4.5 stars
Every Last Fear is one of the best mystery thrillers I have read in the last couple of years. And I stand by that statement because I double checked by looking at my list of completed books on Goodreads. Sure enough, after comparing it to the many books I have read in the mystery and thriller genres, this book is what I consider a top tier read. An interesting premise that hooked me early on.
NYU student Matt Pine receives devastating news that his parents and younger siblings have been found dead in Mexico with local authorities claiming it was due to an accidental gas leak in their vacation home. The tragedy makes national news because the family was featured in a crime documentary not too long ago. Matt's older brother, Danny, was convicted and is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of his teenage girlfriend. Many people believe Danny is innocent of the crime which is one of the things that was explored in the documentary. The FBI has their suspicions about the deaths of Matt's family members and Matt wonders if there is some connection between the deaths and Danny's case.
I love how the author told the story with the present day chapters featuring Matt and the FBI agent, and the chapters featuring the family members and everything going on in their lives before their deaths. Essentially it's like I was getting two mysteries and so as the chapters alternated between the past and present, my interest level was quite high in both and seeing if everything would tie in together somehow. The chapters featuring the parents and sister were haunting knowing I was witnessing some of the last moments of their lives. It is a compelling story and you can't help but wonder the lengths you might go to if you believed a loved one was innocent of a crime.
The ending is complex enough that I don't think any reader can predict how everything plays out exactly. I was left feeling like I was in the dark for much of the story although I did pick up one piece of puzzle. But it was one of those things in which I still wasn't confident it even fit in the story and certainly didn't have a working theory for it. So for the most part I was clueless until the author finally laid everything out on the table. Not quite a grand slam ending, but definitely a solid home run.
Highly recommend picking this one up if you enjoy reading books in this genre.
I received a free advance copy of this book and all views expressed in this review are my honest opinions.
NYU student Matt Pine receives devastating news that his parents and younger siblings have been found dead in Mexico with local authorities claiming it was due to an accidental gas leak in their vacation home. The tragedy makes national news because the family was featured in a crime documentary not too long ago. Matt's older brother, Danny, was convicted and is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of his teenage girlfriend. Many people believe Danny is innocent of the crime which is one of the things that was explored in the documentary. The FBI has their suspicions about the deaths of Matt's family members and Matt wonders if there is some connection between the deaths and Danny's case.
I love how the author told the story with the present day chapters featuring Matt and the FBI agent, and the chapters featuring the family members and everything going on in their lives before their deaths. Essentially it's like I was getting two mysteries and so as the chapters alternated between the past and present, my interest level was quite high in both and seeing if everything would tie in together somehow. The chapters featuring the parents and sister were haunting knowing I was witnessing some of the last moments of their lives. It is a compelling story and you can't help but wonder the lengths you might go to if you believed a loved one was innocent of a crime.
The ending is complex enough that I don't think any reader can predict how everything plays out exactly. I was left feeling like I was in the dark for much of the story although I did pick up one piece of puzzle. But it was one of those things in which I still wasn't confident it even fit in the story and certainly didn't have a working theory for it. So for the most part I was clueless until the author finally laid everything out on the table. Not quite a grand slam ending, but definitely a solid home run.
Highly recommend picking this one up if you enjoy reading books in this genre.
I received a free advance copy of this book and all views expressed in this review are my honest opinions.