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mollyvh's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 rounded up. Not my favorite thriller, but definitely a fun read.
bargainsleuth's review against another edition
3.0
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Trigger Warnings: Attempted Rape , Sexual Assault, Cheating, Murder, Death, Child Death, Racism, Racist Comments, Attempted Suicide , Drug Use, Alcohol Use, Mentions of Suicide, Mention of Pedophilia
I’m working my way backwards with author Alex Finlay’s books. First I read What Have We Done? and then it was on to The Night Shift , and now I’ve read his first book, Every Last Fear. He’s one of my new-to-me favorite authors.
The book centers around the killing of a teenage girl and the imprisonment of a teenage boy. The story later becomes the basis for a true crime documentary; I’ve seen first-hand what a Netflix documentary series can do to a community when Making of a Murderer came out a few years ago. It was based on a local murder, and what a shitstorm it created for everyone involved. Lawsuits are still being settled regarding this documentary, and truth be told, I don’t watch any crime shows (not since Castle went off the air) or true crime documentaries. But I found all the chatter in the book about the documentary added to the suspense.
When Matt’s family is killed while on vacation to Mexico, he doesn’t know what to think. The reader doesn’t know what to think, either. His brother Danny has been locked up for years for the murder of his girlfriend, yet the case is still a hot topic because of the documentary. Matt’s still in college and just follows what Agent Keller at the FBI wants him to do (It was great reading about Keller again, who appeared in another Finlay book, this time younger and pregnant.) Somebody wants him dead, too.
In flashbacks, the reader is taken back to the time of Danny’s girlfriend’s murder, and the days leading up to the family vacation in Mexico. Matt’s dad and younger sister are diligently using social media to find more clues that could lead to Danny’s release from prison. That leads them to a tip in Mexico, which leads to their impromptu trip.
While I typically don’t read thrillers and avoid true crime documentaries, I still found this an interesting book with lots of twists and turns I never could have thought of. However, I figured out who was behind the killings because it was the only logical explanation to me. No one else had the means or motive to kill Matt and Danny’s family. Maybe all my reading of Nancy Drew books helped me with figuring out the clues.
Trigger Warnings: Attempted Rape , Sexual Assault, Cheating, Murder, Death, Child Death, Racism, Racist Comments, Attempted Suicide , Drug Use, Alcohol Use, Mentions of Suicide, Mention of Pedophilia
I’m working my way backwards with author Alex Finlay’s books. First I read What Have We Done? and then it was on to The Night Shift , and now I’ve read his first book, Every Last Fear. He’s one of my new-to-me favorite authors.
The book centers around the killing of a teenage girl and the imprisonment of a teenage boy. The story later becomes the basis for a true crime documentary; I’ve seen first-hand what a Netflix documentary series can do to a community when Making of a Murderer came out a few years ago. It was based on a local murder, and what a shitstorm it created for everyone involved. Lawsuits are still being settled regarding this documentary, and truth be told, I don’t watch any crime shows (not since Castle went off the air) or true crime documentaries. But I found all the chatter in the book about the documentary added to the suspense.
When Matt’s family is killed while on vacation to Mexico, he doesn’t know what to think. The reader doesn’t know what to think, either. His brother Danny has been locked up for years for the murder of his girlfriend, yet the case is still a hot topic because of the documentary. Matt’s still in college and just follows what Agent Keller at the FBI wants him to do (It was great reading about Keller again, who appeared in another Finlay book, this time younger and pregnant.) Somebody wants him dead, too.
In flashbacks, the reader is taken back to the time of Danny’s girlfriend’s murder, and the days leading up to the family vacation in Mexico. Matt’s dad and younger sister are diligently using social media to find more clues that could lead to Danny’s release from prison. That leads them to a tip in Mexico, which leads to their impromptu trip.
While I typically don’t read thrillers and avoid true crime documentaries, I still found this an interesting book with lots of twists and turns I never could have thought of. However, I figured out who was behind the killings because it was the only logical explanation to me. No one else had the means or motive to kill Matt and Danny’s family. Maybe all my reading of Nancy Drew books helped me with figuring out the clues.
ebodi8pg's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
cindy_f's review against another edition
4.0
Every Last Fear is an excellent debut, and shouldn’t be missed.
I won’t get too much into the synopsis but I’m not sure how to give it justice without a brief one. I liked this mystery thriller. It’s really a story about two tragedies that happen to the Pine family. Matt is a NYU student who gets news that his family died in Mexico of an apparent gas leak. He then breaks the news to his other brother Danny, who is serving a life sentence at a Penitentiary for murdering his girlfriend. We briefly get the police interrogation of his confession that landed him in prison, but in real life, a forced confession can be thrown out if he had a good lawyer. But this was a huge case, as we also get snippets of a crime documentary that was made.
We get POVs from Matt and FBI Agent Keller in present time. We also hear from Matt’s family members Evan, Olivia, and Maggie in the “before” timeline. It’s pretty fast-paced and thrilling as the alternating chapters feed us little bits of drama and twists. It’s very suspenseful and a real page-turner without any major unrealistic plot lines. Well, maybe one- a weird tornado warning in the middle of a funeral. I guess it’s the Midwest, tornados happen but I found it an unusual distraction.
I won’t get too much into the synopsis but I’m not sure how to give it justice without a brief one. I liked this mystery thriller. It’s really a story about two tragedies that happen to the Pine family. Matt is a NYU student who gets news that his family died in Mexico of an apparent gas leak. He then breaks the news to his other brother Danny, who is serving a life sentence at a Penitentiary for murdering his girlfriend. We briefly get the police interrogation of his confession that landed him in prison, but in real life, a forced confession can be thrown out if he had a good lawyer. But this was a huge case, as we also get snippets of a crime documentary that was made.
We get POVs from Matt and FBI Agent Keller in present time. We also hear from Matt’s family members Evan, Olivia, and Maggie in the “before” timeline. It’s pretty fast-paced and thrilling as the alternating chapters feed us little bits of drama and twists. It’s very suspenseful and a real page-turner without any major unrealistic plot lines. Well, maybe one- a weird tornado warning in the middle of a funeral. I guess it’s the Midwest, tornados happen but I found it an unusual distraction.
powerpuffgoat's review against another edition
1.5
What can I say. It wasn't the worst book I've ever read but it wasn't good. Filled with clichés, too many POVs and implausibilities, it really wasn't very entertaining.
The story itself wasn't too bad, but to be honest, very little happened. We're told about the same events from multiple points of view, along with complete fluff.
Instead of the investigation of the initial crime, we are literally given a play-by-play of what happened, from the POV of the victims. No tension, no finesse. We know they died already. And no new information, because the agent on the case and the family member left behind are easily uncovering it all.
The writing wasn't good either. There was a lot of boomer humour, jokes that the author clearly heard somewhere and loved so much that he probably still chuckled to himself and he hamfisted them into the narrative. Several things were repeated, too, cause he must have been so pleased with himself for "analysis paralysis" and "BSD (big swinging dick)". The author might even believe that he came up with these himself, as well as that silly vegan joke.
It's not the jokes either. He inserted a quote from a book into the narrative, and referred back to it AGAIN later in the book.
The way he described technology, it was as if he was giving a presentation at a retirement home. Why wouldn't a 17-year-old high school student not know what deepfake is?
Conveniently, the teenage girl also doesn't know any famous people except for Ruth Bader Ginsburg and a 20-year-old running a bar still had music from 30 years ago.
Oh, and of course, the Mexican characters spoke good English but couldn't help but say "Sí" instead of "yes". Just so we remember they are Mexican but presumably the author only knows like three words in Spanish.
So lazy and boring.
The story itself wasn't too bad, but to be honest, very little happened. We're told about the same events from multiple points of view, along with complete fluff.
Instead of the investigation of the initial crime, we are literally given a play-by-play of what happened, from the POV of the victims. No tension, no finesse. We know they died already. And no new information, because the agent on the case and the family member left behind are easily uncovering it all.
The writing wasn't good either. There was a lot of boomer humour, jokes that the author clearly heard somewhere and loved so much that he probably still chuckled to himself and he hamfisted them into the narrative. Several things were repeated, too, cause he must have been so pleased with himself for "analysis paralysis" and "BSD (big swinging dick)". The author might even believe that he came up with these himself, as well as that silly vegan joke.
It's not the jokes either. He inserted a quote from a book into the narrative, and referred back to it AGAIN later in the book.
The way he described technology, it was as if he was giving a presentation at a retirement home. Why wouldn't a 17-year-old high school student not know what deepfake is?
Conveniently, the teenage girl also doesn't know any famous people except for Ruth Bader Ginsburg and a 20-year-old running a bar still had music from 30 years ago.
Oh, and of course, the Mexican characters spoke good English but couldn't help but say "Sí" instead of "yes". Just so we remember they are Mexican but presumably the author only knows like three words in Spanish.
So lazy and boring.