The Night Shift: A Novel

By Alex Finlay

From the author of the breakout thriller Every Last Fear, comes Alex Finlay's electrifying next novel The Night Shift, about a pair of small-town murders fifteen years apart—and the ties that bind them.

One of the Most Anticipated Books of 2022: • PopSugar • Goodreads • Book Riot • BookBub • The Nerd Daily • SheReads • Crime by the Book

“The night was expected to bring tragedy.” So begins one of the most highly-anticipated thrillers in recent years.

It’s New Year’s Eve 1999. Y2K is expected to end in chaos: planes falling from the sky, elevators plunging to earth, world markets collapsing. A digital apocalypse. None of that happens. But at a Blockbuster Video in New Jersey, four teenagers working late at the store are attacked. Only one inexplicably survives. Police quickly identify a suspect, the boyfriend of one of the victims, who flees and is never seen again.

Fifteen years later, more teenage employees are attacked at an ice cream store in the same town, and again only one makes it out alive.

In the aftermath of the latest crime, three lives intersect: the lone survivor of the Blockbuster massacre who’s forced to relive the horrors of her tragedy; the brother of the fugitive accused, who’s convinced the police have the wrong suspect; and FBI agent Sarah Keller who must delve into the secrets of both nights—stirring up memories of teen love and lies—to uncover the truth about murders on the night shift.

Twisty, poignant, and redemptive, The Night Shift is a story about the legacy of trauma and how the broken can come out on the other side, and it solidifies Finlay as one of the new leading voices in the world of thrillers.

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Published Nov 29, 2022

384 pages

Average rating: 7.43

351 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

What Bookclubbers are saying about this book

✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI

Readers say *The Night Shift* by Alex Finlay is a gripping, well-researched police procedural praised for its compelling characters, emotional depth, ...

Mellific
Jul 09, 2026
6/10 stars
Too long, and too many names to keep track of. The first half really kept my intrigue... and then it fell flat in the second half. I struggled to finish.
The.readrose
Jan 28, 2026
8/10 stars
I’m kind of thrown on this book, it’s definitely one where I enjoyed the journey more than the destination.
Christine
Mar 23, 2026
8/10 stars
While the premise of the book captivated my attention right away, the story line fell short. I think it was the over abundance of information in such a somewhat short novel. Told from different points of view, the story line jumped back and forth so often I had a hard time keeping up with plot lines a,b,c,d, and e, how they fit together and about the random plot hole and their meaning within the book. I will say that the book is full of red herrings, and I didn't expect the ending.
April Hannum
Mar 16, 2026
10/10 stars
It’s been a long time since I’ve stopped while reading a book, put the book to my face, and literally couldn’t believe the plot and asked the universe for some things to not be true because the truth was so hard to take from the twist in the story. This was definitely one of them. At the end of the book, I also had to ruminate on the story for a few minutes before I could write this review. What an amazing read and such a well-researched and fascinating story. I’ll certainly be looking into more of Alex Finlay’s books!
Rachel Paradizzo
Sep 09, 2025
10/10 stars
This book kept me guessing each chapter!! I love the different perspectives of each character and had no problem imagining what each character looks like and personality. The ending was so shocking and incredible! I gasped so many times during the book as more clues were revealed.

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