New Years Eve 1999. Four teenaged employees of a video game store are attacked. Three die and one miraculously survives. The suspected killer disappears. Fifteen years later four teenaged employees of an ice cream parlor in the same town are attacked and again, one survives. Has the killer returned? Is it a copy cat?
The Night Shift is told from multiple points of view. That device really, really works for The Night Shift.
We've got Ella, the survivor from 1999. Now a therapist, the FBI and local police bring her into the case. After all, she knows what its like to be the only one survived. The FBI agents are a seemingly mismatched pair, but I really enjoyed them both. Keller is nine months pregnant and Singh is a newbie. Also involved is Chris Ford, a public defense attorney with his own secrets. And that brings us to the latest survivor. She's hard to read, initially vulnerable, then aggressive and she knows more about the old case than expected. Why?
I enjoy multiple points of view in a book. The reader becomes privy to information that the other characters don't have. And that is multiplied with past and present chapters as well. And I was pretty sure I would solve the crime before the final pages. Finlay expertly leads the reader down the garden path and provides lots of red herrings along the way. He also ends many chapters on a suspenseful note, ensuring I needed to just read 'one more chapter' before turning out the lights. Now, about figuring out the whodunit - Finlay is a master of the 'twist'. He caught me off guard many times and with each twist the narrative changed. I love being kept on my toes. And no, I didn't solve it before the last pages.
A page-turner! This was a first read of Finlay for me and it won't be the last. I'd like to see Agent Keller again as well.
See for yourself - read an excerpt of The Night Shift. Fans of Harlan Coben and Linwood Barclay would enjoy Alex Finlay.
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