The Night Shift
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
What connects a massacre at a Blockbuster video store in 1999 with the murder of four teenagers fifteen years later?
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 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...
'A terrific thriller, tautly written with compelling characters. I was totally hooked' Peter James
'Every line counts in this cunning cat's cradle of a thriller. Alex Finlay has the knack of combining forward motion with powerful emotion' The Times
'Wow, this is crime fiction at its best... Alex Finlay is the real deal, believe me' Lee Child
'Finlay is all set to take on big boys Linwood Barclay and Harlan Coben. Great' The Sun
'The Night Shift will grab you and not let go until the final, electrifying conclusion' Julie Clark
'An exciting, entertaining read that I couldn't put down!' Samantha Downing
'The Night Shift is one not to miss. Highly recommended' Brendan DuBois
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
