Really solid plot but most of the characters weren’t like able and I just didn’t connect with them. I was really surprised by the ending and was on the edge of my seat until the very last chapter!

Oh my goodness was this good! 🥰 I loved 💕 everything about it…the characters, the storylines, and the twists & turns all the way up to the end! This book is AWESOME! 🤩 it’s one of the best books of this year! Thank you, Alex Finlay, for writing this great story, and thank you, NetGalley, for letting me read it! If you like a great story with tons of twists & turns, then What Have We Done is for you. Enjoy! 😊

⭐Book Review⭐
Thank you to @Netgalley and the publisher for the #AdvanceReviewCopy

Releases March 2023

Unfortunately, this one was not for me.
I have enjoyed other books by the author, but this one fell short in the thriller category. It read like an action-packed plot but one that was a bit scattered and unorganized. It had no thriller or suspense element and the characters didn't make me feel much for them. This was a multiple Pov and multiple timeline book, which I love, but in this case each character could have been a separate book and the timelines could have been better defined with separation.

These are just my opinions and if these things don't bother you, then this might be for you.

This one started out strong, but quickly lost its momentum. I found The female assassins eye-rolling and unbelievable. Nothing like the Night Shift which was disappointing.

What Have We Done is a fast paced book from Alex Finlay. There were several different characters and view points but Jenna was my favorite; a mom trying to protect her family but also was a skilled assassin.. The others were pretty selfish understandable given their upbringing or lack of it,. I haven't read other books by this author so I wasn't sure what to expect but enjoyed it.
Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's press for my advanced review copy.

What Have We Done is another fun thriller from Alex Finlay. I loved the dual timelines and the hunt for the reader to figure out what happened to the characters in the past. I don't want to spoil anything, but great ending!

This book personally was not for me. The story was interesting but I could not get into it. At times I did get confused with all the POVs which was frustrating.

This book definitely leans into the crime side of thriller, so be warned. That being said, I couldn't put it down! We follow Jenna, Donnie, and Nico in dual timelines, one from when they resided in a group home and the other in present day as they're being hunted down. So then the question comes to the reader - what have they done? I found Jenna's chapters the most interesting, though I wanted more details on exactly what went down at Savior House. It has twists and turns that I appreciated, though it's a bit of a departure from his previous 2 books. Temper your expectations accordingly and you'll enjoy.

*Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

Once again, number three for Finlay he knocks a home run. Though this time he goes in to a much more thriller mode with a suspense theme intertwined. Very fast page turner. Loved it.

After reading and loving The Night Shift earlier this year, I was really excited for this one! Eye-catching cover, intriguing title, and a promising premise. I'm partial to books about childhood friends revisiting past traumas like King's It and Malfi's Black Mouth. What Have We Done is a fast-paced action thriller about a group of friends from an abusive group home who are being haunted 25 years later by events that happened there. I didn't really love the characters, but thrillers are the one genre where I don't necessarily need a likable character to root for. While it was an easy and bingeable read, I can definitively say I didn't love this one as much as Finlay's previous book. The plot wasn't as complex as I was hoping for, the relationships not as tightly knit as I would've thought (I mean, could Jenna even be considered a friend?), and I didn't love the abruptness when shifting from past to present timelines. I enjoy more of a realistic plot in my thrillers and some of this was just a bit too outlandish for my personal taste. So, don't go in expecting anything similar to The Night Shift but if you love action-packed thrillers then this will be worth picking up. Looking forward to what Finlay comes out with next!

You can’t outrun your past. Twenty-five years ago, five teenagers kill the man who runs Savior House, the group home where they have the misfortune of living and whose name is a misnomer. They believe the man, Mr. Brood, is responsible for the disappearance of multiple female residents of the group home.

The five teenagers have built successful lives for themselves, although Donnie’s addiction to drugs and alcohol has dimmed the luster of his music career and is about to cost him his band, while Nico’s gambling addiction, attitude, and commitment issues have cost him his fiancée and left him unsatisfied despite being the executive producer of the hottest reality TV show, which is about West Virginia coal miners. Jenna has a nice life now, but she had a rather unconventional career to reach this point and cannot be assured that it will not have consequences later. Artemis is a tech billionaire and would seem to be the most successful of the group, but his money cannot make up for what is missing in his life. Ben was arguably the most successful, with a federal judgeship and a loving family.

However, Ben is murdered, and attempts are made on the lives of the other four. Because of the nature of the murder attempts and the aftermath, it takes a while before Nico, Jenna, and Donnie learn about the attempts on the lives of the others and realize the common denominator is events from a quarter century earlier. This will eventually lead them back to the Pennsylvania backwater of Chestertown.

The story alternates between the past (events at Savior House) and the present, with the present chapters alternating between Jenna, Donnie, Nico, and the contract killers. The contract killers are an unusual and sadistic duo, with one killer favoring a rather unconventional weapon for torturing and killing targets. The story has plenty of surprises, including who is responsible for the events of twenty-five years ago coming to light and who hired the contract killers. I liked that Ben, who uncovers the truth first, but does not live to talk about it, leaves literary clues to help the others uncover the truth.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

There were some very cool aspects of Alex Finlay’s latest novel. Great characters (Jenna was my favorite, but Donnie deserves respect) and a pretty solid storyline. I liked the whole troubled childhood/foster home weirdness that was the setting for the characters upbringing.

The whole mystery of who is out to kill the main characters was well done as well as the side characters (the twins were great and scary), but this is where I felt a little shorted story wise. The reasoning for the cover up is understandable, but having a little more substance in the story would have been nice. It’s there, just a little overshadowed by everything else that was going on.

The ending was satisfying though. There was some good stuff happening and a decent enough twist to redeem the storyline a bit. Overall, this was a good novel with a lot of suspense and an overall solid story arch. Some more clarification (or cut out some of the less important details) and it’s 5 stars.

Alex Finlay - auto buy author!

He’s back with another thriller surrounding a group of very different adults who all spent a portion of their teen years living in a group home for orphans and broken homes. What do a rock star, a tech billionaire, a reality tv producer, a judge and a retired hit woman have in common? A 25 year old secret at the bottom of a hole. And a pair of bloodthirsty hit women on their trail to clean it up…

One sitting read. 🤯

I hate giving two stars, but I couldn't get into this one. The story is from multiple POVs and it's just messy, and unoriginal. I feel like the author told us the story, instead of showing us. I found that I really didn't care what was going to happen with these characters.

The story follows three people who lived together in a group home 25 years prior. Their past is sneaking up on them. There's so much potential here but unfortunately it just falls flat. Hopefully you all will love this more than I did!

Thanks @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this advanced copy for my honest review.

Alex Findlay has written a wonderful book that I thoroughly enjoyed. I will read more books by Findlay and recommend it to my friends.

4 friends meet at a group home where several girls disappear. Years later, someone is targeting these 4 friends and they want to figure out why after all of this time has passed.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for sending me an eARC of this book! What Have We Done is a story about five friends who endured unspeakable horrors in an orphanage-like home when they were younger and are bonded over one night they can never take back. 25 years later, it is clear that someone is out to get them, killing one and coming very close with two others. I thought that Finlay did an incredible job keeping the reader on their toes - I never knew what to expect and I couldn't trust a soul. I appreciated the ending, because everyone deserves the life for which they have wished.

This was a fast paced suspense focusing on a group of friends who did a bad thing. Chapters flip flop from multiple points of view, as well as timelines. While at times, there were a lot of characters to keep straight, the plot kept moving and all the pieces of the puzzle came together.

While I prefer the author’s other works to this one, the action and story did keep me hooked until the very end. I enjoyed the multiple POVS and flashbacks, however, I would liked of spent more time in the past and learning more of what went on then. The twins are probably the most inept assassins I’ve ever read about but I suppose it would of ruined the story if they were actually good at their job 😉

This is an assassin story.. Not sure I expected that top of plot based on the description. Jenna, Donnie, Nico and others became bonded to each other when they lived together in a horrific group home “the Savior House”. Events in that place tied them together for life and are the reason their lives are thrown back together 25 years later. For a mystery/thriller/suspense story to work for me I need at least one of these things:: interesting characters, fast paced plot, compelling mystery or puzzle . Unfortunately this didn’t meet these criteria.
I liked Jenna a lot. If the POV had been just here, this might have worked better for me. I cared about her present day and her past. I really just did not care for Donnie or Nico’s stories. This was just a hot mess with too much going on. Too many main characters . Wasn’t sure if I was supposed to care about the past our present. With flashbacks to the past plus alternating chapters from many POV I just couldn’t engage.

If you like action movies, assassins or over the top stories; this might be for you! I wanted this to feel more like the author’s previous novel. Definitely different.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.