Every last fear

Every last fear

Alex Finlay

Book - 2021

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

Saved in:
Place a Hold Save to List Email this

1st Floor Show me where

FICTION/Finlay Alex
1 / 2 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
1st Floor FICTION/Finlay Alex Due May 6, 2024
1st Floor FICTION/Finlay Alex Checked In
Subjects
Murder > Fiction.
Family secrets > Fiction.
True crime television programs > Fiction.
Suspense fiction.
Psychological fiction.
Thrillers (Fiction)
Genres
Suspense fiction
Psychological fiction
Thrillers (Fiction)
Published
New York : Minotaur Books 2021.
Language
English
Main Author
Alex Finlay (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
362 pages ; 25 cm
ISBN
9781250268822
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

The Pine family was torn apart when teenage son Danny was imprisoned for the murder of a local girl, Charlotte Rose; then came the true-crime documentary that made everything even worse, portraying Danny's father, Evan, as unhinged. Danny's brother, Matt, is trying to get on with life as a film student when he learns that his family has been found dead in Mexico. With an FBI agent helping from afar, Matt and his ragtag group of friends must dodge those in his hometown of Adair, Nebraska, who want the remaining Pine son gone, and escape a (somewhat clichéd) frightening man who appears in the family's vacation photos and later in way-too-close proximity to Matt. Finlay's debut is a fast-moving, often-emotional portrayal of a family in turmoil, small-town nastiness, and what happens after the cameras are gone. Readers who sympathize with a character who just can't get it right will enjoy the flashbacks to Evan Pine's desperate, ill-fated efforts to reassemble his family, and fans of a good chase scene won't be disappointed, either.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

In the pseudonymous Finlay's solid debut, NYU student Matt Pine learns that his parents, Evan and Olivia, and younger siblings, 17-year-old Maggie and six-year-old Tommy, died while vacationing in Tulum, Mexico. The Pines' oldest son, Danny, is seven years into a life sentence for murdering his pregnant high school girlfriend--a controversial conviction that was the subject of a TV documentary--so Matt must travel solo to claim the bodies. Local authorities believe the family succumbed to a gas leak, but FBI agent Sarah Keller has doubts. Not only was the recently fired Evan's former employer laundering money for a Mexican cartel, but evidence suggests the Pines were chasing a lead that could exonerate Danny. When a series of near misses suggest Matt is also in danger, Sarah redoubles her efforts to uncover the truth. Though elements of the plot strain credulity and the denouement feels formulaic, Finlay imparts nuance via a prismatic narrative that jumps back and forth in time, examining both tragedies from multiple angles. Those who favor character-driven crime novels will find much to admire. Agent: Lisa Erbach Vance, Aaron Priest Literary. (Mar.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review

Debut novelist Finlay throws every last plague at a Job-like Nebraska family, and most of them stick. The troubles began seven years ago, when Danny Pine was accused of killing Charlotte Rose, the high school girlfriend who'd just discovered her pregnancy. Prosecutors swiftly convicted Danny on the basis of a confession the local cops bullied out of him, and although A Violent Nature, a Netflix documentary series, suggested that the real killer was Bobby Ray Hayes, the Smasher convicted of beating several other girls to death, it didn't change the minds of the Pines' neighbors in Adair, turning the family into celebrity pariahs. Taking his family from Nebraska to Chicago, Danny's father, Evan Pine, has worked ever since at another branch of the accounting firm Marconi LLP. Just a few weeks after he's laid off, however, comes the most crushing blow of all: On a trip to Mexico, Evan, his wife, Olivia, and their two youngest children, Maggie and Tommy, are all found dead, apparently from a gas leak in their cabin. FBI agent Sarah Keller, who's had her eye on Marconi for quite a while, wants to know why Evan was found outside the cabin; whether that red splotch near him is his own blood or someone else's; why the Pines decided to celebrate Evan's joblessness by taking a family vacation; and how all these developments are connected to the murder of Charlotte Rose. In search of answers, she leans on Danny, who refuses to talk, and on Danny's brother Matt, an NYU film student surrounded by people he can't trust who feels his family's history converging on him like a pack of hungry wolves. The author deftly juggles past and present and a wide range of viewpoints until the sadly predictable big reveal. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Similar Items