What Have We Done

Product Information

I received AREs of What Have We Done from Minotaur Books in return for a fair review. Now, would you please tell that person who keeps following me to go away. Thanks, folks, and thanks to NetGalley for facilitating. I read this book in two days! It’s very suspenseful and reads fast. It does have some violence but it’s not too descriptive.

Wood's main point is that we never consider the psyhcological harm of war - asking human beings to put aside their morals and kill... and be okay with that. It means recognizing the moral damage done. Something most central and sacred to one's identity and personality has been violated. It turns out, the catalyst for these events was the murder of their friend, Benny, who had grown up to become a well-known lawyer and federal judge in D.C. Moral injury refers to situations whereby an individual transgresses their sense of morality, ethics or values, to achieve a real or perceived necessity, but which ultimately elicits in a profound sense of ambivalence, guilt and shame in it’s aftermath.

Rachael’s Review

This distinction is helpful in differentiating the complex experience of combat veterans (and the like) from people who suffer other kinds of crisis, trauma and disaster.

The text is littered with the utterly tragic experiences of people who were put into dangerous situations, and had to make extremely difficult and complex moral and ethical decisions in life or death situations. In fact, if you concealed the cover and author name from me, and had me read it and venture a guess as to who the author was-I would NEVER have guessed Alex Finlay. I heard What Have We Done is different from Finlay's other works. It was. I thought since I didn't love the previous two novels (rated 3 stars for both), this will be a winner for me. Wrong. Was the OTT? You betcha! But that is one of the things that I enjoyed about this book. It is pure escapism reading. They, all in one way or another, relive their past, the troubling times, the secrets, the big secret, that they seem to think is the cause of their possible demise. There are some crazy people involved in this tale, including a bunch of assassins who once again are over the top. As mentioned above this is an ott book with ott as it secondary theme, but I liked it. Every so often, I enjoy the bizarre, the unreal, the no that can't possibly true books, that allow me to really escape into a place that just can't ever be.

About Alex Finlay

When a hired killer comes for them, they must figure out who has set this in motion. They have secrets in their shared past. Does someone know their secret? Who wants them dead? How do they survive?