Awesome Debut Novel!


This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2021 and for good reasons. This was an easy five-star read and I didn’t have to really think about the rating at all. I finished this in about three days. This book is an absolutely stunning thriller told from multiple perspectives and timelines that adds so much dimension. Matt is an NYU student whose family is of national acclaim after a documentary series that featured his brother's story. Danny is in jail for the murder of his girlfriend in high school, a crime for which he claims he is innocent. I found myself angry at the family’s hometown because as you read you will learn that Danny’s confession is so coerced, what you will see is a father who has spent a lifetime trying to prove that the wrong man is in prison.

While at NYU Matt is approached by FBI Agent Sarah Keller and told that while on vacation his entire family is found dead during a terrible misfortune and the only family he has left is Danny the brother in prison. However, this revelation is not the whole story, and as we investigate the case alongside Matt and Keller, the story takes us on unexpected paths to find out not only what happened to the Pine family but also what happened to Charlotte, the girl Danny was accused of murdering so many years ago.

I am trying to be stricter with my 1-5 star rating this year but I can say that this was easily a book that can be an all nightery kind of read. Every chapter adds more to the story making this a captivating and unputdownable read. The pace is stunning giving you just enough of the bread crumb to want to keep you up all night until you know who killed them. Without giving too much away I will say the ending is completely satisfying and very surprising. You will guess who did it and you will be wrong and you will love it.

Thank you to NetGalley and all parties involved in the decision of my receiving of this arc this was a fabulous read I can not wait to see what comes next from Alex Finlay. ( )

Matt Pine returns to his dorm room after a night out with his NYU friends to the news that his parents, younger brother and sister were found dead while vacationing in Tulum, Mexico. The local police rule it as an accident attributing the cause to an accidental gas leak but the FBI suspect foul play. Matt’s family has had its share of troubles. His elder brother Danny was found guilty of murdering his girlfriend Charlotte and has been serving a life sentence, a crime that many believe he has been wrongfully convicted of. A true crime documentary featuring Danny’s case that delves into aspects of the trial, investigation and coerced confession have placed the Pine family in the spotlight and insinuations about the faulty investigation and possible suspects have led to the family being driven out of their hometown in Nebraska and relocating in Naperville,Illinois.

There are multiple theories about what could have happened to the Pines. Could it have simply been an accident? Was this related to Evan Pine’s workplace which is under investigation by the FBI ? Was it in anyway related to Danny’s case ? Does Matt know more than he is letting on?

The narrative jumps between past and present with multiple POVs. We get to know how Evan Pine and his daughter Maggie have been conducting their own investigation into Charlotte’s murder. We get to know more about their lives , their friends, family and the dynamics they share with their former townspeople. Their timeline covers the events leading up to that fateful day in Mexico. Excerpts from the documentary are interspersed throughout the narrative and contribute to the storyline. The present day narrative follows Agent Keller’s investigation and how Matt deals with the aftermath of his family’s demise - hounded by the press, followed by the documentary filmmakers who are in hopes of a sequel and the shady people he comes across in Mexico and back home with his only support system being his NYU friends.

Alex Finlay’s Every Last Fear starts off great! The very first page reels you in. However, as the story progressed I found my initial excitement wearing off . Matt , understandably grieving for his family, comes across as somewhat passive even after multiple dangers he faces. I found his character rather uninteresting. While I usually enjoy multiple timelines and POVs , in this case I found the story losing its pace/flow with the author trying to maybe pack a little too much into what should have been a more taut , suspenseful narrative. It was not difficult to predict the identity of the guilty party much before the actual reveal , though how the events actually play out is well executed. I did like FBI Agent Sarah Keller a lot and would love for her to feature in the author’s future novels.

Though not as thrilling as expected , Every Last Fear is quick read with a mystery that does hold your interest till the end. While I did not dislike the novel, I wasn’t really sitting on the edge of my seat, holding my breath or biting my nails waiting for the mystery to be unraveled, which is the way I would have liked it to be. ( )

First Line: "They found the bodies on Tuesday."

Matt Pine is a college student at NYU. He mostly avoids contact with his family. A few years previously his older brother Danny was convicted of murdering his girlfriend. After the conviction, his family obtained notoriety when a documentary was made about the case which purported to establish that Danny was innocent and was wrongly convicted. While all appeals have been exhausted, Matt's family (his father, mother, and younger brother and sister) are continuing to fight for Danny's exoneration.

As the novel opens, the FBI contacts Matt to tell him that his family has been found dead under suspicious circumstances in Mexico. Matt and Danny are the only surviving family members, and it shortly becomes apparent that someone may be trying to kill Matt as well.

This was a page turner, and held my interest throughout, but it is ultimately forgettable, in the same way a TV show might be forgettable. It entertained me, diverted me, but didn't enlighten me or educate me, and neither was it something innovative or "new" to read. But I enjoyed it, so it did its job.

3 stars ( )

This book opened with a splash, announcing that a college kids family had died while vacationing in Mexico. The family had been part of a documentary that made a splash on Netflix, due to their eldest son now serving time in prison because he confessed to killing his hush school girlfriend only after the cops coerced him with the confession.

This book was told from multiple POVs of the family members past and present and the FBI agent handling the case. For me, this made this book sometimes hard to keep up with and by the middle I found myself daydreaming through parts of it, having to go back and reread things again.

The families dearth was ruled as an accident due to a gas leak in their vacation rental, however, after looking further it appeared the bodies were staged.

Who killed the family and who killed the high school girlfriend? Matt, now the lone surviving member of the family (that isn’t dead or jailed) has to find this information out and fast!

Overall, the beginning and the end made this a solid thriller for me and I would recommend.

Thank you for my gifted copy #netgalley and #minotaurbooks for #everylastfear ( )

4.5 Stars
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Even though this was more plot heavy (I usually gravitate towards character driven books), I really ended up enjoying this one. It had a lot of povs and followed multiple timelines with multiple mysteries.

It followed a family with a son who was convicted of killing his girlfriend. A Netflix documentary was made which created a slew of Free Danny fans. But just as it seemed things might be happening with the case, the whole family minus a son in college were found dead in Mexico. It looked like a gas-leak, accidental— but was it?

I liked wondering if everything was connected and if so, how? I did figure it part of it out, but there were still enough surprises in the reveal to keep me from being disappointed. Definitely a solid book and I would read more from this author. ( )