From the Bookshelf of Nothing But Reading Challenges…

The Night Shift

Alex Finlay

Start date: October 1, 2022

Finish date: October 31, 2022

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What Members Thought

May 09, 2022 Bonnie rated it liked it

Shelves: 2022-books, thrill-me-chill-me

This book was dumb fun. Emphasis on both "dumb" and "fun." It reminds me of Lock Every Door where it had every reason to hate it, but it was so quick and compulsive that I devoured it. Having recently come off a stint where I was lukewarm on nearly a dozen books in a row, "fun," in any form, was something I desperately craved.

This book is about two, possibly connected, murders of young female employees during closing time. I have to assume this book is inspired at least somewhat by the 1991 Aust This book was dumb fun. Emphasis on both "dumb" and "fun." It reminds me of Lock Every Door where it had every reason to hate it, but it was so quick and compulsive that I devoured it. Having recently come off a stint where I was lukewarm on nearly a dozen books in a row, "fun," in any form, was something I desperately craved.

This book is about two, possibly connected, murders of young female employees during closing time. I have to assume this book is inspired at least somewhat by the 1991 Austin yogurt shop murders which sadly have never been solved.

Ella is the only survivor of the 1999 Blockbuster massacre. She's now a therapist (psychologist? I don't remember) who also does some impromptu escorting to cover her bills. We soon learn that Ella's family is filthy rich - like have a butler rich. Like definitely give their kids trust funds rich. Another character brings up the trust fund possibility and Ella ignores the question, because clearly the author knew it was a flaw but didn't want to address it. The fact that Ella is a sometimes escort is brought up in the beginning and is then no further part of her character or plot. Like much of this story, it is there for the sudden shock, not for any meaningful impact.

Fifteen years after the Blockbuster massacre, there's a massacre at the local ice cream shop. Again, there is a lone survivor: Jessica "Jesse" Duvall. Jesse will only talk to Ella. Jesse also has a made-for-TV ability to uncover information that even the cops don't know yet. It's all silly.

There was a prime suspect in the first set of killings - a teenage boy who was possibly in a relationship with one of the girls. He disappeared after being accused, and is thought to be still on the run. His younger brother is now a public defender and desperate to find his brother again. He suspects his brother is a mysterious globe-hopping Youtuber. The reader is therefore subject to descriptions of various "videos" by this Youtuber. The most hilarious thing is that Finlay seems to have never watched a Youtube video before and thinks that this is still like home videos from the 1980s that would cut to black to change scenes. I looked back on old videos, including old travel vlog videos - yes, people did know how to do basic editing in 2014. Every single Youtube video (that were, by the way, all entirely pointless and useless and should not have been included in the story) has a "it cuts to black" instead of having a simple edit transition.

This book plays fast and loose with reality and logic in the name of plot. It all comes to a head in the finale, so spoilers below:

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