Finlay's upcoming novel (due out May 6, 2025) features the detective from The Night Shift, Sarah Keller. (This is still a standalone.) Her family recently moved to her husband Bob's childhood home in sunny California to take care of his father. For Sarah, that means putting in for a hardship transfer and being the new agent on the block. I enjoyed seeing more of their family dynamic.

However, before she even gets a chance to settle in, Sarah is called to duty when a group of 5 college students go missing on Parents Weekend.

This book alternates between each set of parents, who are quite interesting, especially the mom high up in the state department who has credible threats against her and operates with a full time security detail. Each chapter is short and the book moves at a fast pace.

There was some humor (there has to be when it's a book centered around college kids and pledges) and there was character growth despite being a mostly plot driven novel.

I was surprised that the police didn't spend any time investigating whether the kid's disappearance was linked to another major event that occurred early on, but yet explored all minor avenues of conflict, including events linked to only one set of parents. But I enjoyed the investigation and learning about these imperfect parents and the effects of their mistakes on other families and their own.

If Alex Finlay's writing it, I'm reading it.

Parent’s Weekend begins with a night of dinner and cocktails with students and parents. For five parents though, all Campisi Hall residents, their kids never show up for the dinner and no one is answering their phones. Are they all angry at their parents?

The five students: Libby, Blane, Mark, Felix and Stella come from different backgrounds. All of the families have something to hide but the kids seemed to be hiding something as well. What caused them to all miss dinner and where are they? Could they be sleeping off a night of partying or were they collateral damage from something their parents have done?

I love Alex Finley’s writing style. She keeps you on the edge of your seat with short gripping chapters, told from multiple points of view, that are hard to put down. Fan favorite FBI Agent Sarah Keller from the novel Every Last Fear is added to our list of characters. The chapters each highlighted a family, including Agent Keller, which helped keep the storylines straight. The end comes together nicely and was a complete surprise.

Another great read by Alex Finley! Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing the digital copy for an honest review.

Another structured buddy read, gone feral! We all flew through this one and I think a lot of that was due to short chapters!! 🙌🏼 When I first started, it was hard to follow with all the changing characters. It felt like too many POVs, with the students and their parents and all of their baggage! There were so many scandal and secrets! I felt overwhelmed by the number of characters and had a hard time connecting to any of them. This was definitely more of a popcorn thriller for me, which I didn’t expect! It was very predictable and had too many red herrings for me. I did like that there were characters and little Easter eggs from some of Finlay’s previous novels! Overall, I enjoyed it and am excited to see what is next for Alex!

Thank you Minotaur Books for the gifted ARC!

3.5 stars rounded up.

This is an extremely bingeable, twisty popcorn thriller. I figured almost everything out less than halfway through the book, but there were so many characters and so many secrets I couldn't help but keep turning pages. Weirdly enough, even though I was pretty sure how everything was going to come together, it didn't hinder my enjoyment of the book.

I think this would be a great read for someone who is just starting to dip their toe into the thriller pool, but avid thriller readers may be a little disappointed with it.

I will continue to read everything Alex Finlay writes! Parents Weekend pub date is May 6.

Thank you to NetGalley, Alex Finlay and St Martin’s Press for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Another binge read from Finley - this is so easy to slide right into and instantly want to know what’s going on. This one is mysterious, twisty and full of action. Definitely recommend.

First I would like to thank Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this novel.

This is the third book by Alex Finely that has Agent Keller and I have loved all of them. I think she is a fantastic character and I hope he continues to write books with her in them.

I enjoyed Parents Weekend. I loved Agent Kellers but I found a lot of the book about rich people behaving badly. I like how we had some many different points of view and it included both the kids and the parents but I think the story would have been better if we had narrowed the focus on a few less characters so we could have got to know them more.

I loved that everyone was a suspect but in the end I didn’t feel that jaw dropping twist. I fell a little flat for me.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and hope we continue to see more of Agent Keller.

4/5 stars.

📚 Parents Weekend
✍ Alex Finlay
📖 Mystery/Thriller
⭐3.5/5

➡ When five first-year students from Santa Clara University go missing during Parents Weekend, it will take the exposure of secrets from their families, classmates and the group themselves to figure out what's happened to them.

🙏Thank you to St. Martin's Press (Minotaur Books), NetGalley and the author for an advanced copy of Parents Weekend. All opinions are my own.
◾
🎯 What I loved: This book was so fast paced. The alternating perspectives that transitioned between the problematic parents and later, the students themselves kept the book moving and I read this so quickly. The first three quarters were spellbinding and I loved trying to figure out what each family and student was trying to hide. The setting and timing were piqued my interest (I love a good college mystery) and the unwinding thread of secrets was done well.

🙅‍♀️ What I didn't: I was holding out for a twist but basically, all the clues led you straight to the answer in this one and I predicted the ending early on. Up until about 75% of the way through, this book had be completely riveted but as soon as I realized there was no big plot twist, my enthusiasm waned. I also felt like there were a lot of plot holes that weren't resolved. Though there was an epilogue, it didn't detail several of the characters whose fates I really wanted to learn and spent too much time detailing others that I thought weren't central to the plot.
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Read if you love:
*multi-perspective, family drama
*missing persons cases
*one perspective is FBI agent on the case
*LOTS of secrets
◾
See also: Only If You're Lucky, The Return of Ellie Black, I Have Some Questions for You

I really enjoyed the multiple viewpoints / story lines / family drama explored in this thriller. This book kept me entranced and guessing! Alex Finley created an engrossing story and intricate, well-developed characters.

The most BINGEABLE thriller - I DARE you to put this one down once you start!

Five college students disappear before opening festivities of Parents Weekend. The parents are all hiding secrets but so are the students...

This story HOOKED me from the start. Fast-paced and entertaining with short chapters (praise be 🙌🏽) this book can easily be read in one sitting (perfect for a beach day or flight.) Part thriller and part police procedural, there's plenty of action to keep the plot moving. A large cast of characters make up the POVs (the parents, the students, the Special Agent) and although it starts off confusing, I promise they will be easy to track as the story progresses. I enjoyed the Easter eggs of Special Agent Keller's past cases (as seen in EVERY LAST FEAR and NIGHT SHIFT.)

This isn't a story with a shocking, complex plot or an unpredictable perpetrator. In fact, I wish my 'pretty-clever-if-you-ask-me' theory was actually correct...it would've been a twistier ending. It wraps up a little too neat for me; I live for the chaos of a multilayered thriller. BUT, if you're looking for a quick, unputdownable and suspenseful read, PARENTS' WEEKEND is where it's at!

Parents Weekend kicks off with an intriguing premise: five college students go missing over a holiday weekend. Are they just off partying, or is something far more sinister at play? As the story unfolds, secrets come to light, and I found myself questioning the true nature and intentions of seemingly perfect families.

This book is a fast paced, easy to read popcorn thriller. It’s entertaining, engaging, and kept my attention from start to finish. While it didn’t blow me away, it was the perfect binge worthy read—I finished it in just four hours! If you’re looking for a quick, suspenseful book to take on a plane, to the beach, or for a lazy afternoon, this one is a solid pick.

This was an interesting novel, once I got past the huge amount of characters and their relavant backstories. The story has several interesting twists, and the conclusion was well executed.

The first few pages I was afraid I'd have trouble keeping the characters straight. But, two chapters in, I had it down. The author did a good job of having each chapter be about one of the families.

It was a clever plot, and I loved the family of the FBI Agent handling the case. I hope we see more of her...and her family.

I could barely put it down.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

#ParentsWeekend #AlexFinlay #NetGalley

Finlay knows how to write a popcorn thriller! With short chapters that end on cliff hangers, this one makes you want to read "just one more chapter" until the end. While I was not a huge fan of how this book played out, I can say that it was an overall enjoyable read. I did find the character count to be a bit too high, and had difficulties keeping storylines apart. I was also hoping for more of a twist at the end. However, I did enjoy the getting to step back into the head of "Keller" as we saw her continue her FBI duties in this novel. Overall, I think this was an easy and fast-paced thriller that would be perfectly enjoyed on a beach or curled up on a cozy night.

In true psychological thriller fashion, this story has elements of suspense and mystery, suspicion of which characters are good or bad and gives the reader a sense of unease from start to finish. It is parents weekend for freshman at the University of Santa Clara and the events of the weekend become horrifying for five sets of wealthy and influential parents. When their children don’t show up for a dinner in their honor, panic eventually sets in and the kids are ultimately declared missing. As police and local FBI agents try to piece the mystery together through clues obtained from online posts, blogs and text messages, they are also uncovering secrets that the parents are keeping. This was a fast paced and engaging book with many characters to keep track of. I enjoy Mr. Finlay’s writing style and ability to keep the reader guessing through the twists and turns.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for providing me with an advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
Publication date: May 6

I love Alex Finlay. This book started off great and sucked me in. But I didn’t enjoy the last part. The conclusion fell very flat and I was still waiting to find out what happened even after it finished. Like the ending wasn’t good enough and I was waiting for a different one. It was weird and didn’t go along with the rest of the story. Characters just showed up at the end that didn’t have much time in the book.

This makes me so sad to say, because I love Alex Finlay's other books. But this one was a miss for me. There were too many characters, with very little actually happening to help drive the plot and mystery. I was lost on who was supposed to be doing what. I wish that instead of getting so much insight into the parents, we would have also gotten more insight into the college kids. The ending felt lackluster to me as well. Maybe it was because I was already so lost with all of the characters. I think it was a great idea, but not executed well unfortunately.

3.5⭐️ I really enjoyed this little mystery thriller. I loved the short chapters and how all the different POV’s worked together.

Five students from Southern California University are set to meet their parents for dinner together during Parents Weekend, but none of them show up. This story follows the point of view of each students parent and FBI Agent Keller as they try to unravel the mystery of what happened to the kids.

This was just a good, solid thriller. I would definitely recommend this thriller lovers.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this advanced E-copy in exchange for my honest review.

College kids parents arrive for the long awaited parents weekend. As they sit at dinner waiting for their kids more and more time passes. The kids are called the give and are podcasters and the mystery builds. The kids don’t show up and the police and reporters show up and it becomes a frenzy. Loved to see FBI Sarah Feller in this one. Enjoyed the multiple points of view and liked the uniqueness of the story.

A parents' weekend and a bunch of their kids in post-secondary school. What could go wrong? A lot actually. This book had so many twists and turns, secrets, lies and deception. A perfect recipe for a great read.

I enjoy books with different POV's and told in alternating timelines, but I found this book difficult to keep up with when so many different families and their POV's were involved, not to mention the various family members in their family. I found it quite difficult to keep track of so I would highly recommend writing them down as you read along in this novel to try to keep all the families and their members straight in your mind.

A book that I recommend.

This was a fun fast-paced and engaging thriller with some surprising twists! I loved the multiple different family POVs. I thought it was going to be confusing with how many characters there were is this book, but I didn’t find that to be the case. The last few chapters did feel slightly rushed, but overall the story has enough suspense to make up for it.