From the author of the breakout thriller Every Last Fear, comes Alex Finlay's electrifying next audiobook The Night Shift, about a pair of small-town murders fifteen years apart—and the ties that bind them.
"The night was expected to bring tragedy." So begins one of the most highly-anticipated thrillers in recent years.
It's New Year's Eve 1999. Y2K is expected to end in chaos: planes falling from the sky, elevators plunging to earth, world markets collapsing. A digital apocalypse. None of that happens. But at a Blockbuster Video in New Jersey, four teenagers working late at the store are attacked. 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, more teenage employees 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's forced to relive the horrors of her tragedy; the brother of the fugitive accused, who's convinced the police have the wrong suspect; and FBI agent Sarah Keller who must delve into the secrets of both nights—stirring up memories of teen love and lies—to uncover the truth about murders on the night shift.
Twisty, poignant, and redemptive, The Night Shift is a story about the legacy of trauma and how the broken can come out on the other side, and it solidifies Finlay as one of the new leading voices in the world of thrillers.
A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books
1 of 2 copies available
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
March 1, 2022 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781250839695
- File size: 247061 KB
- Duration: 08:34:42
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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January 3, 2022
The pseudonymous Finlay’s strong sophomore effort (after 2021’s Every Last Fear) opens on New Year’s Eve 1999 at a Linden, N.J., Blockbuster Video store, where the manager and three teenage employees are murdered; only a fourth employee, Ella Monroe, survives. The chief suspect, high school student Vince Whitaker, disappears. Fifteen years later, the words the killer whispered as he stabbed Ella, “Goodnight, pretty girl,” still haunt her. When the Linden high school principal asks Ella, now a therapist, to counsel student Jessica Duvall, the only survivor of a copycat crime at a local ice cream store, she reluctantly agrees to do so. Thrust back into her nightmare, Ella struggles to help Jessica, who’s fixated on the Blockbuster slayings. When Jessica is charged with the ice cream store murders, her public defender has reason to conceal his own ties to Whitaker. Meanwhile, as an FBI agent and a Linden police officer investigate, small-town secrets from the past and the present start to emerge. Finlay does a fine job weaving the tangled lives and crimes together in a suspenseful tale that’s marred only by a forced conclusion. Thriller fans will eagerly await Finlay’s next. Agent: Lisa Erbach Vance, Aaron Priest Literary. -
June 1, 2022
Ella is the only survivor of the notorious Blockbuster murders, when several teenagers were killed at a video store on New Year's Eve 1999. When a similar mass killing happens at an ice cream shop in New Jersey, Ella, now a therapist, is asked by her former teacher to talk to the only survivor. Jesse is a tough, smart kid who needs someone on her side--her foster parents aren't much help--but Ella can tell she's hiding something. Additional point-of-view characters include Chris, a public defender whose brother was a suspect in the Blockbuster case, and Sarah Keller, a pregnant FBI agent. The killer's identity will be clear early on to many thriller fans, but it's still an entertaining ride to the end. Narration by Cady McClain, Brittany Pressley, Gary Tiedemann, and Devon Hales varies in quality, with Tiedemann being a standout. VERDICT For thriller fans and those who enjoyed Finlay's debut, Every Last Fear. True crime aficionados may enjoy too, since the fictional murders were based on well-known real crimes.--Stephanie Klose
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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Devon Hales, Cady McClain, Brittany Pressley, and Gary Tiedemann narrate Alex Finlay's thriller, which centers on a brutal murder that occurrs at the local Dairy Queen. Three high school girls are left for dead. One survives. The attack is reminiscent of a murder at a Blockbuster Video 15 years earlier. The use of four narrators works well due to each narrator's strong performance. As Ella, Pressley is empathetic. McClain, as FBI agent Keller, narrates with precision. Tiedemann, as Chris, emphasizes a sense of yearning. Finally, Hales, as Katie, expresses feelings of sadness and fear. Buoyed by these narrators' talents, listeners will be eager to follow the investigation to solve the murders. P.P.C. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
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