Double the Formats, Double the Chills
You know you’ve found a winner when you’re dual-wielding formats: Kindle in one hand and the audiobook playing in your ears. This “immersion mode” was exactly what I needed to shake off a long week and a lackluster weekend. It’s becoming a core truth for me that Alex Finlay simply cannot write a bad thriller; this was the perfect world to get lost in.
The story centers on Quinn and Jules, who strike up an unlikely bond during study hall. She’s the quintessential popular girl, and he’s decidedly not. Despite their social gap, they find common ground in a shared obsession with an upcoming concert on May 1st. Jules is secretly hoping Quinn shows up, and he’s feeling the same, even though she’s already “taken.” But the night of the concert goes off the rails, triggering a decade-long ripple effect. For the next ten years, we catch up with them only on May 1st. The catch? A serial killer has claimed that date as their own, striking every year with a precision that has left the police completely baffled.
The “one day a year” snapshot approach is a brilliant mechanical choice. It keeps the narrative lean and prevents the plot from getting bogged down in mundane details. Instead, you get these high-impact glimpses into how their paths consistently—and sometimes tragically—zigzag back together. Admittedly, the trade-off for this relentless forward motion is a slight loss in character depth. Because we only see them once a year, they function primarily through the lens of their role in the mystery rather than as fully fleshed-out people. However, in a fast-paced thriller like this, that’s a sacrifice that works; they serve their purpose perfectly within the puzzle Finlay has constructed.
The finale was easily my favorite segment. As a seasoned reader of the genre, I’ve developed a bit of a “sixth sense” for twists, and while I predicted some of the beats, the rest caught me completely off guard. A special shout-out to the dual narration on the audiobook—the performances are stunning and add an extra layer of tension that really elevates the experience. I believe there’s only one book left in Finlay’s backlist that I haven’t tackled yet, and I’m looking forward to diving into that while I wait for whatever twisted story he comes up with next.
