I shouldn't admit this, but What Have We Done is my first Alex Finlay read! Yes, it took me two other total hits in the bookstagram world to say okay, I'll give him a try, and wow am I glad I did. What Have We Done is a standout, multi-narrator thriller that I could never have guessed the ending for. In fact, I could have never guessed where this plot was going to take me. Action-packed and incredibly unique, What Have We Done follows three individuals as their lives are threatened by a contracted killer. As the three fight for their lives they begin to connect the dots, finding themselves back at the house that brought them together in their youth. Five kids did something bad and 25 years ago they'll find themselves paying for it.

A Rockstar, a mom, and a tv producer cross the road... to get away from a sadistic killer who will do anything to take them down. Written in a distinctive way, What Have We Done is one of those thrillers that will check boxes for thriller fans of every type. While the characters are older, and in incredibly different careers now, their past was once shared and it's that past that has come back to haunt them. With alternating narrators and dual timelines, readers see the abusive foster home and the monster in those walls that shaped the adults they are today. Twisted and totally a read that's impossible to untangle, What Have We Done was a fun, fast-paced read for me that I could not put down.

What Have We Done is the 3rd book by Alex Finlay and was one I was extremely excited about receiving an ARC for, since I loved his previous books.

I was unfortunately disappointed by this book. It was extremely fast paced, to the point where it was difficult to follow and all over the place. The lack of detail really made it difficult to connect with the story and characters and took me out of the atmosphere. It almost felt like there was a word limit on the story and parts were deleted after-the-fact to ensure the main plot points stayed in, which lead to the ending feeling very underwhelming.

The assassin/Corporation storyline was also not something I enjoyed, however that might be up to personal preference. It felt far-fetched and over-the-top to me, especially compared the more realistic settings of Finlay’s last two books. While reading, I was reminded of the whole storyline on Scandal with the B613 covert assassin agency, because like this book, I truly had no idea where the storyline was going or what purpose it served, and it took away from more interesting aspects of the plot.

It felt like the storyline of the missing girls at Saviour House was really glossed over, when, if framed differently, that story could have really been much more interesting and likely could have carried the whole book.

Overall, if you’re expecting a thriller like Every Last Fear and the Night Shift, this isn’t it. If you enjoy action/spy/assassin stories, maybe this is for you. I will still absolutely read the next book Finlay comes out with, but I hope it’s more of a return to the thriller genre.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for my review.

What do a suburban yoga mom, down and out rock star and a television producer all have in common and why is someone trying to kill them? “What Have We Done” is a story that will answer these questions and take you on an action packed wild ride. As the story unfolds we discover that Jenna, Donnie and Nico had once been very close friends when they all lived in a group home for teens and share a dark secret. The three have not seen or heard from one another in twenty years but are reunited when it becomes apparent someone knows their secret and wants to ensure that no one is left alive to tell it. Told from three perspectives in duel timelines it is sometimes confusing trying to comprehend if their thoughts are in the past or are part of their current situations. If you’re a fan of fast action thriller and can put reality aside, this may be for you.

What do a federal judge, a TV producer with an addiction, a has-been rockstar, a tech entrepreneur and a stay-at-home yoga mother have in common?

More in common than you’d think! All five are being targeted by assassins and all five have been keeping a secret for the past 25 years. One would never believe it, but as teenagers, these 5 became forever linked when they buried a secret on the grounds of Saviour House, a foster home for homeless teens.

I was immediately pulled into the story shared by three of the friends and the mystery killer. I was making note of potential suspects and trying to decipher fact from fiction. Somewhere along the way, though, I was wishing for more tension/suspense and better development, both in the characters and their pasts. When I got sidelined with whiplash trying to switch gears between past and present, and a lull in the pace, it took a toll on my interest. However, I really wanted to know who was targeting them and who’d be the next victim and was glad I stuck it through to the end. This was one reunion I’d never want to experience or look forward to! For Jenna, Donnie, Nico, Arty and Ben…it’s the only way forward…and the only way to save them all.

Finlay shows that the past will always come back to haunt us if we don’t bury it properly.

If you can suspend disbelief and like a mystery to sink your teeth into, this is a good read. It was very different from the writing style and tauter plotting of The Night Shift and had some unexpected lighter moments.

Fabulous cover and title!

I was gifted this copy by St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

I was greatly looking forward to reading this novel after reading other books by Alex Finlay, but sadly this disappointed. It sadly did not stand out from the pack, and while I wanted to love it, certain sentences sounded forced and scripted. While the read was enjoyable, it was not captivating. Overall, I enjoyed this book, but hoped for more. The storylines were predictable - the aging rocker was banal, and it was just not a great read. I will, however read his new books, should he write more, as his previous books have been fantastic!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Alex Finlay novel and from what I've read, that may have been a mistake. <i>What Have We Done <i/>is what I imagine a James Patterson novel would feel like- there's a lot of unrealistic action in a fast-paced novel about people trying to figure out who is trying to kill them.

You have an assassin (think: Nikita), a washed-out rockstar, and a reality TV producer, all bound together due to their time at a group home, Savior House, and all being forced to come together to figure out who is hunting them down, one-by-one.

It's not that this book was <i>bad</i> but it also wasn't something I'm usually into. I thought this would be more of a mystery/thriller vs. the action/thriller book that it was. With all that said, though, I really felt like I understood each character so I'd be willing to give his other books a go.

What Have You Done is an action packed thriller told through 3 POV & flashbacks to the dark past. Three teenagers meet in a group home & go their separate ways after a horrific secret - Now they must meet again because someone wants them all dead.

Excellent, captivating story that pulls you in from the very beginning. I read it in one sitting!

5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this novel. I encourage you to check this one out! Great mystery.

Okay, so for the first quarter or third of the book I was rolling my eye quite often. Everything was just over the top, or at least it seemed that way to me & I kept thinking to myself “I doubt this is really how this works?” But, then again, I have NO idea how any of that really works, so who am I to question it!

Well, as I kept reading I came to realize that it didn’t matter because the book had so much action that I was completely wrapped up in the story! I found myself feeling like I had to rush back to “watch the end of the movie!” & I think this would make a great movie.

I really enjoyed the characters, especially their childhood and learning how they came to be who they are. I just really wish we had gotten more of Ben, their memories of him made me love him. I definitely enjoyed this read!

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books, and the author for an ARC.

Alex Finlay has quickly become one of my favorite writers. His novels are fast-paced and engrossing, and WHWD is no exception. It might be his best work yet. The characters leap off the page, flaws and all. It’s impossible not to empathize with them (even the antagonists!). From the very beginning, WHWD takes off at breakneck speed. Told through alternating viewpoints and short chapters (a pacing trick I love), it’s a thriller and coming-of-age tale rolled into one. The POV characters all resided at Savior House as children, an experience that left them traumatized but also made them who they are as adults. What is the decades-old secret that ties them together? And who wants them dead because of it?
While Finlay is great at edge-of-your-seat pacing and red herrings and other genre conventions, it’s his masterful character work that sets him apart.

Thank you St. Martin's Press for the eGalley of this book!

A bit of a disappointment after The Night Shift.

I was super excited to be granted an ARC of Alex Finlay's newest novel. The Night Shift caught me totally off guard and I really loved it. So I was super excited to jump into What Have We Done. I was thrown off right at the beginning of the novel where multiple characters and story lines are introduced and I had no idea how they related to one another. The writing was a bit disjointed for me as well. I struggled to get into the plot and to relate to the characters. The novel did pick up by the end and I was surprised on what had happened both in the past and present.

Thank you to Netgallery and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A stay-at-home mom with a past.

A has-been rock star with a habit.

A reality TV producer with a debt.
T
hree disparate lives.

One deadly secret.


Author, Alex Finlay, writes this story from the perspective of three point-of-view characters which lends to a fast-paced thriller and keeps the reader on the edge of their seat throughout the book, with a wonderful plot twist at the end.
I thought Finally did a nice job of keeping the reader intrigued, with well-developed characters. The short chapters kept me engaged and the pages turning quickly. The red hearings and plot twists a reader comes to expect in a book of this nature were well-done and well-placed, and kept me off guard and guessing until the very end.
What Have We Done is a story about the lives we leave behind and the secrets we carry with us forever.
Finlay’s previous novel, Every Last Fear, was one of the best books I read in 2021. While, What Have We Done, is nothing like the previous novel, I really enjoyed the new work from Finlay, and highly recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martins Press and Minotour Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

What Have We Done by Alex Finlay starts full throttle and doesn’t slow down! Several kids were raised in a group home many years ago. They had a tight bond. They were not treated very well and all of them had trauma of some sort in their pasts. Present day they are all adults and someone is trying to kill them one by one. Why? What happened back in their group home days that made them targets?
This book was great fun to read! I enjoyed the back stories of all the characters and trying to figure out what happened in the past. The author does a wonderful job at giving his characters life and making them believable. I look forward to many more books by Alex Finlay!
Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This is my second book written by Alex Finlay but I found this one to be vastly different from his other book Every Last Fear. I found that this book was a little more scattered when compared to his other book. I unfortunately did not enjoy this one as much as I did his other book.

The premise of this book was that Twenty five years ago, Jenna, Donnie, and Nico were the best of friendswho all attended Savior House. This was a foster home for teens who had no parents and coem from troubled families. When this building closed down, these three were seperated. The three are reunited two decades later with the commonality that they are all being hunted by someone at the same time. Their reunion is not sweet and they work together to determine who is trying to kill them and why. Can they solve the case and stop the hunter before one of all of them are hunted down?

Overall I found this book hard to follow and couldn't get invested in it. It was too unbelievable and far fetched. I wish that this book included Aganet Keller like his other books.

Ahhh I love the short chapters and multiple perspectives in this book! Jenna, Donnie, Nico, Benny and Artemis did something 25 years ago that seems to be coming back to enact revenge or even the score … but did they get it all wrong in the first place?!

From the perspectives of Jenna, Donnie and Nico (with a few others thrown in - Artemis & “The Twins”), I was gladly able to follow along with each story and each perspective bouncing back and forth from past to present. This could’ve been a tough read for those reasons but it flowed effortlessly, for me. I was on the edge of my seat rolling around possibilities for where the story was headed but never could’ve guessed how it would all play out. The characters were likable and even when one didn’t deserve it, I found myself rooting for them all the same. Such a great thriller read! I liked it a lot and definitely recommend.

Thank you to Minotaur Books for giving me the E-ARC through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review!

While I have enjoyed Alex FInlay's books in the past, this one took me a little longer to get caught up in. The story starts out very disjointed and was a bit confusing. But once you get past the initial few chapters you get caught up in the characters and start to piece together what is happening. I love the way that Finlay writes. The book flows nicely after that beginning bump and I flew through the rest of the book. Get past the first 50 pages and you will be in for a ride.

This book follows a a group of adults that all were in the same group home as kids. They are all linked together by a secret that no one can share. When one of them ends up dead, and the rest of them are fighting for their lives they have to go back to that night all those years ago and figure out why this is happening to them now.

I really liked this book, it kept me guessing until the very end.

I received this book as an ARC and this is my review. This story jumps out of the chute and never lets up on the action. I loved it and the cast of misfit characters. The turns and twists left me breathless and the book just gets better and better. I totally recommend this book to readers who enjoy psychological drama and suspense that grabs you by the throat.

While the storytelling was fairly straightforward (and slightly clichéd), there were some good twists that salvaged this from being a typical mystery/Thriller. Between the crazy Bond-like villains, the maniacal masterminds and a few dozen plot holes, though, it just fell a bit flat.

My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Having loved Alex Finlay's previous books, I had high hopes for this one! I can honestly say this is a fast paced, at times action-packed thriller from start to finish.

Told from multiple perspectives, three seemingly random people share one combined dark secret from their past. Living their daily lives as usual, none of them expected a twist and three two their lives suddenly. In a race to justify the past before the present comes crashing down, the truth is slowly revealed.

This was a fun read, with multiple layers in both timeline and from the multiple perspectives. I couldn't put it down at times, racing to the next chapter to see what happens. With the quick chapters this was easy to do, and overall a quick and engaging read.

At times, I did get confused. Not only were there dual perspectives, but then suddenly the person known to be dead was in the story and I realized I was probably in the past. There wasn't much to delineate this, so it did slow me down in trying to figure that out or wondering if I missed something. In addition, I'm not much of an action fan overall. This did read like an intense action movie for much of the book, which I know some will LOVE but this was not my thing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for my DRC in exchange for an honest review! Will be featured on my IG closer to pub day!