This might be one of the best thrillers of the year for me! It was fast paced throughout, had lots of characters and settings, and short chapters to propel you through the story. It's a little predictable but the author gives you obvious clues so it's not necessarily supposed to be a massive surprise who the bad guys are. If you're in a reading slump, I highly recommend this book to get you out of it.

The cold case of a high school girl who disappeared years ago comes back to haunt a small town in Kansas. Newly appointed Deputy Poppy McGee is appointed to the case, and it is up to her to track down the boyfriend cleared of the disappearance. Little does she know how involved she will become with the a mob boss, man with missing pinky fingers, and the FBI.

Unsettling, Riveting, and Addictive, this is one thriller you won't want to miss.

If Something Happens to Me has all the elements of a solid thriller: action, tension, suspense, and a bit of mystery. The pace is fast, fueled by twists and turns. Most of all, it is fun to read, and it saved me from falling into a reading rut.

From Italy, to the US to UK to Paris, this book will keep you anticipating what happens next. Ryan has been under suspicion since the disappearance of his girlfriend 5 years ago. How this ties into a mobster in Philadelphia and action in Leavenworth Kansas, will keep you guessing. I enjoyed the separate narration for the 3 main storylines.

From start to finish, this was a page turner. It had me at the edge of my seat the whole time!
I like that it was told in 3 different perspectives from different locations, and they were all interconnected.
I liked how, in the end, all the characters were moving on, but the chain of violence in the crime family community never stopped.
One thing that was a little confusing was that one of the perspectives was in the past at first, and it wasn't clear until the "Aha!" Moment. It made complete sense, but there was no indication that it was in the past.
The main point of this book, in my opinion, was showing how far someone would go to protect your family. Whether you're a mobster, an ex military, an accountant, ect. Family is the most important thing.
Other than that, I absolutely loved this and would definitely recommend it!

This fast-paced thriller is told through three locations and character POVs. Its short chapters hook you in and keep you turning the pages. I found that there was a before aspect you don’t fully notice until Finlay wants you to and it INSTANTLY makes all the pieces fit into place.

Thank You to St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a reader’s copy of this book. My reviews never contain spoilers and are freely given.
This book is a cautionary tale of how bad decisions can create a wave of reactions that ruin lives. The characters are a mix of those you can feel sympathy for and some who are vengeful and without remorse. Told from several different viewpoints, but easy to follow.

Simply put, I LOVED this book. Oh my God, it was so good. Definitely Alex Finaly's best thus far. Excellent plot. Breakneck pacing. Twists. Turns. Secrets. THIS is the real deal.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Publishing for the advanced copy. You can read this one now! SO DO IT!

If Something Happens To Me is a unputdownable, fast-paced, suspenseful thriller full of twists. Definitely recommend for thriller fans!

I read this one a month ago and had to refresh my memory on it since the plot didn't come to mind right away, which says something in itself. But I did enjoy it while reading it. I thought the plot was unique but not super memorable, obviously. Tempo felt good and kept you guessing. I felt it had a lot of characters, and while I don't always hate that aspect, this one seemed a little all over the place with the names and characters. I had to go back and figure out who some of the names were since they were mentioned earlier but they didn't stick for you to remember them. Overall, I thought it was a suspenseful book but not outstanding. 3.5/5 for me but I will bump it up to 4/5 on here and Goodreads.

Five years ago, Ryan and his girlfriend, Ali were parked in their car when suddenly, the car door was ripped open and then Ali was gone as quickly as she was there. Ryan was the prime suspect, but was eventually cleared when Ali's disappeared and presumed murder was pinned on a criminal who murdered other people in the area during that same time. Now, 5 years later, the car is four submerged in a lake and two men were found dead inside. There's also a cryptic note from Ali, which re-opens the investigation into what happened to her. Excellent story-telling with many twists and turns. There were a few aspects of the story that were a bit confusing and I had to re-read to understand what was going on due to there being A LOT of characters in this book, but it was a great read. Highly recommend for thriller and mystery fans!

This book was so confusing to me! So many characters and then name changes. The book kept jumping from place to place. I did like the short chapters though!

Five years ago, Ryan Richardson and his girlfriend Alison Lane, aka Ali, were high school sweethearts getting ready for college. On the night when they are parked at Lovers Lane, someone opens the car door, drags Ryan out and knocks him out. When he comes do, Ali and her car are gone. He remembers one thing about the man who pulled him from the car, his hands. He is the main suspect, but is never charged. He is still the one everyone thinks knows what happened to Ali, so he changes his name and tries to move on. He is presently in law school. When Ali's car is found at the bottom of the lake, with 2 dead bodies in it, a podcaster and the news outlets, brings it all up again. There is a not found in the car that lets Ryan know that Ali is still alive. Along with this plot line, there is another storyline dealing with a shady criminal boss by the name of Shane O'Leary. He has something to do with Ali's disappearance, but what? How does his story about his son tie into Ali's and Ryan's story? Deputy Poppy McGee is tasked with trying to find out who the dead bodies are, and what happened to Alison Lane. When Ryan spots the man who dragged him out of the car while on a trip in Italy, the story heats up.

If Something Happens to Me is told from three POVs, Poppy, Ryan and O'Leary. It takes a while to see how these two seemingly indistinct stories come together. Poppy is a smart cookie. She might think she got the job because of her father's friendship with the Sheriff, but she is able to put the various pieces together and not take things at face value. She is also great at getting people to talk to her, although she takes some chances as well. Ryan is off in Europe following a man that he is sure is involved in the kidnapping, but things happen that make it look like he might be in danger. There are a lot of tense moments in this story. At times I thought I knew what was happening, but then there was a twist that took me in another direction. When I had that aha moment, things began to become clear, but Alex Finlay was not finished with me yet. I raced through this one. If you enjoy a good suspenseful story with great characters and an enjoyable storyline, then I recommend you pick up If Something Happens to Me.

a slow thriller. I did not connect with any of the characters. I did not have a great experience with the multiple povs and multiple storylines occurring at once.

This was my first Alex Finlay but will definitely not be my last!

This book was great. I love when a book has short chapters and multiple POVs. There was some twisty stuff I figured out early on but overall I was surprised by the journey. I loved connecting the dots and seeing what was happening between characters.

I felt like all the loose ends were tied up by the time I finished the book and that is really important to me. It was a great story and definitely one I’ll be recommending

It was definitely time for a thriller and I thoroughly enjoyed If Something Happens To Me by Alex Finlay. This multiple POV story takes us all over Europe and small-town USA and into the life of the mob as we try to unravel the many mysteries this story holds. The book centres around Ryan, a high school student who takes his girlfriend Ali down a quiet road to make out in the rain. When Ali is taken with her car never to be seen again, all fingers point to Ryan. Ali’s DNA is found at the sight of a serial killer and Ryan is ultimately found innocent, at least in court. Ryan attends law school and is on a class trip when miles away, Ali’s car is found in the bottom of the lake back home on deputy sheriff Poppy’s first day, filled with the bodies of known mobsters and a note from Ali. Ryan once again is trying to clear his name and everyone is a suspect. What follows is a glimpse into the lengths a father will go to seek retribution for their lost child, and the long-lasting impacts of bad decisions made when you are young. I loved the romp across the UK and Europe, the twists and turns, with one in particular that I didn’t see coming, but I was riveted. Finlay manages to mesh the multiple viewpoints into a cohesive story feeding us crumbs along the way. This book would be perfect for fans of thrillers with legal, mob, and small-town politics or if you like to be whisked away on a fast-paced adventure abroad, this book will check those boxes.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This “thriller” about a missing teenage girl, assumed dead for five years, who may not actually be missing, was just pretty okay. It tried to do too many things, and was kind of a mess by the end. Rounding up to three stars.
Thanks to #netgalley and #minotaurbooks for this #arc of #ifsomethinghappenstome in exchange for an honest review.

I normally don’t like books that jump around from several POV. There was one jump around that didn’t make sense early on….. until you make the ohhhhh connection. I loved that each chapter was very short and always left you wanting more from that character. You would then quickly read the next chapter and get hooked right back into the next character. Great story line and kept my interest.

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 from several distinct, compelling characters whose paths intersect, detonating into a story of twist after pulse-pounding twist. The story cements Finlay as one of the leading thriller writers today.




I really liked this one! I have been on a thriller kick lately!

SO much was going on and the twists and turns were great! This was a good fast paced thriller to get me out of my slump I had been in. I really liked the 3 POVs in this one, they weren't hard to follow like some books are. This was a great binge book for me and I will be looking to read more of his books!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book has a lot of small, moving threads working at once. While the scene was being set clearly, the thing I struggled with at the beginning was connecting with the characters. Our time and glimpse of them was so brief that it cut some of the feeling out of the equation.

Some books I read for a strong character connection, and some are more ruled by plot. This fell in the latter category, but it was so well done. I did connect with some characters in the end, though the pacing drew me in little by little until I couldn't put this down.

A little bit of romance, a set of chain reactions that inexorably draw in all the players, and a procedural mystery that is so satisfying.

This is my first time reading Alex Finlay, but I hope that it's only the first of many!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
This was a miss for me. I couldn't grasp the suspension of disbelief. I liked the first half, but the second was assassins and world wide chases, which isn't for me, but might be for others.