What would you do if the person you were dating vanished right in front of you, never to be seen or heard from again?

This is the fourth book I’ve read by Alex Finlay, and his storytelling ability always pulls me in from the very beginning. I found it incredibly challenging to put this book down when life continued to get in the way of my reading, but I still managed to finish it in less than 48 hours because I was too hooked to stay away for too long.

It’s been five years since Ryan’s girlfriend, Ali, was kidnapped right in front of him. She has never been spotted since that night, and Ryan was even accused of killing her by the town he grew up in.

There is so much loss embedded in this story—from lifestyles to love to actual lives. Reinvention is at its heart, but it also makes it incredibly challenging to determine who you can trust—and if who they say they are is actually who they truly are.

With multiple perspectives, I think I’d have a tough time following this one in audio, but I thoroughly enjoyed it as a physical read! I will say that I guessed the twist early on, but I was still captivated by Alex’s storytelling abilities til the very end.

Read if you like:
- Multiple perspectives that intersect
- Missing persons
- Foreign settings
- Multiple twists
- Suspenseful thriller

If Something Happens to Me is a fast-paced book that kept me interested from the first page. I finished it in two sittings, because I didn't want to put it down.

Finlay weaves together three stories: one of Ryan, who was knocked unconscious 5 years earlier when his girlfriend, Alison, was pulled from her car, never to be seen again. The second, of Poppy, a brand new police officer (literally her first day!) when a car is found in a lake with two bodies in it; and the third, of O'Leary, the head of a crime organization who is trying to seek his own revenge.

The book kept me on the edge of my seat and wanting to know how these three stories were linked. Once I knew how they were linked, I needed to know what was going to happen next.

I really enjoyed this one!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Debts must be paid sooner or later.

Five years ago, Ryan’s life derailed when the unthinkable struck He was out with his girlfriend Ali in her dad’s BMW in Leavenworth, Kansas’ equivalent of Lover’s Lane. A sudden storm interrupted their amorous intentions, but even when they were back inside the car their feeling of safety proved misplaced. Ryan remembers being struck hard, and waking up later lying on the ground outside and alone. There was no sign of Ali or the car ever again, and Ryan quickly became a suspect in her disappearance. Charges were never brought….there was no body nor evidence of a crime, and his parents hired an excellent attorney….but in the court of public opinion he was guilty. He went from a popular star basketball player with a great future ahead of him to a pariah. He changed colleges and his name, and now hides his past from those he meets. He is studying to be a lawyer at Georgetown Law School and finds himself in Italy with a cohort of his fellow law students including Nora, the first person to make him smile in years. When he receives an anonymous note from someone demanding a meeting who says that he knows who Ryan is, he panics…..and so begins a nightmarish game of hide and seek. Meanwhile, there’s the story of Philadelphia crime boss Shane O’Leary, whose teenage son Anthony is not adjusting to life at his new school. Shane pulled strings to get Anthony admitted….,the usual students are from families whose wealth and status in life are socially far above that of those whose money comes from gambling and other shady pursuits….but will come to regret that decision when the extent of the bullying that has been going on erupts in the most horrible of way. Back in Leavenworth, Deputy Sheriff Poppy McGee starts her new job back in her hometown after a forced honorable discharge from the military (she took action against an aggressively handsy superior, and the powers that be just wanted the situation to go away), and her first day is a corker. A civilian outfit that has made a name cracking cold cases has discovered, in the wake of a recent teenage girl’s disappearance, a car at the bottom of Suncatcher Lake….but its not the teenager’s Honda they thought they’d find; its the BMW that belonged to Ali’s dad. In it the divers finds not one but two bodies….both male. Who are they? What happened to Ali that night? Who has found Ryan? It looks like the past is coming back with a vengeance, and it will claim many lives before the full truth will be known.
Briskly paced and well plotted, this is a thriller with enough subterfuge, hidden secrets, and vengeance that has waited long enough to ensnare a reader’s attention and keep it from the first through the last chapter. With narrative shifting between the POV of different characters, there are a lot of moving parts to keep in view. Ryan blames himself for not saving Ali….and is branded as being a killer by those who knew him well. Shane is a violent yet occasionally sympathetic criminal, a Tony Soprano of sorts, who will move heaven and earth to bring solace to his grieving wife and retribution to those who pushed his son to the brink. Poppy is dealing with the loss of the military career she had worked hard to achieve, her mother lost suddenly and her father battling cancer; her brother may have some connection to Ali and what happened to her, and while she wants to trust her new boss she keeps hearing that all is not as it should be in her department. The lives of these three and the people who surround them are slowly converging, but working out the how, the why, and even the where is a satisfying conundrum. Readers of authors like Thomas Perry, Lisa Scottoline and Eniko Jean will find If Something Happens to Me a fascinating addition to their TBR pile. Many thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for allowing me early access to this gripping thriller.

Just when I thought Finlay couldn’t write another phenomenal thriller… here he comes with If Something Happens to Me and blew my expectations out of the water!
The premise immediately drew me in and I couldn’t predict where it would lead.
It was so well written and the characters were fantastic. I was interested from start to finish and read it quickly. The story was full of tons of unexpected twists and turns, which I loved.
The story just has so many twists and turns that the author takes you on a wonderfully written journey that you are sad when you are finished with the book. You will be surprised though along the way and that is what will keep you going to the next page. Excellent book along with wonderful characters.
If you need something fast-paced that will grab your attention from the start then this is the book for you.
“If Something Happens to Me” is a masterfully written thriller!

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

If Something Happens to me by @alexfinlayauthor

Out Now! Swipe ➡️ for @netgalley description

I was captivated by The Night Shift by Alex Finlay; so, I knew this would be another hit by the acclaimed thriller author.

Right off the bat I got a feeling of Deja vu that had me hooked. A couple attacked on a rainy night on lovers lane, the girl gets taken and the boy is left knocked out. That scene felt like a true crime I’ve read but couldn’t pin point where or when I’d read it!

A big thank you to @macmillan.audio for sending me the audiobook version! #macaudio2024 The narrator did a great job and I flew through this book in no time!

#audiobook #netgalley #bookreview #advancedreaderscopy #macmillanaudio

If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finlay
Narrators: Helen Laser; John Pirhalla; Paul Dateh
Rating: 5 stars
Pub date: 5/28

Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books for my advanced copy and Macmillan Audio for my complimentary audiobook.

This fast-paced thriller hooked me right from the start! The story centers around Ryan Richardson, a law student trying to escape his tragic past. Five years ago, his girlfriend Ali disappeared under mysterious circumstances, and Ryan has lived under a cloud of suspicion ever since. The discovery of Ali's car, submerged in a lake with two dead bodies and a cryptic note, reopens the investigation and sends Ryan on a quest for the truth.
The multiple POV’s weave together Ryan's search through Europe with the investigation by a young sheriff’s deputy in Kansas, and the movements of a mobster in Philadelphia. The characters are all well developed and the plot is so fast paced that I couldn’t put this one down. The vivid descriptions, from the rolling hills of Tuscany to the streets of Philadelphia, made this feel like an immersive experience.
While the story has its share of gruesome scenes and emotional moments, they heighten the stakes and add some depth. The twists and turns kept me guessing until the very end, and the resolution was more than satisfying. I went back and forth between my ecopy and the audiobook, and the short chapters and multiple narrators helped bring this story to life!
Finlay is one of my favorite thriller writers, and If Something Happens to Me cements his status as a leader in the genre. This book is a must-read for fans of suspenseful, character-driven mysteries.

Happy almost publishing day to this ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read! I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump with physical books for the last few weeks but this book grabbed my attention and I couldn’t put it down. I started it yesterday at 4 pm and couldn’t sleep until I knew what happened. I can’t remember the last time I read a book in one sitting.

Ryan Richardson is never able to forget the night his high school girlfriend, Ali, is taken while they were together. He was knocked unconscious and despite all his efforts he’s never really able to remember what happened. The case is investigated but she seems to have disappeared without a trace. Ryan has to move to be able to really move on with his life and pursues law school. He no longer thinks about Ali everyday until he gets a call her car has been found by a social media group that searches for cars in bodies of water.

Now he’s sees a man that matches the monster he thought was a dream from the night Ali was taken and he feels like he has to find him to figure out what happened to her.

This book has so many twists and turns, it kept me glued to my kindle until the end. I also loved the mention of the social media team because I happen to follow the account it was referring to on TikTok and added to the story for me.

Definitely recommend adding this one to your summer thriller list!

Thank you to @netgalley , the publisher and @stmartinspress for the advanced copy in return for my honest review.

#bookstagram #bookish #bookworm #bookwormsofinstagram #igreads #booksofinstagram #crimewithaclaw #thepageflippers #bookishbabesengagement #bookishgroup #bookishbunch #booksfriendswithbenefits #netgalley #netgalleyreview #fivestarread #alexfindlay #ifsomethinghappenstome

Ryan Richardson had it all the girl and the sport he loved basketball until Alison "Ali" Lane goes missing. Ryan is blamed for Ali going missing five years later. Ryan changed his name and colleges to keep his sanity. When a podcast crew unearths new evidence about Ali. Ryan's world is turned upside down again. But what happened to Alison Lane? Find out If Something Happens to Me.

I would like to thank St. Martins Press/Minotaur Books for this ARC via Netgalley.

This was a page turner! I stayed up late to finish it. Loved the book’s unpredictable format and various locales. Trying to figure it all out was half the fun and the slow build of all the connections between the families was so worth the wait. I’m hoping Poppy and Ryan make appearances in another book as these are characters to follow. Want a book with murder, mystery, and thrills- grab a copy! Thanks to #Netgalley and St. Matin’s Publishing for the ARC.

Alex Finlay is an auto-buy author for me. I’ve read all of his books and loved each one. This newest book is no exception.

5 years ago Ryan’s girlfriend Ali went missing without a trace. Suspicions lie with Ryan who was knocked unconscious while Ali was taken. Fast forward Ali’s car has been found and Ryan tries to find out what really happened that night.
Read this if you like:
💥Suspense
💥Shenanigans
💥Secrets

You definitely need to suspend belief for this one, but it was worth it! This story had short chapters told from multiple POVs. The twists were unexpected. This will be a great beach read!

Thank you to NetGalley & St Martins Press for my ARC.

Apparently, I listened to 96% of this book and then just forgot to finish it until now.

Like Finlay's previous novel Every Last Fear, the reader is taken on an international chase to get to the truth of this thriller. At the beginning there are entirely separate POVs with seemingly no overlap, but the stories start to converge in Part Two.

The short chapters hook the reader and keep the pages turning. This book is very fast-paced!

I enjoyed the story and how the reveal came together, but found Part Three to be extremely abrupt. While the loose ends are all tied up, I felt like I wanted a bit more from where the characters all ended up.

If Something Happens to Me immediately grabbed me and I was pulled into the story. This is told from three different perspectives and it takes some time to figure out how they're all connected, two are obvious from the start but one doesn't fit until further into the book.

I really enjoyed this and the book was gripping with a timeline that moves through time and shifts perspective frequently. There were puzzles and clues that only certain characters knew how to solve, which I found added to the mystery. I'd highly recommend this if you like thrillers and want something with a lot of twists and a few different narrators.


Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Ryan is a man running from his old life after being accused of being involved in the disappearance of his girlfriend, Ali in high-school. He was there the night she was taken and it took him years to move past it. Now in law school, he takes a trip to Montipulciano, Italy and starts to uncover the truth of her disappearance after Ali's car was discovered along with two dead bodies and a cryptic message "If something happens to me..."

This one is filled with multiple character POVs that all end up tying together, lots of revenge, and twists throughout. It was my first book by Alex Finlay and I thought it was really well paced, I enjoyed the settings in Italy and England, and it was great writing! I look forward to reading more by him.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur, and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

If Something Happens to Me
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Alex Finlay

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

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.

My Thoughts: Finlay is becoming one of my go-to thriller authors and is on auto-buy. I requested this on NetGalley without even reading the synopsis. Ryan Richardson keeps playing that terrible night in his head, when he was hit on the head and his girlfriend, Ali was taken and never seen again. Ryan is in Italy with some classmates on a trip abroad for law school. Ryan gets a call from his father advising that the police have found Ali’s car submersed in a local lake with two unknown men shot. There is a very cryptic note that was located in the car that no one has been able to decode. While studying abroad, Ryan sees the man from his nightmares. As Ryan embarks on a goose chase to question this man, from Italy to the UK, a young sheriff from Kansas reaches out to him on her first case with a mobster, who himself has suffered a tragedy. Are these cases related? Or is Ryan just on a wild goose chase for nothing?

The story opens up with a huge bang 💥 in the prologue and sets the tone for the story. Ryan was harassed for being the killer when his girlfriend, Ali, disappeared five years ago. He had to relocate to a different city and changed his name to leave the craziness that followed that nightmarish night. Poppy was discharged from the military and has taken a job as deputy sheriff. Poppy is refreshing and I hope that we see her in future books. Lastly, we have Shane O’Leary, big time mobster in Philadelphia. O’Leary son is a student at the new academy and the challenges he is facing will impact this storyline tremendously. When these characters intersect into the perfect puzzle, it will have readers on an amazing journey to decode the mystery.

The storyline is stretched across three parts. The story has multiple narrators with some past interweaved in. Narrators include Ryan, Poppy (sheriff in Kansas), and O’Leary (mobster) with some other characters with a chapter or two. Even though there are a surplus of characters, once you get them straightened out, it is easy to keep up. The characters were well developed, created with depth, mystery, secretive, and intriguing. The author’s writing style was complex, compelling, twisty, and suspenseful. The characters were built up with the plot being developed in multilayered twists. Then the ending was something I did not see coming and it was absolutely fantastic.

Finlay is a masterful storyteller that can spin twists from the twists. This epic novel will be at the top lists for 2024. This psychological thriller was compelling, tense, dark, captivating, gripping, and kept me on my toes until I finished it. This is out today, go pick up now!!

If Something Happens to Me
Alex Finlay
Publication Date: May 28, 2024
5/5 stars

This was my first book by this author and I really enjoyed it! The story starts with a couple who go to a secluded spot only to have the woman go missing. Everyone thinks her boyfriend is guilty. The book is told by multiple POVs with cliffhangers at the end of many chapters making you want to continue reading to find out what happens. The multiple POVs are a little hard to keep track of in the beginning, but everything comes together as you keep reading. If you are looking for a thriller, this would be a great choice!

Thank you Alex Finlay, St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A good, quick thriller, with plenty of twists and perspectives. I really enjoyed the school girl perspective, the intenational travel and the scary monster idea that kids dream up in the unknown.

I really enjoyed this great summer thriller from Alex Finlay. Following multiple characters, the case of a missing teen, Alison, is slowly uncovered. I loved how eventually all the characters' POVs came together to bring the big story together. There were a couple of OMG moments for me that I really enjoyed. The twists were good, and I felt that everything closed well with the ending. This is the perfect thriller for summer! Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur for the advanced e-copy!

Alex Finlay’s 𝘐𝘧 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘦 is an enjoyable, page-turning thriller. In the book, a true crime influencer locates a car from a missing persons case, but the wrong people are inside of it. We follow the lead investigator and the wrongly accused (not a spoiler) suspect as they try to figure out what actually happened.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗱:
- Action. This book has action in spades. From the first chapter, we are off to the races. This is a very plot-driven book and, thankfully, that plot is engaging.
- Short chapters. I know this seems weird but sometimes you want to have a hard stopping point to put down your book so you can do something else. Also, sometimes you just don’t like a certain part of the story and short chapters get you out of there quickly.
- Point of view. The story covers several points of view, but mainly three big ones. You spend the novel trying to piece them together.
- The first twist. This book has two twists. Without giving them away, the first one is pretty well done and unexpected.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲:
- The second twist. At the point in the novel the second “twist” occurs, you will realize that you were explicitly informed about it earlier in the novel.
- Setting. This is a fast-paced thriller, so usually setting and, for a large part, character have to go. You expect somewhat flat characters. The only reason setting falls flat for me is that in the author’s notes, he states he picked Leavenworth, Kansas, so he could use a specific setting in the book. That setting covered maybe two sentences and the scene could have occurred anywhere. The book takes places in both the US and Europe but it’s a very “high-level” Europe.
- Dialogue. Listen. This book knows what it is. It’s a fun (if a thriller can be fun) read, not Faulkner. However, the dialogue - especially at the beginning of the book when it’s used as exposition - is very rough.

𝗩𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁:
It's a good casual beach/pool read. I recommend if you are looking for that.

If Something Happens to Me, Alex Finlay’s latest novel, is an action-packed immersive thriller! Finlay is a masterful storyteller, and has crafted an intense, intricately plotted suspense story.
It begins in Leavenworth, Kansas. The reader is launched into the mystery with a dramatic opening scene, where high school students Ryan and Ali are ripped from their car by two mysterious men, each missing a pinky finger. Ryan is knocked out and Ali is taken. Ryan is considered a suspect but not arrested. Five years later, Ryan is in law school and Ali is still missing, case unsolved.
From here, the story unfolds quickly as various groups in different plot threads are exposed and cleverly woven together, supplying a deep look into the back stories of the protagonists and how their actions intersect. There are plenty of bad guys, and a few violent, graphic scenes. The good guys shine, especially newly-minted local sheriff Poppy McGee, as she delves into Ali’s disappearance with fresh energy and new evidence.
While a great mystery/thriller is exciting to read, what elevates this story is the author’s touches of humanity—the everyday family dramas involving parents and children, the characters’ introspection, and the complex motivations that inform the reader and propel the plot forward in a pleasingly dramatic fashion.
The tone of the prose is well-suited for the subject, and is enjoyably atmospheric, since Finlay writes of locales he knows and in which he has spent time—a nice plus for the reader.
I highly recommend this excellent thriller to readers who enjoy sophisticated plotting involving several threads deftly brought together to become a satisfying and very enjoyably exciting story!

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.

If I really wanted to nitpick I’m sure I can find something and say that is not how it works but I enjoyed Alison’s story enough that I wasn’t looking for inaccuracies. My interest was caught from the first chapter to the end, I never got bored. There was one twist that I did not see coming but most everything else I had a pretty good idea where Finlay was leading but it was great getting to read exactly how it happened.