Meet Jules Delaney and Quinn Riley. It is 1992 and they share a high school, but not the same life. Then May 1 changes everything. Jules survives an attack by the May Day Killer, a predator who leaves a trail of girls who were not as lucky. That same night Quinn’s future implodes after a concert fight spirals out of control and he is arrested. The story returns to May 1 each year as more girls disappear, Quinn’s mother is murdered, and the distance between Jules and Quinn slowly collapses until their lives collide in ways neither of them could have predicted. The book's structure works like snapshots across a decade, revealing pieces of the past while the present tightens. The tension never lets up and the identity of the killer stayed just out of reach the entire time.
This book absolutely deserves the hype. The one day a year format makes it impossible to stop reading, each chapter is sharp, fast, and loaded with emotion. The dual perspectives add depth while the serial killer storyline keeps the intensity high. Grief, survival, friendship, and the messy ways people grow after trauma are woven into a twisty, bingeable thriller that delivers on every level. The pacing is tight, the mystery is layered, and the payoff is completely worth it. This is everything I want in a thriller and probably his best yet. Alex Finlay is an auto read author for me and with books like this, I will shoot them straight to the top of the to be read pile every single time.
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Purchase The Anniversary
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Barrington Books
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