Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - The Night Shift

In 1999, four teenagers were murdered at the Blockbuster they worked at. One person survived. The suspected murder was arrested, but released on bail and escaped. Fifteen years later, a group of teenagers were murdered at the ice cream shop. One person survived.

The book is written in the third person from the perspectives of Ella, the Blockbuster survivor, Chris, the alleged Blockbuster murderer’s brother, and Special Agent Keller.

There was a lot of layers to this one but I liked that I didn’t immediately guess the entire plot. I figured it out before the story got there, but that’s how the book is written.

There seem to be some polarizing reviews on this one but I really liked it. I just couldn’t stand that the 8 month pregnant with twins FBI agent was running around and putting herself in danger. She made a comment about how she was treated by some while pregnant and working but she makes some extremely poor decisions.

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maregred's review against another edition

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dark hopeful mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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random19379's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

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iamnita's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The way this story was told was what kept me turning the pages. Because the story was "wrapped up" in 37 pages I knew we were going to do a deep dive into everyone and everything and I was here for it. This story is heavy on the police investigation side of things so keep that in mind when considering picking this up. What bumped a star down was the unbelievable ending - it just got silly IMO and throughout some things came together a little "too conveniently" which is not to say that the huge twist didn't shock me. I 100% didn't see it coming.

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foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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lilifane's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I'm surprised how much I enjoyed the book.
It's about a brutal murder taking place in the past and a similar crime taking place in the present. I really like these kinds of stories.
This was fast-paced, the twists and turns surprised me, all loose ends were tied up, nothing really annoyed be. And I even liked the characters, although some of them were a little one dimensional. But I guess that's what I liked so much, no unnecessary personal drama.
It's not groundbreaking or anything, but it gave me exactly what I needed from the story.

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bookishgoob's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

Honestly, this book wasn’t terrible but it also wasn’t great. I don’t like reading thrillers written by men. They feature a lot of dead women and that makes my stomach upset.

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savvyrosereads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

On New Year’s Eve 1999, a mass murderer struck the night shift of a Blockbuster, killing all but one employee. Fifteen years later, four teenage employees at an ice cream store are attacked in the same way—and once again, there is only one survivor.

First things first, this book is not what I expected from the blurb, cover, and various marketing materials I saw. I was anticipating something with slasher vibes and a heavily 90’s atmosphere—in reality, this is much more a procedural thriller and there are only a handful of scenes actually set in the 90’s.

Fortunately, I *love* procedurals, so this is a case of what I got being much better than what I imagined! The Night Shift had me hooked from the very first chapter, with brilliant characters, short and engaging chapters, and a string of great twists. I saw the whodunit coming, but not all of the underlying surprises, which always makes me happy. But the biggest standout of the novel is definitely the depth of feeling with which Finlay writes—there were so many moments of quiet compassion and humanity from the characters that I so appreciated. This is the kind of extra touch that so often gets lost in thrillers as authors struggle to keep their story as gritty and dark as possible, so I truly appreciated seeing the balance executed so well here.

Recommended if you like: procedural thrillers/mysteries; stories about cold cases; multiple POVs.

CW: Blood/murder/violence, injury and injury detail, discussions of inappropriate sexual relationships (adult/minor), mention of suicide.

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