Wow!! I really enjoyed reading this book. It was very exciting and there always seemed to be a cliffhanger at the end of the chapter, which made it very difficult to set the book down. The pacing of the book was excellent, there were no fillers or endless pages of describing everything. That to me is always my biggest pet peeve. I would definitely recommend this book. Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my review.

What I did like: I liked how the chapters alternated between the different families. I liked the setting and the idea of parents weekend gone wrong.

What I didn’t like: this was hard for me to get into. It had so many characters and not enough time to build up each of their situations and lives. I didn’t find myself caring about them for that reason. There were a lot of red herrings that seemed very randomly thrown in and never explained. Why did we need to know about all this family drama if it ended up meaning nothing? The ending was not a good twist and I found myself unsatisfied.

I am a big Alex Finlay fan, so I was thrilled to read this one. Parents Weekend is set at Santa Clara University which is a great setting and school. Five students do not show up for a scheduled dinner with their parents at the start of parents weekend. Each chapter shifts from family to family with the five families having their own struggles and suspicions. One of the parents is a big wig in the State Department and another is high profile judge both have security details and issues. A recently relocated FBI agent is called in to assist with the investigation--she is competent and likable.

As the investigation proceeds, there are several red herrings and leads that go no where. Unfortunately, I did figure out the perpetrators and the motive pretty early on. Since I had solved the mystery, I could not rate this a five star book and instead gave it four stars. I did enjoy how the chapters changed from family to family and I did stay up late several nights because I was enjoying the book. This book will appeal to mystery lovers, parents of college aged children, AND college students because of the wide age range of the characters.

Book: Parents Weekend
Author: Alex Finlay
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pub Date: May 6, 2025

This book sees the return of FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller from Every Last Fear and The Night Shift. Both books I loved. Parents Weekend is my least favorite of Alex Finlay books. There are soooooo many characters. You’re going to need to make a family tree. It’s a lot. Also it’s very giving of YA vibes. It may just be because it’s about teens but still. One of the strong points of this book is the short chapters. It made it feel like a quick read despite the thousands of characters. The parents are over the top and the kids all have something to hide. The ending offers quite a bit of action and saved the book for me.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this sneak peak! Publication date is May 6, 2025.

This book was just fine. The plot had promise, but in the end I found myself underwhelmed and struggling to keep up with all the characters’ POVs. The writing felt slightly amateurish which took away from the story for me and the twist wasn’t surprising. If you’re a big fan of Alex Finlay then maybe you’ll like this, but if you’re looking for an intriguing mystery, maybe look for something else. (3.25/5)

**This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**

Parent's Weekend is meant to be a blast for both kids and parents, but when the little munchkins ghost dinner, that’s when the panic button gets hit! Especially with a student turning up dead! Enter FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller, the superstar from Every Last Fear and The Night Shift, as she races against time to track down five missing students before the clock runs out!

Alex Finlay is quickly climbing my auto-buy author list! Parent's Weekend had me hooked from the very first page, and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time! Sure, there were a few too many characters to juggle, which got a bit dizzying, but the story flowed like a smooth ride, keeping me entertained and guessing. It threw me for some wild loops and wrapped up like a gift! 4.5 star read for sure!

Oh well. A bunch of stereotypical wealthy people and their kids, a good FBI agent and the beautiful Bay area. I lost interest faster than I could turn the pages. Underwhelming and not very entertaining. Thank you #netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Wish it could have been better.

At Santa Clara University, five families come together during parents' weekend. When the five residents of Campisi Hall never arrive during open festivities, the parents think that they bailed for parties on campus, but as the night progresses, some of the parents start to panic. The campus police soon call in reinforcements and Agent Kellar of the FBI is sent in to find The Five. Why would someone take five students on the same night?

This was a great mystery, and I loved the different POVs from the families. I was captivated by the number of secrets that both the parents and the students seem to be hiding. Every chapter seemed to have another clue, and I couldn't put this book down. Alex Finlay is becoming one of my mystery authors and I can't wait to see what he writes next.

Parents' Weekend comes out May 6th.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to review Parents' Weekend. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

So, I like the author and did enjoy this one. I would only caution that the writing style is a bit different than I'd experienced in their other books and it took me a bit. I'm not sure that I ever really liked the *way* this one was written, but still enjoyed the story itself.

I was very, very curious about what had happened to our students.

The reason behind everything is very prosaic, but very sad.

I ended the book feeling that I liked it without loving it, but didn't regret the read.

Parents Weekend is another amazing novel by Alex Finlay. Five families gather together for parents weekend at a private college in California. As dinner comes and goes, the students still don't appear. But they're just college kids right? They'll have to turn up eventually. Except they don't. As the parents hunt for their kids, a few dark secrets of their own come out. Are the parents secrets what got their kids in trouble? Or is it something of their own doing.

These novels feature Special Agent Sarah Keller from some of Alex Finlay's previous novels. I read this in about a day. It was a really great thriller that kept me entertained. If you're a fan of Alex Finlay's other novels, you should definitely check this one out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ERC of this book.

The first three quarters of this book had my full attention. A good thriller, albeit with a lot of moving parts which can be a little confusing. The problem for me was the lead up was good, but the ending felt rushed and disappointing.
Rounding up to 3.5 Stars

In the glow of their children’s exciting first year of college at a small private school in Northern California, five families plan on a night of dinner and cocktails for the opening festivities of Parents Weekend. As the parents stay out way past their bedtimes, their kids―five residents of Campisi Hall―never show up at dinner.

Alex Finlay hooked me with If Something Happens to Me so I was wildly excited for this one! The book begins with chapters introducing each family, who all have their own set of problems.... Infidelity, celebrity, secrets, and felonies. There are so many characters that it was a bit overwhelming and hard to keep everyone straight at first. Given the large cast of characters and the short length of the book, you have very little buildup for the characters, and you just jump right into the story. I will say that this was a pretty predictable thriller -- there was no huge plot twist, and you pretty much know what happened and why, but I was still engaged from the very first page. This booked was paced so well with its short, gripping chapters.

Overall, I think that if you're a thriller or Alex Finlay lover, you'll enjoy this one too!

Parents Weekend follows the disappearance of five college students when they do not show up to meet their respective families for a group dinner. Each family seems to have a secret to hide- is someone from their past responsible for the disappearance of their children, or is there more to the story?

Parents Weekend is a solid thriller. It was far more of a crime drama that I anticipated, which isn’t necessarily my favorite thing, and I did feel that the story dragged quite a bit in the middle. However, I’m glad that I finished it because the author really did bring it together with a solid ending. In addition, I found many of the lead characters to be likable and enjoyed a few surprise twists along the way.

3.5 stars rounded to 4- Especially recommended those who like an FBI themed mystery.

3.5 stars rounded to 4 stars

5 families gather on a college campus for a Parents Weekend dinner. But their students don’t show, and no one can reach them. At first, everyone thinks the students might have skipped the parents’ dinner to party, even though it seems out of character for some of them. But the families, who are all harboring their own secrets, and local law enforcement quickly realize that there is more to this story. The campus calls in Special Agent Sarah Keller to investigate… especially since another student was found dead last week. Are the incidents related? Were the students taken because of the sins of their families?


This was my first book by Alex Finley, but apparently Special Agent Sarah Keller is in some of his previous books. I really enjoyed Finley’s writing style and was immediately sucked into this story. I liked the multiple POVS and the short chapters. It felt like watching an episode of Criminal Minds which I loved!


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This was a solid 4 star read for me, but I deducted .5 stars because I wanted more of Felix at the end. I felt like we missed a lot with how he escaped the cave, his & Natasha's father's interactions at the end, etc.

I loved this book and devoured it in two days! I loved the Agent Keller. The story was well written and the plot was intricate. I figured out the killer towards the very end of the book, but it wasn't a 'gimme'. Well done!

I do normally love a Finlay thriller, but this one missed the mark. There were way too many characters, and I had a hard time keeping straight who was related to who. I also felt the twist wasn’t that surprising, as I could guess it pretty quickly once we heard about Natasha’s death and the disappearance. I was glad to see Keller back, and would definitely read more books about her.

This was a bit of a trip. A group of missing students. Parents descending on their college campus when they all go missing. And each parental unit has a secret or something they want to hide. It's a typical formula for thrilling reading. What keeps me reading though is the way Alex Finlay weaves the storylines of each character, building their personalities and the plot. While the formula is typical, this book kept me in the dark until the end.

It wasn't gruesome so it's definitely a book for anyone who enjoys a "who dunnit".

3.5 stars.

I really enjoyed Night Shift so I had high expectations going into this, which may have set me up for failure. The storyline just didn’t hit for me. It could have been a case of right author, wrong time, but I just wasn’t feeling it. I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what didn’t work for me as the writing was solid, and the characters were compelling. I think I honestly was the problem.

I read this one in a day and yet still only give it three stars - not because of the writing, which continues to be engaging and smooth as in Finlay's earlier novels, but because the plot itself was sort of a jumble of weirdness... I really like the way he tells a story, I just didn't particularly like this story. The ending, including the twists that weren't entirely surprises but still well presented, is where it really lost me. I liked the buildup, although I am increasingly frustrated with large casts of characters and multiple points of view - which seem to be a modern plague on novels, particularly thrillers.

It was a quick read and an engaging one, but definitely not my favorite of his novels. I did really like seeing Agent Keller back though, and hope she and her delightful husband Bob will continue to appear in Finlay's novels - I love their dynamic and enjoy them as characters. They are a nice steady foil for all of the dysfunction of the murders and other horribles involved in the books.

2.5 stars for me, just wasn’t as exciting as i wanted. not a bad book by any means and i wouldn’t convince anyone not to read it, just wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it