After discovering Alex Finlay last year and my mom and I both loving his books, I was very excited to receive the arc for his latest thriller. While still short and entertaining, this is definitely not my favorite of his books. The first half felt a bit overwhelming with the amount of characters and POVs — balancing not only the 5 students who go missing but each of their parents’ backstories as well — and a bit underwhelming with the plot progression. The second half, however, massively picked up and felt like a really good episode of Criminal Minds. The final twists weren’t super crazy but still satisfying! I’ll happily pick up Finlay’s future books.

Thank you to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the arc.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for this digital ARC.

I am a huge fan of Alex Finlay’s books and was so excited to get an ARC of his newest book. At a small, private school in CA, it is parents weekend. The families host a dinner for students in Campisi hall, but the five students never show up for dinner. What follows is the parents’ search for their missing kids and the journey to finding them.

This book had a lot of twists and turns, and I loved the reappearance of FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller from previous books.

Definitely worth the read!

A solid vacation book, either by a fire in mountains or on a sandy beach. It took awhile to really get into the meat of the book, as the beginning chapters are pretty much back story on characters...and boy are there a lot of them. About a third of the way through, it picks up and we finally get that mystery spark. This is my first book by Alex so I didn't feel tied to the lead FBI agent like some other readers. I liked the short chapters and the fast pace. Multiple POV had be flipping back to previous chapters going "who was that again." Ending was rushed and the reasoning or how of the crimes felt incomplete. It checked all the boxes for an adult thriller read and I would check out another book with Agent Keller as the driving criminologist.

Parents' Weekend by the great Alex Finlay was a fast paced thriller! I read it in one setting! I love that Special Agent Keller is back from previous novels (though these books are not connected). She is such a fun character!
Finley's storytelling is absolutely incredible and this book was no exception. I loved all the different family dynamics and backgrounds. If Alex Finley writes it, you know you're in for a treat!
Thank you Alex Finlay Netgalley and Minotaur Books for this ARC. Parents' Weekend comes out May 6. Trust me, you are going to want to read this!
Book 141/150

This book had the potential to be a compelling dark academia/mystery novel, but it ultimately fell short and felt more like a quick, forgettable read than an immersive experience. While I typically do love popcorn thrillers this was a bit too much.

The large number of characters made it difficult to explore any of them in depth. As a result, I struggled to connect with any families or care deeply about their fate. The plot felt rushed and somewhat half-baked, and the ending, unfortunately, didn’t tie things together in a satisfying way. It felt anticlimactic and left me wondering if justice was truly served.

I also found the mention of Starbucks unsettling, especially considering the current boycott and then the inclusion of a Muslim character, while I appreciate diverse representation, it felt like the book was trying to be “woke."

It was really quick tho so that's nice.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.75 stars
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Alex Finlay has done it again! This is the perfect popcorn thriller about a group of five college students who go missing during the titular Parents Weekend. Our main characters (known as The Five), Libby, Blane, Mark, Felix, and Stella, are all attending the same college. They come from five very different families but are linked together by one fateful incident.

When The Five fail to show up for dinner with their parents, alarms go off. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, and campus police wouldn't normally bat an eye, but some of the parents are high-profile and there would be reason to target their child. I will admit that it took a while to get used to who was who, we flip between the perspectives of each parent as we start to uncover the truth and why their child could have been targetted. This was a fast read for me, only because I wanted to know what happened to the missing students.

I found the chapters from the student's perspectives to be a tad juvenile, almost written like a YA novel. I found myself more interested in the parents than them. Another bonus was the return of FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller (Every Last Fear & The Night Shift) who has moved with her husband (Bob), and their twin 9-year-olds to care for Bob's father. Overall, the mystery wasn't as mysterious as I had wanted it but still found this one to be enjoyable!

I would like to thank St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books, Alex Finlay, and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This book will be published on May 6th, 2025. Preorder your copy now.

<i>Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.</i>

3.5 stars rounded up

Fast paced thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat pretty much the whole time. Some parts were predictable but I really enjoyed Agent Sarah Keller’s character and will plan to check out some of the other books that include her.

A group of college friends go missing during parent’s weekend at a small private school in Northern California. Each child and their parents have their own secrets and the reason they might have been targeted. Agent Keller is back for this action packed thriller and is one of my favorite characters. Alex Finlay is one of my go to authors and I truly enjoy everything he writes. Parents Weekend did not disappoint and it was well laid out considering it had a lot of characters and told from multiple view points.

Parent’s Weekend is another great read from Alex Finlay. The story is told from multiple POVs and each chapter states which characters point of view you are reading. As five families arrive on campus and wait for their kids to join them for dinner, it soon becomes apparent they are not showing up and are missing. Everyone soon learns that not only do the kids have secrets but so do their parents. This was a fast paced book that I loved and the twist at the end I never guessed. Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this arc. I highly recommend it.

As a fan of Alex Finlay’s work, I was excited to dive into Parents Weekend. The premise—five college students disappearing during a Parents Weekend celebration—was intriguing and had me hooked right away. It is fast-paced, and I flew through it in one sitting.

That said, I found the large cast of characters to be a bit too much in a book of this length. FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller was the highlight for me. She’s sharp, compelling, and easily the most developed character. I felt the missing students were sidelined although we do get a few chapters from their various perspectives. The parents were deeply flawed and interesting, but I struggled to connect with or care about them.

Having read and enjoyed If Something Happens to Me, I found myself missing the smaller, more intimate cast that allowed for deeper development in that story. It’s a solid 3-star read for me.

Thank you to Alex Finlay, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for the ARC.

🆁🅴🆅🅸🅴🆆 ⁣
𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Parents Weekend
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: Alex Finlay
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: May 6, 2025
⁣
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝:⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
⇥ Honestly, I ended up enjoying the parental drama more than the kids' storyline.
⇥ Gorgeous cover!
⇥ The first half of this was superior.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐝:⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
⇥ With so many characters, I had to take notes on my phone to keep track. Unfortunately, none of them stood out enough to make a connection. Libby and Stella, in particular, felt interchangeable with no clear distinction between the two.
⇥ Given the complexity of the buildup, I was expecting a more intricate, satisfying ending. Instead, it felt too simple and predictable. I kept hoping for one last twist to salvage the finale, but it never came, leaving me disappointed.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
★★★☆☆
It’s frustrating because Alex Finlay’s If Something Happens to Me, which came out this year, is likely going to be in my top 5 of 2024. Parents Weekend just felt like a departure from his usual style. I also didn’t love Agent Keller’s role here—her presence felt unnecessary and didn’t add much to the story. I don’t know what I was expecting from the second half, but it wasn’t the direction this story took. There were just too many red herrings, and by the end, I found myself caring less and less about how it would all wrap up.

𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐫.

Thank you @NetGalley and @Minotaur for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

At first, everyone thinks that they're just being college students, irresponsibly forgetting about the gathering or skipping out to go to a party. But as the hours click by and another night falls with not so much as a text from the students, panic ensues. Soon, the campus police call in reinforcements. Search parties are formed. Reporters swarm the small enclave. Rumors swirl and questions arise.
Libby, Blane, Mark, Felix, and Stella-The Five, as the podcasters, bloggers, and TikTok sleuths call them-come from five very different families. What led them out on that fateful night? Could it be the sins of their mothers and fathers
•ngies and thes
come to cause them peril or a threat to the friend group from within?
I was glad that FBI Agent Sarah Feller was back in this one.
There were way too many characters but I was able to keep track of all of them. I didn't have a strong connection to the characters so I didn't really care what happened to them. So l really wasn't on the edge of my seat are feel the suspense.
I loved the first half but I thought that the second half was too slow. This one is every parent's nightmare. Five families plan on a night of dinner and cocktails for parents weekend. As the parents stay out way past their bedtimes, their kids, five residents of Campisi Hall never show up at dinner. What happened to them?
The story was told through multiple points of view in past and present. I was on the edge of my seat at the end there was lots of action which I loved. I loved the short chapters. This was not a predictable read for me. I was not able to solve the mystery. I did enjoy the the conclusion. There were some twist and turns too.

I’ll start by saying that I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review of this book.

I’m always a big fan of those twisty, fast moving thrillers, and this one looked like it might fit that mold to a T…and boy did it!

The story focuses on five freshmen that attend Santa Clara University, and their families that are coming to visit for parents weekend. Everything starts off innocent enough. You’re introduced to the five families, and all of them have their own backstories and secrets. Everyone is supposed to meet up for a family dinner to start the weekend, but the kids never show up, and we’re off!

I don’t want to spoil any details of the families or the students, but all of these characters are very well thought out, full of personality. Usually these thrillers have mostly throw away characters, but these seem to have been written with some love.

I really enjoyed this book. It was very fast paced, and it keeps the reader guessing the entire time! Highly recommend spending a weekend reading this one!

BIG 5 stars! This was my top reads for the month! Thank you Alex Finlay for ANOTHER 5 star book! The perfect amount of twist, turns, secrets, and lies! Multiple POVs and timelines were greatly written. Loved this book!

Sooo this was definitely one of those thrillers. You know, the kind where you can’t stop flipping pages, but then you’re like, “Wait, what just happened?” The vibe was giving parents-gone-wild meets true crime podcast obsession, and honestly, I was into it—at first.

The setup? Super juicy. Parents living it up during college Parents Weekend while their kids mysteriously vanish. Like, hello, anxiety central! Plus, throw in TikTok sleuths calling the kids The Five, and it’s all very “where’s the popcorn?”

Buuut, and here’s the thing, there were soooo many characters. Like, SO many. It felt like speed-dating with trauma. I couldn’t get attached to anyone because I barely got to know them! And while the multiple POVs were fun, some chapters were total snoozeville. The parents’ drama? Entertaining. The FBI agent? Love her. But the kids? Kinda YA-ish and not super compelling.

Now, the twists were decent, but not mind-blowing. And the ending? Girl, it was like when your phone battery dies at 10%—just way too rushed. But hey, I didn’t predict everything, so points for that!

So yeah, it was a fun ride, but it’s not exactly a book I’ll be raving about. More like a good time for a rainy day or a beach read, ya know? 3.5 stars.

Huge thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts! 💖

Agent Keller deserves better...

FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller - introduced in „Every Last Fear“ and on top of her game in „The Night Shift“ - returns and is the only bright light in this subpar thriller.

Sarah, adorable family in tow, has just transferred to California for personal reasons when, during Parents‘ Weekend at an elite university nearby, four sets of parents wait in vain for their children - all residents of the same dorm - to show up to dinner. The university is still dealing with the fallout from another student‘s death earlier that week, so tensions are high - and with two of the missing children having high-profile parents, no time is wasted by local law enforcement. As Agent Keller joins the search, it quickly becomes obvious that a fifth student has disappeared as well. But even though there are plenty of leads, courtesy mostly of the parents‘ questionable life choices, none seem to pan out, and time is running out.

Having read and enjoyed the previous installments featuring Sarah Keller, I was excited to see that the author‘s latest book features her again. However, Sarah - smart and capable as always, with a refreshingly stable family life that’s rarely found in these types of books - was just about the only good thing about „Parents‘ Weekend“.

With five sets of soon-to-be missing students AND their parents, a myriad of characters is introduced in the first few chapters, and it gets worse when you add Sarah and her family, the recently deceased student and *her* family, as well as roommates and random acquaintances with private planes into the mix. Because of the large cast of characters and the book‘s relatively short length, you never really get to know any of them properly, and none of them are developed past tired clichés of college kids (the good girl, the loner, the jokster, the party girl, the rebel…) and their stereotypical, often self-absorbed and mostly morally corrupt parents. In short, it‘s really hard to care about any of them.

While the pacing is fast (the chapters, told from different points of view, are short), the mystery is entirely predictable and the conclusion unsatisfying.

Coming on the heels of the author‘s standalone last book, which I found to be an enjoyable summer read, „Parents’ Weekend“ sadly feels more like a hurriedly thrown together afterthought. Here’s to hoping Sarah’s next adventure will pack more of a punch again.

<i>Many thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

„Parents’ Weekend“ is slated to be released on May 6, 2025.</i>

What a ride! Alex Finlay delivers yet another sure-fire blockbuster with <u>Parent's Weekend.</u>

Five college students have gone missing during the SCU Parent's Weekend. At first everyone suspects that the co-eds have concocted an elaborate hoax, but as the days pass and ominous clues and video footage come to light, you can't help but conclude that these five students have indeed met with foul play.

To say more would lead to possible spoilers, but I have to say that this gripping story had as many harrowing twists and turns as any monster roller coaster ride I've ever been on in my misbegotten youth! I rarely wanted to put this book down.

Alex Finlay never disappoints: his thrillers are well researched and his characters are fully fleshed out. Motives abound, the clock is ticking, and our favourite go-to FBI agent, Sarah Keller, is back on the case. I love watching her brain whirl while she deciphers clues that have by-passed all the other investigators. Frustratingly, the local police keep trying to push Sarah Keller to the sidelines, obstructing her every step of the way.

Will Keller manage to find the trail to the missing students.... before it it too late? Tick Tock Tick Tock!

That ending was a jaw-dropper. Not because we couldn't guess the culprits behind the kids' disappearance, but because we ultimately got it ALL WRONG!!!

I'm rating this engrossing, fast-paced and very well-written thriller a solid 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Well done!
(Expected publication date is May 6, 2025.)

Another wonderful book by this author. It drew me in immediately with the suspense and I found myself connecting to all the characters. Hoping for the best that the “five “would make it home safe safely, but I thought the ending was powerful and a good way to wrap it up. Always enjoy and highly recommend his novels.

Thank you Minotaur books for the ARC! 💞

If Something Happens to Me was a miss for me but I really loved this one and had a hard time putting it down! I enjoyed the characters, and the way chapters were split up by family. Plot was great and different and loved the twist at the end!

So good! I was instantly engaged by the plot. The ending was something I didn't even think of! Very very good!