This is how this book went for me:
📖First few pages grabbed me right away
📖Half way through I was confused and didn’t know what was going on
📖Last 30% couldn’t put it down
This was a fun puzzle to put together. I overall enjoyed it and I liked how everything got resolved and no outstanding questions lingered

Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Publish Date: March 7, 2023

4.25/5 stars

I absolutely LOVED this book! It is so twisted, wild, suspenseful, action packed and unique.

Talk about a book that hooks you right from the start—THIS IS IT! It starts off about five kids from a group home—fast forward 25 years later they have all been split up, but they are all being targeted and someone is out to kill them.

The kids are no longer kids, and are no longer together, but they all shared the same childhood, which holds some deep and dark secrets. Someone is out to get them, someone wants them dead, and they are determined to find out who it is, and better yet….why.

I loved this book-the writing, the plot, the characters, and how twisted it is! This book kept my interest from start to finish as it is packed with lots of action and suspense. I loved the characters and how each had their own back story & personality that Finlay does an amazing job going into detail about. It definitely has a unique storyline and plot, and it is different from your typical thriller, which I absolutely enjoyed. Finlay does an amazing job with the details throughout this book, character development, and piecing together the puzzle with satisfying conclusion.

The only semi negative thing I can say about this one is that the ending did not blow me away (but yet I was still left feeling satisfied-I just was not blown away by it), and it did feel a bit rushed.

Overall, this was a fun and enjoyable read that I definitely recommend for any thriller fan!



Thank you to the tagged publisher for my #gifted copy in exchange for an honest review!

This was really different from the authors past books. I really enjoyed the multiple POV and flashbacks. It was sad to learn about what happened at the saviour house. I really enjoyed the bond that the characters shared throughout. It was a fun fast paced book full of action.

I went in not knowing what to expect but each chapter got me deeper and deeper in. Each character has come out of their childhood and made something out of their lives but their past, or someone from it, is trying to keep them quiet.

What Have We Done by Alex Finlay
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Twenty-five years ago, Jenna, Donnie and Nico were best friends just trying to get by living at Savior House. They haven’t seen each other since those days but now it seems like someone is after all three of them, and it appears to be about a secret they are all keeping.
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What I liked:
-This was such a good mystery! It took me a lot longer to figure this one out than usual.
-Each POV was interesting and gave a good perspective of the past and how they each think it is related to the present.
-The story did a great job of keeping me engaged and there was no slow spaces for me.
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you are in the mood for the one of the most bonkers thriller, please pick up What Have We Done! This book takes place as 3 past residents of a group home are being hunted by someone. They are in a race to figure out what actually happened in that home 25 years ago in order to stop the killer!

The pros of this book are short chapters, and nonstop action. The mystery was very good and twists were abundant! My kind of book!! There some likable characters as well.

The cons are multiple POV’s- for me I started to get confused on who was what and what had happened to who. Eventually halfway through the book I was on track and I finished the last half of the book in one sitting.

I really liked this one but not as much as his previous book The Night Shift. I am absolutely looking forward to any books he continues to write!!
Thank you NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and Alex Finlay for the advanced copy of What Have We Done in exchange for my honest review.

I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate it. I just failed to connect with this one like I did with another book by this author that I read recently. I really wanted to get into it but, for some reason, I just couldn’t. I mean, it was a very unique and interesting concept with some high-stakes suspense but I just didn’t truly feel it. The story just didn’t pull me into it or take me away on an experience.

I also didn’t connect with any of the characters very much. Although their past is very sad and I did feel for the horrible things they have all been through, I just didn’t feel any kind of partnership with them, or quite care enough about what happens to them. I think part of this might be the lack of character development in the first half of the book. We never got fully in-depth with any one plotline in particular and that caused some disconnect.

I found the plot to be something you really had to suspend belief for and I’m not sure that I really liked that. It was a wild ride but not one I was fully present for. I think it could have been improved with a few more rounds of editing to fully saturate the plot in a way that makes it feel more real, and the characters in a way that would make them more endearing to readers.

I have loved this author’s writing in previous books and I will definitely still be reading whatever he publishes next. But for me, this one just missed the mark a little. Again, it wasn’t bad, but it just didn’t wow me or excite me. It was just ok.

Wow, I was super excited to get this ARC, but boy did this fall flat for me. After enjoying Alex Finlay's, The Night Shift, I scoured for more of his stuff, but nothing else really entertained me like the Night Shift. It started off slow and characters were just whatever to me. I will say the ending was good, but it just did not make up for the forgettable characters and slow start.

2.5 Stars

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

(3.5/5.0) What Have We Done by Alex Finlay was a decent, fast-paced mystery with multiple POVs that kept my attention, but ultimately landed in ‘liked not loved’ territory. The story centers on a group of friends who met in a group home during their childhood and are now living a wide variety of adult lives. They come back together when they realize someone is trying to unalive each one of them.

The timeline jumps between their childhoods and their adulthoods, but not in the conventional way with clean chapter breaks. There were times when it would jump and I wouldn’t realize it for a few paragraphs. Not a negative, just something that took some getting used to. My favorite character was Jenna – I loved her dual-life of contract unaliver and low-key mom/wife. I wish there had been more about her early adulthood and how she got into that business, or even just more chapters that centered on her character. The others were just okay, and I was less invested in them.

It's worth noting that the childhood timeline is heavy. It sets a grim scene with abuse, abandonment, and generally awful experiences. I don’t know if I would call this a thriller, it felt like a time crunch mystery with a bit of tension and physical combat. If you like a dual-timeline mystery where both timelines have puzzles to solve, this is worth a read. I’d recommend physical or digital editions to keep track of the characters and timelines unless that’s easy for you to do on audio.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for providing an advanced digital copy of this book, I appreciate you!

Content warnings: Child abuse, Child death, Bullying, Addiction, Violence

As a big fan of Alex Finlay's previous titles, Every Little Fear and The Night Shift, I was very excited to receive an ARC of What Have We Done. The first chapter starts off with a bang and takes you on a ride! Following three characters who seem to have nothing in common, you soon realize they are all harboring a secret that might be worth killing for. There is action and suspense that kept the pages turning for me right up until the last quarter of the book. For me, that's when things started getting a little to far fetched be believable and everything felt rushed. If the ending had gone the way the rest of the book had, this would have been another great book. I still love Alex Finlay, but What Have We Done isn't my favorite book. That being said, I do think it could be a worthwhile read for his fans. Maybe the ending won't throw you off at all or as much as it did for me.
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Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
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Instagram post made on February 8, 2023.

4.5 stars, rounded up.

My first Alex Finlay book and oh my! I enjoyed it so much and immediately went to read more!

I love a good dual timeline and multiple points of view book and Finlay did it wonderfully! I was on my toes the entire time of this wild ride. Every time I felt like it couldn't get any wilder, it did! I was constantly guessing and questioning what I knew. And that twist! THE TWIST!!!!!! Did not see that coming at all. Like at all.. Zero clue at all that was coming.

The only reason I didn't give it a full 5 stars was because there were a lot of characters. Like a lot a lot and it made it a little confusing at times. With that said though, it did come together in the end and I understood why there were so many (still probably could've cut out one or two lol), but it was a little hard to follow at times.

Thank you VERY MUCH to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 STARS

Entertaining in a Fantastic Five kinda way!!

Yes! The characters had a comic book sort of appeal. They were colorful, animated and some even had special talents. This was also action packed, fast moving (for the most part), and the end was wild, but quite fitting!

No one wants to talk about it! What they did...

This group of kids have grown up hiding their secret past, but it has come back to haunt them, perhaps to their demise.

They must come together once again, unite and save themselves before its too late. Might be too late for a couple of them!

If Superhero VS Supervillain appeals to you, this is fun with a cartoonish vibe (IMHO) I found some parts very humorous, there is even a bar named DRINK. 😂 Sooo, you will have plenty of comic relief!

25 years after a life-changing event, 4 former best friends are being hunted. But who’s doing the hunting all these years later, and why?

Told in alternating points of view, you get an intimate look at each character’s life. Jenna is now a stepmom to two girls. She has left her past behind, and she couldn’t be happier. Donnie is a musician struggling with alcoholism, and Nico is a producer but a gambler, and he’s in some major debt.

With this one, I don’t feel like the characters were all that in-depth. You don’t necessarily root for one over the other because you don’t get to know any of them intimately. We’re told that Jenna was essentially a contract killer in her past, but that isn’t really explored. A few times, the timeline jumped into the past without transition or warning, which was a bit confusing.

This one feels different from his previous two books, but the level of research done with the book is apparent in the reading. The story is fast-paced and full of action. Overall, an enjoyable read. Thank you, St. Martin’s, for sending this along!

Alex Finlay continues to write the most absurdly plotted, but completely action packed thrillers!

This book had so much going on I kept thinking what else could he possibly toss in?! And then there'd be something else! 🤣

If you like:
Short chapters
Plot driven drama
Killers for hire
Multiple POVs
Flashback mystery

This is a book for you! It'll get your adrenaline up and have you dying to see it as a movie!

What Have We Done is almost a perfectly woven web of a mystery read. The way everything subtly connects and splits off into the individual stories of what became of each kid from the Savior House is fantastic. There are aspects of the story that make it a little bombastic in terms of buying in to what you’re reading. The specialized training of Jenna, the way everyone seems to have second and third lives, and the twin assassin angle were all a bit much to be present together in the same story. However, the mystery itself is well written and definitely worth the read.

3.5/5⭐️

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this ARC! What Have We Done is set to be published March 7/2023.

This was my first Alex Findlay book and I was kept intrigued throughout. There was never a dull moment. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author.

The things I enjoyed most:
⭐️Action Packed (although a little far fetched at times)
⭐️Kill Or Be Killed Vibes
⭐️Contract Killers
⭐️Fast Paced
⭐️Multiple Timelines and POV’s to keep you guessing.

Not my favorite Alex Finlay book but the ending made up for the slow start. It did take me a while to get into the story because I wasn’t super interested in the plot or any of the characters. The ending definitely got better for me and overall it was a good book.

Thank you NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and Alex Finlay for the advanced copy of What Have We Done in exchange for my honest review.

Finlay has quickly cemented himself as an auto-buy author for me. His latest is thrilling and twisty and kept me up way past my bedtime. It is pretty different than his first two novels but in the absolute best way. It's not really what I was expecting but that's not a bad thing at all!

Right off the bat it may feel like there are too many characters, and even though I have struggled with that in the past, I quickly figured out who was who and did not find it to be an issue at all.

The ending was *chefs kiss* in true Finlay fashion.

Don't sleep on this one folks! It's out on March 7, 2023.

This book was absolutely exhilarating! It is about adults that did something terrible when they were teens in a group home. But this group home had more sinister things going on from girls disappearing to abuse.

Twenty five years later they each are being targeted but no one is sure why. Jenna is the girl that had been trained as an assassin from the group home but was now married with two stepdaughters. Nico was a producer of a mining show, Donnie was a drunken has been rock star, and Bennie was a judge. Bennie has been murdered and they already have the suspect in jail. Artemis was in the group home also and he was a target for Jenna last assassin. Want a slime ball he is! Can Jenna get them out of the tough situation they are in?

You will be taken into high speed chases, fighting for your life and working together to get out of this horrific situation. Who can you trust? The reference to books was awesome to how they figured some of the clues out. Let’s just say the mean girls are scary and crazy! Alex Finlay does a crime book like no other!

I received this ARC from Netgalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

“𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎?“

Last summer, I discovered Alex Finlay when I requested 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘧𝘵 from Netgalley. I absolutely loved it and jumped at the chance to request and read his latest, suspenseful thriller!

“𝚆𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝.“

Finlay’s short, quick-paced chapters have the ability to pull you in immediately. The writing is engaging & clever with just the right amount of nostalgia. This is a coming-of-age story packed with a huge punch of non-stop action.

“𝚆𝚎‘𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜.“