“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.

Every Last Fear (Amazon US) (Amazon UK) (Audible) (AbeBooks Used Books)

Trigger Warnings:  Attempted Rape , Sexual Assault, Cheating, Murder, Death, Child Death, Racism, Racist Comments, Attempted Suicide , Drug Use, Alcohol Use, Mentions of Suicide, Mention of Pedophilia

I’m working my way backwards with author Alex Finlay’s books. First I read What Have We Done? and then it was on to The Night Shift , and now I’ve read his first book, Every Last Fear. He’s one of my new-to-me favorite authors.

The book centers around the killing of a teenage girl and the imprisonment of a teenage boy. The story later becomes the basis for a true crime documentary; I’ve seen first-hand what a Netflix documentary series can do to a community when Making of a Murderer came out a few years ago. It was based on a local murder, and what a shitstorm it created for everyone involved. Lawsuits are still being settled regarding this documentary, and truth be told, I don’t watch any crime shows (not since Castle went off the air) or true crime documentaries. But I found all the chatter in the book about the documentary added to the suspense.

When Matt’s family is killed while on vacation to Mexico, he doesn’t know what to think. The reader doesn’t know what to think, either. His brother Danny has been locked up for years for the murder of his girlfriend, yet the case is still a hot topic because of the documentary. Matt’s still in college and just follows what Agent Keller at the FBI wants him to do (It was great reading about Keller again, who appeared in another Finlay book, this time younger and pregnant.) Somebody wants him dead, too.

In flashbacks, the reader is taken back to the time of Danny’s girlfriend’s murder, and the days leading up to the family vacation in Mexico. Matt’s dad and younger sister are diligently using social media to find more clues that could lead to Danny’s release from prison. That leads them to a tip in Mexico, which leads to their impromptu trip.

While I typically don’t read thrillers and avoid true crime documentaries, I still found this an interesting book with lots of twists and turns I never could have thought of. However, I figured out who was behind the killings because it was the only logical explanation to me. No one else had the means or motive to kill Matt and Danny’s family. Maybe all my reading of Nancy Drew books helped me with figuring out the clues. 🙂

Alex Finlay has a great writing career ahead of him, and I’ll surely be reading more of him as new books are released.

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