This is my first book by Alex Finlay and I loved it! The story starts off immediately with a prologue that hooks you right away. What I love in a thriller/mystery is multiple timelines which we got and was excellently executed by Alex. The way he brought so many characters and plot lines together was seamless and had me wanting to keep reading to the very end. Ryan, Poppy, and Shane were all great characters to follow in their POV’s and while they weren’t the most three dimensional characters, they provided enough for me to root for and be interested in. This book is a bingeable thriller and I want to read more by Alex Finlay.

This was honestly a 4.5 star read for me. This face-paced thriller followed the life/death/drama of Allison, and everything that happened to make her write a cryptic “if anything happens to me” note. This book held my attention the entire time, and I had a hard time putting it down. At first, I was thrown off by the time shifts between chapters, but once that was detailed, it made so much sense. This is definitely a great easy read - highly recommended!

THIS WAS SUCH A FUN READ!

The different POVs, timelines, and locations were everything! Not to mention how everything comes together in the end, is just perfecto! I love Finlay’s writing style - this is my 3rd book by him and he knows how to write fast paced thrillers with twists! You’re going to want to read this one!

I'm really conflicted on this one. This is my first Alex Finlay book, so I didn't have any expectations going in. The man knows how to write a twist! The truth is, I didn't love this book primarily for two reasons:

- There were too many characters. I seriously thought about diagramming everyone so I could keep them straight. Instead, I just ended up accepting that I didn't know who I was reading about half the time. It got even worse towards the last half of the book when aliases and true identities were starting to be revealed.
- The three POVs messed me up. Not because they weren't good stories, but because not knowing how or if they were related, combined with the excess of characters mentioned above, meant I was often just completely lost. I'd forget what the book was about when I set it down. Picking it back up, I'd try to remember the plot and it was challenging.
- The twists were very twisty, but a little overwhelming in the last quarter of the book as all of the characters and all of the POVs started converging, and everything was twisting rapid-fire.

All of that said, I can tell that the author is able to write a good thriller, I think this one just wasn't the one for me. I'm going to pick up some of his other work and see if that's more my speed.

This was my first Alex Finlay read and I really enjoyed it. The book was fast paced with short chapters- which is always a win in my eyes. There are three POV which end up coming together toward the end in a shocker.
After Ryan’s girlfriend, Allison, goes missing one night while they’re together, his whole life is changed. Some 15+ years later, he finds out news that maybe she’s still alive?
There are parts that seem rushed and overlooked. It might be because the character isn’t relevant but still felt a little off.
Either way, really enjoyed this read because of how quick it was and it really pulled you in.
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finlay hits the shelves May 28, 2024.

5 big stars for If Something Happens to Me. This is the first Alex Finley book I've read, and I will definitely read more! This book was fantastic. Ryan and his girlfriend are in high school and parked on Lover's Lane, where they grab a blanket to go lie under a tree. A storm comes up and they race back to the car. Not long after they're back in the car, the doors whip open, Ryan is hit on the head and Ali is taken. The book skips between high school and 5 years later. 5 years later, Ryan is in law school on a trip to Italy when he gets a phone call from his dad that they finally located Ali's car in a lake. However, in the car are 2 dead men plus an encrypted note that says If something happens to me from Ali. That night has been weighing so heavy on Ryan's mind. He was never charged for the crime, but small town gossip made him feel like the perpetrator. Soon after the call from his father, Ryan sees the man who attacked him. This sets off the story.

There are a lot of characters in this book and it's good if you meet them yourself. The author did a brilliant job of tying them all together with the story. Sometimes so many characters can get confusing, but not in this book. Also, we have Poppy, who is a new Deputy Sheriff at the police station. She's convinced of Ryan's innocence and is set out to do everything to prove it.

There is a lot of suspense and intrigue. The author does a wonderful job describing the different settings and creates a story I felt I was part of. I highly recommend this book. Definitely one of the best books I've read this year. Thank you to Netgalley, Ar. Martin's Press and Minotaur books for the ARC. I greatly appreciate it.

This was a really fun book! Fast paced thriller that kept me hooked quickly and captivated throughout.

I thought the format was pretty cool, but bc of all the characters, one thing I noted is that it was difficult to really go into any one character in great detail. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though. I thought it was interesting to see the story from so many characters across time.

I’m also not sure if I missed something but the ending felt rushed, or at least the epilogue part. The person who killed the new gang leader, I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to know him but his name carried no weight, and I had no idea how he fit into the story.

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martins Press, and Alex Findlay for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review. This was a very enjoyable and solidly written thriller. I saw good reviews on this author so I decided to give it a go and I was not disappointed. The story has three main POV that at first seem to be unrelated but as the story goes on the stories and characters start to come together and intertwine. I thought the plot was well thought out and the twists were well done. The short chapters made this book really binge able and the pace was excellent. I would recommend.

4/5 Stars

What a page turner!! Finlay is an incredible story teller and takes you on a journey that is full of suspense and twists and turns, and never once, even remotely predictable.

When Alex Finlay comes out with a new book, I can’t wait to get started reading. This one started out great but somehow lost me in the middle to the mob and there were so many characters to keep track of, I felt lost during the last 1/2 the book. Probably just me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review. I’m giving it 3 stars.

I read this book in a 12 hour window. I had not been finding a lot of inspiration to read lately and this book renewed my faith in tight editing, clear plot lines and the art of the twist.

Like his other books preceding this, If Something Happens to Me follows Alex Findlay’s fast paced format of multiple character viewpoints in both past and present. Sometimes this hurts the experience, as I found myself wishing for a deeper dive into what was going on, but overall I enjoyed this very much.

It largely follows the terrible night that Allison Lane was kidnapped while on a night out with boyfriend Ryan Richardson. A cloud of suspicion always hung over Ryan, and he was forced to change his name to escape public eye.

Now a law student on a trip to Italy, he’s floored when he’s approached by the man he recognizes as being one of the kidnappers. But that’s not the worst of it: he’s already gotten a call saying that Alison’s car has been found submerged in a lake. She’s not in it, but what officers find are two dead men and a note in Alison’s handwriting with the book’s title as its clue. And finding the truth about that fateful night proves more dangerous than anything.

This was a heck of a ride, but the over the top action will require you to throw aside all reason and logic—in particular a high speed car escape put into action by a teenage girl. But if you’re looking for a quick read full of action and twists, this is a great place to start. I didn’t care about how unbelievable it was—it’s just a fun story.

Thanks to the publisher for making this book available to read and review through NetGalley.

bone chilling story of an abduction and reliving the terror over and over again. absolutely excellent plot and writing!!!!

Thanks to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for the ARC. While I did not love the plot, it was a fast paced read that kept me reading to the end.

Wow. So many twists and turns. Finlay delivers an action packed thriller with If Something Happens to Me. The chapters are short, which I like. I think it helps to keep the story moving along and not get bogged down. But the story itself...I wanted to keep reading to see how everything tied together and then when it hit, it really hit. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting an easy to read thriller that is still a sharp story. 5 stars

Wow! What a book. Takes you on a ride that kept me engaged the whole time. Read it in one day!

Synopsis:
The book follows a new Kansas cop, a law student on a trip to Italy, a Philly mob, and people in hiding. It weaves together, across multiple counties, a crime, with wreckage in its wake, quite a tale. High School graduate, Alison Lane goes missing, and we think the story starts here but really Alison's story starts much earlier; her mistake as a 14 year old followers her well into her 20s. Her high school boyfriend, accused of murdering her, never knew what happened to her until working with the Kansas cop, while he's abroad in Italy, realizes she is still alive. Alison's dad is an Iraq vet, an accountant, and also a man on the run desperately trying to protect his daughter from the mob.

Positives:
- fun and easy read even though the story could get confusing.
- Would absolutely recommend this book!

Negatives:
- It was just a lot of different interweaving story lines that it was a little exhausting to keep up. Some of the jumping from place to place seemed like over kill.

A suspenseful binge-worthy read! Ryan is having a romantic tryst with this high school girlfriend after graduation when she is abruptly pulled from the car and he is knocked unconscious. After that night, Ryan's life is derailed as he is suspected in her disappearance, even though DNA evidence points to a local serial killer. Meanwhile, a mob boss is struggling with an adolescent son who is not adapting to his new private school. The two storylines intersect and provide plenty of moments to keep readers on the edge of their seat.

ARC kindly provided by St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books in return for an honest review.

This book was super twisty and kept me guessing! Alex Finlay is an auto-read author for me and this one did not disappoint!

Holy. What. A. Ride.

A quick 4 hour binge reading session because I went into this ARC thinking I’d give it 10% a day and ended up not being able to put it down.

It was the perfect length, read fast-paced and contained an insane plot with gripping twists. I almost felt like I was playing a game of Clue putting the pieces together. There were so many characters that you’d think weren’t relevant, until they were.

The book contains multiple POVs narrated in third person:
1. Ryan—A current law student in Italy that changed his name and fled after being suspected of his high school girlfriend Alison’s murder.
2. Poppy—The deputy sheriff that recently moved back to town after being discharged from the army. Alison’s cold case is the first on her list of assignments and she’s hoping to prove herself.
3. Shane—A mobster seeking revenge for the loss of his teenage son and all of those involved in his death who will stop at nothing until the job is done.
I would detail some of the side characters but it’s more fun to lay the pieces together while you’re reading. They’re all important pieces to a thrilling puzzle and it’s anybody’s guess who is affiliated with who. Although the book has multiple POVS, it was pretty easy to figure out whose it was.

During Poppy’s first shift as deputy sheriff, the last car Alison Lane was seen in before her abduction, was discovered. In it were two deceased men, but no trace of Alison. Sealed in Alison’s waterproof makeup bag was a letter, <i>If Something Happens To Me</> and Poppy must work with people of Alison’s past to decode this letter and piece together Alison’s disappearance. But who can she trust?

This was my first Alex Finlay book and now I must go obtain the others. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me an ARC copy to read and review.

Unputdownable and his best one yet! This is my fourth book by Mr. Finlay and he has never disappointed. He delivers an intricately plotted thriller with head spinning twists and characters you can root for. I will read anything this author writes! Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on May 28, 2024