What Have We Done
What Have We Done by Alex Finlay
Twenty five years ago, something dark was happening at Savior House, a group home for orphans in Chestertown, Pennsylvania, and several girls went missing. That is, until five teens—Jenna, Donnie, Nico, Arty, and Ben—found a way to put a stop to it. But now, in the present, someone seems to seeking revenge on those five. Ben has been murdered, and attempts have been made on the lives of the other four. Will they be able to figure out who’s hunting them down, and why, before it’s too late?
As is Mr. Finlay’s style, the story in What Have We Done is told by shifting narrators, mostly in the present but with occasional memories to relate moments from the past. The alternation of narrators does a nice job of slowly revealing little morsels about what happened, the characters’ various secrets, and the occasional red herring. The writing is strong, and the short, staccato chapters propel the story forward. That said, What Have We Done didn’t work for me as well as Mr. Finlay’s earlier novels. What happened in the past was largely predictable, and the one piece of it that wasn’t predictable was never adequately explained. What was happening in the present was far too dependent on debatable choices (especially the one that put the whole story in motion), and several unrealistic characters (Jenna, Haley and Casey).
What Have We Done has an interesting premise (though not necessarily an original one). But I think the story sacrifices some emotional depth and logic, and leaves some complicated ideas unexplored, focusing instead on creating lots of action sequences. It’s not a bad book, just a bit underwhelming. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
