I'm not a huge fan of thrillers, but the premise drew me, so I decided to give this one a try. The idea of a bunch kids going missing during a parents weekend at a college seemed like an interesting set up. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a pretty average novel. Most of the characters were very one-dimensional, almost caricatures of your typical private college students and parents. I did like the FBI agent Keller, but she alone couldn't save the story. Also, the ending just wrapped up way too quickly and neatly.

Alex knows how to grab you with the very first sentence!!! And it’s a fun ride from there always getting to know all of the characters and then just when you think you have it figured out…..the twists! Loved this book and I don’t want to give anything away so I will say read it asap if you like an intense page turner with great twists and some really good characters.
5 star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I just finished Parents Weekend by Alex Finley, and it was a decent, quick read. I definitely flew through it, which is always a plus. It's a thriller, and it kept me entertained, though I didn't quite love it.

My main issue was that there are way too many characters! Seriously, it took me a while to get everyone straight, and even then, I was sometimes like, "Wait, who's that again?" The short chapters were a bonus, they helped keep things moving.

As for the plot, it wasn't super twisty or mind blowing, but there were a few surprises here and there. Since there were so many characters and points of view, I didn't really connect with any of them on a deeper level. I also didn't realize FBI agent Sarah Keller was in other books, but honestly, it didn't matter. You can totally read this one on its own.

If you want an enjoyable quick thriller to read or you are a fan of Alex Finley I would still give this one a read.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book. I voluntarily read it and gave an honest review.

This had the feel of a book that's kind of epic, but not overwhelming. Though, there are A LOT of characters and perspectives. If you can work to just get beyond that and hope you can subconsciously follow who is who, you're good. Engaging book with a strong ending!

A thriller that leaves you on the edge of your seat the entire time was exactly what I needed and exactly what I found in this new Finlay novel. Easiest five stars yet in 2025.

Alex Finlay delivers another gripping thriller with Parents Weekend, a tense, multi-layered mystery that explores family secrets, college friendships, and the dark consequences of past mistakes. The novel follows five families gathered for a celebratory weekend at a prestigious Northern California college, only to be thrown into chaos when their children—nicknamed The Five by media sleuths—vanish without a trace.

Told through multiple timelines and perspectives, Finlay masterfully builds suspense, peeling back layers of deception as FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller returns to untangle the truth. The narrative expertly balances the frantic desperation of the parents, the sinister undercurrents of college life, and the inevitable media circus that amplifies every chilling twist.

With its fast-paced plot, shifting alliances, and shocking revelations, Parents Weekend is a must-read for fans of The It Girl by Ruth Ware and All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda. Finlay once again proves why he’s a standout in the thriller genre, delivering a compulsive page-turner that keeps readers guessing until the very end.

Thank you to Alex Finlay, St. Martin’s Press; Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for this arc of Parents Weekend, out May 6, 2025!

📜Quick Summary: What could go wrong on a small private college campus? Five students and their families are getting ready to celebrate Parents Weekend at Santa Clara University, on Campisi Hall, and when the parents stay out later than their 5 children, things don’t go as planned. Blane Roosevelt, a Frat Pledge, goes missing with the 5, and his divorced parents don’t even speak. Stella, who’s parents are also hiding some secrets, seems to be the brat of the pack and is influencing others to make bad decisions too. Felix, whose father left ten years ago, had it rough in finding his way but his mother Alice, always looked out for him. Libby, the perfect daughter of Amy and Ken, never let her parents down, especially after they lost her brother to cancer. All 5 college students came from different backgrounds but found themselves together on this one fateful night…what else could possibly go wrong?

❣️Initial Feels: Besides the murder and extra drama, it reminds me of those first few days of college, moving into a dorm room, making new friends, exploring the campus. You forget about how worry free you were, and how excited you were to start a new journey.

👀Trigger Warnings: marital affairs, kidnapping

📖Read if you want: multiple POV, past and present time frames, dysfunctional families, a look back at your early college days

🌶️Spice Level: ~not what it’s about, but funny comments here and there

💡Final Sentiments: I have enjoyed the last few Finlay novels, so I was super excited to dive into his latest thriller! If you have read any of his other novels, Agent Keller (and her husband Bob) are also in this one! (No need to read in order; these are standalones) One thing I could not get over while reading the entire book is how 5 sets of parents ate and drank through a TWO hour dinner…and ignored the fact that their children were supposed to be there. Sure, they asked each other, gosh, why are the kids running late? And thought about in passing the fact that while they ate and drank through their entire dinner…that the five college students …their kids… were being abducted. Maybe being a mom…it just threw off my radar. Anyhow, the super short chapters really made me continue to say, “Fine, just one more chapter”…and then one more chapter turned into 5…10, and then ended up finishing off the book pretty fast. There were a lot of characters that I had to remember at the start..and trying to keep the families separate was confusing at first. Once the ball got rolling, if you paid attention you could fit certain pieces together. This thriller seemed to be “skimming across the water,” and not really diving into too deeply. Overall, I enjoyed this novel, but it didn’t knock it out of the park for me.

🌟Overall Rating: 3.5 stars

This novel was provided by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay is a tense and compelling thriller that explores the intersection of family secrets, college life, and the mysteries that lie just beneath the surface. Set during Parents Weekend at a small private college in Northern California, the novel begins with the excitement of five families gathering to celebrate their children's first year of college. However, the night takes a dark turn when their kids—five students from the same dorm—fail to show up for dinner. What starts as a minor inconvenience soon spirals into a full-blown crisis as the students go missing, and panic sets in.

The story unfolds through multiple points of view, diving into the lives of the parents, the missing students, and the investigation that follows. As the search for the five students intensifies, the novel explores the complexity of relationships, family dysfunction, and the hidden secrets that may have led to their disappearance. The book cleverly weaves together suspense with emotional depth, asking how much of the past—both personal and familial—shapes the choices we make and the dangers we face.

Finlay does a brilliant job of keeping the reader on edge, as each new twist reveals more about the students, their families, and the dark web of connections between them. The addition of FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller, a character from Finlay’s previous books, ties the narrative together with expertise and insight into the investigation.

Parents Weekend is a fast-paced, thought-provoking read that examines the pressure of expectations, the ties that bind us, and the consequences of the choices we make, especially when the stakes are life and death. Fans of suspenseful thrillers with strong character-driven plots will find this one hard to put down.

“They run. Run with a primal fear knowing that if they slow down, all five of them will die. ”
Here are reasons to read the Thriller book:

Private- at a private college in northern california
Parents Dinner - the parents of a freshman year capstone group meet for dinner
Students Missing - however, their children never meet them
Return - Enter the return of Sarah Keller, FBI, who tries to find out what happened

This is the 3rd book that this character of Sarah Keller has been in and I really do like reading her point of view, despite the fact that I don’t like novels where detective’s are the main character. I enjoyed this book a lot, even though I guessed the ending. There are a lot of characters to keep track of as we do track at least 4 sets of parents and Keller. There were times that the book lagged a bit, but it was overall, a fun fast read.

Thank you so much St Martins Press and NetGalley for this gifted copy in lieu of an honest review
This one was honestly so hard to follow! So many characters and I felt confused so much of the time.

It was twisty. It was suspenseful. Overall it was good. Your standard thriller. Not overly shocking. Quick read.

Five students who work together in a capstone group disappear during a parent's weekend event. I was happy to see FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller to return (she was featured in two previous books by Finlay) and I liked her work ethic and devotion to her husband and children. There are a lot of characters in this story and it took a long time for me to get everyone straight. Besides the five students, there are parents, campus police, campus administrators, reporters, interns, social media influencers and others. Each parent group had their own stories and secrets and at times the plot slowed down as we learned more about things like affairs, stalkers, prison records and other things designed to throw the readers for a curve.

One of the parents is a high up state official and she arrives with her own police protection and the hopes that the students haven't been kidnapped because of her career. On top of the missing students, another student was found dead inside of a sea cave and her parents are suspicious that there is a connection. We also see some chapters from the viewpoint of the missing students, primarily Blaine the son of the state's official. The students have been kidnapped and are in trouble-can Sarah find them in time?

I liked the plot but felt the various backstories of so many characters slowed down the action. As Sarah works with the head of the campus police, others including reporters and the parents themselves, are inserting themselves into the chase. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC for review.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the chance to read the e-arc Parents Weekend by Alex Finley.

Parents weekend starts off fine, with a plan for five first year friends to meet up with their parents at a school sponsored dinner. When none of the students show, and all cannot be reached by phone, newly arrived FBI agent Sarah Keller joins forces with campus police to help find them. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but the author did a good job of keeping things straight by having each chapter told from the perspective of the individual parents alternating with Keller and the students. Each family has a secret that keeps things messy but very interesting. I’ll admit I never figured out the central mystery as I read, which was a big plus for me. This was a fast paced read that kept me interested, even though several of the characters were pretty unlikeable.

I went into this book without knowing that FBI agent Sarah Keller was featured in two other books. This did not detract from my enjoying the current plot at all, so for that reason, I would say it is ok to read as a standalone.. 4/5 star read

Thank you @minotaur_books #partner for the gifted copy of this book!

I love when rich people behave have badly in books and Alex has invited us along for the most perfectly thrilling, jaw dropping, action packed parents weekend! With my eldest headed to college in the fall, this book couldn’t have come at a better time! Even though I hope to not meet people like the characters in this book I devoured every last bit of this wild story! In this book we meet 5 college kids and their families that were all supposed to meet for dinner at the start of their parents weekend. The 5 students are noticeably absent and being that there was a missing student found dead earlier…people become concerned very quickly! Alex then dives into each parent and their history and what we are left with are a bunch of parents that aren’t pillars of perfection. 👀

This book is fast paced, entertaining and completely bingeable. The short chapters make it so easy to say “just one more chapter” and before I knew it I was done! Even though there is a large cast of characters Alex makes it easy for the reader to keep everyone straight. I love how the chapters alternated to each of the parents making it hard to guess who the culprit was or what was really happening! This will be a hit this summer because it feels like the perfect light and twisty summer thriller! I always grab Alex’s books and will definitely be back for more!

This book was written very well, it was a fantastic read. It kept me engaged throughout the entire book. I don’t like giving a lot of details away about the book in my reviews, because I don’t want to leave any potential spoilers, but this book is a definite Book to add to your TBR!

This book follows along with several different families visiting their children at college during parents weekend. At the start of the book there is a college student who has gone missing but has been found dead.

I really enjoyed this book. It's definitely a fast paced, popcorn style thriller. It's very easily digestible, and there's enough red herrings throughout to keep you guessing.

I had two main complaints. My first complaint was that I did guess the ending. My second complaint is that there were a lot of POVs, and at the beginning the story can get a bit muddled with keeping track of whose parents and kid belonged together.

Overall though I would recommend this book to my audience.

This was a pretty decent thriller that got bogged down by too many characters and some eye-rolly twists. It was great for what I wanted in the moment, but will immediately leave my mind!

I have been reading and getting through a lot of books already this year! Really enjoying a lot of what I’m reading.

This was a book I was anticipating but this authors books can be very hit or miss for me.

Overall it was an enjoyable book but to me it was not unique in any way. It kind of felt like a book that just got churned out like a lot of thrillers are feeling lately. I also just personally don’t love police procedural thrillers but that’s just preference.

The book started with an intriguing premise - university hosts a parents' weekend and one group of students goes missing. Are the parents or the kids being targeted? What connects them? Unfortunately, we got bogged down in details. There was too much going on and almost none of the characters were relatable or even likeable. Except Bob. I want a Bob of my own. When the 'reveal' happens, it's a let down. If you want a quick, unencumbered read, this is your book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This book was a great fast read till about 50% of the way through and then I just dropped it. Now was that me in a slump or was it the book. I recommend you still trying it out because it was so great towards the beginning.