Reviews with content warning for Suicide - The Night Shift

Alex Finlay does it again with an excellent follow-up thriller to his debut, and he has now become a must-read author for me! Also, I LOVE this cover with the neon lights!

The Night Shift was a quick read with short chapters (the best), and features dual timelines, which Finlay handled well. The first timeline, set in 1999, features four teenage girls working at a Blockbuster (throwback!) when 3/4 of them are killed. Police identify a suspect but are unable to capture him.

Fifteen years later, a similar crime happens at an ice cream shop: 4 teenage girls are working, three are killed, and one survives.

What follows is a race to catch this killer featuring a great cast of characters. We get a sharp female FBI agent and her eager assistant/sidekick, the original survivor who is now a counselor for troubled teens, the younger survivor who happens to be a troubled teen herself, and the brother of the initial suspect who eluded police for 15 years.

Finlay weaves in so many twists and turns in the hunt for the killer, along with unexpected connections between the characters! It was a page turner and I'm here for his next thriller!

Content Warnings

beckyremillard's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

In 1999, four teenagers were murdered at the Blockbuster they worked at. One person survived. The suspected murder was arrested, but released on bail and escaped. Fifteen years later, a group of teenagers were murdered at the ice cream shop. One person survived.

The book is written in the third person from the perspectives of Ella, the Blockbuster survivor, Chris, the alleged Blockbuster murderer’s brother, and Special Agent Keller.

There was a lot of layers to this one but I liked that I didn’t immediately guess the entire plot. I figured it out before the story got there, but that’s how the book is written.

There seem to be some polarizing reviews on this one but I really liked it. I just couldn’t stand that the 8 month pregnant with twins FBI agent was running around and putting herself in danger. She made a comment about how she was treated by some while pregnant and working but she makes some extremely poor decisions.

Content Warnings

librariangeorgia's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

The concept was so interesting and very well executed. Full of twists and surprises - I totally didn’t guess the killer!

It’s split into 3 parts, with each part having short chapters that alternate between Ella, Chris and Keller’s perspectives. With the chapters being so short, I did struggle at the beginning to get used to how quick it flicks between characters.

I really liked Keller and Ella as character, wasn’t fussed on Chris. However, I did think that Ella was a more interesting ‘final girl’ than Jesse - I don’t know if it’s because of how they were written or if it was because Ella was an ‘old’ final girl whereas Jesse had only just become a final girl.

Overall, I found it to be a really interesting alternative ‘final girl’ style thriller.

Content Warnings

random19379's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Content Warnings

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

sarcasmpotato's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

While the plot was interesting, the characters felt one dimensional and were pawns rather than people I wanted to root for.

Content Warnings

lilifane's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I'm surprised how much I enjoyed the book.
It's about a brutal murder taking place in the past and a similar crime taking place in the present. I really like these kinds of stories.
This was fast-paced, the twists and turns surprised me, all loose ends were tied up, nothing really annoyed be. And I even liked the characters, although some of them were a little one dimensional. But I guess that's what I liked so much, no unnecessary personal drama.
It's not groundbreaking or anything, but it gave me exactly what I needed from the story.

Content Warnings

bookedandbusy's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this book so much! This is the first book I’ve read by this author but it won’t be the last! It was so suspenseful and I didn’t see the twists coming!

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