Book Review: The Anniversary by Alex Finlay

 

GOOD READS SUMMARY:

On one fateful night in 1992, the lives of two seventeen-year-olds are changed and intertwined forever. Quinn Riley, a boy from the wrong side of the tracks, is arrested after he innocently tries to break up a fight but ends up nearly killing someone. Jules Delaney, high school royalty, survives an attack by the elusive and terrifying May Day Killer—a serial predator who strikes every May 1st in midwestern small towns.

A year later, Jules is struggling with trauma and guilt, tormented by the Why was I spared? Quinn is newly released from juvenile detention and returns home to fresh the unsolved murder of his mother.

Over the next decade, their lives are revisited on a single day each year—May 1st. As secrets unravel and the paths of Quinn and Jules collide, two mysteries edge closer to the truth. All the while, the May Day Killer is still out there—and the clock is racing toward another May 1st.

TEE'S THOUGHTS:

Alex Finlay has been an auto-buy author for me ever since I reviewed Every Last Fear, and while I’ve enjoyed all of his novels, The Anniversary stands out as his strongest work to date.

This is the kind of book that quietly locks you in—pulling you along chapter by chapter until you reach the final page almost without realizing it.

The story follows Quinn and Jules, two high school students whose lives are forever altered by a tragedy that occurs on May 1. Spanning roughly a decade, the novel revisits that date year after year, showing how the event continues to shape their lives as they search for answers surrounding what really happened.

Told through alternating points of view, Finlay’s characterization of both Quinn and Jules is particularly effective. I found myself genuinely invested in where each year had taken them, both emotionally and personally, and how their perspectives continued to evolve.

What makes The Anniversary especially compelling is that it’s not solely a story about a serial killer. Woven throughout is a slow-burn romance between two people bound by shared trauma—one that feels organic, restrained, and deeply human. Rather than breaking them, their experience becomes the foundation for understanding and connection.

A true page-turner with emotional depth, The Anniversary is a novel I expect readers will be talking about long after it hits the shelves.

*** Thank You St Martins Press for the early copy ***