Book Review: EVERY LAST FEAR by Alex Finlay

 

Title: EVERY LAST FEAR

Author:  Alex Finlay

Publisher:  Head of Zeus

Read: March 2021

Expected publication: out now

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2

 

Book Description:

 

After a late night of partying, NYU student Matt Pine returns to his dorm room to devastating news: nearly his entire family—his 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 viral 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, a 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 behind the crime that sent his brother to prison—putting his own life in peril—and forcing him to confront his every last fear.

My musings:

 

Sometimes, I just want to binge on a book just as I would on a great Netflix series or a classic action movie, and Alex Finlay’s debut was perfect for a pulse-pounding night of reading. Yes, I did read this in one sitting, and I enjoyed it immensely!

 

EVERY LAST FEAR started off with some of the most sinister and intriguing first lines I have ever read: “They found the bodies on a Tuesday. Two days after the family had missed their flight home. Six days after all the texts and social media had gone dark.” I was immediately hooked. Here starts Matt Pine’s nightmare, when he finds out that his entire family – mum, dad, sister Maggie and brother Tommy – have been found dead in their cabin whilst vacationing in Mexico. No, hold on, not his entire family, because he also has an infamous older brother who is in jail, convicted of the murder of his girlfriend when he was in his teens. And thus, Matt’s life is shattered once more.

 

Even though the story starts with the deaths of most of the Pine family, we get to know them gradually through flashbacks to their lives just prior to their ill-fated holiday. Not every author can pull this off, because it’s difficult to get invested in a character when you already know their fate. But the more I read about Evan, Maggie, Olivia and Tommy I got to like them, and ultimately grieve for them as they met their death. Which was the very thing that made me emotionally so invested in this book that I read until late into the night to find out all the answers.

 

With multiple POVs and a rich cast of characters – we not only hear from the entire Pine family but also from the POV of Sarah Keller, the FBI agent tasked to investigate their tragic deaths – the story rolled out movie like in front of my eyes. This is not a simple whodunit, but a multi-layered plot with roots in another crime, the one Danny Pine has been convicted of all those years ago, devastating his parents and alienating his younger brother Matt. There are a lot of threads, red herrings galore, a true crime podcast thrown into the mix and some political happenings, too. Even with all those threads shooting off in different directions, the story moved along at a pace that made my pulse race, craving answers.

 

Yes, some readers have said that there were moments when you had to suspend disbelief. And yes, some of the characters are stereotypes, but just as I automatically picture a Bruce Willis type in an action movie, these somehow helped to form some strong imagery of characters you only get to meet very briefly. Did this bother me? No. This was pure entertainment, and I was happy to roll with it. To be honest, a lot of it went over my head as I cried for Maggie and little Tommy, held my breath as Matt went to Mexico to claim the bodies of his entire family (just imagine that heartbreak!) and was intrigued by Danny’s backstory. There was just so much going on! It wasn’t until the end that I could see where this was all headed, and by then I was almost glad for the reprieve.

 

Summary:

 

EVERY LAST FEAR will appeal to readers who enjoy a fast-paced, entertaining thriller rather than a whodunit that offers up clues like a trail of breadcrumbs for readers to follow and practice their own investigation skills. It requires some suspension of disbelief and may feel a bit heavy-handed at times, but as far as entertainment value goes, it was pure gold for me. Read it binge-style as you would sit through an action movie. With food on hand. And plenty of time to spare. I loved it and look forward to reading more from this author in future.

 

 

 

Thank you to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.