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a_reader_obsessed's review
3.0
3.5 Stars
I’m at an impasse as to how to really feel about this book.
At times, it was a compelling mystery, the chapters short, spurring fast progress, making one want to know what would come next. Other times, I was impatient as the narrative jumps back and forth from past to present between three main characters tied by their teen years at a foster home that was anything but kind and nurturing. Old friends are dying and/or getting hurt, and someone is getting too close to the truth of that long ago fateful night.
There was also a fantastical element that was a bit incongruous to cold hard reality, where I wanted to follow that particular background and storyline more than the main plot. As a side note, I wholeheartedly beseech Finlay to give us a prequel telling all on Jenna's mysterious history.
Overall, I enjoyed this easy suspenseful mystery and am reassured that Finlay will consistently continue to deliver!
I’m at an impasse as to how to really feel about this book.
At times, it was a compelling mystery, the chapters short, spurring fast progress, making one want to know what would come next. Other times, I was impatient as the narrative jumps back and forth from past to present between three main characters tied by their teen years at a foster home that was anything but kind and nurturing. Old friends are dying and/or getting hurt, and someone is getting too close to the truth of that long ago fateful night.
There was also a fantastical element that was a bit incongruous to cold hard reality, where I wanted to follow that particular background and storyline more than the main plot. As a side note, I wholeheartedly beseech Finlay to give us a prequel telling all on Jenna's mysterious history.
Overall, I enjoyed this easy suspenseful mystery and am reassured that Finlay will consistently continue to deliver!
bargainsleuth's review against another edition
5.0
For this and other book reviews, visit www.bargain-sleuth.com
Told from multiple points of view, this thriller from Alex Finlay had me on the edge of the seat. Jenna, Nico, Donnie, Ben & Artemis lived in a group home 25 years ago. Something happened involving them, it’s not explicitly stated until late in the book but enough hints are given that the reader figures it out well before then. Now, it appears someone is trying to take all of them out, but none of them can figure out who.
Ben, the federal judge, is murdered. Donnie, his best friend and washed up rock star, is threatened with a gun by an attractive woman and is forced overboard of a cruise ship; somehow miraculously, he’s rescued by fisherman. Nico is a reality television producer on a show featuring coal miners and is attacked by an attractive woman, which makes him run down a mine shaft. Then there’s an explosion and Nico is trapped.
Jenna is a different matter. She’s a “retired” assassin for hire, who receives a cryptic message telling her about a hit she has to do or her new family will be in danger. The hit turns out to be her old Savior House friend Artemis, who is a Bill Gates-like character in the book. She purposely misses her shot when she sees who the target is, and that’s when all hell breaks out. She’s on the run and has to get her step-daughters and husband to safety. Luckily, she told her husband all about her past and they have a safe house ready and waiting for them. Once they’re secured, Jenna needs to find out who hired the female assassin and if it has anything to do with the events of 25 years ago.
It turns out there’s not one but two assassins, the Doublemint twins, if you will, who aren’t the typical killers. They don’t do it for ideology or for money, they do it for sport. And that makes them that much more dangerous.
Each chapter is short, covering Nico, Donnie, Jenna or the killers’ point of view, which quickens the pace of the story and makes you want to keep flipping the pages. The person of interest who may have hired the assassins is the son of the headmaster of Savior House, who mysteriously disappeared 25 years ago. He was brother to the town mayor and given the job to keep him out of trouble. His son, Derek, is now a freshman congressman from the district, and has motive. But how did he find out what the gang did all those years ago? Someone must have been talking. Ben was killed because of it.
Jenna, Nico, and Donnie need to band together to figure out the mystery before the assassins try to take them out again. The answers to the mystery are surprising.
I’m not normally big on thrillers because they usually involve a fair amount of violence, but What Have We Done does not have gratuitous scenes. When someone is injured, there isn’t an in-depth discussion of wounds, for which I was grateful.
I received an Advanced Reader’s Copy from NetGalley and Minotaur Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Told from multiple points of view, this thriller from Alex Finlay had me on the edge of the seat. Jenna, Nico, Donnie, Ben & Artemis lived in a group home 25 years ago. Something happened involving them, it’s not explicitly stated until late in the book but enough hints are given that the reader figures it out well before then. Now, it appears someone is trying to take all of them out, but none of them can figure out who.
Ben, the federal judge, is murdered. Donnie, his best friend and washed up rock star, is threatened with a gun by an attractive woman and is forced overboard of a cruise ship; somehow miraculously, he’s rescued by fisherman. Nico is a reality television producer on a show featuring coal miners and is attacked by an attractive woman, which makes him run down a mine shaft. Then there’s an explosion and Nico is trapped.
Jenna is a different matter. She’s a “retired” assassin for hire, who receives a cryptic message telling her about a hit she has to do or her new family will be in danger. The hit turns out to be her old Savior House friend Artemis, who is a Bill Gates-like character in the book. She purposely misses her shot when she sees who the target is, and that’s when all hell breaks out. She’s on the run and has to get her step-daughters and husband to safety. Luckily, she told her husband all about her past and they have a safe house ready and waiting for them. Once they’re secured, Jenna needs to find out who hired the female assassin and if it has anything to do with the events of 25 years ago.
It turns out there’s not one but two assassins, the Doublemint twins, if you will, who aren’t the typical killers. They don’t do it for ideology or for money, they do it for sport. And that makes them that much more dangerous.
Each chapter is short, covering Nico, Donnie, Jenna or the killers’ point of view, which quickens the pace of the story and makes you want to keep flipping the pages. The person of interest who may have hired the assassins is the son of the headmaster of Savior House, who mysteriously disappeared 25 years ago. He was brother to the town mayor and given the job to keep him out of trouble. His son, Derek, is now a freshman congressman from the district, and has motive. But how did he find out what the gang did all those years ago? Someone must have been talking. Ben was killed because of it.
Jenna, Nico, and Donnie need to band together to figure out the mystery before the assassins try to take them out again. The answers to the mystery are surprising.
I’m not normally big on thrillers because they usually involve a fair amount of violence, but What Have We Done does not have gratuitous scenes. When someone is injured, there isn’t an in-depth discussion of wounds, for which I was grateful.
I received an Advanced Reader’s Copy from NetGalley and Minotaur Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
kgos's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
kapiolani's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
starfleeting's review against another edition
2.0
This is now 2 for 2 from Alex Finlay that I've predicted the "twist" before I was even at the midway point. With The Night Shift I figured it out about 30% in, and with this one it was in the first two pages. I read on, hoping I would be proven wrong but gave into my curiosity and read some spoiler reviews.
And man, I don't hate Finlay's writing from a technical standpoint, but the plot for this one sounded waaaayyyy too convoluted and stupid for me to continue. At least with The Night Shift it had some complex tragedy that made me at least skim the other chapters, still invested in the story.
So this is a DNF and solidly placing Finlay on my "check out from the library only" list.
And man, I don't hate Finlay's writing from a technical standpoint, but the plot for this one sounded waaaayyyy too convoluted and stupid for me to continue. At least with The Night Shift it had some complex tragedy that made me at least skim the other chapters, still invested in the story.
So this is a DNF and solidly placing Finlay on my "check out from the library only" list.
edgarstarr's review against another edition
1.0
DNF
"What Have We Done"? I don't know because I'm 42% in on page 156 and NOTHING has happened. Somehow, Alex Finlay went from writing one of my favorite thrillers of last year (The Night Shift) to writing a frustratingly messy story that's impossible to follow. The transitions from the past and present and never made clear, it'll take me a couple paragraphs to even realize what year the characters are in. Speaking of the characters, the one sentence summaries in the book description make them sound more interesting than they are but in truth none of it even matters. They are all nothing characters who somehow manage to be overly complicated. The only character who I somewhat cared about was Donnie, but I couldn't pull through to find out how his part of the story ended.
I gave "Every Last Fear" one star because I found the main character to be insufferable but at least I finished it. At least I was interested in what I was reading occasionally. At least I left it feeling SOMETHING. I'll be hesitant to read any future work by Finlay. I really don't understand how someone's writing can downgrade so much in the span of a year.
"What Have We Done"? I don't know because I'm 42% in on page 156 and NOTHING has happened. Somehow, Alex Finlay went from writing one of my favorite thrillers of last year (The Night Shift) to writing a frustratingly messy story that's impossible to follow. The transitions from the past and present and never made clear, it'll take me a couple paragraphs to even realize what year the characters are in. Speaking of the characters, the one sentence summaries in the book description make them sound more interesting than they are but in truth none of it even matters. They are all nothing characters who somehow manage to be overly complicated. The only character who I somewhat cared about was Donnie, but I couldn't pull through to find out how his part of the story ended.
I gave "Every Last Fear" one star because I found the main character to be insufferable but at least I finished it. At least I was interested in what I was reading occasionally. At least I left it feeling SOMETHING. I'll be hesitant to read any future work by Finlay. I really don't understand how someone's writing can downgrade so much in the span of a year.
casuallyreadingx's review against another edition
3.0
3.5⭐️- read as an audio!
A house of horrors for a group of kids with a crazy whirlwind of actions afterwards. I didn’t love it but I would pick up another book from the author
What I Enjoyed:
• Action packed! There was always something coming around the corner.
• Short chapters
• Fast paced
• “who dun it” (even tho it seemed quite obvious which meh)
• Honestly the characters were interesting and I was invested in all of them.
What could have been better?
• While I enjoyed most of the action, at times it felt randomly thrown in for suspense and I didn’t understand why. It wasn’t always needed. A bit overdone.
• Abrupt change between past and present made it hard to keep up
• While I enjoyed all the characters, I was hoping for more development as the story went on.
Overall: it was okay!
A house of horrors for a group of kids with a crazy whirlwind of actions afterwards. I didn’t love it but I would pick up another book from the author
What I Enjoyed:
• Action packed! There was always something coming around the corner.
• Short chapters
• Fast paced
• “who dun it” (even tho it seemed quite obvious which meh)
• Honestly the characters were interesting and I was invested in all of them.
What could have been better?
• While I enjoyed most of the action, at times it felt randomly thrown in for suspense and I didn’t understand why. It wasn’t always needed. A bit overdone.
• Abrupt change between past and present made it hard to keep up
• While I enjoyed all the characters, I was hoping for more development as the story went on.
Overall: it was okay!
jodybecca's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
ajpotz's review against another edition
2.75
it was an easy, action packed read, emphasis on the action. lots of fight scenes and such, which was not what i expected as this was discribed as a thriller. but would be good for anyone looking for an action book involving found family
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Murder, and Torture
Moderate: Pedophilia, Trafficking, and Sexual assault
Minor: Cancer and Car accident