The fourth book in the Finlay Donovan series is here and though I’m honestly not sure how many there are going to be, I’ve got to say that if loose ends don’t start getting tied up, this reader might start losing her patience. Though the whole being-mistaken-for-a-contract-killer thing was funny for a while, now things have just gotten out of control and I’m really interested to see how writer Elle Cosimano is going to get her characters out of trouble this time.

Finlay Donovan and her nanny/partner-in-crime Vero are in sore need of a girls’ weekend away. They plan a trip to Atlantic City, but odds are―seeing as it’s actually a cover story to negotiate a deal with a dangerous loan shark, save Vero’s childhood crush Javi, and hunt down a stolen car―it won’t be all fun and games. When Finlay’s ex-husband Steven and her mother insist on tagging along too, Finlay and Vero suddenly have a few too many meddlesome passengers along for the ride.

Within hours of arriving in their seedy casino hotel, it becomes clear their rescue mission is going to be a bust. Javi’s kidnapper, Marco, refuses to negotiate, demanding payment in full in exchange for Javi’s life. But that’s not all―he insists on knowing the whereabouts of his missing nephew, Ike, who mysteriously disappeared. Unable to confess what really happened to Ike, Finlay and Vero are forced to come up with a new plan: sleuth out the location of Javi and the Aston Martin, then steal them both back.

But when they sneak into the loan shark’s suite to search for clues, they find more than they bargained for―Marco’s already dead. They don’t have a clue who murdered him, only that they themselves have a very convincing motive. Then four members of the police department unexpectedly show up in town, also looking for Ike―and after Finlay’s night with hot cop Nick at the police academy, he’s a little too eager to keep her close to his side.

If Finlay can juggle a jealous ex-husband, two precocious kids, her mother’s marital issues, a decomposing loan shark, and find Vero’s missing boyfriend, she might get out of Atlantic City in one piece. But will she fold under the pressure and come clean about the things she’s done, or be forced to double down?

Though it was hinted at the end that this is not the end of the Finlay Donovan story (despite everything mostly feeling like a happily ever after), it will be the end of the Finlay Donovan story for me. Picking up exactly where the last book left off, I just couldn’t get behind what happened in this fourth installment. Not only were there *way* too many people in Atlantic City (Finlay, her mom, Vero, the kids, Steven, Nick, Charlie, Sam, Georgia, an FBI agent and even Cam and Joey), but the shenanigans Finlay and her partner get up to in this book are even more ridiculous than before—and they never seem to get any sleep, after having barely slept in the whole last book. Though the last few chapters were entertaining and finally wrapped up plotlines that had been dragging for so long (which was very satisfying), I honestly do not care what else these people have to do. Let’s just all move on with our lives.

2.5 STARS

“Don’t you get it? There’s nothing left of me to save! You ruined me the first time you kissed me, Veronica! You completely destroyed me for anyone but you, and I’ve been living in a fucking purgatory since you left!” —Elle Cosimano, Finlay Donovan Rolls The Dice

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.