What Have We Done

October 1, 2022

Jenna, Donnie, Nico, Arty, and Ben became best friends at Savior House, a group home for troubled teenagers that was closed down when several residents disappeared. Some 25 years later, they are managing adulthood, if imperfectly, but they are now being murdered one by one, with the survivors gathering to figure out why this is happening and how they can survive. With a 75,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from January 23, 2023
In the prologue of this top-notch mystery thriller from Finlay (The Night Shift), five kids from Savior House, a group home for troubled teens—Jenna, Nico, Donnie, Benny, and Arty—take turns firing a gun into a shallow grave. Twenty-five years later, aging rocker Donnie is forced over the side of a cruise ship at gunpoint; an explosion traps gambling addict and reality show producer Nico in a coal mine shaft; and ex-assassin Jenna, the book’s action hero, is activated again to hit Arty, now a tech billionaire. Benny, a federal judge, has already been murdered in Chestertown, Pa., near the now-abandoned Savior House. The person who gave Jenna her assignment turns on her when Jenna intentionally botches the job. Eventually, Jenna, Nico, and Donnie—each a distinct, original character despite drawing on genre tropes—reunite to discover who’s trying to kill them and why. Amid multiple red herrings, Finlay slowly reels out his protagonists’ combined backstories. Readers will eagerly follow the maze-like plot, with its many twists and turns, to the exciting conclusion. This isn’t to be missed. Agent: Lisa Erbach Vance, Aaron Priest Literary.

February 15, 2023
Savior House was meant to be a place of refuge for orphaned children. Instead, it became a house of horrors, especially for friends Benny, Jenna, Donnie, Nico, and Arthur. Desperation leads the group to a violent act, which in turn closes the house and causes them to separate. Twenty-five years later and still struggling with the trauma of their childhood, they are unexpectedly reunited when an unknown person attempts to kill them, one by one. Discovering who wants them dead forces the former friends to confront their past and understand what really happened when they were kids. This multi-narrative story hooks you right away, even though some suspension of disbelief may be required as the plot unfolds. While Finlay doesn't break any new ground here, and some of his characters drift toward clich�, his gripping tale delivers both heart-pounding action and plenty of twists to keep the reader guessing. A thoroughly entertaining ""popcorn thriller""--just right for fans of Riley Sager's Final Girls (2017) and Stacy Willingham's A Flicker in the Dark (2022).

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March 1, 2023
Four former friends are reunited when a secret from their past puts a killer on their trails. Twenty-five years ago, five young teenagers living in a foster home did something very bad. This book's prologue gives us a glimpse of it before shifting to the present, when those once-lost kids are adults who, at least from the outside, look like successes. Arty is a wealthy tech mogul, Donnie a fading but still recognized rock star, Nico a reality TV producer, Jenna a very happily married mom to two stepdaughters. And Ben became a judge--but now he's been murdered. The other four survivors of Savior House haven't seen each other in years, but Ben's death will shake and imperil them. First to feel the seismic shock is Jenna, who, it seems, had a former career as an assassin, having been recruited at 15 right out of the foster home by a shadowy outfit called The Corporation. She gets a message she hoped never to get, summoning her back to her old job. But things go awry, and she hurries her family into hiding and goes on the hunt for Ben's killer. In the meantime, Donnie, whose band is playing on a cruise ship, falls overboard but is miraculously rescued; Nico, on the job for a reality series about coal miners, is trapped underground when a tunnel collapses but also is rescued. And Arty is a target as well. Someone from their shared past is after them--but who, and why, and who is the mysterious woman who seems to have tried to kill each of them? Jenna is an engaging action hero, and Finlay makes skilled use of point of view, whipping the reader from Jenna to Donnie to Nico as they struggle to understand and survive, separately and then together again. Fast-paced action and a compelling study of friendships power this suspenseful thriller.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 1, 2023

Finlay (The Night Shift) has mastered the thriller genre with this novel. Following four adults who once lived together 25 years ago in an abusive group home called Savior House, the story unfolds as Donnie, Jenna, Nico, and Artemis each undergo a near-death experience. Someone is trying to kill each of them, so they reunite in hopes they can find out who is responsible and eventually stop them. In order to do so, they must all revisit their secret pasts. Finlay superbly creates a character-driven coming-of-age tale that is full of twists. All the characters come from troubled backgrounds, and it's clear that even though they have lived decent and somewhat successful lives as adults, they have experienced trauma from their childhood that has never been resolved. As each character deals with their own issues and seeks to determine who is trying to kill them, they learn and grow from the experience. VERDICT This is perfect for fans of suspenseful thrillers such as those by Riley Sager.--Lacey Webster

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.