Made with pretty lies and broken dreams: THE NIGHT SHIFT.

The Night Shift by Alex Finlay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

New Year's Eve, 1999. At the Blockbuster in Linden, New Jersey, four teenage girls and their manager are brutally attacked. Only one girl survives, Ella. The police rapidly hone in on a suspect, who escapes and is never seen again. Fifteen years later in Linden, it seems to happen again. Four teenage girls at a Linden ice cream store are attacked. Again, there is only survivor. As Linden struggles to recover from this new tragedy, Ella--now a therapist--is requested at the scene to counsel the new survivor, Jessica ("Jesse"). But as Ella gets to knows Jesse, she's drawn into a dark web of lies and deceit.

I've never read an Alex Finlay book before, and this one was a really pleasant surprise! I read each half over two days thanks to the short, quick chapters. It spans two time periods: 1999, when the first killings happened and then nearly present-day, when the ice cream store murders happen. These killings are linked by Ella, the earliest lone survivor, who now becomes a counselor to Jesse, the girl who survives the ice cream store killings. We also hear from FBI Agent Sarah Keller, called in to investigate the 1999 Blockbuster case, and from Chris, a young man who has ties to both time periods.

Honestly, this book captivated me. The multiple points of view helped it fly by and while I had some suspicions about who might be responsible, the book kept me guessing. There are lots of twists. Both the then and now storylines are interesting, especially since you have some teen drama thrown in, and Ella looking back on what was happening in 1999. Having multiple characters tie between the two time periods (Linden is a small town) really helped make everything work. Honestly, this would have been a 5-star read for, except the ending was a little abrupt and made me sad. Still, I really loved this fast-paced and intriguing thriller. 4+ stars.

I received a copy of this book from St. Martin's Press and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review.

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