Another Alex Finlay book that I just couldn’t put down. This one kept me guessing and the main character(s) aren’t necessarily obvious. Having had the privilege to travel to a few of the settings of this novel added to the fun for me, as well.

My thanks to NetGalley, Alex Finlay and the publisher for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Taking place over the course of five years Ryan has been reliving the night that his girl friend was forcefully taken from a car not to be seen again. I really enjoyed the beginning of this book. The characters were likable, driven, and interesting. I liked where the plot was going and I was excited to keep turning the pages. However, about half way through I started to get very confused. There were too many moving parts and too many characters to keep straight. The end of the book got very gory and I actually had to put it down at one point because it was making me uncomfortable. It reminds me a lot of the book The Last Thing he Told me and First Lie Wins.

Five years ago, Ryan's whole world changed when his girlfriend is kidnapped. Now, her car is found in the water by his old home sending the old case back into the spotlight.

As with any Alex Finlay book, this thriller has some great twists and turns. Here's what I liked:

Multiple stories. I love thrillers that have multiple things going on and this one definitely had that in spades. You travel around the world with various characters that all have some kind of role within the main mystery.

The characters. I really enjoyed the characters, especially Deputy Sheriff Poppy. She was complex and really pulled me into her life as she worked to solve the case.

The twists. There was a pretty big one about halfway through (I was proud to say I guessed it but that it was still satisfying to see it play out). Beyond just that, there were also many different twists that really helped keep me reading!

All in all, a good multi-dimensional thriller!

Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy!

What a rollercoaster of a book. Intense and fast paced, I read it in 2 days. If Something Happens to Me has some crazy twists which made it hard to put down. Well done.

This was a fantastic multiple POV novel! I honestly had no clue how the multiple POVs were related to each other… until suddenly they converged and BAM! My mind was blown! I didn’t see what was coming and that is rare for me.

The cast is large, interesting, diverse, and well-developed. The pace is fast. The plot is creative, suspenseful, and engaging. The atmosphere is tense! The twists are shocking and unexpected. Honestly, there is so much to love about this book!

Quite simply, it was unputdownable for me and if you enjoy thrillers in general, or Finlay’s other novels in particular, I think it will be unputdownable for you also!

Thank you @NetGalley and @StMartinsPress for an eARC of this book, which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

This is a fast and fun read about a missing girl and the boyfriend who never stopped wondering what happened to her on their last night together. Years later, her car is discovered in a lake with two strangers inside. Now everyone is trying to figure out what happened and who was involved.

This was a fantastic read! The ups and downs of this are incredible. Truly a masterpiece and a great author

Another great read done by Finlay! The book was a phenomenal read! I loved the intersecting storylines and how multidimensional the whole story was. I loved the shorter chapters that kept anticipation high with all the compelling twists, and kept delivering little punches of suspense leading into the next one! I was hooked all the way through.
When you read the premise you get this idea that the book centers all around Ryan Richardson and what happened to him and Ali that treacherous night she went missing and Ryan can't even remember all of what happened. With Ali's car bringing her disappearance to the limelight, a trigger of events are put into action to give the whole backstory it's debut lead into the rest of what is going on. This book is so much more than meets the eye or what you think it is from reading the premise.
This book is an instant thrill ride of heart pounding events that lead you down a dark road of how one thing can have such a ripple effect and change so many lives in the process! Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the gifted copy to review with my own thoughts.

If Something Happens to Me is another great book by Alex Finlay! This book is fast paced and keeps you hooked from the beginning. The way each characters point of view and stories comes together at the end was perfect and I didn't see it coming. I always enjoy an Alex Finlay book and know it's going to keep me intrigued and I won't put it down! Highly recommend as your next read!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for the ARC.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 stars 🙌🏻
I was so excited to get this advanced reader copy from Netgalley- releasing on May 28th 2024.

This book was like a puzzle that you have piece together.. how do each of the POV’s tie in together?
Who took Ali and why?? Why didn’t they take Ryan?!

Trying to put the puzzle together mentally is the funnest part!
I didn’t want to put this book down and I’m so excited to get a copy for my shelves!

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.

I enjoy the way Alex Finlay tells a story, and this one was no exception. There is masterful characterization here, such that no matter the circumstances or backstory, the characters seem relatable and fully believable. I had no idea where this one was going for the longest time (there's a BIG reveal about the parallel storylines that blew my mind when it dropped), but once I began to put the pieces together and revelations began to fall into place, I was even more engaged and curious to see how things would wrap up.

This was a very entertaining read, full of secrets and lies and revenge and trauma. It is tragedy in every sense of the word, and it was presented and paced beautifully.

If Something Happens to Me was a WILD ride. Right from the prologue I knew this was going to be a good one.

It’s been 5 years since Alison Taylor goes missing right before her boyfriend Ryan’s eyes. At this point in time Ryan has changed his name, and is living a new life after being accused of hurting Alison. Then there’s Poppy, who has just been discharged from the military, and she’s adjusting to her new life on the police force. First day on the job, Alison’s car from the night of the abduction is found in the local waters, but Alison is nowhere to be found. What proceeds to happen is a whirlwind of events.

There are so many characters in this story, but they all connect to each other in outrageous ways. This is one of those stories that leave you with a cliff hanger at the end of each chapter. There were so many parts to this story, but they intertwined seamlessly and really left me feeling shocked. The ending did wrap up pretty quickly in a way that I hoped would have needed up differently, but overall this was an excellent book. I’m looking forward to everyone enjoying it once it comes out on May 28th!

If Something Happens to Me was a solid four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thank you Net Galley, St Martins Press and Alex Finlay for the ARC. These are my honest opinions.

Mobsters and hiding out and small town cops. What’s not to like?! I really enjoyed reading this book. I did not see some of the twists coming and that’s exactly what I like in a book! If I have a few places where my jaw, literally, falls open, I’m hooked! And that happened at least two times while reading this book.

I liked the wrap up of each character at the end (except, I was rooting for one who left me disappointed- and that’s all I’ll say about that)

If you like thrillers, you’ll like this one!

Wow! This is the first Alex Finlay book that I have read and can confidently say that it won’t be the last for me. I loved this book! I was invested in Ryan and Ali’s story from the start, and knew nothing would be as it seemed and it would be a wild ride. The characters were so well written, and I loved how their stories all connected together. There were so many “aha!”moments and shocking twists and turns. This is one of those books that will leave you saying “ok just one more quick chapter” and before you know it it’s 1 am and you just can’t put it down. Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for the ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and Alex Finlay for this e-ARC.

This was a fast paced mystery/thriller. We find out about halfway through the book what happened to the missing Alison Lane. I do wish they waited a bit longer to divulge that information but it didn't really take away from my enjoyment of the story. There was still a lot of suspense and questions that needed to be answered.

Overall, a very good read. I'd recommend it to others.

I loved reading how Ali & Ryan’s story unfolded! The hints of romance are a beautiful addition, but the electrifying fast-paced thrill and mystery is what keeps you on the edge of your seat and turning the page from beginning to end.

If Something Happens To Me is fast-paced and has super quick chapters, which I LOVE! Chapters that take only a few minutes to read make a book more interesting to me. Throw in that there were three POVs, it made the book hard to put down because you wanted to know what happened to the next person!

This is my top thriller of 2024 & I will be recommending it to everyone!
Thank you NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and Alex Finlay for this ARC of If Something Happens To Me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my ARC of If Something Happens to Me!

This book was not at all what I was expecting! Alex Finlay delivers a fast paced, edge of your seat thriller with this book!

Personally I had a hard time connecting to a lot of the characters since there were so many in such a short novel, however the twists and pacing kept me intrigued! Solid 3.5 stars!!

BOOK REPORT
Received a complimentary copy of If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finlay from St. Martin's Press|Minotaur Books/NetGalley, for which I am appreciative, in exchange for a fair and honest review. Scroll past the BOOK REPORT section for a cut-and-paste of the DESCRIPTION of it from them if you want to read my thoughts on the book in the context of that summary.

This was a fun read, and I would absolutely love it if it were the first in a Poppy McGee series.

That said, don’t go in expecting anything too outside of the ordinary vis a vis crime thrillers. It was eminently predictable in some respects (no spoilers here!), but that’s OK, because it was well done.

And some parts of it were even believable.

Could definitely see it as a streaming series. Also in the definitely category–read more by this author.

DESCRIPTION
From “one of the genre’s most exciting voices” (E! News) comes one of the year’s most-anticipated thrillers.

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.

In classic Alex Finlay form, If Something Happens to Me is told by several distinct, compelling characters whose paths intersect, detonating into a story of twist after pulse-pounding twist. The novel cements Finlay as one of the leading thriller writers today.

This was such a good thriller. It was fast paced, had short chapters, and pulled you in immediately. I did not want to put this book down, it was so addicting. The story is told in multiple POVs and it takes a little bit to see how they all connect but when it was revealed, my mind was blown. I had no clue this was going to have so many twists. You really never know what is going to happen next and when everything comes together 🤯 I found it easy to follow, even among the multiple POVs, it really kept me engaged and on the edge of my seat. This was a really fun, enthralling, action packed thriller that will have you second guessing everything. If you're looking for a thriller to leave your jaw on the ground and twists coming from every which way, I highly recommend this one!

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

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6059225791

Alex Finlay has become a favorite thriller writer and auto-read for me. When the opportunity came to review If Something Happens To Me, I could hardly wait to start the book. Finlay writes well and tells compelling tales, and this novel is no exception.

However, a caveat. This story seems to be written for the big screen, not for a read-a-holic like me to relax with on the couch with a cup of coffee. The novel tells multiple stories, in as many points of view, for the first fifty percent of the book. The book description tells us who the central protagonist might be, but we need to read the first half of the story to discover how the other numerous characters, settings, and points of view are connected. Once established, the overarching plot becomes clearer, but the chapters among the other characters continue. In the end, all the plot threads come together to form a satisfactory conclusion.

Although Finlay is an excellent writer and storyteller, the construction of this book can be challenging to follow. For this reason, this reviewer rated the book four stars instead of five. However, Alex Finlay continues to be an author to watch on this reviewer's favorites list, and I look forward to reading his next book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for providing an advance copy of this book to read and review. This review will post to Bayside Book Reviews at https://baysidebookreviews.com and its Instagram page on release day. Follow us! *NetGalley Top Reviewer*