I am excited to report that Alex Finlay may have produced his best work yet with his spine-chilling and absorbing new thriller, THE ANNIVERSARY. A deadly serial killer is at the center of this tale that also features two dynamic protagonists for whom you surely will root hard.

For teen schoolmates and burgeoning friends/romantic partners Jules Delaney and Quinn Riley, their part in the story begins on May 1, 1992. They experienced firsthand the cruelty and brutality that their small Midwestern town would suffer at the hands of the May Day Killer. As time goes by --- year by year, always on May 1st --- we learn that the history behind these attacks may be much more dated than what Jules and Quinn have noticed in their present day. They have a lifelong obsession with the case, which touches their lives personally in unexpected ways.

"Finlay has written a work of extremely unsettling terror that is unleashed on two terrific protagonists. We know they will be forever damaged by it, but we still can’t stop pulling for them right up to the end."

In the prologue, we see the still anonymous killer visiting a gravestone marked for Megan Tucker as he thinks to himself how you always remember your first kill. Finlay also sprinkles in some chilling quotes prior to the opening of the novel, including one from serial killer Ted Bundy, who compares the killing he does to feeling like God. This should give you some idea of the kind of monster that Jules and Quinn are up against here.

Along the way, we see their paths diverge. In an act of defending Jules' honor against a creepy guy who groped her, the punch that Quinn throws lands him in jail, essentially derailing his hopes for college. Jules also does not have much luck on the collegiate front and opts to pursue a career in the incredibly competitive field of international modeling. This allows her to span the globe, but she is not able to escape her own dark past and personal fears. At one point, she runs into Quinn in Italy. He is stationed there with the military, which he joined following his incarceration. Though they may be thousands of miles away, their connected thoughts always bring them back to their home.

Quinn is still trying to come to terms with the brutal murder of his mother at the hands of her boyfriend, who was convicted of the crime. As time goes on, and as Quinn returns home to begin a career as a private investigator, he becomes less convinced of the boyfriend's guilt. Instead, there may be some connection with the May Day Killer, who continues to haunt their town.

Jules is drawn back into the case by the FBI when they uncover an anonymous note she had once written and is being viewed as an important piece of evidence. Not only is her past being examined, when her younger sister goes missing, it seems that the May Day Killer is targeting her family yet again. The long-anticipated reunion of Jules and Quinn happens, and we finally get to see them act upon the feelings they have long held dormant for each other. This also puts them in more danger as the May Day Killer is aware of every move they make.

The finale of THE ANNIVERSARY is worth the price of admission and aptly concludes all the suspense that has been building up to that point. Finlay has written a work of extremely unsettling terror that is unleashed on two terrific protagonists. We know they will be forever damaged by it, but we still can’t stop pulling for them right up to the end.