What Have We Done

"In the dark, the gentle boy utters the words none of them will ever forget: "What have we done?"

If you haven't yet read a story by [a:Alex Finlay|19976903|Alex Finlay|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1634139785p2/19976903.jpg], this is your sign to do it! Don't sleep on this author and the stories! This is the third gem by this author I've read, the third tense, thriller that's kept me on the edge of my seat and guessing until the very end. I absolutely flew through these short, well-woven chapters and managed to guess almost none of the twists!

We have kids who grew up together in a foster care type home. They are now adults and something, or someone, is threatening them and forcing them all back together. They are being forced to show more go back to their small town, their nightmare childhood, to finally find out what happened all those years ago.

I loved these characters. This author has a unique way of giving short, snappy chapters but giving us just enough details to really know our characters. The tension is always high, the story plays out like a movie in my head, and I love the twists and turns of this one. Trust me, don't skip this story or this author, both are a must read!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. show less

A stay-at-home mom with a past. A has-been rock star with a habit. A reality TV producer with a debt. Three disparate lives. One deadly secret.
Twenty-five years ago, Jenna, Donnie, and Nico were the best of friends, having forged a bond through the abuse and neglect they endured as residents of Savior House, a group home for parentless teens. When the home was shut down―after the disappearance of several kids―the three were split up. Though the trauma of their childhood has never left them, each went on to live accomplished―if troubled―lives. They haven’t seen one another since they were teens but now are reunited for a single haunting reason: someone is trying to kill them. To survive, the group will have to revisit the show more nightmares of their childhoods and confront their shared past―a past that holds the secret to why someone wants them dead. It’s a reunion none of them asked for . . . or wanted. But it may be the only way to save all their lives.
Twenty-five years ago, Jenna, Donnie, Nico, Ben, and Arty lived at Savior House, a home that takes in kids whose parents have either died or otherwise abandoned them. In some ways Savior House had saved them and gave them a place to live when they had nowhere else to go. It was also their biggest nightmare. Girls at Savior House seem to disappear. Sure... they might have been placed with families like the people in charge said, but that seemed unlikely. We learn about Savior House and their time there through small parts of the story and the children's memories. Savior House is a character in this story, an almost living, breathing entity... a very dark entity. Even before we learn exactly what had happened at Savior House, it’s crystal clear that this was not a happy home.

Our five main characters come together as adults...but they haven't been in touch as much, now that they're adults. Jenna is our main character...the one that we hear the most from. Jenna had been “recruited”. I found this a bit questionable because she was definitely not old enough to give her consent. She became a part of a shadowy organization known as "The Corporation". The many skills that Jenna learned here, prepared her well to become an assassin.

When the book begins, Jenna is retired from her life of "crime and adventure". She's now married to a good man and has a teenage daughter. She’s happy. And that makes the events of the story particularly terrifying. Jenna receives a calling card from "The Corporation".

Jenna’s story was entirely unrelatable...something that can be frustrating, but in this case, it actually worked, as Jenna herself was relatable. She’d do anything to protect her family and the quiet, contented life she has finally found. She was never naïve though, she has many, many safeguards built around her life that will trigger if any threat gets too close...and now they all are triggered...every last one.

The narration was written to be given by a third person, and though I was at first skeptical...it worked well, and we could get glimpses from a few different characters. Donnie and Nico were less developed than Jenna, but equally as important to the story. They hold pieces of the story we wouldn’t get if we had only heard it from Jenna.

It's a fast-moving book and it becomes clear early on that someone is targeting this little group from Savior House. Jenna is not your average former-assassin. Donnie may be a washed-up musician, but he has more going on than you first think. And Nico has a lot more details to uncover about what is going on in his life and with his gambling addiction. The history of how he became the person he is now, was fascinating.

Most of the book occurs in present time, but these characters stories are all grounded in the past. A lot of what we are being asked to figure out is not just who is behind this, but what had happened those years before. We all know that the past always comes back somewhere, somehow...and that secrets have a way of rearing their heads when lest expected. Overall, this story was entertaining, fast acting, and heart-pounding. I've read many of Alex North's novels and I found this one to be a bit different from his other books but that wasn't in any way a bad thing. If you are a mystery/thriller fan, you will more than likely like this one. show less

Five kids stand around a grave on a rainy night, taking turns firing a gun into the body inside it. One asks the titular question, "What have we done?".
Twenty-five years later, the kids from the abusive group home, Savior House, are all leading fairly successful lives, if not ones without demons. Jenna-a former assassin turned stepmom, Donnie-an aging rock star, Nico-a reality show producer, and Ben-a federal judge were all friends while Arty was shy and studious and is now a rich tech industrialist. They are brought back together because Ben is dead and someone is trying to kill the rest of them. They are pulled back together not by desire, but because someone in their shared past is out to get them and they are going to have to figure show more out who and why if they want to live.

What Have We Done starts fast and doesn't let up until the very end. Jenna is blackmailed into committing an assassination and when that goes badly finds herself targeted by a determined female killer. Jenna gets her family to safety and then begins the hunt for whoever is behind the scheme. She is easily the most compelling character in the book and her past skills lead her into some of the most exciting, tense, and action-packed sequences in the book. As the former friends try to piece together what is going on, we are given flashbacks into their time at Savior House and the traumatic events in their past. The viewpoint bounces from Jenna to Donnie to Nico throughout. Pieces of the puzzle gradually come together but point in so many directions it's hard to guess the outcome until you reach the final pages.

The pace of the book keeps you engaged throughout and the action and excitement are intense. While Jenna is a very engaging character, the other characters are a bit shallow and somewhat unsympathetic, making it difficult to invest too heavily in them, even when they are in danger. The female assassin is terrifying and fascinating, but again too little is known to fully appreciate her.

This is unquestionably a thrilling read with fast-paced action. Alex Finlay is definitely on the must-read list.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher. show less

I enjoyed this thriller which brings together people who spent time in Savior House as parentless teens twenty-five years earlier. After the home was closed in part due to the disappearance of the director, the teens were split up to live their own lives.

Jenna found herself in Savior House after the death of her parents in a car accident. She wasn't their long when she was plucked out by a representative of The Corporation and trained to be an assassin. She's left that life behind, married, and is the stepmother to two girls. But then she gets called in to do one last assassination. Only she finds that her supposed target is another one of the kids from Savior House who has become a tech billionaire. After purposely missing the shot, show more she finds herself the target of killers who want to kill her to clear up loose ends.

Donnie is a has-been rock star with a drug and alcohol habit who is performing with the remnants of his old band on a cruise ship. He is attacked and thrown off the ship but is picked up by a fishing boat and rescued. His manager makes a deal with a writer for a tell-all book which forces Donnie to look back on those years spent at Savior House even though he doesn't want them to be any part of his story.

Nico is a television producer for a reality show set in the West Virginia coal mines. He has a major gambling habit and is deep in debt to some criminals. When one of the stars in the show asks to meet him on the set, deep in a coal mine, he is ambushed and left for dead after an explosion happens. He is rescued in the nick of time and wants to find out who set him up.

The story switches between these viewpoints and the viewpoints of the twin assassins who were sent to kill them all and who have already killed another of the kids who was now a federal judge - the Honorable Robert Benjamin Wood.

The three survivors all meet at the judge's funeral and begin to compare notes. They need to find out who wants them dead if they are ever to have their own lives again. The plot was twisty. Flashbacks from each viewpoint tell more about their lives a Savior House and expose the secret they are all hiding.

This was an excellent story filled with characters I cared about. show less

What Have We Done is the tale of teens from a sketchy foster home 25 years after committing something terrible. What follows is a plot that is so unrealistic and so full of coincidences that I just couldn’t buy into what was happening. At the same time, though, the book was difficult to put down, despite my sense of disbelief and sometimes utter astonishment at how ridiculous the book’s events seemed, so kudos to Mr. Finlay for that.

I loved The Night Shift but was terribly disappointed in What Have We Done.

My thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing g an ARC of this book.

Decent, but there are some authorial tics and language that could use tightening, polishing or an editor. Maybe all three. For example, experiencing a near death experience. Please. Don't do that. And I could have done without the "jump scare" moment a la Friday the 13th at the end. Also, did anyone else picture the twins in Planet Terror?

I also thought that the real deal at the heart of everything was a bit rabbit out of the hatish and could have had a bit more set up.

Do you like twisty suspense reads? Yes? Then you need to pick up Alex Finlay's latest book - What Have We Done.

The book opens with a prologue from the past that sets the tone for the rest of the book. Five teen residents of a group home commit a crime that will link them together forever. Twenty five years on, they've all done well for themselves, but don't really keep in touch. Until.....it looks like someone else knows about that night. And they want retribution.

There are multiple points of view in the book. We hear from not just the five, but the ones hunting them down as well. As readers we become privy to information from both sides. The timeline switches from past to present and back again. I enjoy this style of story telling. show more

Finlay expertly leads the reader down the garden path and provides lots of red herrings along the way. He also ends many chapters on a suspenseful note, ensuring I needed to just read 'one more chapter' before turning out the lights. Now, about figuring out the whodunit - Finlay is a master of the 'twist'. He caught me off guard many times and with each twist the narrative changed. I love being kept on my toes.

The action starts in the first chapters and the pace never really eases off. Over the top in places? Absolutely, but it's a heckuva fun read. I could see this tale as an action movie.

( Gentle readers, there are some triggers.) show less