Wow, this is crime fiction at its best. Instantly immersive, pacy and propulsive, and full of surprises. Alex Finlay is the real deal, believe me.” —Lee Child However, I was more invested in Ella than the other two narrators and didn’t feel the connection between all the characters was as strong as it could be. Plus, I had worked out the killer earlier than I wanted. Mr. Steadman sees her and gives a small wave. He doesn’t react to the muffled screams coming from a curtained room near the huddle of men. A doctor emerges from the room, grimacing. He says something to the group gathered with Mr. Steadman, shaking his head. Mr. Steadman puts a reassuring hand on the doctor’s shoulder, then walks over to Ella.

In the scope of the books I've read by this author, I place this one in the middle. I really liked Every Last Fear, didn't care for The Night Shift. This one was okay, but nothing I'm going to remember for very long. And now, in the aftermath of this crime, Ella, now a therapist will be called to try to help Jesse make sense of what has happened. Admittedly, I'm a huge fan of the trope that is like a group of individuals who grew up together, who had something happen many years ago, who reunite as adults to investigate, or put to bed some sort of issue that has plagued them since they were kids.The plot didn't make a ton of sense (like none) and was more of an action thriller than a mystery. That genre is fine, but not what I was expecting from this book, based on the description. I can't get into much detail about what I disliked plot-wise without spoilers, so I will leave it at: confusing and not my favorite. [BUT YOU CAN SCROLL WAY DOWN FOR SPOILERS IF YOU WANT] There’s a long delay as the dots pulse while he types. He likely thumbed out an annoyed response— of course, now—then erased it. A good boss deletes annoyed messages before sending them. And despite his cold, Swiss-banker demeanor, Stan Webb is a good boss. I really enjoyed Finlay's first two books, especially The Night Shift, but this one was a miss. That said, I still look forward to reading whatever he comes up with next, but sure AF hope it's better than this one. i will say that i was disappointed with the epilogue and hope that it goes through some revision before publication because, honestly, its such an unsatisfying and uninformative status update on the characters. this huge “finale” happens at the end, where multiple characters are involved, and the epilogue just does not provide the necessary closure for some of them. so fingers crossed it gets expanded or changed.

I really liked the writing style, the evenly paced storytelling, and characterisation. Most of the characters played a convincing part with the plot threads tied nicely to their character traits. Oh my! May I have your attention please? I think after devouring one of the best thing I’ve read lately, I can honestly say: I want to create a fan club of Alex Finlay. I want to print and sell embroidered T-shirts with his book covers! I have to discuss his books on book forums and chant for his works! As a self-proclaimed thriller-cynic, I'm as amazed as you that I'm now two for two with Alex Finlay. He is definitely on my must-read list, and I can't wait to see what he comes up with next. Someone is trying to kill some of the former residents of Savior House, a group home for teens that was shut down twenty-five years ago after a bunch of kids went missing and the facility's director disappeared.This brings me to my one tiny quibble: What’s up with the “-ad” names for guys in this book? There’s Brad, Thad and Chad at various points in the story, and none of them are particularly likable. It’s not a big deal, but it did stand out! Minor issue. Go read this book! It’s worth it. I like the fact that Jenna was an assassin, which had some bad@ss moments, but she did some Spiderman stuff and I was like really with this.