didn’t care about any of the characters and the random time jumps were so disjointed, I felt like I couldn’t keep up. A bunch of Deus ex machina bullshit at the end and then the story is over.

If you loved The Night Shift (like I did), you will be severely disappointed in this one.

Another great one from Alex Finlay! The stories of three characters - a housewife (Jenna), an aging rockstar (Donnie), and a reality tv producer (Nico) all converge in this gripping thriller. It starts off with a bang when we meet Jenna - her story had most of the action which was really well written and exciting to read. We get to know each of the the three characters separately and learn that they grew up with each other at the Savior House home for orphans and they, along with two other friends did something twenty-five years ago that is coming back to haunt them. The novels goes effortlessly back and forth between the three main characters stories in the present as well as their time in the past. Secrets get revealed little by little and it all leads to a bang-up ending! Most enjoyable.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur publishing for the digital advanced reader copy. The novel will be published this Tuesday, March 7, 2023. Check it out!

Thank you so much for an advanced copy of What Have We Done. This is my second Alex Finlay book, and it is my favorite of the two!

I am not a big thriller reader, but I did really enjoy the premise of this book. I love how descriptive Alex's writing is, and the group home as the backdrop for how the characters came together was super interesting to me. This book is definitely plot driven, and I enjoyed that! I'm usually a character driven reader, so that was a nice change for me to get sucked into a creative, interesting plot. I also enjoyed that there was a lot going on in this book! I has short chapters and read so fast, though, so I didn't feel like I was lost in the details. I think the short chapters help the reader digest the plethora of information more easily, honestly! The multiple POVs also really helped you get to know the individual characters, plus there was substantial (IMO) setup for the future by detailing events from the past (like how the characters met, etc).

Overall, I really enjoyed this one! I'm looking forward to reading more by Alex Finlay as he publishes more books!

This was so much fun! From the first page it starts off with a bang and doesn’t stop. It’s nonstop action and I loved the twists and turns it took. I thought the different points of view were done really well to build the story and the suspense. I just thought the ending got a little hard to keep track of and I felt a little bit confused once it all wrapped up. Overall it’s a great thriller with a unique plot!

✨ BOOK REVIEW ✨

What Have We Done by @alexfinlayauthor

Ok, I LOVED this book! Alex Finlay has officially written two of my favorite thrillers. After reading and loving, “The Night Shift”, I was thrilled to receive an eARC of “What Have We Done” and he knocked it out of the park!

A couple things: get your popcorn ready because this one is super fast-paced and will have you on the edge of your seat! It’s told in multiple POV from several kids who were raised or spent time in a group home called the Savior House. After a few teens disappeared, the group home gets shut down and everyone goes their separate ways. Years later, things get wild, there’s a murder and *plenty* other attempted-murders, secrets are unfolded and the Savior Home group is reunited to figure out what the heck is going on.

You will be rooting for these flawed characters while trying to put the puzzle piece together! I loved Donnie and Jenna’s POVs especially. The ending was SO SO good and I just love when a thriller takes me by surprise because sooo many plots are overdone these days. I can truly say Alex Finlay thrillers are always original and unique and I get swept away every time. This was so different than anything I’ve ever read. While some parts are “unbelievable” - it was just what I was in the mood for!

Can’t wait for his next one!! This one releases Mar 7th, RUN to get you a copy! As always, huge thank you to @minotaur_books @stmartinspress for allowing me to be an early reader. All thoughts/opinons are my own!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What Have We Done 🏚️

I loved this one! I have not read a thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat in so long.

5 kids in foster care go their own way in adult hood, leaving behind a buried secret. 25 years later- someone is targeting each of them- but WHO if only they know what they’ve done.

I don’t normally try to predict thrillers, I rather ride them out and enjoy. However, the POI came to me quite easily. That being said I still enjoyed it!? My adrenaline was pumping every page. This is definitely a book to screen adaptation and played out like an action movie. The characters were so flawed and lovable- always appreciate dimensional characters no matter the genre.

I’ve never read anything else by this author but I’ve read other critiques claiming that in comparison to his other work, this was subpar. Makes me want to back list his others.

Ty for the advanced readers copy; review will be on my Instagram page on pub day.

5⭐️

After surviving attempts on their lives, three childhood acquaintances come together as adults to figure out why the hits have been placed. As a result, we get a twisted story leading to a hidden crime that no one thought would resurface.
The character development of Jenna, Donnie and Nico are well done and their intertwining stories of past and present lead the novel. While the story has surprise twists, wild weapons, and fascinating villains, the bouncing between the past and present was like whiplash. It’s easy to miss a transition into part of the past, leaving you confused and having to backtrack.
The book was action packed from the start and does enough to keep your interest; however I found that the lack of clear transitions between memories and now was exhausting. Overall the book was a creative idea for a thriller and will be well suited for readers of this genre.

A thriller I couldn't put down, and read in one day. Friends raised in a group home together, find their adult lives in danger after they've successfully created new worlds escaping the past.. The haunts want them dead, told in a dueling timeline, from their youth to the present.

What Have We Done is full of twists and turns as we learn the secrets of Savior House. Finlay has definitely defined himself as a top thriller writer.

Thank you St. Martins Press / Minotaur Books for the complimentary copy to read and review.