Alex Finlay is a master of suspense and densely woven plots with a multitude of guessing games. I gave this book four stars (well 4.5 but they won't let me do half) because unfortunately he has set a very high precedent for himself with his first two absolutely brilliant novels. This one didn't quite hit the height of the previous two.

That being said, I still plowed through the book in 2 sittings, staying up far later than I should to find out just a little more.

A misfit group of foster kids at Savior House are dismayed to notice young girls are going missing. When the new girl, Jenna, finds out she is to be taken shortly, the other four boys in the group band together to save her. This leads to a grisly solution.

Fast forward many years. Jenna is now a housewife. The bookworm who was always seeking justice is now a respected judge. The boy noodling with the guitar is a former rockstar. The boy who loves computers who they referred to as robot is now a tech genius. The last is a hotshot Hollywood producer of a successful reality show. Someone has dug up the past. Someone wants them all dead. Someone who knows about that they've done.

This book is great whether you are a Finlay fan (I am! More please!) or if you're just being introduced. I strongly recommend this book if you enjoy good suspense.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Alex Finlay for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for What Have We Done coming out March 7, 2023. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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.

Jenna, Donnie, and Nico were best friends 25 years ago. They grew up together in Savior House, a foster home for teens. They’ve cemented their friendship, forming a bond through the abuse they endured. The home gets shut down after the disappearance of several kids. The three friends get split up.

Though the trauma has never left them, each go on to live accomplished―if troubled―lives. They haven’t seen each other since they were teens but one day they reunite for a single reason: someone is trying to kill them. To survive, the group will have to relive the nightmares of their childhoods and face their past together. Why does someone wants them dead?

Overall, I loved this book! I have a few of his books, but this is the first one I’ve finished. The short chapters are my favorite. It definitely felt fast-paced and full of action and mystery. I don’t want to give too much away, but I loved the growth of the relationship between Jenna and her stepdaughter. I thought the bonding over being chased was fun. There were some lighthearted, funny moments that broke up the high stakes. I wasn’t really expecting that kind of backstory for the characters, so I loved the surprise.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys assassin/secret agent stories!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

It takes a bit to get into the story and get all the characters straight but once invested yo u’ll be glad you preserved.. The chapters are well written and fast paced. The characters are diverse and interesting. It’s well worth the read!
Thank You to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Alex Finlay for the opportunity to read this ARC

Though fast paced and propulsive, I found this one to be a bit too much. Over the top and convoluted. I enjoyed the way the story was told from different characters perspectives. Though this was a miss for me, I would like to go back and read Alex Finlay's other book, The Night Shift. I have heard great things about it and there was enough good here for me to check it out!

Five friends who share a dark secret from their childhood find their paths crossing once again when each one is targeted to be killed by a female assassin. But the question is, who hired the woman trying to kill them, and why!

I really enjoyed this book! The storytelling was great and flowed so easily making it a pageturner. There were so many storyline going on, with lots of sneaky twists thrown in. Each character was well defined and I found myself liking and disliking each of them at different times. I was definitely kept on edge, and just when I thought I knew who was behind it all, another curve was thrown in. Alex Finlay will definitely be on my TBR list from now on.

4.5 stars! Fast-paced and edge of your seat reading! 25 years ago, a group of friends did a very bad thing. A very bad thing that may have saved them at the time. The kids were orphans, living in a group home called Savior House. Several girls kept disappearing. It was all very hush, hush.
Now 3 of the friends, Nico, Jenna and Donnie, are being hunted for that very thing that happened 25 years ago. Their friend, Benny, a federal judge, is already dead. Any of them could be next if they don't figure out what is going on and who was actually at fault for the missing girls of the past.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur books for this e-arc.*

I'm not normally a fast paced, action filled thriller book lover. However, this one kept me interested and I wanted to know where the story was going the whole time. I never got bored by it, because it never stopped moving forward. I loved getting to know who the characters were and their background and history - and what it was that linked all of them together.

Some of the storyline was pretty over the top. And at times it was a bit convoluted and scattered. I still don't exactly know what "The Corporation" was. But if you can get past all that, and enjoy the rest of the story as it comes together- it's a pretty enjoyable book.

I would recommend this book.

What Have We Done is a suspense novel that hits the ground running. The story
begins with a scene that reveals a secret that five friends, who met at a group home in their teens, share. A secret that continues to haunt them for decades.

Now adults, these friends have attained impressive and diverse jobs - from a hired killer who now has a family she wants to protect, a reality show producer, a district judge, a tech guru and a famous rock star (naturally). But now someone appears to be targeting them as one by one, terrible accidents befall them. After decades apart, the friends reconnect and try to figure out who knows their decades old secret.

The story jumps back and forth between the POVs of three of the friends (Jenna, Nico and Donnie) in the present and their past when they lived at Savior House, a group home for teens. The pacing started off strong, gets a little wonky in the middle with a lot of back and forth between the POVs and some decisions and physical altercations that felt a bit farfetched. The ending has a decent twist ... which this avid suspense reader identified early on.

This was a compelling twisty read about revenge, long-held secrets and friendship. Readers will have to suspend disbelief in a few spots but overall, this was a good read with Jenna as the most intriguing POV of the bunch. I hope we see her in future books.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Minotaur Books who provided me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

DNF... I can't stay focused on this story. I even tried the audiobook twice. Maybe I will come back to it one day.
Thanks to the publisher for giving me access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review..

This book drops you right in on the action and keep moving until the very end. Three very different people share a common past and a current reality of someone trying to kill them. I liked the premise and it was definitely a quick, fast-paced read. I did struggle to keep up with the many storylines going on at once. That and the near constant action made it a bit hard for me to connect to the characters. Overall this was a fun read and held my attention throughout, even if I didn't become completely engaged in the storyline. Thank you to Alex Finlay, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

What Have We Done? Well, it involved 5 kids shooting a person in a shallow grave. That isn’t a spoiler. It’s the opening scene. Then the excitement ramps up. We are introduced to three characters-Jenna, Donnie, and Nico. All three are obviously from the first scene but live completely difference lives. What they still have in common is that someone is trying to kill all of them.

Alex Finlay smoothly folds in bits of the past, the group home these kids all survived, into the events of the present. A sinister place where young girls regularly disappeared. As kids, they tried to stand up for themselves and change things. So why is someone trying to kill them now? Every character is partly unlikable and partly sympathetic. You really feel for these kids. I’d read a lot more about Jenna!

Read this book on a day that you have some time because you will not want to put it down.

This is a fast-paced thriller but also had ridiculous and unbelievable storylines. In my opinion, there was too much going on all at once. It is extremely over the top, but enjoyable if you can get past that and keep track of everything that is happening. It's not a thriller that I would say everyone has to read, but probably not one you would hate.

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

What Have We Done by Alex Finlay

3 people, living 3 very different lives, are brought back together after someone tries to kill them. They are now forced to revisit growing up in the same foster home and the people who connect them. Lots of twists and turns and lots of characters!

I’ve heard not so rave reviews on this one so I ended up listening to the audio. I was surprised to find I actually did enjoy it! The audiobook kept me entertained through a several hours of deep cleaning the kids play room.

I found the characters likeable and interesting. The storyline was a bit scattered and at times confusing, but I still had no real problem following along and guessing where it was headed. I’m sure it was unrealistic at times as well, but I find most thrillers like that!

Overall it was a good book, nothing amazing but I recommend the audio for an entertaining story.

Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for the audio and @minotaur_books for the ebook!

#whathavewedone #netgalley #audiobookreview #audiobookrecommendation #bookreview #bookishthoughts #mybooks #bookthoughts #booksbooksbooks #bookworm #canadianbookstagram #canadianbookstagrammer #reading #listentobooks

When I first read the description of this one, I was excited. I've liked Finlay's books. But when I finished this one I was... underwhelmed. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't the thriller I expected. It's like there was too much going on and I didn't know what to focus on.

This was my first book by Alex Finlay and I am glad I finally read one of his books. What Have We Done is a fast-paced, exciting thriller that had me up at night trying to finish the book.

The short chapters with varied POVs helped to move this story along quickly as well as making the book more exciting as I was never sure who to believe. Not all these characters were sympathetic, but they all were compelling.

This one was good, but not as good as The Night Shift. But, Alex Finlay has definitely cemented himself as a suspense author I will auto-buy! Loved the flashback vibes and the multiple perspectives. Definitely would recommend this one to my followers.

What Have We Done is the latest mystery thriller by bestselling author Alex Finlay. The novel focuses on three friends, Donnie, Jenna, and Nico who haven’t seen each other in twenty five years when they were in the abusive Savior House, a group home for foster teens. Unfortunately they are reunited because the choices they made in their past have now come back to haunt them, and someone wants them dead. Through shared memories of their nightmare of a childhood, they piece together their traumatic past in order to survive. The past is never forgotten but carried with us forever no matter how much we try to forget.

What I liked about the book:
-the fast pace, edge of your seat action of the story
- the multiple POV chapters that often ended with a cliffhanger
-the complex characters that are interwoven from their traumatic childhood
-the dual timelines
-how each character coped with their traumatic past
-multiple twists in the story
-the twin assassins

What I didn’t like about the book:
-I have zero complaints but my only wish is if Agent Sarah Keller and her husband Bob from Finlay’s previous books, The Night Shift and Every Last Fear, could have made an appearance since they are such likeable, compelling characters

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Trigger Warnings- drug use, sexual abuse, violence, trafficking, traumatic, exploited, abusive childhood

My final takeaway: I loved this edge of your seat thriller, it kept me wanting more. Finlay knows how to capture the reader’s attention from the start and holds it until the end. I highly recommend this book for fans of mystery thrillers. Finlay is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors!

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press Minotaur Books for this eARC.

3.5 stars

I loved Alex Finlay's previous book Every Last Fear so it only stands to reason I'd grab this one. I was lucky enough to receive both the kindle and audio book.

Told from the perspectives of a trio that were bound together by a shared experience in a group home 25 years ago. This experience wasn't shared with anyone turning this into a dark and mysterious story. I was captivated right away.

What Have We Done is a story that jumps around a lot. The mystery held my attention and left me scratching my head wondering what was going on. But my interest did start to want somewhat in the middle. I think after a certain point, with a lot of characters, things were a little muffled in terms of who was who. Ultimately though things fit together at the end.

The audio was read by a number of different voices, all of whom did a great job. It came in at almost 9 hours and was enjoyable to listen to.

While What Have We Done? was an entertaining read Every Last Fear is still my favourite and one I recommend.

My thanks to St. Martins Press and Macmillan Audio for advanced copies in exchange for a honest review.

What Have We Done is an exceptional new book by Alex Finlay. This is a twisted story that did not let up until the very last page. Alex Finlay is a talented author who knows how to pull you right into the story. This is a fast paced mystery thriller that is riveting and action packed. It is told in multiple point of views and dual timelines. It has a unique storyline and plot that makes it very captivating. Suspenseful, with dark secrets and extreme action that will keep your pulse pounding. I have read other books by this author but this one is my favorite!!

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books and Alex Finlay for another fascinating book to read and review. The opinions expressed are my own.
#netgalley #stmartinspress #minotaurbooks
#whathavewedone. #alexfinlay. #arc
#stmartinpressinfluencer

In a world where truth is a character trait that many strive for, a group of foster kids hold on to something that has already altered their lives and they don’t even know it. What Have We Done is a riveting story about how the past can haunt and those skeletons don’t lie still forever.

The Savior House is where it all started for Jenna, Nico, Donnie, and Ben. All have seemingly random events happen to them in their later years, while what happened 25 years prior is what defines them. Jenna is minding her own business when she is tasked to dive back into her previous life and target someone that used to be close to her. As she begins to contemplate if she’s capable of returning to a dealer of death, she finds out she’s been the target all along.

Donnie is in a former platinum selling band “Tracer’s Bullet”, and on a rock and roll cruise ship jamming every night, when he is forced to make a decision that will most likely cost him his life. Nico is a television show executive producer in the foothills of coal mining country. His life flashes in front of him as explosions trap him in after a late night meeting goes sideways.

As those affected are trying to figure out what is happening to them, there is a most-sinister plot being developed by one of the most unlikely people. As the group begins their journey back to Chestertown, PA, the place where their worlds all collided decades ago, they walk right into the lion's den. Each individual story is being torn and frayed as the puppet master pulls the strings of all involved as lives start to come to end. What have they done? What will they do? How will they survive?

Alex Finlay flawlessly blends the lives of the Savior House foster kids into a spider web of lies and death. The home turned nightmare haunts them even more as the past comes roaring back into their lives and tortures them even more. Finlay takes and molds five separate lives through long forgotten tension and budding violence. Finlay leads you into a firestorm of emotions in trying to figure out what happened to the kids decades ago, while creating a tortuous path that the reader must navigate to find the truth behind the lies.