An amazing and chilling thriller telling the stories of a group of people connected by a shared secret. Absolutely intoxicating!

If I’m being honest this book did not grab me from the beginning. I struggled with the jumping all over the place and flash backs. Eventually it did pick up and had some decent suspense to it. I definitely did not have the ending pegged accurately. Overall it’s a decent read.

This was such a highly anticipated book for me and it came up short of my expectations. While I enjoyed the story, there was too much switching between characters for me, only to have them not tie completely together in the end. I enjoyed the storyline, but also wished it was a little more relatable.

This is my second Alex Finlay book and i was pleased to find that once again, Mr. Finlay has offered up an intelligent, twisty thriller with the breakneck pacing that I often crave. This was almost a binge read for me as I had a hard time putting it down. While not all that heavy on character development or literary fluff, the pacing makes this book really cook and the varied characters are drawn well enough to engage the reader and make them care for the their future. It became clear at about half way through that I wasn't going to figure out where things were going so I decided to just hang on and enjoy the ride. An explosive novel that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Just finished What Have We Done by Alex Finlay. This book quickly drew me in and kept me turning pages late into the night. Well developed characters and an ever-evolving plot held my interest. Well-placed twists and turns kept me guessing. I found this book to be a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining read.

Alex Finlay is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors. I have read two of his books in the past month and I am convinced that this man could write any thriller, mystery, etc. and it will be a five-star read.

What Have We Done starts like the old trope of "I know what you did last summer" type vibe. A group of kids who have traumatic pasts and each find success in alternative ways to create lives for themselves. But....they share a secret, a big one, that's coming back to haunt each and every one of them. This book is executed so flawlessly that even when you think you have it figured out, you don't. I was surprised by the ending as I only had half of it right. Mystery readers will devour this book.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for an ARC of this book!!

As children, Jenna, Nico, and Donnie lived in a group home called, The Savior House, where they became close friends. During their time at the Savior House, a horrible crime was committed. Now that they are older, someone is trying to kill each of them. This brings the trio back together again. Who is trying to kill them? And why?

What I enjoyed:
Fast paced and action-packed
Easily pictured as a movie
Several twists
Multiple narratives
Past and present timelines
Short chapters

The negatives:
Some parts were predictable, such as knowing who the bad guy is.
In my opinion, none of the characters were like-able.
I wish there was more character development to make the story have more depth to it.

Overall, this was a fun and twisty ride that had me biting my nails during some parts. I could easily picture this as a Hollywood action-packed film. This is my first book by Alex Finlay, and I’ve heard so many good things about his previous books. This makes me excited to read more of his other novels.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This talented author has written a novel with so many points of view I was confused. The characters are not likable at all. Friends who don’t understand what friendship means…red herrings…secrets…the past and the present collide…although this is a gifted author, this story just did not mesh with me. Maybe others will enjoy it more. This book was sent to me electronically by Netgalley for review.

Twenty-five years ago 5 teenagers buried a secret in the grounds of Saviour House – a foster home for homeless teenagers – a place that was supposed to be a safe haven for children who were orphans or wards of the State but was not quite so. After all these years one of them is murdered and there have been attempts on the lives of the remaining four. It seems that someone knows what they did all those years ago.

In the past twenty-five years, the five have gone their separate ways – Ben, a federal judge; Nico, a television producer with gambling debts; Donnie, a fading rock star whose attempts at sobriety are mostly unsuccessful; Artemis, a successful tech entrepreneur and Jenna, assassin-turned suburban homemaker – and someone is out to get them! Why , after all these years, is someone targeting them? Will this secret from their past upend their present lives? Will they be able to find out who is behind it all before anyone else gets hurt? Add to this the assassins (with an unusual weapon of choice) who are assigned the task of killing them and you’ve got an interesting thriller on your hands!

What Have We Done by Alex Finlay is an action-packed thriller with exciting twists and turns. The narrative is shared from the perspectives of Jenna, Donnie and Nico. The plot has potential and will have the reader trying to figure out the who and the what and the why from the get-go. However, it wasn’t quite as gripping, complex or tight-knit as I hoped it would be. The pace drags in parts and I didn’t really like any of the main characters (though Jenna’s assassin-turned-housewife backstory was interesting) and I felt that their shared history, which is shared in bits and pieces throughout the narrative should have been better developed. Another problem I had with the narrative was the abrupt switching between the past and the present-day events, which took a while to get used to. However, I did like the way the story eventually unfolded ( loved the literary references as a major clue toward the end) and my eagerness to know the who and the why kept me interested.

Overall, while I did not dislike this one, I wasn’t quite bowled over by it. But I am eager to read more from Alex Finlay in the future. I really hope he gives us another book featuring FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller (from The Night Shift and Every Last Fear).

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the digital review copy of What Have They Done. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This book is due to be released on March 7, 2023.

📚 ARC Review 📚
What Have We Done
By Alex Finlay⭐️⭐️⭐️
Out March 7 2023

Brief summary: What Have We Done starts the prologue out with 5 teenagers standing around a grave. Now, 25 years later one of them is dead and there has been attempts on the lives of the others. They have to find out who is after them and why before it’s too late.

This book was interesting. It was a quick read and held my attention. I definitely could see it being a fun movie to watch with the action/thriller combo. I think if you are big into thrillers, you will enjoy this.

Three main things kept it from being a 4 for me.

1. It’s multiple POV’s but I didn’t enjoy all of them quite as much. I liked Jenna’s chapters the most.
2. I had some issue with the killers. I’m going to leave it at that for spoiler purposes. But if you’ve read this ARC. Message me for a rant.😂
3. I thought the mystery was a little obvious.

Overall this was fun and I enjoyed myself. Pick it up if you want a fun thriller, but at least for me it was very middle of the road.

Thanks to @netgalley and St Martins Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This review is posted on Goodreads and Instagram.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. What a story - it kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat! A story mostly told in the present with some flashbacks to help unravel the mystery. It is told from multiple POV with the 5 teenagers/adults piecing together the current mystery. Will definitely recommend!!

I have to admit, I’ve a few Alex Finlay books in my to be read pile, so I was rather pleased to be able to read “What Have We Done.” Between the dramatic things happening to folks and trying to puzzle how everything was connected, it was a bit of a roller coaster ride. I could see this book as a TV movie as many of the scenes were busy and action-packed. The one character I liked was Jenna - with her unexpected skills and quick thinking, she was “that Mom,” but in a great way. I liked trying to figure out all the connections and enjoyed the information flow. But what I did have an issue with was the whiplash from present-past in the middle of chapters - I would’ve preferred different spacing or a different font to note the time switching. I felt the epilogue was a bit flat, though surprises did keep coming even then.

This was a highly anticipated one for me because I strongly enjoyed Night Shift. While it was action packed and kept it moving, there were too many POVs and not enough twists. They felt a little predictable to me and the ending just didn’t wow like I wanted it to. Overall it was a fun read and I’d be willing to give more of this authors books a try!

What Have We Done tells the story of a group of people who spent time together in a group home as children. They are now adults with separate lives, but a secret from their past has come back to haunt them.

This book was fine. I wasn't overly impressed by it, but the story was decent. I liked being able to go inside the mind of each character. I got a little bogged down by the exposition dump at the end, but at least everything was explained and all the ends were tied up.

I was given this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

I really wanted to love this one! But I just didn’t. Night Shift was such a fun read for me, but this book was not. I kind of found it boring and ridiculous. It felt unorganized and too far fetched. Too much going on in this one. I will continue to read more by Alex Finlay because I really enjoyed his other books. This one just didn’t do it for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

OUTLIER ALERT!

2.5 stars rounded up

If you are like me, and you loved “Every Last Fear” 5 ⭐️ And “The Night Shift” 4 ⭐️, you probably auto-requested this book, like I did, without even reading the synopsis.

Both of those books were realistic, suspenseful crime stories, where the hints, like breadcrumbs, and a smart female lead, FBI agent Sarah Keller, led you to a satisfying conclusion.

And, this book is nothing like those two.

In fact, if you concealed the cover and author name from me, and had me read it and venture a guess as to who the author was-I would NEVER have guessed Alex Finlay.

Instead, of mystery/suspense we have an ADRENALINE THRILLER, with a tired premise, and an OTT storyline filled with crazy ASSASSINS.

Twenty Five years ago, Jenna, Donnie and Nico became the best of friends, when all were residents of an abusive group home, called “The Savior House. When several teens disappeared, probably sold off to human trafficking and the like, the home was shut down.

But, despite the fact that they haven’t seen each other for years, they are bonded by the night, when they all committed a crime-sworn to secrecy, to protect themselves and the others. (Sound familiar?)

Despite this horrific situation, they grew up to lead successful lives, with occupations such as Judge, Tech Millionaire, Reality TV Producer, Rock Star, and female Assassin.
Yeah, right.

I am sure that this book will find its audience, but I don’t personally enjoy Action movies, 🍿or books with this type of plot-so this was a MISS for me.

Will I read Alex Finlay’s next?

I am sure I will, but next time I will read the synopsis before requesting, to make sure it’s more in line with the first two books-and not this one!

Available March 7, 2023 for those of you who love Adrenaline Thrillers.

First off, thank you for selecting me to have a copy of this book in exchange for my review/opinion. I give this book a solid 4 stars. I loved most of the characters in this book as well as the plot. One thing I would have liked to see is more emphasis, explanation, and involvement with the "actual " killer. I feel as if he was skimmed over and too little time was spent on him. The story overall was very entertaining and I loved all of the twists and turns throughout. I could feel all the love/friendships between all the character.

Loved it! Alex Finlay did not disappoint! Five friends survived the Savior House, a group home for kids and twenty-five years later they are trying to figure out who’s trying to kill them. One friend is already dead, but he left the group of friends a clue. Great characters and the plot was excellent. The chapters were short and fast paced and very easy to get through. I couldn’t read fast enough. I highly recommend What Have We Done, by Alex Finlay!

Alex Finlay did it again! This was an absolutely bonkers ride. I went into this fairly blind and didn’t know what to expect and boy was this a real treat! I def recommend!

Well, that was quite the wild ride. Definitely wasn't going where I thought it would, which is what I've come to expect from Alex Finlay's writing. Love the multiple POVs between several of characters and the flashbacks into the main characters' childhoods / time at Savior House as foster kids. Arty, Bennie, Jenna, Nico, and Donnie all become successful in their own ways despite their beginnings - and a traumatic event binds their pasts and their present together. Also, Jenna is a BAMF.

(7.86/10 = 4.25 stars)

(Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.)