The first thing I did when I finished If Something Happens To Me was hop over to Amazon and download every book written by the author. Alex Finlay - where have you been all my life? This thriller was a rollercoaster ride that kept me guessing with every page. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, Finlay cleverly threw in a twist that gave me whiplash. I predict that If Something Happens To Me will be THE hit of the Summer.

Oh my goodness!!! This book is told through multiple point of views and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out how they connected. Then it was revealed and I was shocked! I’ve been struggling this month to get through books….but not this one!!!

This is Alex Finlay's best work yet.

He manages multiple characters, timelines, and settings with clarity and keeps the plot moving very quickly without leaving the reader behind. Short chapters help with that, but it's more than that. He is a master at understanding how all the pieces work and how to use them to build toward a satisfying conclusion without weighing down the story with unnecessary details.

The characters feel real, and you truly root for them (or against them!), and he keeps the stakes high. Finlay is a brilliant thriller writer, and I highly recommend this one!

Absolutely devoured this book! I’m a huge fan of Alex Finlay and as a Kansan, I loved that part was set in Kansas. The super short chapters and many twists had me struggling to put this down! If you’re a fan of Harlan Coben or Charlie Donlea you will love the works of Alex Finlay. Pick this one up when it comes out in May. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Ryan Richardson will never forget the night that his girlfriend, Ali was taken. He will never forget her loud screams. It happened five years ago.

Someone opened the car door, hit him hard in the head and pulled Ryan from the car. Ali disappeared without a trace of her along with the car.

Ryan had a good lawyer and was never charged. Later in his first basketball game at Kent State the opposing team shouted from the bleachers: Killer..
..Killer..Killer. The harassment was awful and not just from the rival teams but from podcasts, true crime shows and from internet trolls too.
So Ryan skipped playing basketball, and changed his name from Ryan Richardson to Ryan Smith and transferred to a new college to go to law school.

Then Ali's vehicle is found submerged in Suncatcher Lake five years later and two guys were found dead in the car. The big question is Who are the two dead men? Also a cryptic note was found and written on the envelope in Ali's handwriting is a note that says, If Something Happens To Me. Trying to figure out what this note says is another big mystery.

I am a big fan of this author. He cracked this one out of the ball park! I was loving this one straight from the beginning and to the very end. I could not put it down. So much was going on.I couldn't put this one down. This is a very intense read. When you open up the book make sure you don't have any plans because all you will want to do is read this book. Lock your doors and turn off your phone. This book was Amazing! Also it's full of twists and turns with characters that are so well developed.
I am jumping up and down with excitement on how much I am crazy in love this book. I can talk about this one all day long. This is an addicting fast paced read.
I want to thank Minotaur Books and Netgalley for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Ryans date with his girlfriend doesn't go as planned. When she goes missing. He becomes the number one suspect. This book kept me guessing until the last page.

I'm a fan of Finlay - this book was no exception. A quick and interesting story that has multiple points of view and intriguing characters. There's a mystery to be solved. The chapters moved at a good pace. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This is a high-energy thriller involving a missing girl presumed dead, a notorious crime boss, and a new sheriff aiming to solve the puzzle. The story unfolds through three main narrators: Ryan, once accused of his girlfriend's murder and now on a law school trip in Italy; Poppy, a young war vet returning home to work as the deputy sheriff in Leavenworth, Kansas; and Shane, the leader of a major crime syndicate in Philadelphia. Additional points of view are woven in. While the connection between the narrators may be a bit puzzling, seasoned thriller readers will likely piece it together early on.

"If Something Happens to Me" is a compelling and well-crafted thriller that delivers on all fronts. The pacing of the novel is on point and Finlay's masterful storytelling and clever plot twists make this novel a must-read for fans of the genre. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a suspenseful and thought-provoking read.

Wow! Alex Finlay did it again! This is the third book I’ve read of his and it didn’t disappoint. If Something Happens To Me is a fast paced, action packed thriller with very solid plot twists. There’s a lot of characters to keep track of in this one but it works. They are all very well written and mostly lovable characters. The plot twists kept me guessing and had me hooked to the point where I didn’t want to put this book down for a moment. At this point Alex Finlay is an autobuy for me and quickly becoming a favorite author.

5,⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for If Something Happens To Me
Author: Alex Finlay
Release date: May 2024

This book will have you questioning everything!! It could easily be one of my favorite books of the year.

After reading and loving Alex’s last book, I was incredibly excited when I got an email inviting me to read this advanced copy and review.

A girl goes missing, they think her boyfriend did it. Then they find out it was actually the first kill for a notorious serial killer, but there was never a body found, and the serial killer claimed all the other kills but denies hers. Is she alive and if so, where did she go. Her car is found in a river years later with two unknown men dead inside, who are they, and where is she? Elsewhere a very dangerous and power man loses his son to high school bullies. He seeks revenge in the school, bullies, and their families. Where will these two cases collide. Who is a love, who is missing, who is good, and who is bad.

This story is told from multiple point of views, There is a lot going on but it was never hard to keep everything straight. The story flowed really well and I couldn’t stop reading. I finished this one in a day.

You do not want to miss the latest heart stopping, keep you guessing, about to be the book of the summer from Alex Finlay!

#everybookisanewadventure #advancereadcopy #arc #mystery #thriller #mysterythriller #netgalley #girlswhoread #booklovers #bibliophile #kindle #paperwhite #kindlepaperwhite

Five years have passed and Ryan still remembers every detail of that night. The rain pouring down, The car door being ripped open, The blow he took to the head and finally the screams his girlfriend Ali made as she was being taken. Now five years later, Ryan is studying to be a lawyer with a new name and a jaded attitude. Never arrested but always suspected Ryan had to revamp his whole life after that dreadful night. He’s finally starting to move on with his life until he gets a phone call saying new evidence has been found. Will he finally be charged or will his innocence finally be proven once and for all?

I’m super glad I read the “official” synopsis of this book after I had finished the book because I went into this book blind and loved absolutely every second of it. So many twists, so many WTF moments and so much build up to a plot twist I didn’t predict. I requested this ARC based solely on the author and he did not disappoint. Multi POV that snakes its way together at the end to form a beautiful plot with everything tied together so nicely. I give this a 5⭐️! Highly recommend going in blind just because I feel like had I read the full synopsis first, it probably would’ve taken away at least a BIT of the suspense. (I kept mine vague intentionally) Definitely worth checking out when this releases in May!

This is a fun mystery thriller. Told from multiple pov the story is fun and engaging. Ya appropriate. Recommended to mystery readers for a fun read.

If something happens to me is a fast paced thriller surrounding a high school girl who goes missing & five years later, information become available that opens her case back up.

This book is hard for me to rate. I enjoyed the short chapters and the flow of the story. However, I thought there were too many POVs that made the story confusing. Also alot happened in this story without a lot of explanation, which made it seem less realistic. I thought this book was fine so splitting the stars down the middle with a 2.5 seems fair to me.

A Fun Ride

If Something Happens To Me is a fast-paced thriller about a missing girl presumed dead, a notorious crime boss, and a new sheriff in town trying to put the pieces together.

There are three primary narrators: Ryan, once accused of his girlfriend’s murder, and he is now on a law school trip in Italy. Poppy, a young war vet who returns home to Leavenworth, Kansas, to work as the deputy sheriff, and Shane, the head of a major crime syndicate in Philadelphia. A few additional POVs are mixed in.

How the narrators fit together is a bit of a puzzle, but seasoned thriller readers will most likely figure out how the pieces connect early on.

It is best to go in blind. The plot is a little over-the-top, and suspension of disbelief is required, but it is gripping and worth reading. I enjoyed this more than What Have We Done, but not as much as Every Last Fear and The Night Shift .

If Something Happens to Me has all the elements of a solid thriller: action, tension, suspense, and a bit of mystery. The pace is fast, fueled by twists and turns. Most of all, it is fun to read, and it saved me from falling into a reading rut.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press.

When I started this thriller I was enthralled. It opened with a great hook, it had excellent pacing, and I was drawn to all the different characters.

Unfortunately though, it lost momentum for me and the story had some plot holes that made it difficult for me to invest in the ending.

Thank you Netgalley & publisher for this e-arc of If Something Happens to Me: A Novel by Alex Finlay.

This is a thriller and suspense novel. 5*; one unique aspect is the mobster elements and many twists. (review below synopsis)

Synopsis: "For the past five years, Ryan Richardson has relived that terrible night. The car door ripping open. The crushing blow to the head. The hands yanking him from the vehicle. His girlfriend Ali’s piercing scream as she is taken.
With no trace of Ali or the car, a cloud of suspicion hangs over Ryan. But with no proof and a good lawyer, he’s never charged, though that doesn’t matter to the podcasters and internet trolls. Now, Ryan has changed his last name, and entered law school. He's put his past behind him.
Until, on a summer trip abroad to Italy with his law-school classmates, Ryan gets a call from his father: Ali's car has finally been found, submerged in a lake in his hometown. Inside are two dead men and a cryptic note with five words written on the envelope in Ali’s handwriting: If something happens to me…
Then, halfway around the world, the unthinkable happens: Ryan sees the man who has haunted his dreams since that night.
As Ryan races from the rolling hills of Tuscany, to a rural village in the UK, to the glittering streets of Paris in search of the truth, he has no idea that his salvation may lie with a young sheriff’s deputy in Kansas working her first case, and a mobster in Philadelphia who’s experienced tragedy of his own."

Things I liked:
1. Fast paced
2. The writing
3. The MCs

This story pulled me in quickly with likable MCs and many interconnected characters. I couldn't read fast enough to try and figure out who was guilty and who was not. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who likes a good twisty thriller. This one has mobs and legal elements as well. It is a great Psychological Crime Thriller.

Going in blind to this one was the best thing I could have done. A fast-paced thriller, unraveling mystery after mystery, Alex Finley does it again sucking you in from line one to the last. Always fun to buddy read with too.

• you can run, but you can’t hide •

👉🏼If something happens to me, please remember me as a kind & happy soul. 🤗

Excellent book that kept me on my toes! Murder, mobsters, and several povs made this a great read! I was surprised by every twist and turn.

This is the first Alex Finlay book I have read and it did not disappoint!

Pros: Totally thrilling. Short chapters that kept you on the edge of your seat.

Cons: multiple characters with a variety of identities were sometimes hard to follow.

This book tells the story of Shane O'Leary, "mob" type man and the havoc he wrecks across multiple states and multiple families. It tells the story of Michael Harper who works for Shane and goes to great lengths to protect his family. It tells the story of Ryan Richardson who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and who seeks answers to what happens that night. As the lives of all of those people crash together, secrets will emerge until you are left wondering how far one will go to protect those secrets.