Alex Finlay has kept me guessing along the twisty journey of Ali's disappearance right in front of Ryan's eyes. He spends years gettin ridiculed, called a Kil-er in the chants at a basketball game, and still has managed to create a life. Suddenly Ali's car is found, but she is not inside, two other men are. This leads to a note titled "if Something Happens to Me" with a code to decipher, that only one person can figure out. This story takes you on in unimaginable journey as the local police, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Ryan, and others start to reopen the cold case that was Ali's disappearance.
I was not disappointed with this story, as I was unable to put it down right from the start. Huge thank you to Alex Finlay, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for this copy. I would recommend this 100 times over if you're interested in a fast paced thriller.

Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for my arc copy of this book.

I was excited to test this book out, as I had heard some good things. We are following in three different POV's and locations.

The first one is in Italy, we are following a gentleman years after his girlfriend was abducted from their small town. He is on his way to becoming a lawyer, but he has changed his name since the media went hard on him thinking that he was involved in his girlfriend's abduction.

We are also following a young police officer as she come back to her small hometown. Not long after being there, a car is discovered at the bottom of a lake. It is believed to be the car of a young girl who went missing years ago.

We are also following a different POV from a man with a lot of power.

It takes quite some time for you to figure out how all of these POV's come together. I will say that it was not the most predicable, but it also could be guessed if you have read enough of these books. I was initially pretty invested, and then my interest tapered off at about the 50% mark. I do think that it is a forgettable book, but I had enough fun with it while I was reading it.

I’m a huge Alex Finlay fan, and this book may be my favorite of his yet!

When his girlfriend Alison was pulled from his car and went missing in high school, Ryan took most of the blame from his community. He was forced to change his name and start over, but five years later that night still haunts him. While on a college trip in Italy, he hears that new evidence has come up in the case, and then he sees the man from that night in his past.

Buckle up for a wild ride on this one! The book begins with two storylines that seem entirely separate, and I was just waiting for the reveal that would tie the two together. In an interesting twist, Finlay reveals most of the big secrets semi-early in the story, leaving to an action packed back half as the characters race to put the final piece together. It truly felt like an action move as we went from city to city around the world, chasing down bad guys and answers.

I found this one to be compelling, full of intrigue, and completely binge-worthy, and I finished it the same day I started. I just couldn’t put it down!

Thank you to NetGalley and SMP (Minotaur) for the arc. All opinions are my own.

If Something Happens To Me by Alex Finlay
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Publication Date: May 28, 2024

A missing girl. A bullied boy who takes his own life. A mobster dad out for revenge. A deputy sheriff on her first job out of the military. A heartbroken boy who can’t move on or forgive himself. What do these vast characters have in common? Only one way to find out- READ THIS BOOK. I couldn’t put it down. The mystery unravels and connects the stories page by page. I highly recommend this one. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for this advanced reader copy.

I really loved The Night Shift so I was really excited to read this one. Even though, this one has a completely different vibe, Finlay delivers again. One of my favorite things about his books is his ability to weave in just a little bit of the spooky/scary with the thriller/mystery. This one has some great twists and will have you questioning which side you are on.

This was a really good book! It is the 3 one I have read by this author and I have enjoyed all three of them. The first part of the book was intense and fast paced. There are a lot of characters (a wide range which was good. I liked that even the horrible characters had a redeeming quality about them. It really made me think about what I would do.) and setting shifts. The chapters are short and it got distracting to me to keep shifting around. I loved when things started to click together and the relationships were unveiled. The second half of the book was still great for me, though the big "reveal" had already happened. I enjoyed reading to find out how it would all be resolved. I thought the ending was good and it worked with what I was expecting. A great read and I can't wait to read more from this author.

Great suspense, a girl missing for years, corrupt law enforcement, and deadly thugs…what more could you want? This was a wild adventure that I really enjoyed!

This twisty thriller grabbed me from the first page!! Ryan Richardson and Alison Lane are parked in a quiet area close to Suncatcher lake for some time together.

The next thing that Ryan remembers is the passenger door being ripped open, hearing Ali’s piercing scream and being struck on the head as he is pulled from the car!! Later he will come to remember only one thing about the attacker — you will find out what that is.

Ryan is never found guilty of Ali’s disappearance, but he is nevertheless hounded by podcasters and the press. He changes his name and enters law school to start a new life.

Poppy McGee is a young deputy sheriff in Ryan’s hometown, recently discharged from the army. Before she has a lot of time on the job, a submerged vehicle is pulled from Suncatcher lake. There are two men inside and a cryptic note!

It is 5 years since Ali’s abduction and Ryan is on a school trip to Italy. He gets the news about the vehicle that was pulled from the lake and a cryptic note “If Something Happens To Me” written in Ali’s handwriting!

There is yet another POV in this novel, that is Anthony O’Leary who has started in a new academy. His father is Shane and is the leader of a mob family.

OMG, there is so much going on in this book. The short chapters kept my interest and I thought this was a wild and entertaining ride.

Poppy was my favorite character as she tries to untangle the mystery that the recovered vehicle presents.

I think this is the return of Mr. Finlay to his earlier very twisty and character driven plots and I loved it!

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss. It was my pleasure to read and review this title.

Thank for allowing me to read this book.

I enjoyed this read. It was exciting and fun, although predictable. Even with the predictability, I still wanted to finish the book and find out how everyone ended. Definite will suggest to others.

Get ready to lose some sleep! Alex Finlay’s latest, If Something Happens to Me, is so addictive you will gladly sacrifice a good night’s rest to get to the end.

He had to change his name, switch colleges, and declare a new major. For five years, Ryan Richardson’s life has been defined by one night. A rainy evening when he and his girlfriend Ali (Alison) went to Lover’s Lane and did not see the monster approaching their vehicle through the fogged-up windows. They only knew he was there after. After he had yanked open the door, ripped Ryan from the car, and driven Ali’s BMW into the night, her screams piercing the dark.

When Ali disappeared, so did Ryan’s reputation. The police were skeptical (to say the least) of his description of a man with no pinkies materializing in a remote area of a backwater town, perpetrating a kidnapping (or murder) and leaving no trace of himself, Alison, or the car. To close the case, the cops and community needed Ryan to have done it. They would all sleep better, they assured him, knowing the killer in their midst had been locked away. Unfortunately for them, lack of evidence and a good defense attorney meant Ryan was never charged, much less incarcerated. That hasn’t stopped people from convicting him in their hearts, though. Nor has it kept the media from heavily implying he got away with it. The former basketball star had to cease to be Ryan Richardson and become nerdy Ryan Smith to have a shot at a future.

Then, the past comes calling. While on a trip to Italy with his law school classmates, Ryan’s phone rings. It’s his dad, letting him know that a YouTuber called Cold Case Company has found Ali's car submerged in a lake not far from Lover’s Lane. There are two dead men inside, but no sign of his former girlfriend.

Poppy McGee’s life hasn’t exactly gone as planned. Thanks to a handsy superior officer and the untimely and unexpected death of her mother, Poppy is back home in Leavenworth, Kansas. She knows she has a job as a sheriff’s deputy not because of her military experience but because her dad had served with the Sheriff in Iraq. She’s grateful for the position; her family has never been poor, but they sure aren’t rich either. With her dad’s cancer keeping him from earning a living, it’s Poppy’s paycheck that will keep them afloat.

She expected quiet days driving quiet streets, keeping drivers in line. Instead, her first day is full of tedious excitement. Excitement because Alison Lane’s vehicle has been found, breaking open a case five years cold, tedium because putting up blockades to keep the lookie-loos from compromising the scene isn’t exactly a thrill-a-minute. Her next day is even less exciting - she gets the fun, fun task of weeding through the tips that come in and coordinating with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Little does she know those two things will be what finally sheds light on what happened during a stormy night when a couple of teens expecting a fun makeout session found themselves involved in something far more dangerous.

Weaving through the story of Alison, Ryan, and Poppy is the tale of Shane O’Leary, his son Anthony, his accountant Michael, and that man’s daughter Taylor. From Philadephia to Italy, from Paris to Kansas, the threads of these lives will tangle together into one final explosive showdown between past and present.

If Something Happens to Me is a multi-PoV tale. Readers hear from Ryan, Poppy, Shane, and a host of others, each with a riveting piece of the story to tell. The author does a fabulous job of turning the narratives of these distinct individuals into a mesmerizing whole. I read this novel in a single sitting and was so grateful I could find the time to do that since I definitely didn’t want to put it down.

Figuring out how the disparate dramas fit together is compulsive, but what really pulled me in was the people. My heart just ached for Ryan, who had his life shattered by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is a genuinely thoughtful, sincere person carrying guilt for the girl he couldn’t protect and the money his family had to spend keeping him out of prison. Ryan’s keen intelligence and courage shine through when he is sucked back into the mystery of Ali’s disappearance.

Shane O’Leary is a deeply flawed human being whose only redeeming characteristic is his love for his fragile son, Anthony. I found my heart aching for them at the start, too. Shane, like many powerful people, finds himself powerless in the face of Anthony’s social awkwardness and outsider status at school. As that situation unfolds, you can’t help but feel for them as Anthony falls prey to some cruel people, and Shane finds himself unable to protect him. I didn’t at all agree with what happensas a result, but I certainly understood the emotions driving it.

Poppy is a sweet but stock character. She plays the role of a law enforcement officer who has just plugged into the system, still has ideals, and is willing to think outside the box and push back against the powers that be when needed. She works well here because the story needs her Holy Fool-style persona, but that doesn’t change the fact that she is ultimately only a tool for the author to move the narrative forward.

My one complaint with If Something Happens to Me is its sheer unbelievability. At numerous times during the tale, I found myself close to the giggles as our heroes repeatedly battle and defeat trained killers. That’s okay because this isn’t meant to be more than a fun summer action/adventure read, but the craziness pulling me from the story a few times did cause a wee bit of a downgrade. I would still recommend this novel very strongly, however. If a few hours of entertainment is what you are looking for, you can’t do better than this.

Do not start this book at night unless you have nothing to do the next day because you will be up all night reading. I think this was easily my favorite Alice Finlay book. The character development was on point as well as the unpredictable twists.

A snappily paced and absorbing story that weaves around, and eventually nicely connects, the volatile world of several point-of-view characters.

First, in Leavenworth Kansas, we meet Ryan, a six-foot-four high-school basketball star, who experiences a terrible crime and the crushing loss of his teen sweetheart, Alison.

Five years later, in the same town, Poppy McGee is introduced as the newly appointed Deputy Sheriff, fresh out of a stint with the Military Police. Poppy is an emerging force, still learning the confidence and conviction that will come to center her adult life. When a new development regarding Alison’s case suddenly surfaces, Poppy is assigned to investigate. Her involvement, and where it leads, will crack open doors, more questions, and a whole lot of danger, for, (quite literally), each and every one of the books main protagonists.

This is a story that twists and turns, crossing countries and back-filling gaps across time-periods, as Poppy, and Ryan, a current-world law student, stumble, claw and fight their way through a series of discoveries that turn the case (and their young lives) upside down. With several key reveals along the way, and an ending that satisfies, I enjoyed this book - a very visual read, thick with tension, crises and action, that this reader could see successfully streaming as a network limited series.

A great big thank you to the author, #Netgalley, and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.

This book kept me interested throughout and right to the end. The title was definitely intriguing, the characters well-rounded, and the pace never lagged.

If Something Happens to Me was such an amazing book! It had gripped me from the very beginning and had so many twists and turns right up until the very end. We got to have multiple POVs from the characters involved. I enjoyed this aspect and felt like it was well done. Definitely a jaw dropping thriller that I had trouble putting down!

Thank you Netgalley and Minotaur books for this ARC.

Super propulsive! I finished this one in a day and loved all of it! The multiple POV was great as were the different stories/timelines. They all came together super well.

This was a 3.5 read that focuses on bullying and a case of a murdered girl in Kansas. The story has three different lines going with a surprisingly clever intersection. The chapters are short and somewhat choppy which detracted from the suspense buildup. Some strong characters with small parts that I'd like to see again in a series.

Copy provided by the publisher and Netgalley

This is a fast paced thriller told through multiple POVs and locations. I found the twists in this to be very predictable. I had the big twist figured out very early on which made the rest drag on. I do usually love short, fast paced chapters in thrillers, but the characters in this seemed to lack any depth and jumbled together at times. For some reason Poppy I always understood, her POV was very clear. Overall, I was underwhelmed by this but I seem to be an outlier- this one just was not for me!

my very first alex finlay book, thank you Macmillian Audio for the advanced copy!

man oh man, if something happens to me was a WILD ride from start to finish. the short chapters made for a fast paced reading experience! the tension had me on the edge of my seat between the unfortunate bullying and mob torture to abductions and murders throughout a five year timespan. I loved how this took place in Italy and France but also in a small town in Kansas.

having multiple POV’s added a unique perspective to the book. I LOVED being in the mind of poppy mcgee. there were a BUNCH of characters but the cliffhanger chapter ends & smooth transitions, merging the varying storylines, made for an easy reading experience.

it wasn’t necessarily a mystery because the story was straightforward and was easy to see where it was going. this was more of an action packed thriller, and it almost felt like I was watching a movie. I guessed some of the twists and sketchy situations that came to light but it didn’t take too much away from the story.

3.5 stars! #MacAudio2024

This book was spine-chilling and kept me captivated until the very end. If you're looking for an edge-of-your-seat thriller, this is a great option for your next book!

I was lucky to receive an early copy of this book from NetGalley, and I was so happy to read it! Another book by the author that hooked me immediately! It reads so fast because you need to know what will happen, and you will be constantly trying to figure out what is going on! I don’t want to say too much and give anything away, but if you are a fan of the author you will definitely want to pick this one up! If you haven’t read Alex Finlay’s work before then go ahead and start with this one. You won’t be disappointed!