The Anniversary ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Anniversary by Alex Finlay

NetGalley About Summary

On May 1, 1992, Jules Delaney and Quinn Riley hardly know each other.

Jules is high school queen bee in a small Midwestern town when she survives a brutal attack by the elusive May Day Killer—a predator who strikes every May 1st and then vanishes without a trace. Quinn, a boy from the wrong side of the tracks, is arrested the same night after trying to break up a fight and nearly killing someone.

By morning, their lives are forever connected.

A year later, Jules is haunted by trauma and guilt, tormented by one question: Why was she spared? Quinn is newly released from juvenile detention and returns home to devastating news—the unsolved murder of his mother.

Over the next decade, their lives are revisited on a single day each year: May 1st.

As the years pass, secrets surface, lies unravel, and the paths of Jules and Quinn draw closer together. Two mysteries edge toward the truth—what really happened the night Jules was attacked, and who murdered Quinn’s mother? All the while, the May Day Killer is still out there.

And the clock is racing toward another anniversary.

Twisty, high-concept, and emotionally charged, The Anniversary is an addictive murder mystery and nail-biting thriller—but it’s also a tender, heartrending story about fate, innocence lost, and two people bound by a single day. With its masterful structure and propulsive tension, The Anniversary reaffirms Alex Finlay as one of the leading thriller writers today.

Genre: Fiction, Mystery & Thriller (from NG)
GR also lists Psychological Thriller, Serial Killer, Crime

The How/Why: NetGalley plus about two dozen of my bookie friends on Goodreads have given it great reviews. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

🎉 Overall Storytelling? 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

🎣 Did it grab and keep my attention? 🎣🎣🎣🎣🎣

🗣️Would I recommend it to anyone? Yes ➕

🕮 Would I want a sequel? No ➖ Not necessary

📚 Would I want to read more books by this author? Yes ➕

💣💥 📢 Content Warnings? KidnaƤƤinᵷ, Sɇxuɐl Violɇncɇ, MŪrdɇr, Survivor Trɐumɐ, Sɇriɐl Ki⅃ℒer
Update: The SV was off screen

🌶 Spice? No

🌪 Plot Twist? YES!

👟 Pace? Great

💻 Tidbits ~ This book made me gasp at 01:42 (not even two minutes) into the audiobook and kept me hooked until the end! This was totally an E-Ticket Ride* and EXACTLY what I want out of a psychological thriller. 

May 1st is a day they will never forget in this small town USA. The anniversary date every year when the Sɇriɐl Ki⅃ℒer takes his victims. 

Jules is one of the "lucky ones" that he lets live. This leads to years of survivor trauma as the sweet and pretty-little-rich-girl has that night engraved in her memories for life. She didn't see his face but she will never forget his voice.

Quinn, a quiet and caring boy struggling to help his mom make ends meet, meets Jules in High School Study Hall. They couldn't be more different yet have a connection. Little do they know their lives will be connected for years to come. 

May 1st - The night Jules is attacked, Quinn gets in a fight at a concert trying to help someone he knows, which sends him to juvenile detention. While there his mother is brutally murdered. 

Jules, initially silent about her attack, is on a mission to find the MayDayKiller and Quinn is on a mission to solve his mother's murder. 

No SPOILERS but I thought I had it figured out...Wait! What? I didn't have it figured out? Hold up... Did I? It's not over til it's over. Edge of seat material! 
The ending made my heart skip a beat. No, it wasn't arrhythmia! IYKYK.

I really appreciated the 1990's nostalgia that took me right back to my hay days with Pearl Jam, grunge fashion, dial-up internet, mix-tapes, and a group of veterans talking about the "b0nɇr pill**"! 
Also the message for survivors and witnesses to stand together.

*Throwback reference although not mentioned in the book. Ticket books were discontinued in the 80's, but we still talked about E-Ticket Rides well into the 90's when referencing something really good. 
**I seriously worked with two elderly men in the late 90's who would discuss "the pill" over morning coffee! 

I listened to the audiobook. Narration by Ari Fliakos and Britany Presley was very good. Ari's voice was very mellow which I thought fit the personality of the quiet boy and gentle man Quinn became. Britany brought the traumatized yet determined Jules.

🎧 Narrator: Ari Fliakos and Britany Presley

🎧7.25 hours 🕮 336pages

Not yet published. Expected May 12, 2026. ADD IT TO YOUR LIST!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the free ALC in exchange for my honest review.


18 and counting
I created with Gemini AI


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