Every Last Fear

By Alex Finlay

Happy holidays and Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! As we wrap up 2021, I’ll be sharing a quick list of my top reads this year worth another look. In the meantime, enjoy one of the last few reviews of the year:

The Pine family have been subject to years of fame and heartbreak. The stars of a true crime documentary, their oldest son Danny Pine was found guilty of murdering his high school girlfriend years ago. Fighting to prove his innocence, the family has been in a tailspin since that fateful day. Now, Matt Pine’s a film student at NYU. After a night of partying he comes back to his dorm only to learn the rest of his family was found dead on vacation in Mexico. The local police write it off as an accident but the FBI aren’t so sure. With only his imprisoned brother and himself left, Matt works to uncover what happened to his family, how they found themselves on vacation in Mexico in the first place, and how his brother’s case is tangled in between. 

A page turning mystery, this book was a good read to finish over a short week. I enjoyed the storyline and found it easy to get absorbed and finish quickly. However, the novel was touted as a psychological thriller, which put me on the wrong foot with this book. It was mysterious and thrilling but lacked any psychological aspect to its pages and a grand plot twist. I felt like I knew the true culprit pretty early in and guessed most of the ending. The novel also concluded with a minor love interest which took away from the main story line and felt a bit random; as if they were trying too hard to tie the story up in a perfect bow. The narrative shifts from before and after and the variety of character development among the family made for an interesting read with a good level of suspense to keep me coming back. But overall this novel simply didn’t blow me away.

Rating: 3.5/5