alex finlay – Pleasant Nights

Title: The Night Shift

Author: Alex Finlay

Genre: thriller

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

I read Every Last Fear a while ago and thought it was pretty good. Good enough to want to read more of Finlay. So, when I saw this one on NetGalley, I grabbed it, expecting another pretty good book. I was surprised because this one was even better. I loved this one and flew through it in a couple of days.

From Goodreads: It’s New Year’s Eve 1999. Y2K is expected to end in chaos: planes falling from the sky, elevators plunging to earth, world markets collapsing. A digital apocalypse. None of that happens. But at a Blockbuster Video in New Jersey, four teenagers working late at the store are attacked. Only one inexplicably survives. Police quickly identify a suspect, the boyfriend of one of the victims, who flees and is never seen again.

Fifteen years later, more teenage employees are attacked at an ice cream store in the same town, and again only one makes it out alive.

In the aftermath of the latest crime, three lives intersect: the lone survivor of the Blockbuster massacre who’s forced to relive the horrors of her tragedy; the brother of the fugitive accused, who’s convinced the police have the wrong suspect; and FBI agent Sarah Keller who must delve into the secrets of both nights—stirring up memories of teen love and lies—to uncover the truth about murders on the night shift.

I loved that this book follows three different characters, Sarah Keller; Ella Monroe, the survivor of the original murders; and Chris Ford, the brother of the accused. Between those three, you get the full story. And there are some fun plot twists along the way. I did guess the big reveal at the end at the beginning of the book, but there were plenty of other surprises. I’m super critical of good writing, and Finlay wrote a beautifully tight story. I will definitely recommend this one.

Every Last Fear

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

I’ve been on a NetGalley spree. There are just so many books that sound great, so I request a bunch and see what happens. Usually they will trickle in here and there, but right now I have 5 books to read and review. All sound intriguing, and I’m really excited to discover some new authors. The first book I started was missing some chapters. Either that or the plot was so bad that entire chunks of info were left out. My guess is the former, but in any case, I couldn’t finish it because I was so confused as to what was going on. Thankfully, this one was cohesive.

From Goodreads:

“They found the bodies on a Tuesday.” So begins this twisty and breathtaking novel that traces the fate of the Pine family, a thriller that will both leave you on the edge of your seat and move you to tears.

After a late night of partying, NYU student Matt Pine returns to his dorm room to devastating news: nearly his entire family—his mom, his dad, his little brother and sister—have been found dead from an apparent gas leak while vacationing in Mexico. The local police claim it was an accident, but the FBI and State Department seem far less certain—and they won’t tell Matt why.

The tragedy makes headlines everywhere because this isn’t the first time the Pine family has been thrust into the media spotlight. Matt’s older brother, Danny—currently serving a life sentence for the murder of his teenage girlfriend Charlotte—was the subject of a viral true crime documentary suggesting that Danny was wrongfully convicted. Though the country has rallied behind Danny, Matt holds a secret about his brother that he’s never told anyone: the night Charlotte was killed Matt saw something that makes him believe his brother is guilty of the crime.

When Matt returns to his small hometown to bury his parents and siblings, he’s faced with a hostile community that was villainized by the documentary, a frenzied media, and memories he’d hoped to leave behind forever. Now, as the deaths in Mexico appear increasingly suspicious and connected to Danny’s case, Matt must unearth the truth behind the crime that sent his brother to prison—putting his own life in peril—and forcing him to confront his every last fear.

I was really impressed by this unknown author’s ability to reveal hints and clues throughout the plot. Alex Finlay is the pseudonym, and this is his/her first book (as far as we know…maybe he/she published under a real name), which impressed me. Oftentimes, new authors end up being not so great. But this book was a fun read, had a great twist, and really kept me guessing.