My 4th Finlay novel and this one was so much fun!

In true Finlay fashion, there were a lot of characters and a lot of POVs. It does take a little time to get to know everyone before you can really sit back and enjoy… but once you do, it moves fast.

I saw someone give this a 1-star reviewing describing it as a “popcorn thriller”. Why is that a bad thing? Personally, I love a popcorn thriller! Sign me up.

4⭐️

I was really excited for this one, I really enjoy this author. This book though it just had too many characters and the plot was entirely too silly. It didn't hold my attention and I felt myself loosing interest quickly and not wanting to pick it back up. It was hard for me to push through and finish it..

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

There's a lot going on in this book. You have five different families, parents and children. and the investigators. All with perspectives. Chapters are short, which I do like but they needed more substance, especially Agent Kellers viewpoint.

Overall, its a good read, kinda a slow burn until 50-60% through.

It was also an easy one to figure out for the reader.

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for letting me read this arc! This book was good. I liked that the chapters were short and made for quick reading. There were alot of characters and i wish they were more developed. I would recommend for a quick read.

Parents Weekend was a fast, engaging read with solid pacing, and I enjoyed reuniting with Agent Keller. I did figure out the big twist, but it didn’t take away from the ride. My biggest gripe? I wish the student characters had been more developed. Definitely plot-driven, but still a fun thriller!

Five college students disappear during Parent’s Weekend. Agent Keller takes over the case and uncovers hidden motives and secrets among these college students and their influential families.
This was an exciting story that had plenty of twists and turns. I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this eARC that will be released March 2025!

I did enjoy this thriller, however it seemed a little YA to me. Not a bad story but didn’t really hold my attention as well as I wanted it to. The chapters were so quick and constant change of POV. I have read another book of this authors and loved it but this one just wasn’t my favorite .

A very good thriller set at a parents weekend which I read while also on a parents weekend. Fortunately nobody died or disappeared in my iteration.

Seven families are involved when five students disappear at the start of parents weekend. I found that it was a lot of characters to keep track of, particularly as most of the parents and students have secrets that appear to be linked to the disappearance before petering out into a false trail. Though this rings a little false on the credibility-o-meter, the author just about keeps things reined in to at least the outskirts of believability.

As with the author’s previous books, the chapters are short and often end on a cliff hanger, keeping the novel zipping along. The perspective moves from parents to students to the FBI agent brought in to find the missing students. The resolution and dramatic final scenes are not quite fairly won but are satisfying nonetheless.

The closest I got to murder at my son’s parents weekend was a workshop on Vertigo, which is how I prefer it personally, but kudos to the author for making a fictional one an easy way to pass the time on the flights to and from.

Thanks to Minotaur and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for allowing me to have an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions. First of all, I enjoy this authors books, so I was excited to be chosen to read it. The book dives right into the heavy stuff, which allows the reader time to get back stories on the missing students, their parents and the university. I do feel like it was slightly predictable in a way, but it doesn't take away from the story. I found myself reading "Just one more chapter" when really I needed to go to bed or do chores because I had to know what was going to happen next! Overall, I think this book will be a hit with mystery/thriller readers!

This book had too many characters and the story wasn’t interesting at all. Hate that for this author when so many of his previous books were great.

Thank you St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read this e-arc early.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?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.

Not for me. Too many characters, plot too silly. I really liked this author‘s first few books, but this one and the last one were not good for me. I understand the thrillers sometimes need to suspend reality to work, but this one just was too much.

Alex Finlay delivers yet another gripping thriller with Parent Weekend, a fast-paced, suspenseful novel that kept me on edge from start to finish which makes it hard to put down!

If you’re looking for a page-turner that will keep you guessing until the very end, Parent Weekend is a must-read. I would highly recommend.

Alex finlay is becoming a go to author for me. So I knew I needed to read this book when I saw it on netgalley.
It’s parents weekend at a private school in Northern California. So 5 students parents show up to welcome to the school dinner. As the parents are getting to know each other and taking shots, they think their kids are just rebelling against them and miss the dinner on purpose. After none of the parents hear from their kids the next day, they start to panic.
I enjoyed this book, it was fast paced and kept my attention. One thing about it is there was way too many characters. If I didn’t write them down it was hard to keep track of them.

FBI Special Agent Keller is back!

There's something so comforting about Finlay's writing style. He's my go-to thriller/mystery author. I know what I'm going to get. There will be some cool references to 80s/90s pop culture and a healthy dose of true crime podcasts/social media used as clues—all elements I find infinitely entertaining.

While this book meets my Alex Finlay expectations, there was one storytelling choice I found to be weak. The mystery isn't as tightly crafted as his other books. The red herrings are too obvious and the real mystery lacks breadcrumbs. As a reader, I didn't have enough information to make any guesses as to what really happened. There are also a lot of characters! So much time was needed to set up all the players that the story doesn't start until ~25% into the book. I forgave this delay only because I love Agent Keller and will wait for her to arrive on the scene.

Still a fun escape read! If you're already a Finlay fan you'll enjoy this one, but probably not as much as his other hits.

Parents Weekend is my fifth novel by Finlay -- he's one of my favorite authors and I have enjoyed his back list so much. It was so good to be back with Special Agent Sarah Keller and her husband, Bob! The Keller Family chapters were definitely my favorite. Parents Weekend was multiple POV -- essentially a group of college kids doesn't turn up to dinner for parents weekend at SCU and the different POV's are all the different parents. I found it difficult to really connect to the characters as there is SO many different students and parents to remember. I found myself taken out of the story a lot of times because I was busy trying to figure out who was who at the beginning of each chapter. I think if even one POV was taken away it would've made for a more enjoyable experience. With that being said, I didn't feel much for these characters since I couldn't really get to know them very well, with all of the different POVs.

I thought the reveal at the end was clever (with the sea claves and the prank on the beach and the professor) but it did feel a bit rushed. A solid crime thriller, but not my absolute favorite by Finlay.

Very very entertaining and engaging. This one is a real page turner. Once started it was very hard to put down. It has a very interesting flow and chapter breakdown. It makes it easy to follow the story yet remain curious what lurks around the next corner.

Parents Weekend was a surprise from the start. I loved meeting each couple and seeing their dramas. Those played out amongst the larger plot of the missing children and made for excitement on every page. I especially enjoyed the Kellers, particularly Bob, who was such a great, lovable character. I couldn’t get enough of the book and in true Alex Finlay style, this book is a star! Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This author can be hit or miss for me, and Parents Weekend was somewhere in between. The setup was engaging, and there were some tense, well-written moments, but the pacing felt uneven, and some characters fell flat. It kept me reading, but it didn’t fully deliver the impact I was hoping for.

I had high hopes for this one considering the fact that I adored Alex Finlay‘s most recent book before this one, but this was definitely a mess for me and I should’ve known this going in because I suspected that this was a vacation thriller and I am not a fan of that trope but because of my having loved the last book I decided I would give it a chance and much to my chagrin I quickly realized I was right to think that I would not enjoy the tropes in this one. It honestly felt to me like a different writer, the characters were not nearly as fleshed out and I did not find them particularly likable. The writing also felt very mediocre which was especially disappointing when I thought his last book was well above average. This was enough to make me less excited for any of his future books but I am not opposed to giving him another shot as so far it’s only one to one Ratio of go to bed. I did enjoy the cup though and wish I could keep it but I’m trying really hard to get rid of books I read and do not like and only keep ones that I have loved or enjoy enough to potentially read them again or need them for reference. Others might like this more but this to me felt like your run of the mail dime a dozen low quality page Turner with an ending that is so convoluted and unrealistic that it really spoils the effects of a thrilling ending because it’s just too ridiculous.