Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay Review

 

Every Last Fear | Alex Finlay | Minotaur Books | Pub: 3/2/21 

“You have two choices when you’re confronted with your every last fear: Give up or fight like hell.”

I received a free ARC of Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay from Macmillan in an exchange for an honest review.

The year 2020 I barely read any thrillers, I was occupied with mostly fantasy and romance. Then Macmillan sent me Every Last Fear and I thought to myself, “Michelle, let’s close out 2020 with this book.”

Best decision ever!

Every Last Fear is about the Pine family. The Pine family has had a tough time as of late. Danny, the oldest son, is in jail for murder. A murder everyone in the family thinks he didn’t commit. Matt, the second oldest Pine, doesn’t think Danny is innocent. He saw something that night that convinced him Danny did it.

Now Matt is at NYU going to college and the rest of the Pines (Danny obviously excluded) take a spring break trip to Mexico. Matt’s spring break with school didn’t line up so he is still at NYU when everything goes wrong.

His family is found dead in Mexico. Evan, Olivia, Maggie and Tommy… DEAD. Freak accident. Gas leak they said. But was it?

This story was a wild ride. It follows Matt, the second oldest Pine child and FBI Agent Keller as they try to figure out what happened to Matt’s family. In between the Matt and Keller chapters we have snippets of the other Pines from BEFORE they died. The story unfolds in this way that just keeps you gripped. I literally didn’t want to stop reading because I needed to know what was connected and how and why. I also really didn’t see the end coming.

When reading the before from the other Pine family members’ perspectives, you just get to learn about them and see the things they were each going through after Danny got arrested for murder. Maggie and Evan constantly trying to prove Danny’s innocence. Tommy too young that he never met Danny. Olivia loving Evan but feeling them falling apart.

Reading Maggie’s perspective hurt the most. She was this incredible high school senior. So smart and just good and the things that happened to her… The hardest chapters were towards the end. The chapters from their perspectives as they died. I cried (no one is surprised I am sure).

My ONLY complaint is that I wish the two afters be switched. I think it would have made the end a little more impactful. Besides that, I absolutely loved this book.

This book hits shelves on March 2, 2021 and I really and truly recommend you read it.

Synopsis (Credit: Goodreads)

In one of the year’s most anticipated debut psychological thrillers, a family made infamous by a true crime documentary is found dead, leaving their surviving son to uncover the truth about their final days.

“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 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.