This was an OK thriller. I don’t quite get all the hype surrounding it, but to each their own! There are a lot of characters to keep track of and I got confused about who each person was at times.

I received an advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

I received an advanced listening copy of What Have We Done by Alex Finlay through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and, here it is.
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☆☆☆ ½ - rounded down to 3 stars
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This story is told from three different points of view as three old friends are brought back together after one of their friends is murdered and their lives are at risk. They try to figure out who's after them while keeping their secrets safe and exposing others.
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I love that this book is fast-paced, that we get context from back flashes, and that there were some not-so-serious moments. The ending was a bit rushed for my liking, I wish that there was a deeper emotional connection between the characters and I would have loved more tension throughout but I had a good time trying to piece it all together.
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A couple of side notes; I'm obsessed with the title of this book and I really loved two of the antagonists and would love a story about just them!
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Overall, this story was a lot of fun, had some great twists and turns, and was pretty gripping!
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Thanks to Macmillan Audio, NetGalley, and author Alex Finlay for this ALC to honestly review. What Have We Done will be available on March 7th!

I'm really excited about this audiobook. I have been in a listening slump and this book got me out of it!

The book is an exciting thriller that follows a group of adults linked only through their past, and a triggering event they shared while living in a group home. Through an unfortunate series of events, the adults are brought back together and forced to solve a long-thought resolved mystery of their past.

The multiple points of narration make the book interesting, as well as the multiple narrators making the switch from POV easy to follow. I certainly had favorite story-lines (Jenna), but they were all interesting and brought their own importance to the story.

I think this is a great audiobook for a lot of groups of listeners. It is a great thriller, but also has a strong woman figure, and interesting other story arcs. I would easily recommend this book.

4 1/2 stars

Five former foster kids are suddenly being targeted for no apparent reason. They were each sent to Savior House as children for different reasons but managed to form a small family once they were there. It was them against the bullies. And now someone is trying to pick them each off one by one. The questions are who and why?

Regardless of their difficult beginnings, they've each made something of themselves. Between the five of them, they boast a tech genius, a judge, a television producer, a former rock star and a former assassin who has become a wife and mother. It appears the group has something to hide and maybe it's worth killing for.

This was such a fun read with great twists. It was one of those books that kept you wanting to flip the pages until the end.

AUDIOBOOK: The narration for the audiobook was great. In my opinion, it was even more enjoyable to follow along than reading it, 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both the ebook and the audiobook. I chose to read and listen to them both and write a review. The opinions contained within are my own.

She should have known better than to go to her spin class… Alex Finlay is now headed to my top author shortlist. He weaves the stories of old friends together with excitement from the beginning and kept me guessing all the way to the very end. Definitely would recommend!

Alex Finlay is an auto-read author for me and What Have We Done definitely sealed the deal!

As an auto-read author, I didn't even bother to read the synopsis for this one. I was very worried when the book started and it seemed to be about contract killers. Hitmen are not my thing. Action books are not my thing. I was definitely concerned this would be a DNF but decided to stick with it.

I'M SO GLAD I DID!!

First off, there are contract killers but they are women. That shouldn't matter but I did actually like that. OMG I was obsessed with the twins. I know they're terrible people, but what stellar characters!!

Second off, there is action. My heart was racing, I was on the edge of my seat. But it was for pages here and there, it wasn't the entire novel.

Third, there is A LOT more to this book. There are several characters/narrators and it was so exciting and intriguing to see how everything fit together.

The novel follows several kids who were in foster care together. The opening scene is of the group doing a terrible thing that will haunt them forever. As each one becomes the victim to an atrocious crime or seemingly an act of God, it becomes clear that it isn't a coincidence and that they are actually all targets.

Unfolding who was behind the attacks, what the kids did all those years ago, what took place in foster care, and who each individual became into adulthood was a wild and entertaining ride.

I listened to this book on audio and loved the different narrators. As with any audio with multiple narrators, I liked some more than others but I appreciated that each character had their own as it really helped me visualize the story and keep everyone straight. The narrator for the twins (again, yeah I'm obsessed, they were bada!!) was ON POINT!

The chapters were short which made this book totally bingeable. Whether you read it or do the audio, it's a must read if you've enjoyed Finlay's other works!

Thank you to MacMillan Audio, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for the copy.

This book had a lot of potential. So many good story lines and I was really excited for it. The audiobook had a full cast as well which I loved. But it let me down. There were so many different characters and plot lines that I really struggled to follow. Even at the end I feel like I don’t know what happened. Maybe I would have enjoyed this more as an actual book instead of audio.

What a great twist from what we are used to from Alex Finlay! This book starts off so strong and fast paced and never lets up! It reads like an action packed movie and I couldn’t get enough of it! I loved the story and the the characters, mainly Jenna, who protects her family at all costs. All of the characters were so unique and brought something special to the book. I enjoyed learning about the past of the characters and what made them who they were in present day in the book. The ending was done so well. I think this book will be a huge success! The audio was amazing, I didn’t find my mind wandering,. I was completely immersed in the book.

This book was so fun! I thoroughly enjoyed this multi-point of view murder mystery as the story follows both a decades-old murder committed by a group of foster kids as well as a current-day mystery of who is trying to kill all of these friends and why. I enjoyed the different narrators and the unwinding of the twisted mysteries, even though I figured out one of the pieces really early. A perfect little summer beach read/audio adventure. Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the early listen for my honest opinion.

Mediocre…

Having really enjoyed Finlay’s Every Last Fear & Night Shift, I went into this with pretty lofty expectations. Unfortunately it didn’t deliver. Plot was far-fetched and the characters were not as fully developed as I would’ve liked.

Audio was multi-narrated which I did enjoy but this wasn’t enough to give this novel more than 3 stars. Will I give Finlay another chance? Absolutely.

***ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the author, Alex Finlay and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced readers copy. These thoughts are my own.

This book was a little bit different than the thrillers I normally choose to read, however, it did not disappoint! At times, I did have to remind myself who is who since there were so many characters. The author did do a good job making sure each character was complete and the book flowed really well. Throughout the whole book, I couldn’t even guess what was about to happen. I tried figuring out how it would end, but never could have anticipated how it did. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a good suspense story from a newer author.

What Have We Done follows three friends that grew up in a group home together called Savior House. The story moves twenty years later with Jenna as the main focus as she tries to live a normal life after being a popular hitwoman. The story also focuses on Nico, Jenna’s husband, a screenwriter, and Donnie, a former musician. One of Jenna’s friends from Savior House got murdered, and things started to go awry for Jenna, Nico, and Donnie. They all began to think that the instances were connected.

I had access to both the kindle and audiobook versions. I listened to the audiobook version more than reading the kindle version. The plot was intriguing, but I have to admit the story was instantly confusing for me. I had no idea what was happening. I felt the story was cluttered and had too many things going on. There were too many characters and their side stories to follow. It took me a while to figure out how things were connected, and that caused me to lose interest in the storyline. This book was utterly character-driven, so that did not help my confusion. I did like that the book was packed with adventure and action, and it was a quick read.

The audiobook itself was enjoyable to listen to. All the narrators, Brittany Pressley, James Patrick Cronin; Jon Lindstrom; Maggie Thompson, did a great job bringing the characters to life. The only thing I did not like is that there was no distinction between the switch between the past and present. It was all meshed together, and that also made the book confusing.

I hope to pick up Alex Finlay’s other books because I heard that the writing of this book was slightly different than his other books, and I have heard great things about him. This book was just a miss for me.

Thank you to NetGallery, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for giving me a copy of the book and audiobook.

I actually give this a 3.5⭐️

The story was interesting, and was intrigued right from the beginning, especially with all the action. I enjoyed the multiple POVs, but feel that with the fast action, some of the characters were blended together and a little hard to tell apart. I wish there was more to the characters toward the end, some kind of personal growth. I feel they stayed general the same with minimal growth. A good quick thriller read otherwise, with some interesting twists. I look forward to reading other Alex Finlay books

Ehh, this one was a real disappointment. I've read other books by Alex Finlay and enjoyed them well enough, but this one felt very disjointed and kind of slapped together.

Through multiple points of view, we meet three different characters who have the common connection of all having spent time at a foster care place Savior House as teens. A killer is after all of them, and there are lots of hints about what they did way back when that could inspire a revenge spree now.

What I didn't like was how we weren't given any real information along the way about how to put together the mystery of the sudden efforts to unalive them (or why they were targeted), or honestly any reason to care if any of the characters was taken out. On the whole, they were all unlikeable and not exactly strong contributors to society.

I felt myself just wanting something useful to be revealed so it could be over, which is never what you want to hear about a new book.

Alex Finlay returns following The Night Shift (5 Stars) with his latest twisty crime thriller, WHAT HAVE WE DONE —four friends with a shared troubled past are reunited when a deadly secret resurfaces, and a killer is on their trail.

Twenty-five years ago, from Savior House group home, five young teenagers did something. It has been a secret, but who knows what they did?

Meet the five, now four.
Arty, a wealthy tech mogul
Donnie, a former but recognized rock star
Nico, a reality TV producer
Jenna, a happily married mom to two stepdaughters and a former assassin.
Ben (Benny), a judge—now murdered.

The four have not seen one another in many years; however, things change with Ben's death. When their famous judge friend is murdered and the FBI comes looking, the four must race against the clock to figure out who is targeting them.

Who knows what they did? Who knows their dark secret and why now?

Jeanna, a former assassin—was recruited out of foster care in her early teens by The Corporation. She receives a message forcing her back to her old job. I loved Jeanna! She is a character that shines. It was fun to see her in action while protecting her family.

With the Epilogue, am wondering if we will get a sequel with Jeanna. Hope so.

Told from multiple POVs, past and present. The friends are forced to relive their childhood traumas. They must decide who they can trust.

In this fast-paced action thriller, the friends must fight for their lives and survival. Finlay gives us background on each, with well-developed characters and riveting suspense.

If you enjoy smartly written thrillers, this one is for you. For fans of Harlan Coben and Greg Hurwitz (Orphan x)!

While this one was not like the last book, which was more nostalgic. Difficult to compare, this one was more an action-packed whodunit and a study of friendship. I am looking forward to seeing what is coming next from Finlay.

I was fortunate to read the e-book and listen to the audiobook narrated by a cast of rock stars: Narrated by Brittany Pressley (a fav), James Patrick Cronin, Jon Lindstrom, and Maggie Thompson for an award-winning performance for all voices!

Thanks to #MacmillanAudio #NetGalley #St MartinsPress #MinotaurBooks for a gifted ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review. #SMPInfluencers #MinotaurInfluencers

Blog review posted @
www.JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: March 7, 2023
My Rating: 5 Stars
March 2023 Must-Read Books

Listen if you like:
🍿 Popcorn Thrillers
⏳ Past and Present Timelines
👯‍♀️ Multiple POV
🔪 Assassination Attempts
🧐 Who dunnit

This one has a lot going on! It has multiple pov, past and present, bag guys, good guys, flashbacks to childhood trauma, clues, and so much more. The audiobook was so well produced and absolutely loved the multiple narrators as they did a fantastic job with this one! I think I truly enjoyed this one as much as I did, because of their excellent job with the narration.

I have to say the twins were probably the most entertaining characters and enjoyed how absolutely out of their minds they were.

The ending was lackluster and truly felt out of place and I feel like the entire last chapter could have been scrapped and would have been a better ending to the story.

There wasn’t a huge omg twist moment in this one as previous Finlay books, but it was a quick and entertaining read nonetheless. Thank you to the publisher for my ARC copy in exchange for my honest review!

What do a stay at home mom, a rock star, and a reality TV producer have in common? Someone is trying to kill them. They also became friends 25 years ago when all three were in a group home. They haven't kept in touch since then, all three going their separate ways to live completely separate lives. That all changed once they realized they were in danger.

There are three main POVs in this book, Jenna, Nico, and Donnie. While I liked all the characters, Jenna was my favorite. I love when authors make the FMC badass. Throughout the book we got glimpses of the past. I thought that was great. We were able to see why and how we got to the present day.

The book had many turns and took us all over. I was surprised by most of the things. I called part of the ending though. Overall, I thought it was a good book and will keep reading more from this author! I listened to the book as I read it. I thought the narration was fantastic! They kept me engaged.

Thank you NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and for St. Martin's Press my gifted copies

Jenna, Donnie & Nico find their paths crossing when their childhood at a problematic group home for teens comes back to haunt them.

This one took me a while to get into because it was such a hard departure from the previous one. I loved the realistic story from “Night Shift” and loved the nostalgia vibes. The story is set present day and is an off the wall story about people with very questionable pasts. I still ended up liking it, but it definitely requires a lot of suspension of disbelief and has MAJOR marvel movie vibes. That’s not really my cup of tea, but it was still entertaining and fast paced.

Highly recommended for fans of spy/assassin thrillers!

3 different people, each with a POV in the book. They are connected since they lived in the same group home 25 years ago. Together, 5 of the homes charges committed a crime. Now someone is trying to kill all of them for it by sending psychotic twin sisters who love the thrill of the kill. They succeed in killing one of the five, with the other four left running for their lives. In the 25 years they've each become a retired assassin, a rock star, a producer on a hit tv show, a tech billionaire, and a federal judge. The judge is now dead and it takes all of them some time to figure out that it's all connected to what happened 25 years ago.
There was A LOT going on in this - which I had a mixed relationship with. Love because it was fast paced, kept me engaged, endlessly twisty and I couldn't stop listening to it. But with all that going on I was mostly confused for the first half of the book...and while the different narrators helped differentiate the characters, I couldn't easily flip back and reference something. I had to try to rewind and find it. This is one where if you're listening to it, you want to be doing something mindless so that you can really pay attention to it and don't miss anything.
Overall, this audiobook would be the perfect companion to listen to on a road trip - it will keep you alert and on the edge of your seat!

From an outside perspective, Jenna (a stay-at-home mom), Donnie (a washed-up rockstar), and Nico (a reality TV producer) have nothing in common – but twenty-five years ago they were best friends, living together at a group home for parentless teens. And they all share a secret from their time together there. They haven’t been in touch in years, but soon find themselves drawn together again when they realize that someone is trying to kill them. Forced to relive their childhood traumas and unearth their secrets, they struggle to survive and decide who they can trust before it’s too late.

This was an action-packed read that I quite enjoyed! The strongest aspect of this work was the characters. I loved how different they were yet how they were all tied together with their common background. Also, I felt that Jenna was extremely well written, and I enjoyed reading the POV of such an engaging and boss female protagonist. Their personalities were distinctive and engaging, though I would have liked to see a bit more character development overall and they sometimes came off as a bit cliché. I also quite liked that we got a few chapters from the antagonists’ perspectives and that some of their history was included, though they felt a bit like caricatures rather than real people.

I think the reveals were well managed – I wasn’t quite sure where this work was going, and I enjoyed the pace at which the author provided information. I also quite like how fast paced this work was without feeling overwhelming, and the fact that it was more of an action thriller than a suspenseful thriller. This was definitely a work of fiction though, and those who are interested in entirely probable happenings might not enjoy this read.

If you like action-packed thrillers with decent characters, this work is for you. My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this work, which will be published 7 March 2023. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.