If Something Happens to me by @alexfinlayauthor

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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.

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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.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC!

This was my first Alex Finlay book, but the author was definitely one that I had heard floating around in the thriller/mystery universe. The plot sounded like an intriguing mix of characters and from the initial chapter I was definitely hooked. I enjoy books that have multiple perspectives as I love to see how they each come together and intersect. I found that Finlay did a good job keeping me guessing at how these characters would all come together, especially in the first half of the book. Unfortunately I found that the plot started to drag in the second half of the book and started to have more and more outlandish qualities. I was ultimately disappointed in how the story wrapped up and the lengths that the author went to make this work. It was a decent thriller, but I don't think that I will pick up another Alex Finlay book. Might be a good pick for those dipping their toes into the world of thrillers because it had a lot of good elements and the writing pulled me in.

Alex Finlay returns to the scene with another twisty, fast paced novel that leaves even seasoned Finlay readers guessing what will come next.

A five year old mystery is finally hot again when a missing girl’s car is pulled from a lake - with two bodies inside and a note that will change the fate of all of those involved in this case forever. This case goes international as all of those involved - the new sheriff deputy, the seasoned FBI agent, the teenage boyfriend turned suspect - all race to find the truth and find the girl before more bodies are added to the count.

I flew through this story - from the beginning I knew this would be a one day read, but I managed to finish it in under six hours between the book and audio. The story is seamless - every person is interwoven in this plot in unsuspecting ways - even an experienced reader of thrillers and Alex Finlay’s work will not see every connection before it happens. It’s a true testament to an author’s craft when they are able to cohesively write a plot where you have to pick up on every single detail or you’re going to hit a wall of shock when the reveals happen. Oh, and they happen up until the very last page.

The audiobook is well done - with dual narrators that are easy to understand at a high playback speed. Pairing both the book and the audio was a great experience for me as a reader who sat down and didn’t get up until I was done.

I’m a huge fan of Finlay - so this was an easy 5 star for me. Be sure to grab a copy or download the audio!

4.5 stars / This review will be posted on goodreads.com today.


Do you ever read a novel and know right away what the subplot and the villains are? Not this one. I was nearly dumbfounded two thirds of the way through the book when the pieces started falling together. That is what makes a great crime/thriller/mystery novel.

Leavenworth Kansas is the site of a very famous prison, and the setting for the novel. Poppy McGee has just come home from an army discharge to start her new gig as a deputy sheriff. Her father is longtime friends with the Sheriff. This enabled Poppy to join the department without much effort.

Almost at the same time, a car is pulled out of the nearby lake. A car belonging to another of her father’s old friends, and the car that was last seen driven by Alison Lane. Alison Lane who has been missing for years. Alleged to have been killed by the notorious serial killer roaming the area at the time.

Only this car contains two unknown men.

Poppy is assigned to the case, as she is new to the department. It is up to Poppy to forge through the tip line and maybe make some connections of her own, and possibly solve the question of whatever happened to Alison?

So well written and such an easy book to whiz through. Honestly, I love books like this. They keep you riveted and glued and up way too late at night. The only reason it wasn’t finished in one night is that my eyes were crossing. Alex Finlay is a master of this genre. I could devour these books. Well done and well recommended!

Received an ARC on NetGalley and was the perfect MDW read before release day tomorrow

So many different storylines at first I had a hard time following them all and trying to figure out how they tied together. Love how it all connected though and was truly hooked the whole time. What an insanely corrupt group of people and example of being careful what you get involved with - once you’re in, there’s really only one way out. Highly recommend everyone order and get for release day, 5/28