This book captured my attention from the start. I loved the multiple perspectives from the different families. This would be great to read if you are looking for a cozy fall campus novel.

This was an increasingly engrossing story of five college students who go missing while their parents are visiting them. Lots of characters but I got to know them quite quickly. An FBI agent was a great character, and I enjoyed how she outshone her boss.

I haven't read anything by this author before, but I will certainly look for more from him. Many thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy.

It’s Parents Weekend! Five families are excited to arrive at a small college in Northern California to celebrate their children’s first year at college. The festivities were to begin the first evening with cocktails followed by dinner. But things didn’t go as planned. The parents arrived early for the celebration, but late into the night, their children never appeared.
Being understanding parents, they thought it was just college kids doing their thing and finding something else to do, but as the night wore on, they became alarmed, and the police were called in. Soon, reporters swarmed the area, and search parties were formed to find the missing students.
The five students from the families, Libby, Blane, Mark, Felix, and Stella, are called The Five. They are well known on TikTok as podcasters and bloggers. Could the drama in their family life have caused them to disappear?
It is a riveting, edge-of-the-seat story told through multiple points of view. Special Agent Sarah Keller is called to investigate the tangled web of family problems that may have caused their disappearance.

Being familiar with the backdrop for this story was fun. The people and events seemed
a little scattered at times, but it did not really take much from the story of a group of
kids who had the opportunity to attend a top drawer private University. The return of
FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller is like a long awaited reunion, and I enjoy her interactions
and that she is well received by the parents and others in the effort to locate the missing
students.
This book is twists and turns right up to the last page, so don’t guess until you already
know the answer!
This is a great story! My thanks to Minotaur Books via NetGalley for the download
copy of this book for review purposes.

I liked this book! But I didn’t love it. Solid 3 star book. I wasn’t wowed by the ending and the resolution. The plot was decent by the why behind the plot wasn’t that exciting or surprising to me.

3 stars. I realllllly wanted to like this but I just couldn’t connect to the characters and there were so many plot holes, I couldn’t keep up.

3.75 stars rounded up. This is a fast paced thriller about five college students that disappear on Parents Weekend, and the search to find them. There are multiple POV from the kids, their parents, and the FBI agent trying to find them. If you’ve read Night Shift (which I loved), you get to see Agent Keller again!

The stories about the parents were interesting, but also brought forth a lot of red herrings and distracted the reader from the main plot. I kind of forgot I was supposed to be worried about the missing students sometimes.

Overall it’s a great, quick thriller. Perfect read for the beach or vacation. Thanks to St. Martin’s Press & NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love Alex Finlay books and this was no different. A small college town, family drama & unbelievably strong tension. While at first I thought this was going to be a typical whodunnit, it becomes a much larger puzzle. The five students never show up to dinner with their families and you can’t help but try and guess what on earth happened to a group so larger— Finlay keeps you guessing the whole time!

I have loved all of Alex Findlay’s books, but this one just didn’t feel like all of the other books. Usually I’m captivated from the beginning and I can’t put the book down, but that was not the case with this one which I thought was odd.

It could be because there are so many characters and their POVs. I feel like there was a lot of people, but I couldn’t connect with any of them and there was no substance to the plot with a lot of their POVs.

Then I struggled because it felt like nothing really happens in this book. It wasn’t written like a true thriller. It was just a basic book of fiction which is not what I was looking for in this book.

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

I didn’t love this book. i’m not even sure if I liked this book - but it was better than some of the other books by finlay i’ve read in the past. this was mainly a skim read for me simply because there were too many characters. when you’re introduced to a new set of characters for each of the first five chapters, you don’t grow to connect with any of them. I wasn’t really even that curious about what happened to them. the ending also just seemed pretty absurd. this wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t the best.

Five families meet up for dinner during Parents’ weekend at their children’s college. But their kids never show up, and aren’t answering any calls or texts. At first everyone assumes they’re just typical college students who maybe skipped dinner for a party, until more time goes by and nobody hears from any of them. With no real connections between the families, the investigation is difficult.

I really enjoy Alex Finlay’s writing style. This book is told in several POV and the stories converge very well. Likeable characters and a fast paced book. I enjoyed it.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and St Martins Press for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review. Publication date May 6, 2025. 4⭐️

Parent's Weekend is a fast-paced, gripping thriller with tons of twists that will keep you guessing. Five students go missing on Parent's weekend of their elite California University. The authorities determine, in rapid succession, that each family has secrets of their own. I enjoyed the multiple POV, although it can be difficult to keep track of with such a large cast of characters. The inclusion of social media as a tool for solving crimes was especially engaging. This apparently has characters from previous books by the same author, but reads well as a standalone. 4.25 stars.

Alex is my auto buy author. And this book is probably my new favorite by him. I really had to pay attention with all the characters, but once I got going I was completely hooked. Loved the college setting the twists and turns and everything this book had to offer.

In typical Alex Finlay fashion, "Parents Weekend" is a fast paced thriller that will keep readers guessing.

A group of parents go to head to college for parents weekend only to find that their children do not show up for dinner. What was first assumed to be a case of getting blown off for a party, quickly turns into thoughts of something more sinister at play. "The Five" as the group of students is dubbed are missing with no clear motives. Rumors are swirling and the misdeeds of the parents come to light in a race to find the missing kids.

This book has a huge cast of characters with many POVs for readers to follow. It is also a quick read that you won't want to put down. It even included fan favorite FBI Agent Sarah Feller as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for gifting me this copy. I can't wait to see all the buzz I know it will receive come release week.

This was a good mystery, and I do like having a strong female law enforcement officer. The character development was very well done, and brought out feelings about them, and who to cheer for. It all leads up to a very suspenseful ending with multiple twists. A good read.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for gifting me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved The Night Shift by Alex Finlay so I was really excited to receive an ARC of his new novel! I was immediately sucked into the story and found myself intrigued and wanting to know the characters and what was going to happen. I did really enjoy the dual POVs with each chapter. However, the first chapters were a bit tough to navigate because each chapter was introducing new characters, sometimes with multiple characters in each chapter. So I found myself trying to keep track of each character throughout the book and would sometimes end up confused! With that being said, I did truly enjoy the concept and the story line. Alex did a good job of keeping me on my toes and wanting to get to the end to figure out what happened. I read this in less than 2 days, so I definitely enjoyed the plot and storyline. I didn't predict the end of the story and I did really enjoy the quick chapters. I would definitely recommend reading this book if you like quick thrillers + dual POVs! Thank you to Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

As a fan of Alex Finlay, I was super excited about receiving this book. I could not put it down. I love the addition of Sarah Keller. I think she's my favorite part of his books now. I thought the characters were diverse and had good development. It was a bit predictable but over all, I really enjoyed it

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC! This was my first Alex Finlay and certainly won’t be my last. This was a true 5-star read for me and hit the ground running from the very beginning. I appreciated the short chapters from different POV which helped build to story while also furthering the plot. A true nail biter until the very end!

3.5 star read for me

This was a fast paced entertaining read however there are a lot of characters, each chapter is a different character so keeping them straight can be a little challenging who belongs to who.

It's parents weekend and 5 college students don't show for the dinner with their parents, all go missing at the same time. This comes at a difficult time as news had broke that same day of the death of another student. Now the parents wonder why all 5 are missing and went off grid at the same time. Does this have anything to do with the fact that two of them are the kids of a high-profile judge and the assistant Secretary of State where one has already been kidnapped in the past? Or is this just typical student behavior surrounding parties and fraternity pledges are they guilty of something or just not wanting to be around their parents?

The parents seem to have more drama then the college students and it comes out as it's race against time to find the 5 college students. It seems they all have something to hide.

It was okay for me, I didn't feel that you got to know any of the characters really so there wasn't a connection there and the ending felt abrupt.

Thank you to NetGalley, St Martin's Press and the author for this ARC in exchange for me review

Alex Finlay does it again. I will read anything this author writes.

This has twists and turns and i was not expecting the end. I really loved that it keeps you engaged.

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.