Alex Finlay’s books always hook me right away and they’re always such quick reads!

Parents Weekend was definitely a bit on the slower end this time around, but was still very tense.

This one had multiple POV’s which I found confusing at first, but eventually put all of the families together.

There were a lot of subplots in this one which I enjoyed and I didn’t guess the ending. I also liked that Keller was back!

I adore Alex Finlay and this was a captivating, one-day read. A group of college kids disappear right on parents weekend. The whole book is based on solving this mystery. All the families have their own issues. It was a very easy read, but nothing to make you think much about afterwards.

This is a fast-paced, suspenseful novel that is easy to read. It's entertaining and would be a great beach read. However, in my opinion, the characters lacked depth, series of events were not clear, and the ending seemed abrupt.

This is a great domestic family thriller. The story is told by multiple povs. It kept my attention the whole time. Solid four stars!

Kept my attention the whole time. Lived the different perspectives from each family. A great thriller with family dynamics thrown in!

I was eager to try this new-to-me author....and he did not disappoint. It's Parents Weekend at a small, tony college in Northern California. Five students are eager to have their parents in town to join them for a nice dinner and then explore this picturesque campus on the beach. The parents all arrive early at the dinner, and while the booze begins to flow, dysfunctional family secrets begin to be revealed. While the impatient parents continue to wait for their kids to join them, word leaks out that a body of a female has been found on the beach. Was it a simple drowning, or was it an act of foul play?

Hours later, the parents begin to panic when all five of their children are nowhere to be found. Their phones have been turned off, and they have seemingly vanished into thin air. What do these students have in common? Does this have to do with the death of the girl on the beach? WHAT could they be hiding?

Days pass, and the FBI soon joins in the hunt. With the help of crackerjack FBI agent Sarah Keller, dangerous truths begin to emerge. There appear to be many secrets in this group, both amongst the college students AND their parents....

I found this book to be engaging and suspenseful. While perhaps not the most riveting book I have ever read, my attention was definitely held throughout. This won't be the last book of Alex Finlay's that I will dive into, I can promise you that!

Alex Finlay has delivered another fun and fast-paced mystery thriller with “Parents Weekend.” Although I feel the twists in this novel fell a bit short compared to his prior books, the characters were still likable and plot was still entertaining. The changes of character perspective between chapters kept the story fresh and had me continuing to turn the pages. I will continue to read every single one of Finlay’s books, and I encourage you to do the same- always entertaining!

Publication date: May 6, 2025

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read a digital ARC copy in return for my honest review.

I love a mystery genre and this book by Alex Finlay did not disappoint! A cast of characters that included parents and children, most the elite of society come together for "parents weekend" only to fear the worst has happened to their missing offspring! Where are they and why are they missing plays out through the book and everyone is suspect! Definitely recommending to my book club and sincerely appreciate the advance copy! Can't wait for the next book from Alex Finlay!

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

Very quick read, predictable, no suspense, no character depth. The return of FBI agent Sarah Keller gets all 3 stars. I love her character and the university cop McCray was a great partner for her. My least favorite of this author's books, yet I would still recommend it if you're a fan of his work.

Another 5 star from one of my favorite authors! Loved the college setting and the return of Keller. Recommending to everyone!

This is my second or third book that I've read by this author & the pace of his stories that I have read were great, but I had trouble being sucked into this. The parents irritated me & the way some of the characters acted so privileged & obnoxious. I couldn't relate to the characters so it didn't keep me as interested as the other books I've heard by him have.

I thought Parents Weekend could break the streak of mediocre books but sadly I have to say I did not enjoy it. Being a continuation of the prior two books with Sarah Keller coming back I hoped for greater things but Finlay lacks good characters, interesting mysteries and overall suspense in this new book.

I wanted to love this. I LOVE Alex Finlay. But I finished this book a couple of weeks ago and, when it came to writing a review, I found myself barely remembering anything. I WILL say, I remembered liking it quite a bit when I read it!

While there was a good amount of suspense, there were many parts of the story that felt anticlimactic. I did enjoy Agent Keller and her no nonsense questioning strategies and detective skills. Her character actually held the story together.

That you Netgalley for this arc. This book was good, It follows 5 families whose kids are off to college and the parents throw a party and begin finding this suspicious when none of their kids show up to dinner.

This is a solid thriller that I will recommend, because I think some people will really like this one, but it wasn't that great for me.

I really enjoyed "If Something Happens To Me", so I had high expectations for this thriller, but I felt like the book was just ok.

The beginning was a little difficult to get through because you had so many characters to keep straight, but by "day 2" I was able to remember everyone fairly quickly.

I also didn't find the book too 'thrilling' or 'gripping'.

I liked the book, and I am glad I read it, but it didn't "WOW" me as much as "If Something Happens To Me" did.

During a college parents weekend, five students went missing while one student was found dead. Each of their parents has a reason to believe they could be the cause or is the reason plainly because the five are partying or playing a prank?

This started out strong for me but it got a little predictable towards the end. The multiple point of views were great and I enjoyed reading it this way. I think I just hoped for more twists at the end but this was a solid read for me. ❤️

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s press for a copy of this ARC 💕

I haven’t read many thrillers lately, but I’ve heard good things about this author so decided to put in for an ARC. I’ve always enjoyed multiple POV books, and this definitely had many of them. I liked that there were several red herrings thrown in along the way and thought the mystery was tied up nicely in the end.

Thanks as always to NetGalley for the ARC.

Unfortunately this book did not leave a good first impression. The vibe of the synopsis does not match the actual story and I was really turned off by the behavior from the parents. It just didn’t resonate with me and I did not find it enjoyable.

I love me some Alex Finlay. His fast-paced, action packed writing style just sucks me into his books and I don't look up until I'm closing the book. This one was no different- had all the Alexsims we've come to expect from his books. There are a lot of characters- from students to parents and oh my these parents lives are messed up which made me wonder if that's why the kids went missing. But rest assured he wraps everything up nice and neat at the end for us. I loved it. I kept turning the pages to see what would happen next. Gave it 4 stars. Can't wait to see what he writes next.