Review of The Night Shift

I enjoyed Alex Finley’s first book, Every Last Fear. What did I think of his newest book? Find out in my review of The Night Shift!

The Night Shift by Alex Finlay

Published by Minotaur Books on March 1, 2022. Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy. This post contains affiliate links.

Synopsis: It’s New Year’s Eve 1999. At a Blockbuster Video in Linden, New Jersey, four teenage girls working the night shift are attacked. Only one survives. Police quickly identify a suspect who flees and is never seen again. Fifteen years later, in the same town, four teenage employees working late at an ice cream store are attacked, and again only one makes it out alive. Both surviving victims recall the killer speaking only a few final words… “Goodnight, pretty girl.” In the aftermath, three lives intersect: the survivor of the Blockbuster massacre who’s forced to relive her tragedy; the brother of the original suspect, who’s convinced the police have it wrong; and the FBI agent, who’s determined to solve both cases. On a collision course toward the truth, all three lives will forever be changed, and not everyone will make it out alive.

Review of The Night Shift by Alex Finlay

I enjoyed The Night Shift overall! To me it felt a bit similar to Final Girls by Riley Sager. Therapist and “final girl” Ella is the survivor of a terrible 1999 crime at Blockbuster Video. Decades later, she is asked to consult on the case of Jessica, another final survivor of a similar crime at a donut shop. There’s a creepy link between the two events. Could it be the same person?

The plotting on this was well done and the ending was unexpected. The 90s vibes made me so happy, as I clearly remember circling around and around the aisles of Blockbuster video, trying to find a couple of movies to rent for the weekend.

I did feel that The Night Shift took a while to get going and that the last third was where things really took off. For me there were too many POVs (I think there were four in total: Ella, Jessica, Sarah Keller, a pregnant FBI agent who appeared in Finlay’s first book, Every Last Fear; and a public defender who also happens to be the younger brother of the man in jail for the Blockbuster crime). I also wanted a little more character development or more chance for me to develop any kind of connection with the characters. I kind of wish the POV had just been Agent Keller! Or Jesse, who I also thought was a really interesting character. But that’s just my preference as a reader who doesn’t tend to love multi-POV books.

Overall this was fun and well-plotted and if you remember the 90s, you’ll enjoy it.

Speaking of the 90s, here are a few posts you might enjoy:

A Quiz: Who Were YOU in the 1990s?

A list of YA Books Set in the 1990s