ARC Book Review: “Parents Weekend” by Alex Finlay
Parents Weekend is a gripping thriller that delves into the mysterious disappearance of 5 college students during a weekend event with their parents. As the investigation unfolds, multiple characters’ perspectives come into play, including FBI agents, the missing students, and even the parents themselves. The narrative is layered with suspense as secrets and lies unravel, and the search for the truth becomes more complicated by the minute.
My Review:
I rated “Parents Weekend” 4/5 stars. This book definitely had me hooked from the beginning, with its intriguing premise and suspenseful atmosphere. The twists and turns kept me engaged, though I did feel that the pacing slowed down in the middle.
One of the things I enjoy most in thrillers is the use of multiple points of view, and this book certainly delivers on that front. The FBI agent's perspective was by far my favorite. I really liked her character and felt like I got to know her better than the others, which made her parts of the story stand out. However, with so many different viewpoints, it was hard to truly connect with most of the characters. It felt like we only scratched the surface with many of them, which left me a little detached from the overall story.
That said, “Parents Weekend”is still a twisty and enjoyable mystery. I appreciated the complexity of the plot and the unpredictable twists, even if the execution wasn’t flawless. Overall, I’d recommend it to fans of fast-paced thrillers with plenty of surprises along the way. I’m looking forward to reading more from Alex Finlay in the future!

I’m a such a huge fan of Alex Finlay and this book didn’t disappoint. I finished this book within a day. It’s a very fast paced, easy read with plenty of twist to keep you entertained!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC for review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC for review.

I am such a huge fan of Alex Finlay but this one is probably among my least favorite. It's not that it was bad -- it wasn't -- I just didn't really care for most of the characters or the mystery. A group of college students go missing during parents weekend, and their (mostly terrible) parents try to figure out what happened. There were too many characters, which often led to confusion. There were a lot of red herrings, things that distracted from the main story. The resolution just felt a bit, meh.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing this book, with my honest review below.

I’m generally not a fan of thrillers focused entirely on a Detective’s point of view, and Parents Weekend did me right by having a stellar ‘Detective’ in FBI Agent Sarah Keller but balancing that out with chapters from a wide range of other characters.

Set during Parents Weekend at Santa Clara University, the weekend kicks off with the discovery of the body of a young college student who has passed away, then pivoting to the emerging mystery of some missing students. The parents share their perspective in chapters, and we get a look into what the students are experiencing as well. But Sarah Keller was undoubtedly the strongest thread in the book, helping act as a touch point to sum up everything that was happening and make connections that would have been drowned out or lost if we relied on the parents and kids perspectives alone.

I had fun reading this, not because it’s particularly fun subject matter but because it was a true mystery with a lot of intrigue as to what instigated the kidnapping, as there were a lot of skeletons being hidden.

4.5 stars

I've enjoyed everything I've ready by this author, and this book was no different. There are a lot of characters, but I feel like the author did a great job of switching between all of them If you're a reader that doesn't enjoy or can't follow a lot of characters, this book may not be for you. I also really liked the length of the chapters. This was a fun popcorn thriller. It grabbed my attention right away, and I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next. The plot was great, and I liked the writing style. Is it a little far fetched, yep, but that's why they call it fiction. I will absolutely continue reading anything this author writes.

3.5/5 Stars:

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the return of FBI agent Sarah Keller. While I didn’t find Keller’s personal life a relevant aspect of the plot, I did enjoy her investigative skills (even if there were times where I had to suspend belief).

I enjoyed the dynamics between each of the families (even if it got repetitive pretty quickly). The plot itself was easy to follow but still retained some twists even for seasoned readers.

I definitely recommend if you’re looking for a college-set thriller and have enjoyed Finlay’s previous works!

3.5

It's parents weekend at Santa Clara University and the parents of a capstone class get together for dinner. They wait for their children, but they never show up. Who was out to get the kids, and why? Was it because of their sketchy parents and their backgrounds? Or did the kids mess with the wrong people?

This book was unique as it was told from 10 different perspectives, each revealing a little more of the story as it went on. We had the parents of the missing kids, the kids themselves, and Special Agent Keller, who was investigating the case. This made the book very fast-paced as each chapter was short and often ended on a cliffhanger. At first, I was really confused because the parents' chapters are marked with their last name, but the kids' chapters only have their first name. With my bad memory, I had a hard time remembering the kids' last names to match them with their parents.

I thought it was interesting to read about each of the parents' enemies/wrongdoings in Keller's effort to find out what happened to the kids. However, it was pretty clear which clues were red herrings, so that sort of took away from the suspense of the book.

The book was overall a quick read and kept my attention throughout. The ending was surprising but not a huge twist. I think this would be a great book to read between long fantasy/heavy brainpower books.

Thank you to NetGalley + St. Martin's Press for this ARC!

This was a 3.5 star read for me. I usually really enjoy Alex Finlay's books. I liked this one as well, but it was really, really predictable from the beginning. Sadly, I figured it out from the get-go, which made the book a bit less enjoyable for me. It was a quick read, but I wish the plot had a bit more complexities or a fun twist!

This review was also published on Goodreads.

Well that was a fun one! It's Parents Weekend at SCU and everyone's parents have descended on the Bay Area. Things do not go as planned when their five children do not show up for the welcome dinner and seem to have vanished into thin air. Through the multiple points of view, the reader is taken on a wild ride of drama and deception to find out what happened to the kids and bring them home safely.

There were a lot of characters to keep track of, but the author does a nice job keeping everyone relevant to the plot. Each family has some dark secrets that come to light as the story unfolds, and although I guessed a part of the ending, it was a great reveal. I'm a huge fan of Keller and her sidekick Annie. This book and its multiple viewpoints is a good "perception vs. reality" study. Without revealing too much, I'm sure things would have turned out differently in the end if some characters weren't so sure about what they knew. This was a refreshing thriller that deviated from the formula in a very entertaining and enjoyable way.

Thank you, @alexfinlayauthor @netgalley @stmartinspress, for the opportunity to be an ARC reader for Parents Weekend. Parents Weekend was the first book I read by Alex Finlay, and now I'm ready to dive into every book he's written. I thoroughly enjoyed all the characters, but Special Agent Keller was my favorite. One of the things I enjoyed the most about the book was the multiple POVs.

This book will be right at home with other psychological thrillers that the public can’t seem to get enough of. This particular story is told over one weekend, at a college in Northern California. I enjoyed for the landmarks I was familiar with, Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay. It’s parents weekend, and 5 students are missing. One of their friends was found dead just a few days ago, and then this mysterious disappearance. We meet the parents of the missing students, and their back stories. And Agent Keller, who is out on the west coast ostensibly to support her husband acting for his aging father. There’s a lot going on. I got a bit bored mid way through, and skimmed to learn the ending. Having said that, I still would recommend for all public libraries. I’m just tired of this genre personally.

A fast-paced, fun ride of a mystery! In true Finlay fashion, it feels more like watching an action movie as opposed to reading a mystery novel, but I love that about his books! There isn’t a whole lot of depth, despite the many controversial and triggering topics he tends to throw in, but instead he skims the surface and keeps you on the edge of your seat in suspense.
It was confusing at first to keep up with so many characters and plots, but Finlay does well in re-iterating all the stories that blend together.
If you’re looking for an amusing thriller, this should be your next read!

I finished the book in one day. It is a quick read, with the exception of the number of characters playing major roles. You have 6 college students and all their parents’ stories. It was a little difficult to form a visual of the characters. Fortunately the FBI agent recaps who did what. I found the book to be more of a mystery than a thriller.

This was a good popcorn thriller. Would I change some things yes. This book had great twists and turns I just wish there was more detail on it. Great execution but I feel like it went from a to B there was no great detail. The first half of the book was great but the second half became very slow. Loved the different points of views and it was a great mystery’.

Pretty good thriller. It was a little slow at times, but overall good and I couldn’t figure out the twist. Short and quick read. Interesting idea.

Parents Weekend tells the story of 5 college students who go missing on the night of their school's Parent's weekend event and how their parents desperately try to figure out what happened. FBI agent Sarah Keller is called to work on the case. She and the head of campus security dig deeper into the parents of each student, wondering if someone kidnapped them for revenge of some kind. But the truth behind the disappearances unfolds with each tense chapter as Keller discovers a twisted tale of a prank gone wrong and the consequences of modern social media. I like how Alex Finally keeps the chapters short because it keeps the reader on edge until the climax. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

my first book by alex finlay and i’m not sure how to feel about it. i was definitely expecting more. the pacing was good and i enjoyed the short chapters. my favorite character was easily chief mccray, mainly because he was the only character with an ounce of personality and good banter. there was just no connecting with the characters at all and the plot was not as gripping as i hoped.

thank you to netgalley + st. martin’s for the arc.i

Alex Finlay never disappoints and Parents Weekend was so SO good! I really enjoyed the multiple view points and the detective storyline (I’m not usually a fan of detective novel but this was different) that didn’t dominate the book but instead provided such great insight into the investigation and Keller was easy to love. Alex Finlay is easily in my top 5 authors- an absolute must read!

If you enjoyed watching "How to Get Away with Murder" this is the book for you. It has the same vibe as the tv series. Kinda on the edge of your seat suspense. I loved it!

Thank you Netgalley and St Martins Press for the advance ecopy of this book.

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.

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 come to cause them peril or a threat to the friend group from within?

I'm a big Alex Finlay fan and have enjoyed many of his previous books. While i did like the storyline, I found that there were far to many characters to keep track of. I found ghis very distracting. Overall I'd Raye this book 3 out of 5 ⭐️