I wasn’t anticipating so much action and intensity but enjoyed the fast paced story along with the flashbacks. I honestly got a little lost in the characters and the plot at first but then enjoyed it as the story picked up and I got to know each character. 3.5 stars rounded up

Reading Between the Wines book review #26/115 for 2023:
Rating: 3 🍷 🍷 🍷
Book 📱: What Have We Done
Author: Alex Finlay
Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers
RELEASES on March 7, 2023!!!

Sipping thoughts: This book is filled with all of the things that make books great for me like multiple POVs, short chapters, switching timelines and dark content. While I enjoyed the previous books I read by Finlay, I felt like this one was a little bit of a letdown because I wanted to love it. There were so many characters which in itself is okay but I just didn’t care about anyone except Jenna. I also felt like I needed more time spent at the orphanage to build the storyline and make the mystery make sense. The ending was jammed pack and left me a little confused. I wish the real villain had made more sense to me.

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley and @StMartinsPress for an advanced copy of @WhatHaveWeDone.

#WhatHaveWeDone #AlexFinlay #StMartinsPress #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult

25 years ago, Savior House, a group home for teens, was closed after several girls disappeared. Now, Jenna, Nico, and Donnie are faced with their past and the secrets buried there when someone sets out to kill each of them.

I’ve read all of Alex Finlay’s work and WHAT HAVE WE DONE is easily my favorite!

This book is packed with all of the things I love: multiple timelines, alternating POVs, short chapters, and a creepy home for orphans?! SIGN ME UP.

This one gets a bit outlandish, so brace yourself, but the craziness made this book hard to put down.

Jenna was hands down my favorite character - a true badass lead you’d want in your corner - and I looked forward to her name popping up in the chapter headings!

Huge thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Minotaur Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Publication Date: March 7, 2023

Thanks to Minotaur Books, the author, and NetGalley for the free gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was so pumped for this thriller because I LOVED Finlay’s last thriller The Night Shift. I ended up loving this one too but the first half was SO confusing with all the different characters and places it was hard to grasp what was going on at first.

I did end up loving how action-packed the book was after I finally figured out the list of what was going on, it was a lot of twists and turned with a lot of shady and untrustworthy characters.

A very fast-paced action-packed thriller - I highly recommend it if you love a thriller with lots of characters and lots of twists and turns. The details in this book are unique and I love all the breadcrumbs that all came together in the end, but all the pieces actually mattered and not just a bunch of fluff.

A solid thriller. Fast-paced and twisty.. especially the end. Just when you think you know the story, an unexpected twist is thrown in. Told between multiple characters and dual timelines, the story is laid out piece by piece. I enjoyed how each character brought the clues to the overall story to give us a complete picture at the end. I did feel some parts weren't fully fleshed out as well as they could have been, but overall, a compulsive read and one that I couldn't figure out.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read and honestly review an advanced readers copy.

A group of foster kids with a dark past are brought back together decades later because they’re being targeted by a hired killer.

We have Jenna who appears to be a stay at home mom, but there is more than what meets the eye, Donnie the rock star, and Nico the reality tv producer in crippling debt.

There are many different POVs throughout the book, but it is primarily Jenna’s and Nico’s and Donnie’s that you’ll read about. Not only are they being targeted by an hired killer, but their dark history is being threatened to come to light and ruin their adult lives.

This book had a lot going on, and to be honest… it was too much. Young girls went missing, the kids had a secret that we slowly unraveled, and their other childhood friend was murdered which was also a catalyst to bring them back together.

I liked that the chapters were short and it was a fast read. I also enjoyed Jenna’s POV for most of the book, but by the end I was rolling my eyes.

My issues are that it had too many details, too many side characters and plots, the way the past was told was very confusing (the transition was very clunky and hard to follow) and the ending was overly dramatic and reminded me of a slasher film. It was too villain focused and it wasn’t my style. The action became a focal point and reading the fighting scenes bored me and took away from the overall plot.

I didn’t like the ending, the entire book felt like a lousy action movie, and this felt like a serious departure to what Alex Finlay usually writes. While I loved his other two books Every Last Fear and The Nightshift, this was a slog to get through. 2 stars, maybe 2.5 at best. This just felt like such a tired, uninspired story. I feel like I have seen so many movies/read so many books that have already had the same kinds of “twists”. I’m sad to say I didn’t like this one and I wouldn’t recommend it to others

I also listened to the audiobook which had a great cast of narrators, but again, with so many POVs and the very unclear transitions from past to present I couldn’t listen to much of it without getting confused.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martins Press Minotaur Books, and MacMillan Audio for the advanced readers copy, and advanced listeners copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

📆 This book publishes on March 7, 2023!

Wow this was a fast paced thriller that had me questioning everything. I loved the multiple points of view and the edge of your seat pace throughout the read. It also covers some past as well as the present, so jumps timelines as well as pov. I didn't want to stop reading this and finished it in a 24 hour period!

I think Jenna's chapters were my favorite, and there were definitely some twists I didn't expect. The stories and history of the characters are messy and complicated, and I was shocked at some of the turn of events for sure.

Overall this was a great thriller and a solid 4.5/5 stars for me. Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press/Minotaur for the ebook for my review.

had high hopes for this one but it fell flat for me. There was a lot of characters but not enough development for me. I didn’t catch myself loving or caring much about the characters. The first half of the book I couldn’t figure out where the plot was going and had little interest but it eventually picked up and I liked the twists at the end. Jenna’s chapters kept me more interested than the others but in the end Donnie was my fav character. The epilogue was nice where it wrapped it all up but I wish I got more of the before and their time at Savior House. I think that would have given me more of a pull to the characters and I was mostly into that part of the book. However if I was Jenna’s husband I would be so over it 😂😂 short chapters and it is fast paced so that’s nice for a lot of readers. Nicos character was the worst and I didn’t feel bad or care for him at all.

Will post to book Instagram on release day

This was an action-packed thriller! I loved the short chapters and how they ended on a suspenseful note, making you want to keep reading. I also love multiple POVs with a flashback aspect so I appreciated that in this book. The twins…what?? They were absolutely crazy. This book was full of action and twists especially toward the last 75%. It was a great read that definitely kept my attention.

Thank you, NetGalley and the Publisher for the eARC! Alex Finlay is one of my favorite thriller authors and What Have We Done did not disappoint!
The multiple viewpoints worked well throughout the story as it has short chapters with each chapter being a different character.
What Have We Done is packed with action, twist and turns, and ultimately had me guessing throughout the story up until the last page. The story itself had me hooked right away and the short chapters made it easy to convince myself to read “just one more chapter” 😃
I wanted to give this book 5 stars but I found some of the flashbacks within the chapters (especially in the beginning) I found myself re-reading to be sure I knew when /what going on.
Overall, I would recommend What Have We Done to anyone who loves thrillers, especially with lots of twists!

A secret from the past threatens the lives of three former foster care friends in the present in this new thriller from Alex Finlay. Told in a dual timeline and multiple POV style, this one was twisty, entertaining and deeply emotional. I connected with the characters a lot and loved the full cast narration (which included my fav, Brittany Pressley!). While I didn't love it more than last year's The night shift, this was still a propulsive thriller with a great twist ending. Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

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.

Thank you @Minotaur_Books and @AlexFinlayAuthor for my advance copy and adorable freaking necklace! What a wonderful book package to receive and pretty bad ass tie in to the book!

I am huge Finlay fan! I have read and enjoyed all his work, so I KNEW I had to read this! Let me tell you, it may be my favorite. Now was it believable in all aspects? No-but it was entertaining as hell, and I read it in almost one sitting. If I didn’t have old, tired eyes I may have made it. Its fast paced, adrenaline packed suspense. The premise helped me captivated and I loved how all the characters storylines matched up. It was super smooth, and it had short chapters which gets my heart every time. I also liked that the POV skipped between characters. I really think that is what helps a thriller propel forward and keep you guessing.

My favorite story line was Jenna. I really hope we get a spin-off of her earlier life with Sabine. It would be super interesting. Hint hint Alex! I also felt like Donnie seemed familiar and that some of his stories with the ghost rider sounded familiar-until I read the acknowledgements and then I knew why. I LOVED The Storyteller by Dave Grohl and I loved the inspiration Alex used for Donnie.

This was high octane fun with some crazy twists that I did not see coming.

“Survival favors the cautious.”

This is my 1st Alex Finlay book. It was really fast paced. I loved Jenna’s character and how her relationship progressed with her step daughter, Willow (this isn’t a major factor in the story but I just enjoyed it).

The whole vibe of the book is…icky when it comes to all that is Savior House. The author really conveys that well when the girls are hiding.

After the kids from Savior House are split up they start their own lives, some more troubled than other and are brought together again when someone starts trying to kill them. They are reconnected with one purpose…survival.

There are a couple of characters that come into play (in addition to the Savior House kids) and honestly I don’t know where they came from but they were pretty great villains. I think maybe I was so into the action packed story that I didn’t pay enough attention to that detail.

There is a scene at this like truck stop involving a lipstick stun gun. At first it wasn’t used in the way that I would use it buuuut then the character redeemed the scene. It was lovely…well not for everyone. What a cool and terrifying scene.

So if you’re looking for a neat thriller…this isn’t it. If you’re looking for an assassin-y, action packed, suspend reality kinda book then you should totally check this one out.

If you think you know Alex Finlay, this book is going to make you want to rethink everything you think you know.

25 years ago, Nico, Donnie, Ben, Artemis, and Jenna were all foster kids living at Savior House. 25 years ago they had hopes and dreams, imagining a better lives than the ones they were currently living. However, something happens that changes the trajectory of their lives forever, and when a trained killer is on their tails, they realize they must work together to find out who wants them all dead.

The reason I say that if you think you know Alex Finlay, change your thinking, is because this novel isn't like his other novels. In fact, after the first few chapters I double checked to make sure I hadn't downloaded the wrong book.

Nonetheless, this had me hooked. It jumps not only between alternating points of view but also between the past and present, which I always find fun. The book starts off at a 10 and it never really comes down after that. The fact that a killer is after several different characters all at the same time definitely lead me to wonder what was going on, and I couldn't stop reading because I needed to know who was behind everything.

Although this book is different than what I've got to expect from Finlay, that's definitely not a bad thing. If you have a few hours in an airport to kill, this one is going to keep you from people watching for sure!

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, and MacMillan Audio for gifting me a digital and audio ARC of the new thriller by Alex Finlay and narrated by Brittany Pressley; James Patrick Cronin; Jon Lindstrom; Maggie Thompson - 4 stars!

A group of teens meet at Savior House, a group home for those who have lost their parents. But it definitely isn't a savior for them - there is rampant bullying and abuse along with several girls who go missing. One night in the woods changes everything for the group. Decades later, the group reunites because someone is trying to kill them.

I'm a big fan of Alex Finlay and loved his first two novels. This one gets 4 stars instead of 5 for those because it seemed a bit over the top and I couldn't quite get into the characters as much. But it's non-stop action with plenty of twists to keep you turning the pages. I was lucky enough to be able to switch between the digital and audio versions and the narration of the different characters was great. The book is told from the POVs of three of the now-grown teens. Definitely escapism reading and I'll be anxiously awaiting the next book from Finlay!

📝 B O O K R E V I E W 📝
What Have We Done by Alex Finlay
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Read 02/17-02/21
Pub date: 03/07

🌕 multiple POV/storylines
🌕 flashbacks


Thank you Netgalley and St Martins Press / Minotaur Books for a copy of this digital ARC!

This book grabbed my attention right from the beginning. It has short chapters, and is pretty fast-paced, making it an exciting read.
 
For the first half, I definitely found one of the storylines more interesting than the others, and kept wanting it to come back around to that POV.
 
I liked how the ending came together and tied up all the loose ends.

Three childhood friends must come together as adults to answer a pretty important question - who wants them all dead?

I've read Every Last Fear and The Night Shift by Alex Finlay and rated them both five stars. What Have We Done is another five star read for me and I couldn't put it down. As I read this one, I could see it playing out like a movie in my mind. The story is told through a variety of characters, some of which were terrifying (two characters reminded me of a combo of the cousins from Breaking Bad and Anton from No Country for Old Men). It was full of suspense and left me wondering how it would end. I highly recommend!

Sadly couldn't get into this one. Fast paced..yes .
Too many POV 's and bqck and forth was hard to keep track of.
The short chapters I love big not much more.

Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an early release of this book.

Thanks to Netgalley, Minotaur Books, and Macmillan Audio for the gifted eARC and ALC in exchange for my honest review!

I was expecting something a little different from this one, but I still ended up liking it. It reads like a nonstop action movie. From the very beginning, each character is in life-threatening danger and the intensity never lets up after that. I listened to this one on audio because Brittany Pressley is one of the narrators and I love her performances! She voices Jenna, the bad ass hit woman, and brings her character to life, as usual.

My only complaint was the way the author switched back and forth between past and present without making it clear to the reader beforehand. It led to some confusion for me at times. However, I was entertained throughout and would definitely recommend this to thriller fans who like John Wick or Jason Bourne.