As teenagers, four friends - Donnie, Nico, Ben, Arty, and Jenna - commit an act of violent and then agree never to speak of it again, each going their own way. Donnie becomes a rock star, Nico a reality TV producer, Ben a federal judge, Arty a billion tech mogul, and Jenna a retired contract killer. When Ben is murdered, the other four come together as they realize they are also being targeted by whomever murdered Ben to protect themselves and find Ben's killer.

This is my first Alex Finlay book and while I enjoyed it, I felt that it dragged in places. The characters weren't immediately likeable and felt even a bit whiney at times. Overall, it was an interesting read with a solid ending. I look forward to reading other books by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley, Alex Finlay, and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for providing me an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

What Have We Done is a thriller. I enjoy the story unfolding from different points of view and switching between the past and present. However, all the changes can get a little confusing to follow.

I wanted to LOVE this one as a huge Alex Finlay fan...but unfortunately it just didn't work for me. I found it sickeningly violent and gritty and also super cheesy in places. Also certain phrases and names were just repeated too many times (Ned Flanders comes to mind). I'm usually able to suspend disbelief and enjoy novels for what they are, but in this case it was just too farfetched.

2.5 stars rounded up

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this book in advance! I'm a huge fan of Alex Finlay, so when I saw this book, I knew I had to read it ASAP. This book was such a action packed, wild ride! Such a fast paced, edge of your seat thriller! I will absolutely be recommending this book to my other reading friends!

Alex is such a talented writer. This was more about a crime than a thriller in my opinion. I liked the book but not as much as I had hoped. The plot and characters just didn’t all come together for me this time.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy for the purpose of this review. 3 stars from me!

s was my first dive into Alex Finlay’s books and I wasn’t disappointed. He is worth every ounce of hype he gets!

The 3 POVs got me every now and then but they were so well written! These 5 friends kept something hidden for 25 years, but the secret might not make it 26 years...they might not either…..If you love thrillers and want a book that will make you go “OH MY GOSH”, this is the book for you.

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for early access in exchange for an honest review.

Jenna, Nico, and Donnie came to know each other in their teen years at a rundown group home for parentless children. Whether it was standing up to the resident bully whose father ran the group home, surviving the area the house was in, or finding an escape from the dangers within the walls, they were joined with their mutual trauma and experience. One night something happens and a gun is hidden before the three and the others in their group depart the house. Twenty-five years after leaving the house, they unexpectedly get sucked back in to what happened in the past when someone tries to kill them.

Twin sisters who didn’t know the other existed find each other and realize they each have an evil streak within that they are willing to let others pay them to use. Whether it is causing a coal mine cave in, pushing an aging rock star from a cruise ship at night, or bringing a retired hit woman out to take out a former friend, the sisters thrive on the dark side of humanity. Someone has hired them to kill the Savior House’s former residents, but who? What do the twins know about the past of the residents of the house?

This was my first Alex Findlay book, but it won’t be my last. Fast paced, suspenseful, and leaving a feeling of a satisfying conclusion, What Have We Done is what you have been looking for as a hot 2023 thriller. Be warned though, just when you think you are seeing the end, it turns. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advanced copy. Opinions expressed are my own. This book is set for publication on March 6, 2023.

#netgalley #arc #alexfinlay #whathavewedone #minotaurbooks #stmartinspress

I'm not one to DNF eARCs because I understand the privilege of getting to read a book before its publication date, but there was no way I could finish this. The truth is that I couldn't even get past the first chapter. I tried so many times, and each time I disliked it more. I'm definitely in the minority here so take my review with a grain of salt.

I’ve been a fan of Alex Finlay’s work since ‘Every Last Fear’ and ‘The Night Shift’.

In his newest thriller, ‘What Have We Done’ the story follows a group of 5 friends with a dark secret surrounding their time in a group home.

The book rotates through multiple POV’s, maintaining a fast pace, keeping the reader engaged. Although, I did enjoy some character’s POV’s more than others.

The timeline does get a bit confusing when paragraphs written about the past are embedded into the story without forewarning, leaving the reader to figure out which timeline we’re reading about.

Although my favourite Alex Finlay book is still the Night Shift, I really enjoyed this book and the way the plot built up to the ending, keeping me guessing about what would eventually be revealed.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

What Have We Done tells the story of five friends who lived in a group foster home as teenagers. Surviving abuse and neglect together, they forged a bond and have secrets that haunt them. Twenty-five years later, they have moved on as a stay at home mom, an aging rockstar, a television actor, a tech millionaire and a judge. A reunion is forced when one of them dies and the rest of their lives are being targeted by a hired killer.

The story is told from multiple points of view in three of the character’s perspectives. The beginning was a little hard to follow but the plot was intriguing enough to keep me reading. The conclusion wraps it all together with lots of action in between. Overall, a fast paced and quick read that will translate easily to a screenplay.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in return for an honest review.

What Have We Done started out incredibly promising with a gripping prologue that should have set the book up for a thrilling ride. Unfortunately, it fell flat.

5 teens find themselves, for various reasons, in a group foster home run by a corrupt overseer who has little control over the other residents. Girls start disappearing and the teens do something they swear to never speak about again. Eventually, they all forge their own path in life which brings us to present day.

A series of accidents that aren’t so accidental and coincident that aren’t so coincidental and the death of one of the 5 bring them back together again. As they begin to put the pieces together, it is clear someone spoke about what they did so many years ago and is out for revenge.

While I typically like books with multiple POVs, in this case it was choppy while also not allowing the reader to garner any character depth. The plot went a bit off the rails, though it was wrapped up at the end. I was intrigued enough to keep reading, however.

This book was a miss for me. I liked the short chapters but the twists weren’t good or original.

Thank you NetGalley for eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fast paced, action packed thriller following a group of friends being targeted by a contract killer for secrets they have been keeping since childhood. It was told in multiple POV's, from Nico, Donnie, and Jenna each giving different insight into the past. Jenna was clearly the star of this novel, but I do appreciate what Donnie and Nico brought to the story.

The premise was so exciting and had me hooked from the start, but then it kind of went.... downhill. It just felt so repetitive with very surface level characters. It reminds me of an action movie where the lead has one line and then the rest of the movie is just fight scenes. This is very different from any other Alex Finlay book I've read in the past. It just didn't grab me the way THE NIGHT SHIFT did. Honestly, it felt like it wrote this to be sold as movie rights, because it would definitely make a better movie than it did book... sorry.

Overall, this was a super quick action packed book. Would I recommend it? Probably not. Would you hate this book? Not at all. I just could have lived without it. But if you are a huge action fan or Alex Finlay fan, I think it's worth a read.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review.

Having read and loved The Night Shift last year, I couldn't wait to read Finlay's newest thriller...unfortunately, this book just did not do it for me.

There were sooo many characters. Each one seemed pretty unrealistic, and absolutely none of them were relatable. And, while there were several mysteries scattered throughout the book that needed to be uncovered, none of them were really that interesting to me. I had to push myself to get this one finished, and despite the somewhat crazy ending, after a few weeks I already don't even remember the exact details of the ending. I haven't given this book much thought after finishing it.

With all that being said, I really hope others will enjoy this one, as I'm still an Alex Finlay fan, and will seek out his future novels.

I was introduced to Alex Finlay through "The Night Shift", which was an easy 5 star read for me, so I was very eager to get to read his latest release, "What Have We Done".

WHWD was definitely similar in some ways but different in others, the biggest being that the twists were so unclear that instead of anticipating a twist to be coming, I had a hard time placing what was going on in a few of the storylines.

It was clear from the synopsis that the characters all had some sort of connection, however you dive right into their stories that it was just really weird to hear that one character used to be a contract killer, one is suddenly a billaionaire, etc. Some more clarity on their backstory (without giving away the ending, would have been appreciated instead of dumping us into scenarios we don't really understand to maintain a fast pace.

I really enjoyed The Night Shift by Alex Finlay so knew I wanted to pick up What Have We Done.

Five kids who met in youth home, Saviour House, go their separate ways after a traumatic childhood. Twenty-five years later, they’re brought back together when one of them is murdered.

What Have We Done was action packed (think The Bourne Identity type action). I think this would translate well to the tv screen. However, this wasn’t entirely for me personally (which is okay!). There were a lot twists - which I liked. There were a lot of characters and POVs - which could be very confusing, especially in the beginning. You also have to suspend disbelief as the odds of any single event happening is very slim, the odds of all them happening are impossible.

3⭐️

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This was my first book by this author. It was mysterious and suspenseful with multiple points of view. There was action throughout with plenty of twists and turns. However, the writing fell a bit flat for me. The multiple point of view did not hold my interest and I didn’t emotionally connect with any of the characters

This was my first book by Alex Finley and it was a good start. We have 3 narrators: Donnie, Nico and Jenna. They all lived in a group home called Savior House together. While there, girls start to go missing and the 3 of them, along with 2 others, form a bond through that. They are now adults…all of their lives have went in different direction and they are each being haunted. Someone is trying to kill them. They have to figure out who and why before it’s too late. I am very much a lover of twists and I seen all of these coming except for one. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just not as fun! I did enjoy the overall story and will be reading other novels by Alex.

What Have We Done, by Alex Finlay, is an action packed mystery thriller about a group of individuals who used to be members of the Savior House - a group home for teenagers. Now all grown up and spread across the United States leading various lives, they are being targeted. One of them is already dead and it doesn't look like it'll be long before the rest will be dead.

The premise sounded fantastic, and I had really high hopes. Although I've never read any of Finlay's past novels, I've heard great things. Unfortunately, this novel didn't live up to expectations for me. I never fell in love with any of the characters - Jenna was probably my favorite. The abrupt transitioning between the past and present wasn't done well in my opinion. I wish I could of connected more with the characters - I just didn't care about them a whole lot. Yeah, there's some redeeming parts in the novel and it kept my attention, but I'll probably forget about what this book was about before the end of the year.

3 stars.

Ugh. I wanted to like this book and had such high hopes but no idea what I just read. It was not good. I couldn’t follow it and I didn’t like the plot. I normally love this author so this is not what I expected. It was very hard to follow and jumped back and forth.