Chris Mann ~ Calm Meditation For the Election

Tags

Chris Mann, Election 2020, Humor, Meditation

Apologies for the language!

Every Last Fear, By Alex Finlay ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Discussion of suicide, Mystery, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: March 2nd, 2021

368 Pages

Synopsis: “They found the bodies on a Tuesday.” So begins this twisty and breathtaking novel that traces the fate of the Pine family, a thriller that will both leave you on the edge of your seat, and move you to tears.

After a late night of partying, NYU student Matthew Pine, returns to his dorm room to devastating news: nearly his entire family—him mom, his dad, his little brother and sister—have been found dead from an apparent gas leak while vacationing in Mexico. The local police claim it was an accident, but the FBI and State Department seem far less certain—and they won’t tell Matt why.

The tragedy makes headlines everywhere because this isn’t the first time the Pine family has been thrust into the media spotlight. Matt’s older brother Danny—currently serving a life sentence for the murder of his teenage girlfriend Charlotte—was the subject of a true crime documentary suggesting that Danny was wrongfully convicted. Though the country has rallied behind Danny, Matt holds a secret about his brother that he’s never told anyone: the night Charlotte was killed, Matt saw something that makes him believe his brother is guilty of the crime.

When Matt returns to his small hometown to bury his parents and siblings, he’s faced with a hostile community that was villainized by the documentary, the frenzied media, and memories he’d hoped to leave behind forever. Now, as the deaths in Mexico appear increasingly suspicious and connected to Danny’s case, Matt must unearth the truth that sent his brother to prison—putting his own life in peril—and forcing him to confront his every last fear.

Told through multiple points-of-view, and alternating between past and present, Alex Finlay’s Every Last Fear, is not only a page-turning thriller, it’s also a poignant story of a family managing heartbreak and tragedy, and living through a fame they never wanted.

Oh my goodness! Every Last Fear was a nearly perfect page-turner for me. I’ll begin with my small issues. First, this is told through several POVs, yet Danny, who has been possibly wrongfully convicted, gets one chapter in the final half of the book. Seeing as how everything comes back to what happened the night his girlfriend was killed, I would have liked to have heard more from him. Also, the identity of the culprit was fairly predictable, but the journey getting there was still enjoyable. What I loved the most were the characters, particularly the Pine family. They helped turn this into not only a compelling suspense tale, but a heartbreaking family drama. I couldn’t tear myself away from this and finished the book in one sitting. Overall, Every Last Fear is an impressive debut from Alex Finlay, and I can’t wait to see what he comes out with next. I highly recommend this particularly to fans of authors like Harlan Coben and Linwood Barclay.