Thanks for the ARC! I greatly enjoyed this book and devoured it in a matter of two days. I did not love how abruptly the flashbacks happened. There was no distinction between the two and was jarring each time it happened. Overall, a great read!

As orphaned teenagers, Jenna, Ben, Donnie, Nico and Artemis become fast friends amidst the abuse and bullying they endure in the group home where they are all live. A tragic shared event ends their horrible tenure at the home but also separates the friends until decades later....when someone is trying to kill all of them. The estranged friends must open up old wounds and uncover their long buried secrets in order to survive.

Told from the viewpoints of three of the five friends and skipping back and forth in time between past and present, I found myself often a bit lost in the weeds of the plot details. That aside, I did very much like all the characters and found Finley did a great job developing each storyline. In many points from the past plotline, I got major Stephen King vibes. Although it ended a bit abruptly for me, it still tied up the story nicely while offering some last minute twists. While not my favorite of this author, it's still a fantastic read. Finley devotees will not be disappointed!

Thanks so much to Netgalley, the publisher, and author for the opportunity to read in exchange for my honest review.

I love this author. This book was spooky and it was such a good read. I can't wait for the next book from this author.

𝐁 𝐎 𝐎 𝐊 𝐑 𝐄 𝐕 𝐈 𝐄 𝐖

4.1/5⭐️ What Have We Done- Alex Finlay (pub date 3/7/23)

𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐒:

Twenty five years ago, Jenna, Donnie, and Nico were the best of friends, a bond forged as residents of Savior House, an abusive 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 successful, 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 save their lives, the group will have to revisit the nightmares of their childhoods and confront their past—a past that holds the secret to why someone wants them dead.

It’s a reunion none of them asked for... or wanted. But it may be the only way to save all their lives.


𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒:

A massive thanks to Minotaur Books, St. Martin’s Press, and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the drama of the present plot (which was less of a who-dun-it) and found myself equally invested in all character’s storylines (usually rushing through one to get to the other)-overall a pretty straightforward mystery/thriller.

Fast/steady paced with a very interesting set of main characters (who I wish would have been better developed). These characters all came from controversial backgrounds and seemed to have quite the development that we never really heard about, I feel like that was a missed opportunity and I would have enjoyed more about their past/progression to where they ended up in the present.

Finlay is up there with the likes of my other auto-buy thriller authors, and so far Night Shift is my favorite by him (every last fear was good too). Keep your eye out for this one, the publish date is March 7, 2023.


Food for thought: Who are your auto-read thriller authors?

#bookworm #bookish #bookblogger #bookgram #instareads #readmorebooks #bookstagrammers #goodreads #bookstagram

The Past Comes Back To Haunt Them

They hated the man, he made their life at the orphanage miserable, so they took matters into their own hands. 25 years later they all leading successful lives and have put the long-ago past behind them. Until…one of them is dead. Jenna, Donnie, and Rico realize they, too, are in danger when they are each put in a life-threatening situation and the pieces begin to fall together. The story is told through short chapters written about each of the three individuals as you learn what happened to them in the past and what is happening now.

I found the story a bit confusing and somewhat uninteresting in the beginning. As the plot became more clear it held my interest but I would still hesitate to call it a “thriller.” It was well written, as you would expect, but just not up to previous Alex Finley books.

Thank you Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of What Have We Done?

What Have We Done was the first book I’ve read by Alex Finlay. This is the story about five people who were in an abusive group home (called the Saviour House) as children. It was there that something terrible happened and, twenty-five years later, it has come back to haunt them.

Each chapter alternates between 3 of these people telling their stories as we try to discover why someone wants them dead. I thought this flowed well and it was very clear what was happening.

Personally, I didn’t find the twists and turns to be all that surprising. There was only one surprise that I didn’t guess ahead of time. The characters were a bit boring…. a producer who owes a lot of money, a band member who is an alcoholic, etc. I found that I was interested in the story till about 25% and then I really had to push myself to finish.

Although, this book was not a favorite of mine, I am definitely going to give one of his other books a try. It’s obvious that Finlay is an excellent writer.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this book to me for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A great third book from Alex Finlay. I think this book is his best yet. Twists and turns galore. This book is told from multiple perspectives, which I do not normally like, but this was very easy to follow as each character is vastly different. My favorite is Jenna who is an ex special ops mercenary turn soccer mom. She carried the story for me.
In this book to get to see multiple timelines going from society's rejected foster kids all the way up to current time. All intertwined with a whodunit mystery.

✨BOOK REVIEW✨
What Have We Done
By Alex Finlay

This was unlike either of Finlay’s other two books, and I had high hopes. It started out strong and then lost me about 35% in to it.

This book has 5 main characters, and is told through their POV’s during a now and then style storyline. I found this transition to be foggy at times.

It made it hard to connect to the characters, and when that happens to me, I personally just cannot enjoy the story.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5

QOTD: What is your dream job?
One of the characters in this book is an assassin….which would be super cool!

Thanks to @stmartinspress and @netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.
This one is out March 2023 so be sure to check it out for yourself.
#bookreview #whathavewedone #thrillers #books #kindle #kindlebooks #kindlepaperwhite #arc #arcreader #netgalleyreads #bookinfluencer #📚 #fortheloveofbooks

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Why is someone trying to kill each former residents of Savior House, a home for parentless teens?

The story is told from 3 POVs: Jenna, Donnie, Nico and develops through the telling of their past and the present experiences. This was extremely confusing for me at times, as it was hard to distinguish between the two timeframes. I also felt the story dragged in parts, and there was a plethora of details that just weren’t needed to develop the story, making it very convoluted.

I honestly didn’t like any of the characters and found their storylines too far fetched for my liking. There was an extra twist at the very end that just wasn’t needed.

This one sadly just didn’t work for me.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and the author for an ARC of this book.

This is the third Alex Finlay book I've read; I really enjoyed the last two (written under the pseudonym Alex Finlay) so I was super excited to get this ARC. Like the last two I read, this is another page turner that keeps you glued to the pages. However, it didn't hit the spot like his others did.

I haven't read the books this author publishes under Anthony Franze, but I do wonder if those thrillers are more like this current novel than the other two written under his pseudonym. In this one, we see a cast of characters that include an aging rock star, a tech-gazillionaire, a successful television producer, and a retired assassin. It's an entertaining cast and, as expected from Finlay, character building is something that's very well done.

If you're into this kind of thriller, I think you'll love this. For me, I tend to not gravitate towards espionage or femme-fatale plots. Instead, I love the other Finlay books that stay consistently grounded in drama and family intrigue. There is some of that here too, but the larger-than-life themes were a bit out of my wheelhouse.

All said, this was a solid, page-turning novel. The genre is a bit off-center from what I expected, but I'm sure many readers will love this one. Looking forward to the next entry from Finlay!

This was both riveting and clever. I loved the characters and their backstories and how the story is alternately told from the different points of view until it all comes together. It was fast paced and action filled. I especially loved Jenna, a pretty bad-assed unassuming Mom/hired assassin. Yep, you read that right!!!

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A thriller with an unexpectedly sweet ending.

Quite a departure from Finlay's previous work. Honestly, this reads more like a middling action movie than a straight thriller. Still, interesting and compelling throughout, provided the reader can seriously suspend disbelief.

This had so many twists and turns that I felt like my head was spinning! Everyone’s back stories, the level of deceit and the complex histories that made telling the truth nearly impossible for half of the characters made for a riveting story. I did feel like there was a bit too much going on at some parts - the origin of “the twins” felt bizarre even though it made sense in the context of the rest of the story. Overall I enjoyed it and I’d read more like this!

25 years ago 5 teenagers buried a secret in the grounds of savior house, a foster home for teenagers who were orphans or wards of the state. The problem is that they weren’t safe then and they aren’t safe now. Someone is tracking them down one by one and killing them off. I enjoyed this book a lot. It was fast paced with a lot of action. My only complaint is in the epilogue for Jenna but 4 ⭐️!!! Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for giving me an ARC copy of the book for an honest review.

Five friends did something twenty five years ago and now it's come back. Jenna, Nico, Donny and Artemis are reeling when Ben is murdered. They all have a shared traumatic childhood and their secret is going to be uncovered. There is a lot of action and lots of red herrings, evil twins, lies galore...in other words everything but the kitchen sink. I was entertained enough to finish reading .
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin Press for the ARC.

Unpopular opinion alert! If you LOVED this book, just skip this review :)

This was one of most anticipated reads of 2023! Finlay's last two novels, Every Last Fear, and The Night Shift blew me away!!

I don't know what it was but this just didn't fit his usual style. I felt like I was reading someone else's book. Now don't get me wrong, there was nothing wrong with the writing, it just had a much different vibe. It was missing that thriller aspect I've come to love from Finlay's writing.

But hey! That's just my opinion. There's are TONS of 4/5 star reviews for this book. It just didn't work for me.

Thanks to St.Martins Press and Netgalley!

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the digital review copy in return for my honest review. The publication date for What have We Done is March 7, 2023.

This adrenaline thriller was fast paced and forced me to read it in one sitting. The story is told from the perspective of Jenna, Nico, and Donnie, three characters bound by tragic events from the group home they lived in 25 years ago. The three friends are reunited after someone has killed one of their old friends and attempted to kill each of them. Although this story is sad, the characters were all interesting and the plot had several surprise twists.

I have not read Alex Finlay's first two books, but I intend to read them now.

I loved Alex Findlay’s first two books, and I was thrilled to receive an ARC of his upcoming What Have We Done! This is a compelling thriller with some creative twists, told from the alternating past and present perspectives of Jenna, Donnie, and Nico. The action filled plot read like a movie, and I enjoyed trying to figure out who was trying to get revenge and why. The only thing lacking in this book was the character development and interactions. I didn’t connect with any of the characters at all and they didn’t seem to connect with each other either, which really takes away from the story for me. Although I loved Finlay’s first books more, this is still a solid, action packed thriller and I’ll definitely read more from him in the future! 

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

What Have We Done releases March 7, 2023.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for sharing an ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.