This mystery thriller is centered around a group of kids who meet at a group home for orphaned teens. Bad things happen.
We jump to their adult lives and how they each made their own path after leaving the group home. After one of them is murdered they realize they are each being tracked down to face the same fate.

I couldn’t put this one down. I needed to know all the things… but there is a lot going on here. We get time hops and many MANY POVs. I had to listen carefully to keep track of it all. How each teen grew up to be such successful adults after losing their families and the time spent in a horrible group home is laughable. Don’t expect realism. What I loved about this one was we get the POV of the antagonist and I kinda liked it.
One of the few times I think the epilogue was too much. This book is over the top in general. The Night Shift is better.

Spice level: n/a
Audiobook: 🎧🎧🎧/5
The country accent for Donnie was bad. I didn’t like it… at all. But Jenna is a fave narrator so she saved the day for me.
Pub date: March 7

Thanks to @netgalley and @macmillanaudio for the audio ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This is my second read of Finlay’s and it was another fast paced thriller that starts off fast and doesn’t quit until it is over, and I thoroughly enjoyed it all. Told in three POV’s, twenty five years ago Jennie, Donnie, and Nico were best friends after surviving abuse as residents of Savior House, a group home for parentless teens. They were split up after the home was shut down when several teens disappeared. They are reunited in present day as someone is trying to kill them.

I enjoyed the different POVs and revisiting each character’s past and how they handled their trauma to the current day situation, all the while Finlay is slowing revealing what happened back then and tying it to what is going on current day. The suspense did not let up all the way until the very end which was incredibly satisfying. I still have one more of his backlist books to read but I also cannot wait to see what he does next.

I really enjoyed the audiobook for this as well, it is narrated by a full cast and they all did a great job. Brittany Pressly is one of my favorites and she never disappoints!

Thank you to MacMillan Audio for the ALC and to NetGalley / Minotaur Books for the digital galley to review.

A bit bonkers. 2.5⭐

Chestertown PA. Something bad happened 25 years ago at The Savior House. After too many kids went missing and also its director, the doors were shut and the kids were sent their separate ways.

Today, someone is killing or attempting to kill these kids (now adults). The story is told through Jenna, Donnie, and Nico, the three best buddies, alternating now and then.

I heard What Have We Done is different from Finlay's other works. It was. I thought since I didn't love the previous two novels (rated 3 stars for both), this will be a winner for me. Wrong.

I think the biggest drawback for me is the orphan turn assassin turn yoga stepmom. It was kinda cartoony for me. I love assassins in political thrillers, you know, spy stuff. In this case, why are there so many assassins? In some ways, the movie "Hancock" came to mind, a superpower hero trying to be normal and blend in living in the suburbs. Anyway, the reveal is a surprise but overall makes little sense.

As of this review, the rating is 3.7 stars with 1,125 reviews and the book has yet to be published. So the majority of readers enjoyed this story and I bet it'll be a big success as his other novels.

Brittany Pressley, James Patrick Cronin, Jon Lindstrom, and Maggie Thompson did an excellent job with the narration! I enjoyed all their voices and it was easy to tell the characters apart.

Wow! I was on the edge of my seat from the beginning and still feel like I’m catching my breath! This is exactly what a good thriller should be- fast paced and twisty from the very beginning. The characters were layered and relatable. Alex Finlay has become an automatic read for me! I didn’t know if this one would measure up to his Agent Keller stories but this book has firmly placed him in the tier of thriller master.

What Have We Done starts with some very unexpected events. I was immediately enraptured!

Jenna, Donnie, and Nico were orphans together until the group home where they lived was shut down after a girl disappeared. Now someone is seemingly attacking them one by one. What happened all those years ago and who wants them gone?

I thought I was going to love this one, and I did love the multiple points of view, but overall I lost interest before the story resolved itself.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my complimentary copy!

I want to start by saying thanks to MacMillian Audio and NetGalley for supplying me with an ARC of “What Have We Done” for an honest review of this novel which is available on shelves everywhere starting Tuesday, March 7, 2023.

Moving on, I really love Alex Finley as an author - I personally feel like his tone and style of writing creates thrillers that are made for any audience who wants to be kept on their toes from start to end. His writing of “The Night Shift” had me in high anticipation of what this would bring. However, this book felt “unbalanced” to me and left me wishing that overall the pacing had been changed to keep the story and the plot clear and focused. Despite that I still had my curiosity piqued and didn’t want to put this book down leading me to give this book 3.5 stars. Read on for a little more information!

The Plot: “What Have We Done” is a thriller novel that takes a dive into former friends who meet once again under … unfortunate … circumstances. As the summary says, a stay-at-home mom with a past, a has-been rock star with a habit, and a reality TV producer with a debt. All who share one mysterious memory from 25 years prior. While each of them wants to forget, something hunts them down and brings them back to something they wish would stay secret.

What I Loved: The audiobook edition of this book was FANTASTIC - the story is told from multiple perspectives and each came with its own narrator that was perfectly chosen to display each individual character. This made the listening experience STELLAR as the chapters were short and moved between them fluidly without sounding jumpy. The only reason it took two days to listen to it was because I had to sleep!

What I Liked: The overall plot of this book was very well thought out as we follow through a novel that is packed with action from start to finish. Finley does a good job of making sure all loose ends are explained and wrapped up properly by the time we reach the end. Leaving me without questions of what it all meant which is greatly appreciated. Additionally, readers are spared no time in getting to the action with the first few chapters all leaving you hanging on to what will happen next. This same action never seems to falter as we are left reading chapter after chapter with information packed narratives as we creep closer to the truth. Also, the mystery element is good and there were several things that I didn’t see coming (although the “BIG” twist was my prediction for quite a while)

What I Wish was Different: I really felt that with as captivating and exciting as the plot was there were times where it just felt like the author was trying to do TOO MUCH to the point that I struggled to understand some of the plot divergences, or point of jumping from character to character so frequently. While we do get the chance to meet the characters and know about them it doesn’t feel like we ever get to KNOW them and know what it’s like to be them. I wish there had been points throughout the story where things slowed down and let us experience each character in their fullness because in honesty, anytime something tragic, scary, or else wise happens to them I sometimes just didn’t care. I never felt emotionally connected to the well-being of the characters which is the book's major fault.

A 3.5-rounded-to-4 new thriller by Alex Finlay, What Have We Done's audiobook offering is presented by a multicast and is very well done. Covering ground from the POVs of three different adults with a shared past at a group home, the main characters are in a race to confront their past at the home where girls began disappearing when they were teens, in order to figure out who is trying to kill them in the present day. The story had me intrigued from the opening scene, and I enjoyed the overall story enough to binge-listen and finish the book in a day. Easily a recommend for a quick read, escapism for readers who enjoy suspense thrillers.

<I>My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to preview this title in exchange for my honest review!</I>

I loved this book! It was gripping from the very start. The book starts off with an eerie event taking place at the Savior House group home. I was compelled throughout the entire book and couldn't put it down. I listened to this as an audiobook and the narrators were amazing. This was also my first book by Alex Finlay and it makes me want to read all his books! It's very rare that I read a book with as many main characters as this one does, yet feel attached to every single characters story.

WHAT HAVE WE DONE review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

🔹This story pulled me in immediately! The first several chapters were so good that I was sure this book would be 5 ⭐️s for me. While I still enjoyed the book overall, there were a couple parts I didn’t love.

🔹Here’s a summary of the plot:👇
Twenty-five years ago, Jenna, Donnie, and Nico met as teenage orphans living in the same group home. Now as they’ve grown up and grown apart, it seems someone has put a target on all of their backs. Someone wants all 3 of them dead. Jenna, Donnie, and Nico must confront the dark secrets of their past to find out who is trying to kill them.

🔹I normally love stories with multiple POVs, but it didn’t work as well for me on this story. I was by far the most invested in Jenna’s storyline and when the chapter would change to Donnie or Nico, I was counting down until I could switch back to Jenna’s story. Also having multiple POVs cut down the number of potential suspects and I was able to guess the killer at about 50% in. However, this was still a very compelling read and I definitely enjoyed it! This was my first book by Alex Finlay but definitely not my last!

🔹Thanks @macmillanusa and @netgalley for my advanced copy of this one! It publishes on Tuesday, March 7th!

I have to give Alex Finlay tons of credit for the beginning of this book. I was hooked by the suspense of each of the main characters. However, there wasn’t a whole lot of character development, and the rest of the plot became confusing and underwhelming. In my opinion, the ending didn’t bring the story together.

This thriller is told in different POVs, which I sometimes really like as a reader, but in this case, it wasn’t impactful, and made me lose track of events. I wish I would’ve have learned more about how all the characters and POVs were connected besides the fact they all lived together in a group home as kids.

I really, really wanted to like this book more. I’m still excited to read The Night Shift and other books by Alex Finlay, because I’ve heard they are terrific! But this one just wasn’t my favorite.

3.5 Stars

This was a fast-paced and action-packed thriller. I was able to get through this novel in two sittings. With that being said, I agree with the other reviews. The story was over the top and unbelievable at times. Also, the characters needed more development and interactions with each other.

It wasn't perfect, but still entertaining. Would recommend it to those fans of action-packed thrillers.

***A big thank you to NetGalley, Alex Finlay, and Macmillan Audio for graciously sending me the audiobook to review. As always, all thoughts are my own.***

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this audio. I enjoyed the narration very much and this author never disappoints. A group of kids, who bonded in the home they were sent to when they lost their parents, are brought together as adults for one purpose-find the person trying to kill them. After one of them is found dead, the other three must join forces and dredge up the past to find and stop the killer before it’s too late. I found the story fast paced and intriguing.

I was unsure of this book at first. It took me a little bit to get into it and I was afraid I was going to be disappointed, but Alex Finlay pulled through in the end! If you're having a hard time at the beginning of this book, just try to wait it out. I kept changing my mind about who I thought was gonna be behind everything and in the end I never guessed it right! It was definitely a shocker of an ending! I also loved the epilogue to give a look into how everyone's lives are playing out in the aftermath. I only give this 4 stars because it took awhile for it to grab my attention, but after it did, I was all in! I've been anticipating this book for months now and I was not disappointed!

What Have We Done-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book starts with a bang and does not let up. I felt like I was on constant high alert while reading this book trying to figure out who was being watched and making sure I wasn’t being watched myself. That’s how amazing the writing is in this book! My only complaint is I felt like the bad guy was too obvious, but I didn’t know the full story of the situation so I was still shocked! The ending was also amazing on so many levels that I won’t get into so I don’t ruin anything!

All in all do yourself a favor and go ahead and pre-order this book now so you can get it as soon as it releases just a mere three days from now!

Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillanusa for the ARC!

This book is exactly what I expect from Alex Finlay. Twist & turns with an unexpected villain! In the beginning, there was a lot going on and hard for me to distinguish the characters from each other. You may not have the same issue if you physically read the book. Honestly there were too many main characters. But it does start tying together in the last half of the book. In the end, it was a satisfying read.

Thank you Netgalley & the publisher for this audiobook.

I enjoyed this fast paced thriller but felt it switched around a little bit too much and Was sometimes hard to follow.

Wow! What a rush! Finlay has once again written a page turner! This is a well-written, suspenseful, complex, edge-of-your-seat thriller that will leave you breathless at times in anticipation of the next twist in the plot of which there are many. His characters are well-developed though not necessarily likeable. None of them are whom they appear to be. The twists and turns keep you on the edge of your seat right to the last page. It was so captivating and exciting that I simply couldn't put it down! This provocative, somewhat dark and twisted story grabs you from the first page and keeps you guessing until the very end!

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio who provided me with a copy of this book. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Five teens became friends in an abusive group home. Now they are adults, and someone is trying to kill them. They all share a secret from when they were friends, but they have since separated and have not talked for years. As the book progresses, their backstories come out, telling the reader how they have gotten to where they are in the present. The chapters vary in POVs, switching between Jenna, Donnie, and Nico. There are some chapters in the present and some chapters with flashbacks to the past. Will any of the characters figure out who is after them and why before it is too late?

Alex Finlay provides action-packed chapters, that keep you reading to find out more. His descriptions of people and places are exceptional and make you feel like you are there with the characters. This is my favorite book of Finlay’s so far. The narration was also spectacular. I enjoyed the different narrators, and it helped me keep track of which POV I was listening to. I can’t wait to listen to Finlay’s next book! I give this one 4/5 stars.

This is actually my first Alex Finlay book and I was really excited to dig in considering I have seen his name around so much. The plot for a crazy cat and mouse chase trying to figure out who is trying to kill them and if there’s a connection to their horrific past. Unfortunately, it was a little underwhelming for me. I didn’t find the twists to be all that surprising.

It wasn’t a bad book. I enjoyed the writing style and it did hold my curiosity for a bit but it just didn’t pull me in as I hoped it would. The characters weren’t especially well fleshed out making them all a little unlikeable. Some of the dialogue between past and present got very convoluted and confusing that it took a bit to fully grasp. Less is sometimes more. Equally, I wasn’t thrilled with the ending despite how it was satisfactorily resolved all of the remaining hanging threads of the story.

I did audio while following along with the physical book. The audio presented the book very well. The four narraters did a great job. Without the audio, I think I would’ve struggled to finish it.

This book kept me wondering till the end. It was my first book by Alex Finlay and I really enjoyed it!