The Anniversary by Alex Finlay

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

From the bestselling author of Parents Weekend, comes one of the most anticipated thrillers of the year.

Every Year He Comes For Them.

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.

The Anniversary is an utterly compelling story of the hunt for a serial killer. But it’s also a heartfelt—and heartrending—novel about fate, innocence lost, and two souls who find that sometimes being broken is the only way for the light to get in.

Two Souls Bound by May Day

The following ratings are out of 5:
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙📔
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍
Character development: 🤓😟🤯😬🥰
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration Type: Dual Narration

The Anniversary delivers a gripping blend of suspense, emotional depth, and character driven storytelling that kept me fully invested from the opening chapter. Alex Finlay structures this novel with remarkable precision, weaving together two lives shaped by trauma, resilience, and the long shadow of a killer who strikes on May 1st.

🚀 Plot and Character Impressions

The story begins in 1992 with Jules Delaney and Quinn Riley, two high school juniors who orbit each other from opposite social worlds. Their quiet connection in study hall hints at something tender and hopeful, even as the town buzzes with fear about the May Day Killer. Both teens are carrying far heavier burdens than their classmates realize.

Quinn shoulders the responsibility of caring for his disabled brother while living in poverty and trying to protect him from his mother’s violent boyfriend. Jules, outwardly confident and popular, hides her own vulnerabilities and a growing sense of unease. A single night changes both of their lives in devastating ways, setting them on separate paths marked by loss, survival, and the long term consequences of violence.

As the years pass, Jules and Quinn move through the world in parallel. She becomes a model in Milan while battling unspoken trauma. He joins the military, serves in Somalia, and returns home with physical and emotional scars. Their lives intersect again and again on May 1st, sometimes by chance and sometimes by fate, each encounter revealing how deeply they have been shaped by the past.

🌟 What Makes This Story Shine

• Jules feels incredibly authentic. Her guilt, fear, and determination to reclaim her voice create a powerful emotional arc. Her decision to finally reach out for help shows real courage.
• Quinn’s storyline is equally compelling. His search for answers about his mother, along with the discovery that she may have uncovered corporate wrongdoing, adds a strong investigative thread.
• The structure is brilliant. Watching Jules and Quinn move through their lives separately, yet always connected by the same date, gives the story a haunting rhythm.
• Their shared commitment to helping victims later in life adds a beautiful layer of meaning and growth.
• The mystery is satisfying. The clues are fair, the tension builds steadily, and the reveal lands at exactly the right moment.


💔 Minor Drawbacks

• The one day per year format is clever, but it occasionally limits how deeply we see certain developments. Some emotional beats and character growth are summarized rather than lived.
• I found myself wishing Jules and Quinn crossed paths more often in the middle of the book, especially during the years when they were in the same places without realizing it.

🎧 Audiobook Performance

The dual narration by Ari Fliakos and Brittany Pressley elevates the entire experience. Pressley captures Jules with a soft, youthful tone that feels true to her character. Fliakos brings Quinn to life with expressive, grounded delivery that reflects both his strength and vulnerability. Their performances add emotional clarity and make the shifting timelines easy to follow.

💭 Final Thoughts

The Anniversary is a compelling, emotionally rich thriller that balances character depth with a steadily unfolding mystery. Jules and Quinn are unforgettable, and their journeys are filled with heart, pain, and resilience. The audiobook narration is excellent, the pacing is strong, and the final payoff is immensely satisfying.

A full five stars from me.

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