White-Knuckles and Rock Stars
What do you do when you are impatiently waiting for your favorite author to put out something new? You dive into their back catalog to see what you’ve missed. That is exactly how I landed on What Have We Done by Alex Finlay, and it was the perfect antidote to a reading slump. Twenty-five years ago, Artemis, Donnie, Nico, and Jenna were residents of Saviour House, a group home for parentless teenagers. They became the best of friends while enduring hardship and abuse, but after several girls went missing and the home was shuttered, the group was split up. They went on to live drastically different, interesting lives, never expecting to cross paths again—until a fifth friend, now a federal judge, is murdered. Suddenly, the skeletons in their collective closet aren’t just rattling; they’re hunting, forcing a reunion where survival is far from guaranteed.
While this is billed as a thriller, it’s one of the few that actually delivers on the high-octane promise without sacrificing heart. The action is fantastic, but it is the characters who truly sink their claws into you. The story is told through alternating viewpoints and jumps back and forth in time, yet it remains as seamless as a film. Each lead has taken a fascinating path: Jenna is a former government assassin turned stay-at-home mom; Nico is a reality TV producer with a dangerous gambling debt; and Artemis is a brilliant tech mogul. However, it was Donnie who truly stole the spotlight. A former rock star now eking out a living on cruise ships while battling addiction, he is a beautifully complex character with a fragile sincerity that makes you root for him through every twist.
The stakes are elevated by some truly disturbing antagonists—twins Casey and Haley—hired killers who don’t just kill for the paycheck, but because they treat carnage like a hobby. Was every single plot point plausible? Probably not, but you’ll be too busy holding your breath to care. When a story has you white-knuckling the pages, realism takes a backseat to the rush. With several sharp twists that I did not see coming, this book kept my pulse racing until the very last page. It has earned a permanent spot on my “Rent-Free Resident” shelf, and I’m already counting down the days until May 12th—not that I am counting, of course—for the release of Mr. Finlay’s next one, The Anniversary.
