The Night Shift by Alex Finlay

From the author of the breakout thriller Every Last Fear, comes Alex Finlay's electrifying next novel The Night Shift, about a pair of small-town murders fifteen years apart—and the ties that bind them. “The night was expected to bring tragedy.” So begins one of the most highly-anticipated thrillers in recent years. It’s New Year’s Eve 1999. Y2K is expected to end in chaos: planes falling from the sky, elevators plunging to earth, world markets collapsing. A digital apocalypse. None of that happens. But at a Blockbuster Video in New Jersey, four teenagers working late at the store are attacked. Only one inexplicably survives. Police quickly identify a suspect, the boyfriend of one of the victims, who flees and is never seen again. Fifteen years later, more teenage employees are attacked at an ice cream store in the same town, and again only one makes it out alive. In the aftermath of the latest crime, three lives intersect: the lone survivor of the Blockbuster massacre who’s forced to relive the horrors of her tragedy; the brother of the fugitive accused, who’s convinced the police have the wrong suspect; and FBI agent Sarah Keller who must delve into the secrets of both nights—stirring up memories of teen love and lies—to uncover the truth about murders on the night shift. Twisty, poignant, and redemptive, The Night Shift is a story about the legacy of trauma and how the broken can come out on the other side, and it solidifies Finlay as one of the new leading voices in the world of thrillers.

My problem with this book is I went into it with an entirely different idea of what it would be, and it did not deliver. I was so excited when this book was first announced because it apparently would take place New Year's Eve 1999 at a Blockbuster. I really thought the entire book would take place in this setting and it would play out like a closed room thriller, intertwined with a modern day copycat murder. I was hoping the chapters in the past would read like “No Exit” where I'd be questioning everyone and everything introduced and have a nail-biting experience. Unfortunately only about 5 chapters of the book take place in the 90s and instead of being in the action, you spend the novel following around detectives. I don't normally read or enjoy detective thrillers, so my opinion could be unpopular, but I really had a hard time following what was happening. There were so many side stories going on with way more characters than I enjoy reading about that I had no clue what information I needed to keep with me to solve the case. When the killer was revealed, I didn't really care. The only perspective I enjoyed was Ella's. I thought the final girl perspective was fun, but I also think more past chapters would have been more enjoyable to read. I'm a bit disappointed because I really enjoyed “Every Last Fear” from this author, but this one didn't hit like I had hoped it would.

Fast paced but predictable. The ending was kind of over the top

It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't very good either. Tbh it was pretty generic. I'm struggling to think of anything exceptional that would catapult it to award-winning status. I'm at a loss.

So, right off the bat, one of the main characters has a random sexual encounter. This small diversion pretty much sums up my feelings for the rest of the book. Not only was it kind of weird to introduce the character with, but it had no impact on anything after nor did it explain the particular character's personality or motives.

From that point on, the plot and characters just sort of spider-web out until eventually converging at the end. However, some of those seem highly unnecessary by the ending. Entire characters and subplots could have been completely erased and had no bearing on the ending.

Around the halfway point, I kind of felt like some strange exquisite corpse writing was going on or something. I can't quite pinpoint it, but something changed. I didn't feel like I was reading the same book I started. I dunno if anyone else felt that way.

As for the ending, I felt like the red herrings and twists were a bit much. It seemed to me that the author was hoping for that to be talked about moreso than the writing. However, I felt like everything was a bit telegraphed and pretty much confirmed for me at one of the twists.

Was this book any good? Yeah, it was ok, I guess. Was it worth any hype? Nah. Should it have been a teleplay for a forgettable Law & Order clone's mid-season episode? Absolutely.

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this book was one of my most anticipated of the year and was a super fun ride! i would definitely recommend this book for an interesting mystery/thriller. i had such a good time reading this book but i did have a few issues.

the main thing that originally drew me into this book was the y2k/90s nostalgia which i didn't get a ton of in here. i wish the perspectives were different so we had more flashbacks in here to the 90s. that was the main disappointment for me. i also had problems with every single perspective lol

my favorite for sure was the fbi agent who was pregnant. i love detective perspectives in general but she was really amazing and badass. my problem was she was 8 months pregnant with twins and was doing some unrealistic things for being that pregnant and she barely talked about symptoms even like being out of breath.

the second perspective was the final girl of the 1999 massacre who is also a psychologist. her perspective added a lot of plot and connection to the current massacre but she just felt a little off and not flushed out.

the last perspective was the brother of the accused person of the 1999 massacre and i felt like his perspective was completely pointless. it added some random youtube travel vlogger stuff which i didn't like and any information we got from him, was told to other people. i think his perspective should have been replaced with one of the girls who was killed in 1999, katie. it would have added more of that nostaglia i was missing.

i enjoyed the pacing and the writing a lot. i was kept really intrigued throughout the whole book and the beginning was so strong. i kept wanting to pick this book up to find out what happens next and i also liked some specific scenes.

the end honestly raised the rating for me because i loved the plot twists so much. there is really three big ones at the end and all of them i really enjoyed but there was one i found really fascinating.

overall i had a good time reading this book but i think this book could have been so much more for the premise. the characters and perspectives just needed to be improved upon.

thank you to St. Martin's Press, Alex Filay, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.