#BlogTour ‘The Night Shift’ by Alex Finlay

About the book…

What connects a pair of small-town murders that happened fifteen years apart? A breakneck new thriller from the author of Every Last Fear (‘A standout novel plotted with surgical precision’ – KARIN SLAUGHTER)

It’s New Year’s Eve of 1999 when four teenagers working late are attacked at a Blockbuster video store in New Jersey. Only one inexplicably survives. Police quickly identify a suspect, the boyfriend of one of the victims, who flees and is never seen again.

Fifteen years later, four more teenagers are attacked at an ice cream store in the same town, and again only one makes it out alive.

In the aftermath of the latest crime, three lives intersect: the lone survivor of the Blockbuster massacre who is forced to relive the horrors of her tragedy; the brother of the fugitive accused, who is convinced the police have the wrong suspect; and FBI agent Sarah Keller, who must delve into the secrets of both nights to uncover the truth about the night shift murders.

My thanks to Polly at Aries Fiction, a Head Of Zeus imprint, for the blog tour invite and my gifted review copy of Alex Finlay’s sophomore novel, ‘The Night Shift’, which is out now in e-book and hardcover formats.

A nostalgia driven opener which recalls to mind Friday nights, choosing a VHS from Blockbuster, quickly descends into the kind of scene which would not be out of place in one of the rental movies.

Almost slasher like in its intensity, 4 people who work the night shift on the eve of the Millennium are murder in quick succession.

A local hoodlum is promptly arrested on the flimsiest of evidence and then just as quickly disappears.

His younger brother Chris,grows up to be a public defender and, 15 years later, becomes embroiled in a new murder spree in the small town of Linden.

Because the sole survivor, a frequent flier through the care system, can tell the police nothing but the last words that she heard from the killer are identical to the Blockbuster killer’s.

And the one person who can confirm it, is the Blockbuster survivor, Ella, who has grown up to be a therapist, brought into the case to pull details out that others may have missed.

The other principle narrator is heavily pregnant detective Sarah Keller, and her sidekick Atticus Singh, as they attempt to slay the ghost of New Year past and present. Using the developments in criminal and legal fields over the past 15 years, they plan to kill two murderous birds with one massive stone.

There is a deftness of touch to the writing which, combined with the short almost filmic chapters,creates a sense of urgency and tocking clocks.

The Night Shift is a superb crime thriller, it is a exploration of restorative justice and just how long someone will wait to exact vengeance. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it and each of the well rounded characters zing as they banter, bicker and bargain with each other, creating a perfectly realised small town atmosphere.

About the author…

Alex Finlay is the pseudonym of an author who lives in Washington, D.C. Alex Finlay is the pseudonym of an author who lives in Washington, D.C. His 2021 breakout thriller,‘Every Last Fear’, was an Indie Next pick, a LibraryReads selection, an Amazon Editor’s Best Thriller, as well as a CNN, Newsweek, E!, BuzzFeed, Business Week, Goodreads, Parade, PopSugar, and Reader’s Digest best or most anticipated thriller of the year. Alex’s work has been translated into more than a dozen languages and optioned for film and television.

Links-https://alexfinlaybooks.com/

Twitter @AriesFiction @HoZ_Books