Read if you like:
#️⃣ Multiple POV
🧮 The Accountant
📚 Short Chapters
🔀 Twists and Turns
🔫 Mobsters

This book is very fast paced in the way it was written with short chapters that end with cliffhangers and then as the chapter ends moving into another POV that you can’t figure out how they all come together and connect, until bam! It all connected!

I feel like the amount of different pov, timelines, locations, and what not created a hard to follow plot with keeping everything straight which reduced my enjoyment of this thriller, but it definitely played out like a movie as I read.

Thanks so much to the publisher for my ALC and ARC in exchange for my honest feedback!

Five years ago, Ryan and his girlfriend Ali were assaulted in his car and the last thing he remembers is her piercing scream as she is taken. She disappears without a trace, as well as her car, leaving Ryan as the prime suspect. The only thing he remembers is the man from that night. He’s never charged thanks to a good lawyer and no proof of his guilt. Years later, while Ryan is on a trip in Italy, he receives a call from his dad saying that Ali’s car has been found submerged in a lake in his hometown. Inside are two dead men and a note with five words written on the envelope in Ali’s handwriting: IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO ME… What really happened that terrible night and WHY? Ryan races through Italy, the UK and Paris to try to piece together the answers; he’s not alone though, a young sheriff’s deputy and a mobster are also out for answers.

BRAVO, Alex Finlay. 👏🏽 This was a pulse-pounding thriller with such an intricate plot and riveting characters whose paths intersect in the most explosive way! It’s twisty, with despicable characters and action packed scenes. This reminded me of a KARIN SLAUGHTER thriller, so well-plotted (if you didn’t know, she’s one of my FAVORITE writers.)

My only note is a small one - on audio, it was difficult in the beginning to keep track of all the characters (there are many) but it all comes together without confusion in the end. Overall, excellent execution, easily binge in a day!

Rating 4.5 stars

Thank you to Netgally for an ARC of If Something Happens To Me!

Unfortunately, this just wasn’t for me. It took me 3 separate times to try and start this book before I just finally sat down and forced myself to get through it.

It starts off very intriguing and with a bang - very reminiscent of a real case where a girl is taken from her boyfriends car and the boyfriend is assaulted and left with no idea what happened to his gf, but I found myself never fully invested in the story/characters or any of the plots. I wasn’t a huge fan of where this story went or what happened to Ryan’s gf, Allison.

The chapters are very short which makes this super readable and easy to get through!

Overall, wasn’t my fave, but if you like Alex Finlay and his writing style, give it a go!

CW: suicide

If Something Happens to Me is the latest thriller by Alex Finlay.

Told in multiple points of view, this story is follows several characters as they navigate the fall out of an apparent abduction from five years ago.

Poppy was a teenager five years ago when Ali Lane went missing. Now, she has returned home from military service and has taken a position as a deputy sheriff. In her first day, Ali’s car is pulled from the lake and two bodies are found inside. Suddenly, Poppy finds herself immersed into the investigation of what really happened to Ali Lane

Ryan was with Ali the night she disappeared, and, as her boyfriend, was the main suspect in the disappearance. He’s changed his last name and now is in law school. While he and his law review buddies are in Italy, he gets a note from a stranger saying “I know who you are” and asking to meet. Ryan is desperate to find out what this stranger knows and to possible clear his name once and for all.

This is an unputdownable thriller. Thanks to the publisher, the author, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This fast paced thriller surrounding a cold case of a mysterious disappearance, and the tangled web of those caught in the middle.

I’ve been an Alex Finlay fan for a while now and this one did not disappoint! I do believe that this one is best to dive into blind, so for that reason, I won’t be going into too much depth.

As a seasoned thriller reader, I did in fact piece this one together- but I still enjoyed it immensely!

Be sure to check this one out, it comes out on May 28th! Thank you to Minotaur books for the gifted arc.

What a great read! This was my first book by Alex Finlay, but I will definitely be back for more. It moved at a good pace, introduced plenty of interesting characters, addressed some serious issues and kept up the tension and suspense the whole way through. There's mystery, bullying, missing people, the mob, young love, the bond between military buddies, starting over, murder, what people will do for family/those they love and more! Sometimes, the characters need help from others, but who can be trusted? This was a fast, gripping and entertaining read. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for the digital ARC.

I think this is a decently solid thriller. I found some parts predictable and could guess where the story was going, and some parts were surprising. The synopsis makes it seem like most of the story is going to be told from Ryan's POV which I think I would have enjoyed but in this, we get quite a few POVs and timelines that go back and forth some of the POVs don't feel like they were really needed, and the timelines were a bit confusing up until I realized they were different then it all started to make sense.
Overall I enjoyed the story and the different twists and turns it took. It was suspenseful in parts and the tension built well in others.

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 4.25⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: thriller/mystery 📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
I enjoyed this one but I wasn’t super invested in the storyline

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Multiple timelines/ POVs/ locations
Fast paced thrillers
Great twists
Action packed reads
Suspenseful and entertaining
Coded messages
Mob family

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
Short chapters
I was hooked on from the start

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
There was a lot going on that I wasn’t super invested

Fast pace full of twists and turns. I picked it up to read a few pages and couldn’t put it down. So well written so tense kept me guessing till the last page.#netgalley #st.martins.

This book was a wild ride and there were more than a few instances where my jaw dropped and I was totally surprised! There was action, some romance, multiple narrators, some mob men, lots of secrets, a kidnapping and murder, and so so much more! I really couldn't get enough.

Finlay kept me guessing the whole time. I had no idea how anything fit together or where the story was going. I was on the edge of my seat and kept looking for excuses to take a ride or do a mundane task so I could turn the audiobook back on.

The novel worked incredibly well as an audiobook. The pacing was fantastic, I liked the use of multiple narrators and thought each narrator did a really good job. It was exciting, thrilling, and unputdownable.

This is a pretty quick book. The audio wasn't even eight hours which was impressive considering how much plot is packed in there! Finlay delivered an expert story with well-developed characters and a streamlined plot. It was nice that some of the fluff we get in other novels wasn't included here and it felt like every (very quick) chapter packed a lot of punch.

Definitely recommend this one! Thank you to MacMillan Audio, Minotaur, and NetGalley for the copy. Don't miss this book!

If Something Happens to Me is my first Alex Finlay novel. This novel is classified as a thriller. The basic story focuses on so many things I cannot list them without summarizing the novel, which I am loath to do. There are multiple narrators and multiple location. Initially it felt like that novel was 3 different stories and I kept waiting for the writer to connect them all, which he eventually does. I do not object to violence and murder. It is what I except of a thriller, but I expect the violence and murder to be essential to the story. In If Something Happens to Me, all that violence seemed empty of meaning. It was difficult to care about the characters, since it wasn't clear if they would be around in another chapter.

I have been thinking about this novel, waiting for some sort of critical thinking on my part to make the story significant. When I thought about If Something Happens to Me, this thriller seemed to include so many stretches of imagination that I could not reconcile the outcome of the novel. There is just too much in a short novel such as this. There are too many betrayals, too many locations, too many characters, too many dead characters, too much of everything.. In the end, If Something Happens to Me becomes predictable.

If Something Happens to Me is a quick read, with short chapters that are not challenging. It is interesting but not compelling. For readers who love mob films, crime families, and witness protection, they will enjoy this novel.

Thank you to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Five years ago, Ryan and Ali were at the park when a man knocked him out and took Ali and her car away. Now, her car is found and while she is not in it, two men are found dead inside with gun shot wounds.

Ryan has always wondered what happened to Ali, and after being confronted by a man he remembers being there at the time of the crime, he is convinced she is still alive. Back in KS, Poppy is new to the force and the more she digs into what happened, the more she realizes the answers are closer than she thinks.

I loved this book and how the stories wove together. The pacing of the book was perfect and I loved the characters. Poppy was an absolute favorite. I love female characters who are not dumb for no reason or who make questionable choices for the sake of the story. She felt authentic and I appreciate that in a book. I will continue to auto-read any book by this author!

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is a multi part story with Part 1 giving us three main characters to follow. Part Two is about the stories converging and Part 3 is where it all hits the fan. The twist of the stories in chapter 45 of the convergence is SO GOOD! I didn't read Alex Finlays prior thriller, so I don't have a lot to compare. This one though is full of anticipation, on your seat curiosity, a twisty plot story, and multiple point of views. From high school story lines, to adult storylines that all stem behind a missing high school girl. Don't forget the mob is some how involved. More than anything very few know the TRUE story & when it all comes together you won't be able to stop reading. I throughly enjoyed this story. I'm a big Dateline, true crime, twisty thriller gal and this one hit all the key points for me! The character development is strong, the plot is a little over reaching but well thought out & strong closing. Two things I look for in any novel.

This book includes:
⭐ Dual Story lines
⭐ Past & Present Storytelling
⭐ Overlapping Stories
⭐ Mob Bosses
⭐ A hidden crime
⭐ A Suicide that sets the whole thing in motion

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.

Thank you to NetGalley + Minotaur Books for the eARC! This is one of my favorites that I have gotten so far!

I really enjoyed this thriller. Very fast paced and gripping. Shorter chapters keep my attention better, so that is an added bonus for me. Definitely a page turner for me. I have never read a book from Alex Finlay before, but I will definitely be reading more!

So this interesting book reminds me of Bourne movies (watched pretty much all of them with hubby), except that this is smaller version of trekking Europe while looking for answers. This is about two popular high-school sweethearts, Ryan and Alli, who were at the Lovers’ Lane after high school graduation and prior to meeting their unfaithful fate—one was abducted while other one succumbed to a head blow. While Ryan was accused of killing his girlfriend, his life spiraled down and he gave up his love for being the university’s varsity basketball player for he was taunted as the “killer”. He was acquitted since they couldn’t find enough evidence to charge him. Instead he left Leavenworth KS to attend law school, change his name because he was adamant and curious about what happened the night of the incident. 5 years later, they found Alli’s car with two dead men inside instead of a young woman. Thus, this is the story that led to the cat and mouse chases, the twists and turns and some additional characters—the young sheriff Poppy and Shane, the head of a major crime syndicate from Philly—showed up during the plots. In the submerged car they also found Alli’s note, “If something happens to me” gave some cryptic codes that generated Ryan’s journey to find the truth and to clear himself from this nightmare. This twists and turns gave absolutely nothing and the endgame was justified. What a book! I couldn’t believe how many times I was guessing and it led me to a dead-end that needed to re-calibrate. Well-written despite having several POVs, easy to follow and very mysterious!

This book was so good on audio! The narrators were great and I found myself not wanting to stop listening! I actually started looking forward to my drives home in traffic! There were twists that I didn't see coming and I really enjoyed the ending of the book. Excited to read more from Alex Finlay.

I was waiting for this one, I love the fast paced, twisty ride that Alex Finlay takes readers on. They manage to make it seem like the story makes no sense, we have different time lines and characters in different places that just don't seem to connect until suddenly it all falls into place. I have been recommending this one non stop for the last few weeks

A great mystery. Loved the back and forth in timelines and all the backstory. You wont see the ending coming but its spectacular. Keeps you guessing right until the end.

If Something Happens to Me helped pull me out of a reading slump. It was fast paced and definitely twisty! There are a lot of characters but they and their storylines were easy to keep track of.
I listened to the audio while I followed along with the ebook. The different narrators made their characters come alive.

I really liked this mystery. Had a great twist that left my Jaw dropping. And just when I thought it was over it wasn't.