Sadly What Have We Done is one of them I made it about 25% through the book and I just wasn’t feeling it, it was kinda confusing and to be fair I don’t usually enjoy spy thrillers or police procedures thrillers. So I decided not to continue reading, this book might not be for me but I know others will enjoy it and I can’t wait to see what Alex Finlay writes next!

This was a fairly standard crime, mystery, dual-time period, multiple POV book. I'm not sure I'd call it even a thriller. It was so plot-driven there was no time to really enhance the characters. Still an entertaining read, and I really flew through it. But a little more time on character development would've made it 4 stars for me.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: March 7, 2023
Alex Finlay’s twelfth novel, “What Have We Done”, follows three former friends and foster siblings, Jenna, Donnie and Nico, who, initially bonded over shared trauma, now are drawn together again for an entirely new reason- someone is out to kill them.
I am a huge fan of Finlay’s taut, suspenseful thrillers, including “The Night Shift” and “Every Last Fear”, and “Done” is now added to my Finlay favourites list. The characters are all unique and diverse, a former rock star (Donnie), a reality TV star producer (Nico) and a stay-at-home stepmom with a secret past (Jenna) but they are genuine and likable, and I enjoyed hearing the story told from each one of their perspectives. The characters’ hard and grizzled upbringing brings about many potential suspects, which made the guessing game in “Done” deviously entertaining.
As this novel has three protagonists, there are quite a few supporting characters (tied to the characters’ traumatic past, as well as their independent current lives) and it is initially a challenge to keep everything straight. This is the case with many novels like these, however, and Finlay, once again, was able to pull me in slowly, and then held my attention right through to the end.
The novel focuses on the present-day hunt for the group’s killer, which is still exceptionally entertaining, but there are only snippets of the groups life together at the aptly named group home, “Saviour House”, and I wanted more. It is clear that all three characters experienced trauma in their own unique ways, and suffered through their shared trauma in different ways as well, and Finlay doesn’t skim over what made the characters who they are. But I wanted the nitty gritty, psychopath-producing details of Saviour House and its “offspring”. This, however, would’ve resulted in a novel that may have been too lengthy to read. Perhaps a prequel? (Something I am not normally a fan of, which tells you how much this plot point struck a chord).
“Done” has a few predictable twists, a few eye-rolling twists, and even more twists and turns that you won’t see coming. The plot is well-developed and full of pulse-pounding suspense, as we have come to expect from Finlay, and I’m glad to see that he does not seem to be slowing down. I will continue to ride Finlay’s literary ride until the bitter end.

I’m not usually a fan of whodunit styled books, but What Have We Done had enough twists and turns to keep my interest. I loved the first two of Finlay’s books, and this one was no different. I especially liked the chapters from Jenna’s perspective, and Donnie became a surprising favorite by the end of the book. The twins, on the other hand…. They cost the book a star. While I understand that the plot wasn’t supposed to be believable, the writing for the twins and their behaviors was infuriatingly unbelievable and felt unfinished to me. If you ignore them, this book was a solid 4 star read- but their character flaws are going to haunt me for weeks to come.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I TRULY wish this could have been a 5 star for me because I love the author's previous works and the synopsis sounds incredible. However, this didn't capture my attention at all. I like my thrillers with twists and turns, and this read more like an action movie. I'm sure others will love this, but it just missed the mark for me.

I’m a huge fan of the author and really like his brand of suspense. I seem to always find his books to be engaging and love the multiple perspectives he uses. This one started off really strong and captured my attention immediately and the pacing stayed good for me for most of the book. Things did stall slightly for me somewhere around the middle but then the end hit and it picked back up again. The ending went a little bonkers and requires some suspension of disbelief but it was entertaining and fun despite not being super believable. Overall another fairly fast paced and exciting read from the author.

Oh, Finlay. He has my nerd heart wrapped around his finger. He is always an auto read for me. And this latest book, did not disappoint. Character development is immaculate. Story line. Perfection. Twists. All there. I will be thinking of this book for a long time to come.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

3.75 stars rounded up to 4.

What Have We Done grabbed me right from the start! It's a fast-paced, multiple POV thriller that is just done really well. A lot of flashbacks but i didnt find them confusing at all!

I was excited to find out what was happening and why!

This tale is incredibly readable and plenty of action. There is also humor incorporated. The conclusion is chaotic and erratic, and I really came to like the contract assassins.

Although it was entertaining to try to predict what would happen, Finlay's trademark tension and subtlety were not present.

I'll be honest, I'm disappointed. I love Alex Finlay. I've loved all of his books. But...this one fell flat. Too many storylines...too slow...too much. 3/5

Main Characters:
--Jenna – married to Simon (a tax lawyer), stepmom to five-year-old Lulu and 17-year-old Willow, stay-at-home mom who used to work as an assassin for The Corporation
--Donnie – has-been rock star in a band called Tracer’s Bullet, has been an alcoholic and a drug addict since he was a teenager
--Nico – executive producer of a reality TV show, has a gambling problem
--Artemis – pioneer in social media technology, currently focused on everything from next-generation artificial intelligence to e-commerce, number three on Forbes’s list of the richest tech titans
--Ben – a federal judge, recently murdered

"What Have We Done" is Alex Finlay’s third novel, and I will definitely be buying and reading his first two. This phenomenal thriller grabs the reader in the Prologue, continually tightens its grip, and doesn’t let go until the very satisfying end. It took me about four days to read, and I regretted starting it on a weekday because…well…work kept me from finishing. Had I started it on a weekend, I don’t think I could have stopped. I spent several days extremely tired because I just didn’t want to stop reading, and I sacrificed sleep in the process.

Jenna, Donnie, Nico, Artemis, and Ben share a past at Savior House group home 25 years before the main story takes place. “At the top of a knoll through a break in the trees, five teenagers stand at the edge of a shallow grave.” With that first sentence, we know immediately that three of those teenagers are Jenna, Donnie, and Nico since the chapters cycle through their points of view. We figure out pretty quickly that Artemis and Ben make up the other two since Ben has been murdered and someone keeps trying to kill the other four.

Abused, neglected, bullied, the teenagers did something horrible. We know that. And we assume that the threats to their lives now result directly from whatever they did when they were teenagers. We know that, but they don’t know that. As they try to put the pieces together, they all end up back in Chestertown, PA, where their lives were dramatically changed by Savior House.

Jenna is the strongest character in the bunch, but they all have connections that help them try to figure out who’s after them. It’s not until they come together, however, that we as readers start to understand what’s happening and who is behind the attempted hits. But don’t be fooled. Things are not as they seem, and that’s one of the things that makes this so exciting.

I could not finish this book fast enough because I was so caught up in who was behind everything. But this is one of those novels that you wish you could read again for the first time. I guess I’ll just have to read more novels by Finlay because…whew…this one was quite a rush.

This was my first Alex Finlay. This was fast-paced and kept me interested to see what would happen with the characters. The ending was twisty, but overall I still felt something was missing. A quick read, with a few surprises, and mostly enjoyable. Would recommend. Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for allowing me an ARC of this book for my honest review.

Full of action and raw emotion. The characters were well fleshed out and you couldn’t help being invested in their stories. Left me wanting to know more about their futures. A quick immersive read.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc

The best Alex Finlay book to date!

I realize I’ve been running this saying into the ground a lot this month but, wait for it… it was utterly unputdownable! Yes! 2023 is the year of the thriller comeback! (Well at least January). I’m hoping the trend will hold for the next 11 months🤣. (A girl can dream)

Anyhoo…back to the book!

Five kids all made it out of a horrendous group-home as teenagers. Although severely scarred mentally from the experience they all became rather successful in their own fields of choice.

Suddenly, someone is trying to kill each one of them! With one dead and more attempts being made they realize no one is to be trusted. They’re on their own to get themselves out of this deadly situation!

It even had a touch of an Orphan X feel to it. You’ll understand once you read it.

Finished in 2 sittings! Short chapters from the POV of most all five former group home kids. The pages flew by! My interest held throughout!

Do I recommend it? Yes! Absolutely! It is a must read for all Finlay thriller fans! Though I have seen some mixed reviews, it worked perfectly for me! Hope it will for you too!

A buddy read with Susanne!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press

3.5/5 stars (rounded up to 4 on here)

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

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.

Okay. So let me first start by saying that I wanted to LOVE this book. I have read a couple of his previous books and loved them, but there was just something off about this book. I absolutely loved the premise and the first chapter just caught the readers attention but I feel like the middle was just really hard to read. First off, there were numerous characters and I feel like we didn’t get to follow them enough to really like connect with them because there were so many. Also, in the different character chapters, it would randomly do a flashback to the past and it was hard at times to distinguish which part was a memory and which part was the present. It would have been helpful to distinguish the two by like maybe the font or something to help the reader know which part they are reading. I did love the short chapters and fast paced ending. I feel like the ending is where it really picked up and you could understand more of what was going on! Overall, it was still a good book and would recommend it to readers, but just let them know that it’s one to pay detailed attention to!
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This review will be posted to my Instagram blog (read_betweenthecovers) in the near future!

I liked the book however I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters and I felt like a lot of things were just random in the story.

Three adults. Adults that are connected by their insanely messed up past. Luckily, all have moved on from their past, but when someone tries to kill each of them, the three are thrown together to find out who is trying to kill them and why. Will they be able to save their own lives?

Whew. This book kept me on my toes! I started this one before going to bed and got through 70% before my eyelids finally beat me in the battle of sleep. These three main characters were so different from each other, even though they all landed in a similar spot in their young lives, and I was fascinated to see how each turned out. I was also curious who the hell was trying to kill them because they chose some interesting ways! This one was fast paced, and full of action! It is an easily recommendable thriller!

This book was weird for me. I wanted to love it but I don't think I got any of what I was reading. Totally my fault and not the books. I tend to be dumb sometimes lol. I loved the writing so I will definitely be picking up more from this author.

Action packed, suspenseful, tragic, full of danger and deception is how I would describe this book. This story is told from multiple points of view about 5 teens who were residents of a shady group home and they did something bad before they all left. Now, 25 years later, they find their lives threatened when strange things begin to happen to them. This book kept me on the edge of my seat and I really enjoyed it. My only complaint is that it has too many characters in it and it gets confusing. Also, the multiple narrators have flashbacks right in the middle of paragraphs and this was confusing. Overall, it is a very good read.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this page turner that I had a hard time putting down.

Alex Finlay is one of my favorite thriller authors. I knew this one would not disappoint! What have we done is told from several different POV and will keep you turning pages long after your desired bedtime! I started this book after dinner and finished early in the morning. Totally worth it!

Twenty-five years ago, before these friends moved away and on with each of their lives, they committed a crime. Now one of them is dead and it looks like any one of them could be next! Who knows their secret and why are they coming for them now?

I highly recommend What Have We Done for is easy storyline, short chapters and fast-paced read. All of that and an ending you won’t even come close to guessing!

Thank you with all my heart to NetGalley and The Publisher , St. Martin’s Press for choosing me to read and review this ARC