Alex Finlay Books in Order: Every Last Fear, Sarah Keller, and His Complete Bibliography

Alex Finlay is the pen name of Anthony Franze, a Washington, D.C. lawyer whose professional background is closely connected to the legal and political worlds that appear in his earlier novels. Under the Finlay name, he moved into fast-paced psychological thrillers built around family secrets, missing people, murder investigations, and multiple timelines.

His six Alex Finlay novels are standalones rather than a conventional numbered series. However, there is a recurring connection through FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller, who appears in Every Last Fear, The Night Shift, and Parents Weekend. Reading those books in publication order gives the clearest view of that character’s development.

Alex Finlay Books in Publication Order

The three Anthony Franze novels are sometimes omitted from Alex Finlay bibliographies because they were originally published under Franze’s name. However, publishers now identify Anthony Franze as Alex Finlay, and current editions of the earlier books can carry the Alex Finlay name.

The Anthony Franze Legal Thrillers

Before becoming widely known as Alex Finlay, Anthony Franze wrote three legal thrillers set in the world of Washington, D.C., lawyers, politics, and the Supreme Court.

1. The Last Justice (2012)

The Last Justice is Anthony Franze’s debut legal thriller and the earliest novel in this bibliography. The story revolves around the U.S. Supreme Court and a murder that pulls a lawyer into a dangerous investigation involving the country’s highest court.

The book established an important part of Franze’s background as a novelist: he was already working as a lawyer in Washington, D.C., with experience in appellate and Supreme Court practice. That professional knowledge became a defining feature of his early legal thrillers.

2. The Advocate’s Daughter (2016)

The Advocate’s Daughter centers on Sean Serrat, a Supreme Court lawyer whose daughter, Abby, is found murdered inside the Supreme Court Library. Serrat is also being considered for a seat on the Supreme Court, making the investigation deeply personal as well as politically explosive.

As he investigates his daughter’s final days, Serrat discovers secrets within his own family and among Washington’s most powerful figures. The novel draws heavily on the author’s knowledge of the legal world and the inner workings of Washington’s political and judicial circles.

3. The Outsider (2017)

The Outsider is the third of Franze’s original legal thrillers. Like the earlier books, it combines a murder investigation with the powerful institutions and political conflicts surrounding Washington’s legal establishment.

Although these three books were originally published as Anthony Franze novels, they are important when looking at the author’s complete bibliography. Current publisher and bookseller biographies explicitly identify Franze as the author behind both the legal thrillers and the later Alex Finlay books.

Alex Finlay Books in Order

The modern Alex Finlay bibliography begins with Every Last Fear, the thriller that introduced readers to the name that would become associated with his later work.

4. Every Last Fear (2021)

Every Last Fear follows Matt Pine after his parents and younger siblings are found dead while vacationing in Mexico. The deaths initially appear to be an accident, but Matt soon discovers that the tragedy may be connected to his older brother Danny, who is serving a life sentence for murder.

FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller becomes involved as the investigation begins connecting the family’s deaths with the earlier murder case. The novel moves between different perspectives and periods, gradually revealing information that changes what the reader thinks happened. It was Finlay’s breakout thriller and established the fast-paced, twist-driven style that runs through his subsequent books.

5. The Night Shift (2022)

The Night Shift begins on New Year’s Eve in 1999, when four teenage employees at a Blockbuster video store are attacked and only one survives. Fifteen years later, another attack with striking similarities takes place at an ice cream shop.

The surviving victims, investigators, and people connected to the original case become part of a mystery that asks whether the first killer has returned or whether someone is deliberately recreating the earlier crime. Sarah Keller returns as one of the central investigators, creating the first significant continuation of a character from Every Last Fear.

6. What Have We Done (2023)

What Have We Done shifts away from the family investigation of the first two books and focuses on three adults whose lives were shaped by the same troubled childhood.

Jenna is a stay-at-home mother, Donnie is a former rock star, and Nico works in reality television. Twenty-five years earlier, all three lived at Savior House, a group home for parentless teenagers. When someone begins trying to kill them, they are forced to reconnect and confront what happened at the institution that once held them together.

The novel stands apart from the Sarah Keller books and works completely independently.

7. If Something Happens to Me (2024)

If Something Happens to Me centers on Ryan Richardson, whose girlfriend disappeared five years earlier after an attack on her car. Ryan was never charged, but suspicion surrounding her disappearance followed him for years.

Then, while Ryan is in Italy, his father calls with astonishing news: his former girlfriend’s car has been found, along with two bodies and a message written in her handwriting. What follows takes Ryan across multiple countries as he attempts to understand what happened and why the mystery has suddenly resurfaced.

The novel combines a missing-person mystery with an international thriller, giving it a broader setting than Finlay’s earlier books.

8. Parents Weekend (2025)

Parents Weekend takes place at a college in Northern California, where five students disappear during the university’s Parents Weekend.

The disappearance immediately attracts national attention and leaves investigators trying to determine what happened to the students and whether their apparently close-knit group was hiding something. Sarah Keller returns to investigate, making this the third Finlay novel to feature the FBI agent.

For readers following Keller’s story specifically, this book should come after Every Last Fear and The Night Shift.

9. The Anniversary (2026)

The Anniversary is currently Alex Finlay’s newest novel. It was published on May 12, 2026, and became an instant national bestseller.

The story revolves around May 1 and two people whose lives become connected through violence and tragedy. The novel repeatedly returns to the same date across different years, allowing Finlay to reveal the history of the characters and the crimes piece by piece.

Unlike Parents Weekend, this is not another Sarah Keller story. It is a new standalone thriller built around a long-running mystery and the consequences of a violent event.

Sarah Keller Books in Order

Although Alex Finlay’s novels are officially standalones, Sarah Keller provides the closest thing to a recurring protagonist in his bibliography.

Read her appearances in this order:

1. Every Last Fear (2021)
2. The Night Shift (2022)
3. Parents Weekend (2025)

You do not need to read the other Finlay novels between these books to understand Keller’s appearances. What Have We Done, If Something Happens to Me, and The Anniversary tell separate stories.

This makes the Keller books a useful mini-reading order for readers who want recurring-character continuity without committing to a traditional long-running series.

Are Alex Finlay’s Books Connected?

Most of them are standalone novels. You can read What Have We Done, If Something Happens to Me, or The Anniversary without reading anything else by Finlay first.

The main recurring connection is Sarah Keller, who appears in Every Last Fear, The Night Shift, and Parents Weekend. Reading those three in order gives you additional character continuity, but the individual mysteries are designed to work on their own.

The three earlier Anthony Franze legal thrillers are also separate from the Sarah Keller stories. Their strongest connection is the author’s legal background and his interest in the Supreme Court and Washington’s power structure.

Should You Read Alex Finlay’s Books in Order?

You do not have to.

If your goal is to experience every novel chronologically, start with The Last Justice and continue through The Anniversary.

If you specifically want Alex Finlay’s psychological thrillers, start with Every Last Fear. That is the book that launched the Alex Finlay identity and established the style most readers associate with him today.

If you want Sarah Keller’s appearances, read:

1. Every Last Fear
2. The Night Shift
3. Parents Weekend

And if you prefer legal thrillers, start with The Last Justice, followed by The Advocate’s Daughter and The Outsider.

Alex Finlay and Anthony Franze: Why Are There Two Names?

This is the most confusing part of the bibliography.

Alex Finlay is a pseudonym used by Anthony Franze, a Washington, D.C. lawyer and novelist. Franze originally published his legal thrillers under his own name. When he moved into the psychological-thriller market, he adopted the Alex Finlay name.

Publisher material explicitly explains that Franze writes legal thrillers such as The Advocate’s Daughter, The Outsider, and The Last Justice under his own name, while writing the psychological thrillers as Alex Finlay.

That distinction matters because some current bibliographic databases now group all nine novels under Alex Finlay, while others list only the six books originally published under that name. Both lists can therefore look different while referring to the same author.

For Whimsy Read, the most useful approach is to include all nine in the complete bibliography while clearly identifying the original publishing name.

The Legal Background Behind His Earlier Thrillers

Franze’s legal career gives his first three novels a particularly strong foundation. He has worked in appellate and Supreme Court practice at a Washington, D.C. law firm and has also commented publicly on Supreme Court and legal issues for publications including The New Republic, Bloomberg, and the National Law Journal.

That background is particularly relevant to The Last Justice and The Advocate’s Daughter, both of which place the U.S. Supreme Court and its surrounding legal and political world at the center of their stories.

Under the Alex Finlay name, his fiction moved toward broader psychological suspense, but the interest in institutions, investigations, hidden motives, and competing versions of the truth remains visible.

A Simple Alex Finlay Reading Order

For most readers, this is the easiest way to approach his work:

If You Want Everything

1. The Last Justice
2. The Advocate’s Daughter
3. The Outsider
4. Every Last Fear
5. The Night Shift
6. What Have We Done
7. If Something Happens to Me
8. Parents Weekend
9. The Anniversary

If You Only Want the Alex Finlay Thrillers

1. Every Last Fear
2. The Night Shift
3. What Have We Done
4. If Something Happens to Me
5. Parents Weekend
6. The Anniversary

If You Want Sarah Keller’s Story

1. Every Last Fear
2. The Night Shift
3. Parents Weekend

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Alex Finlay books are there?

There are six novels originally published under the Alex Finlay name through 2026. If you include the three earlier legal thrillers originally published as Anthony Franze, the author’s complete novel bibliography contains nine books.

What is the first Alex Finlay book?

Every Last Fear, published in 2021, is the first novel published under the Alex Finlay name.

However, the author’s first novel overall was The Last Justice, originally published in 2012 under his real name, Anthony Franze.

Is Anthony Franze the same person as Alex Finlay?

Yes. Alex Finlay is the pseudonym of Anthony Franze. Franze originally wrote legal thrillers under his own name before publishing his psychological thrillers as Alex Finlay.

Which Alex Finlay books feature Sarah Keller?

Sarah Keller appears in Every Last Fear, The Night Shift, and Parents Weekend. These three can be read as a loose character thread within Finlay’s otherwise standalone bibliography.

Do I need to read Every Last Fear before The Night Shift?

No. The Night Shift can be read independently. However, reading Every Last Fear first gives you the background for Sarah Keller and makes her return more meaningful.

What is Alex Finlay’s latest book?

The Anniversary, published May 12, 2026, is his latest novel as of October 2026. His official website identifies it as his 2026 instant national bestseller.

Are The Last Justice, The Advocate’s Daughter, and The Outsider Alex Finlay books?

They are part of his complete bibliography, but they were originally published under Anthony Franze, not the Alex Finlay name. Later editions and publisher catalogs can list them under Alex Finlay because Franze and Finlay are the same author.

Final Verdict

For readers discovering Alex Finlay through his recent psychological thrillers, start with Every Last Fear. It introduces the style that defines his work under the Finlay name and leads naturally into The Night Shift.

If you want the author’s complete publishing history, begin earlier with Anthony Franze’s The Last Justice and continue through the three legal thrillers before starting Every Last Fear. That gives you a fuller picture of how a Washington, D.C. lawyer writing legal thrillers eventually became the bestselling thriller author known as Alex Finlay.

And if recurring characters matter most to you, follow Sarah Keller through Every Last Fear, The Night Shift, and Parents Weekend. Those three books provide the clearest continuing thread in an otherwise standalone-focused bibliography.

Written by

Emon Anam

Hi, I’m Emon. I’m the voice and heart behind Whimsy Read. After nine years in the world of banking, I followed my passion for storytelling into the world of SEO and content strategy. Now, I blend that analytical eye with a deep love for literature to bring you book reviews that are thoughtful, honest, and always focused on the stories that stay with you. When I’m not reading or writing, you’ll find me enjoying joyful chaos with my wife and three kids, getting lost in a new series, or revisiting my old loves: theater, music, and gaming. At the end of the day, I believe great books are meant to be shared, and I’m so glad you’re here to share them with me.