Alex Finlay is quickly becoming an author I will autobuy. What have we done follows 5 adults who made a horrible decision when they were foster care teens in a small town. Someone is out to get them now, having put hits and attempted assissinations on all 5 of them, with one actually dying. Now they are trying to figure out who knows and why.

I love Finlays writing. Short chapters. Multiple points of view. It takes the reader on a journey of information. He does a great job of giving every point of view their own voice and also moves the story along. Finding the culprit was a bit twisty and I was impressed. The manipulations were consistent from childhood onward. I'd recommend this book to others. It was easy and fast and fun.

This book was amazing, The cover drew me in and I was so excited to read this, I was blown away with the thrills and the story line. I definitely have bought copies for my family and friends to read!

I received a free copy of What Have We Done from Netgalley and St Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.
What Have We Done is a mystery thriller about the survivors of the residence known as Savior House and the childhood bonds they formed – and how those bonds are stretched and tested over the past twenty-five years.
Twists and turns are abundant in Alex Finlay’s new thriller. I never knew what would happen next and my jaw dropped more than once before the final page. It was exciting and terrifying, dragging the reader along with the reluctant protagonists.

What Have We Done is a thriller about a group of teenagers who met in a group home and the terrible secret they keep between them. Now adults, someone appears determined to make that secret come to light by any means necessary. This is my second Alex Finlay novel and I really enjoyed it. To be honest, it started a little far fetched for me with one of the first main characters being an assassin and starting off right away with an order for a crazy hit. However, the novel quickly became so engaging, I had difficulty putting it down. I enjoyed the duel timelines and learning all the connections of the characters. Alex Finlay is a master of twist and turns and engrossing stories that will keep you guessing to the very end.

I dabble into the spy and assassin thrillers from time to time and usually enjoy them. Though I typically like my psychological thrillers to be character-driven—and that’s not usually what we find in more action-packed thrillers—Alex Finlay’s latest book What Have We Done somehow manages to be both. A heart-pounding thriller about a group of former foster kids who have put the past behind them, until someone is bringing it back with deadly motives.

My Thoughts

This is a departure in style for Alex Finlay, though he does tend to have some killer (pun intended) plots for his books. I found this to be more action-y, like watching a good action thriller. The book is more plot-driven than character-driven, though the characters were well-developed enough to keep me hooked.

Twenty-five years before the events of the book, Jenna, Donnie, Nico, Ben, and Arty lived at Savior House, a home that takes in kids whose parents have passed away or left them. While in some ways Savior House saved them—it gave them a place to stay when they had nowhere—it was also their tormentor. Girls at Savior House seem to disappear. Maybe they got placed with families like the administration said, but it seems unlikely. We learn about Savior House and their time there through snippets of story and memories. Savior House looms over the story as a dark entity. Even before we learn exactly what happened at Savior House, it’s clear this was not a happy home.

But it did bring our central five characters together. As adults, they don’t keep in touch as much as they should. Jenna is the central character of the book, and in my opinion by far the most compelling (though I think I would have also thoroughly enjoyed Ben if he had been alive for the book). Jenna was “recruited” (and I put this in quotes because she was definitely not old enough to consent fully to this) into a shadowy organization known as The Corporation. Among the many skills Jenna learned, she also became an assassin.

When the book begins, Jenna is retired from her life of crime and adventure, married to a lovely man with a teenage daughter. She’s happy. And that makes the events of the book particularly terrifying, because Jenna receives a calling card that must be from The Corporation.

I loved reading Jenna’s story. It was entirely unrelatable—something that can at times be frustrating—but in this case it worked because Jenna herself was relatable. She’ll do anything to protect her loved ones and the quiet, content life she has finally achieved. Jenna isn’t naïve though, she has safe guards upon safe guards built around their life to trigger if any threat gets too close. And sure enough, they all get triggered one by one.

The third-person narration worked well so we could get glimpses from a few different character’s stories. Donnie and Nico were less compelling and developed than Jenna, but equally as important to the broader story. They hold some pieces of the story we wouldn’t get if we only heard from Jenna.

The book moves fast and it becomes clear early on that someone is targeting this group from Savior House. While the characters seem like caricatures in their descriptions, they actually had some interesting development to them. Jenna is not your average former-assassin. Donnie may be a washed up musician, but he has more going on than you think. And Nico has a lot more details to uncover about what is going on in his life and his gambling addiction. The history of how he became the person he is fascinated me.

Though the book takes place in the present, this is a book grounded in the past. A lot of what we are trying to figure out is not just who is behind this, but what happened all of those years before? The past never stays in the past, after all. And secrets have a way of resurfacing.

Entertaining, lightening-fast, heart-pounding—What Have We Done may be different from Alex Finlay’s prior books but it is no less engrossing. A must-read if you are looking for a fast-paced thriller!

I was so looking forward to this book. I have read both the books by the author and loved them. Infact, The Night Shift was one of my favourite thrillers last year so I was so hyped for this book. I enjoyed it but did not love it as much as I had hoped I would.
The plot isn't new, we have a ragtag group of individuals that are linked through a shared secret when they were children.
Now, 25 years later, one of the members of the group gets murdered and each one of the group is under threat.
The premise is fine and should have worked but somehow it didn't come together for me. What should be thrilling I found forced. There are a few characters to follow and each has two timelines so it bounces around a lot, but not enough detail is presented.
Everything does come together in the end but the villain and the motive just didn't add up for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

Oh how I loved this one! It was such a fast paced read totally binge worthy! Would make a really good fall time read

This book was very different than I was expecting it to be and definitely a lot more unhinged than I was anticipating. It was a quick, action-packed ride with one crazy plot. I’m still not even sure how I feel about it. It was good as a mindless adrenaline ride, but the plot was so far-fetched that it was hard to take serious.

The book follows Jenna, Donnie, and Nico. As kids, they were connected by the foster home they lived in together and unfortunate events that occurred during that time. Now, as adults, they have drastically different lives. Jenna is a stay-at-home mom who is hiding a big secret about her former life. One that comes back to haunt her and her family. Donnie is an aging rockstar with a addiction problem whose life takes a turn when someone tries to kill him. And then there is Nico, a TV producer for a mining reality show with an addiction of his own and whose life literally crumbles around him. These misfits must come back together to figure out who is trying to kill them and solve the mysteries of their past. The character development was actually really solid in this book and probably the best part of the story.

This plot included A LOT. And by A LOT, I mean A LOT! Missing girls, gambling addictions, drug/alcohol addictions, assassins, vengeful twins, abuse, and corruption. I don’t even know how to describe this book without giving things away so I’m just going to leave it at this. It wasn’t my favorite, but it was entertaining. If you like action thrillers then this is absolutely a book for you. It’s fast-paced and will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

What a book. This was a shocking ending. I really thought that I had figured this one out mid-way through but the whole ending was jaw-dropping. The story is fast-paced and keeps you interested and hooked the whole time with multiple twists. Each chapter is pretty much a different character POV, but overall it is easy to keep up with and keep track of everything.

Easily one of my favorite from Alex Findlay! This book was action packed with a lot of twist and turns!

This was my first Alex Finlay book and I'm really impressed.

The short chapters help amp up the action and propel the story forward quickly. I could definitely see this as a mini-series on Netflix or Hulu, and have already been wracking my brain over who would play each character - especially those awful twins!

My only complaint was the structure of the novel. It's told via the perspectives of Donnie, Niko, Jenna and the twins, which gives readers various information based on who we're with, but sometimes Donnie and Niko have flashbacks to the past that are hard to distinguish from the present. I would have enjoyed the past being it's own section, perhaps at the beginning.

Overall, great book and I'll be adding the rest of Finlay's books to my TBR list.

Alex Finlay is very hit or miss for me. I love his debut novel, but wasn’t a fan of his sophomore novel. I went into this book with low expectations, but was quickly blown away. I love a good found family/childhood friends situation and them having to come back together because of a life event. So of course I enjoyed this!

The hard part with this novel is that while enjoyable in the moment, I've forgotten everything I read. This book doesn't stick with you like others do, and not quite up to the caliber I have come to expect with Finlay's writing. However, the cast of characters was interesting and while seemingly unbelievable at times, still an enjoyable read.

I really wanted to like this one, so I'm bummed it was a miss. However, this shouldn't deter anyone from this book or this author. Some of his previous works have been great for me, and I look forward to his next book!

My first Alex Finlay and can’t wait for more! Fast paced and twist after twist had me on the edge for most of the book. Loved the epilogue!

Told from three POVs. Jenna, Nico, and Donnie are very different voices and became friends of circumstance growing up as orphan teens. They’ve been holding onto a secret from their past and someone wants them all dead.

This one is full of suspense and has lots of action and twists. Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

I requested this quite quickly because of the author and his prior books were so good. I was quite surprised the plot of this book was completely different from his former suspense books. This was more of an action and crime thriller with added suspense. I did like the multiple POVs and the pace of the book, but this was not my favorite by him.

Looking forward to his next book. Thanks to Netgalley, Alex Finlay and St Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Already available

What Have We Done is an Alex Finlay book that is independent of the other series Finlay has written. This book follows a group of students from the same foster home as they both unravel mysteries from the past and present. I enjoyed the thriller aspects and mystery of this book, but I thought it suffered from having too many characters to follow. These characters experienced only limited development. Still, I recommend the book as a fun thriller.

As a reader who loved The Night Shift that was released last year, I was so excited to read this newest from Alex Finlay. Overall, it was missing just something and fell flat. I liked the descriptions in the book, but the plot could be very confusing at times. There is a lot of action going on and readers will enjoy that, it was just a miss for me. Thank you for the advanced copy.

I have a few of Finlay's books on my tbr, so I was delighted to recieve an arc copy of this book! Unfortunately, I waited until June to read it, which was a mistake because I thoroughly enjoyed it! Despite the mulitple perspectives, it was jam-packed with action and actually qualifies as a Thriller (which seems to be used to describe a lot of dramas lately). Although there were parts that seemed repetitive, looking past that is easy enough.

Thank you to Netgalley & Publishers for access to an arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.