Pretty unputdownable. There was suspense from beginning to end, and I really cared about the characters. So glad I finally got around to reading this one!

4.5 stars rounded up.

I felt like i started reading this & i immediately couldn't be bothered with doing anything else until i finished this book. this was PHENOMENAL. One of the best psychological thrillers I've ever read. the plot twists at the end has my head spinning. Another masterpiece by Alex.

Alex Finlay delivers a fast-paced and suspenseful thriller in If Something Happens to Me. The plot is intricate and full of surprises, and the pacing is relentless. Just when you think you have it figured out, Finlay throws another curveball, keeping you guessing until the very end. I devoured this book in a single sitting. Highly recommended for fans of thrillers who love a good twist.

Another twisty thriller from Alex Finlay! The short chapters shuffle through many characters’ perspectives and timelines. The story begins with a young teen abduction from Lover’s Lane in small town Kansas. Years later, podcasters do a deep dive in a nearby lake discovering a stolen vehicle with two dead men sitting in the front seat. A brand new member of the sheriff’s department is put in charge of a tip line for the old case and gets sucked into something that hits close to home.

The twists were twisty and the connections were plenty! At about 75% it becomes a cat and mouse game that I flew through!

This book kept you entertained! The multiple POVs, plot elements, and lots of action is exactly what many thriller readers are looking for. I really enjoyed the twists and thrills, and eventually how everything wrapped up and came together.

This book reminded me why I love me a good mystery- the PLOT TWIST! I liked this book. I was reading it on my Kindle and listening to it via Libby. I liked the buildup and the unknown. I liked the dual timelines. I liked the characters and honestly just the overall story. I didn't see the twist coming and was honestly kind of confused as to how all of the characters connected and aligned and then it all made sense. The story follows a young man (Ryan) who is on his way to becoming a lawyer when his past comes back to haunt him yet again. You see when he was in high school his girlfriend was abducted while they were in the car together- he was knocked out and doesn't remember what happened. He was cleared of all charges but the guilt that has followed him is unreal. Now on the other side of the world 5 years later, the car that Ali (his girlfriend) was abducted in has been found. But instead of answers- there are only more questions. Who are these men that were found in the car? Where is Ali?

We are then introduced to Poppy who is a new deputy sheriff in town. She is on duty when Ali's car is found and has decided to dig more into the case. She grew up here. Her brother was friends with Ali. This hits close to home. But the more Poppy digs the more she is confused on what she is finding. How are all of these things tied together?

At the same time we are following a mob family who has gone through a horrible family. We get to read along as all of these characters and plotlines are tied together and woven into a wonderful mystery that has you questioning how far you would go to protect your child?

I will say that I can understand the rating on this one. While I enjoyed it, I did feel like there was a lot of buildup and then it kind of crashed and we were coasting. Another plot twist came at the end that while necessary fell a little flat for me. Overall I would recommend this if you are looking for a fast-paced mystery that leaves you on the edge of your seat wondering what is happening here!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Fast paced, but not my favorite from Alex Finlay. I listened to this one on audio, and I think I would have enjoyed it more had I read this one instead. The audio version had me losing my focus and feeling lost. The chapters were short and snappy with tension and action. Overall I found it to be forgettable, but I will still read more from this author in the future, because I think Alex Finlay is a very talented writer.

Thanks to publisher for my copy.

One of the best things I love when reading thrillers is trying to figure out where the story is going, why, and what's REALLY going on? Alex Finlay is a master at concealing the bigger picture within his thrillers. This talent reminds me of another favorite, Harlen Coben. And just like Coben's thrillers, the book starts with a big bang.
5 years ago, while on a date, Ryan and his girlfriend, Ali, are carjacked. He is assaulted and pulled from the vehicle. Ali and the car disappear. Ryan is never charged and never cleared of Ali's disappearance but popular opinion has already convicted him. To escape the publicity, Ryan changes his name, changes schools and tries to move on with his life, but it's not that easy.
The action intensifies and the plot thickens. As ryan follows the clues, the questions grow with the answers coming slowly. A great twist or two kept my interest locked to the page. 5 easy stars.

I had this book as an ARC and I delayed reading it because life got busy.

This book was a great thriller about a highschool student who is accused of his girlfriend’s murder after she got taken one night and he couldn’t remember anything.

This book was full of twists that I didn’t see coming and it was such a fun ride! I will definitely be reading more from this author!

4/5⭐️

This book was definitely an interesting ride. There were twists and turns that I really enjoyed. I felt there were some parts that seemed to miss the mark and there were some parts that definitely caught my attention. Overall 3/5, decent read.

Wow!! I am a fan of Alex Finlay but this one even blew me away. Twists and turns all the way through sucking you in every minute. Great characters and character development. And that ending...!!! The epitome of what a thriller should be!

I absolutely loved this book. I couldn't put it down. This was a first from the author that I have read but will not be the last. I have added all other books to my TBR. The writing style was easy to follow. I have recommended this book to others. It made me think about things and it wasn't predictable like others. I gave this book 4.75 stars.

I literally could not be more obsessed with this book!!

I haven’t loved a thriller like this in a long time! I was walking around reading it while I was cleaning and cooking - that’s how much this sucked me in.

This was everything a book should be! Twists, unhinged characters with complex stories, dark and super fast paced. I don’t want to give too much away with my review but you won’t regret reading this one!

I found this book to be very average in terms of thrillers. While I was intrigued enough to keep reading, I never felt overly connected to the characters or their stories. I also felt like things all came together a little too easily, and the plot was fairly predictable in the end. The action scenes left quite a bit to be desired as well.

I did enjoy the short chapters and multiple POVs which made for a very quick read.

thank you so much to the publisher and netgalley for the opportunity to read this book. i enjoyed this from beginning to end and there were many twists and turns throughout the book. you think you know what happens and then another clue pops up and you were sadly mistaken. i like how the book took place in multiple places throughout the world. at first it was hard to keep up with the different places and characters but towards the middle/end it all adds up and makes sense.

No family is without its secrets.

Ryan Richardson had been pining for Alison Lane (Ali) for years. They have known each other since 9th grade, and cared for each other for a long time. They will be leaving for different colleges soon. Their special night is interrupted by rain. Back to her father’s BMW, it was looking like Paradise by the Dashboard Lights would finally become a reality, two teens parked in a Lover’s Lane in Leavenworth, Kansas. Alison does not hit him with an I gotta know right now, but they are this close to heaven when the car door is ripped open. Ryan takes a heavy blow to the head, and comes to on the wet grass. The car, and Ali are gone.

We meet Ryan again, the presumed perp, five years later, long suspected of and hassled about that night. Ali has not been heard from. On vacation in Tuscany, his father notifies him that the missing BMW has been found. As if that is not enough, he receives a note in his hotel room from a mysterious stranger, demanding a meeting, and the game is afoot, sending Ryan on a quest to find out the truth of what had really happened that terrible night.

Poppy McGee is late of the military, an MP, having earned her discharge by standing up for herself in a suitable fashion. She had hoped for a gig on the federal level, FBI maybe, but finds herself stuck, instead, in Leavenworth, Kansas, her home town. Her father’s friend, Sheriff Ken, had offered her a safe landing. Deputy Sheriff McGee soon finds herself up to her neck in the five-year-old disappearance. Way to begin!

Shane O’Leary is a very bad man, a Philadelphia gangster with few qualms about the occasional homicide. We soon learn of his involvement in everything;

These three will twirl around each other for the rest of the book, with chapters alternating among them, as each pursues a goal.

Poppy and Ryan are appealing characters, finding a way forward after having faced some serious challenges. O’Leary has a bit of appeal from his love of family. But really, he is a straight up monster.

Finlay offers us a range of venues, from the small city (under 40k pop.) of Leavenworth to the metropolis of Philadelphia, from Tuscany to a small hamlet in the UK to Paris.

"I had never done, really, a European setting and so it is set part in Kansas. I thought a contrast for that would be Ryan on this trip in Italy. It starts with me having a trip in Italy when I was finishing the book What Have We Done?. I always thought this would be a cool setting. And then I finished the novel in Paris, so I naturally wanted to weave that into the story, which I did. And while I was in Paris for this extended period where I had gone just to finish the book, my wife and I went to this small village I had lived in in the UK as a boy. I hadn’t been back in forty years…so that was in the book as well. It was personal travel that inspired settings, but also just things that had stuck with me for forty years. "– from the promo

The secondary characters are given sufficient attention, adding depth to the characterization of the primary three. And Finlay has done a wonderful job of giving several of them explanatory, if not exactly exculpatory, three-dimensionality.

Poppy, in particular, confronts frenemy, Agent Fincher, a fed, who wants Poppy to share details on the investigation. She offers up some details of her own, but leaves us wondering if she is for real.

"The agent sits there appraising Poppy, watches her eat. Eventually, she says, “Are you familiar with Russian folklore, Deputy Sheriff McGee?”
This is too much. Poppy gives the agent a lazy-eyed stare. “Do I look like I’m familiar with Russian folklore?”
Agent Fincher allows herself a smile. “In Russian folklore there’s someone called the Holy Fool.”
The woman is an oddball or genius, Poppy can’t tell which. It’s possible her schtick is just a tactic to get Poppy to talk.
“The Holy Fool is an outsider—sometimes an eccentric, sometimes crazy, sometimes just a child. But it’s their outsider status that makes them a truth teller.”
“I’m not sure where this is—”
“You heard of the story ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’?”
What the hell, Poppy decides to bite. “The story about the emperor who’s told he has a magical outfit and everyone plays along even though he’s naked?”
Agent Fincher snaps her fingers. “Everyone except a little boy. He’s a Holy Fool—someone who’s free to state the truth.”
“What’s this have to do with anything?”
“Oh . . . I don’t know. After you punched your commanding officer in the nose, I was hoping you were one.”
“One what?” Poppy asks.
“A Holy Fool.”
Poppy shakes her head. This lady’s been looking into Poppy’s background. Following her. What’s her deal?
“In real life, our Holy Fools are whistle-blowers. People willing to sacrifice loyalty to their job or other institution to expose the truth.”"

So, should Poppy trust this person or not?

Many novels offer a thing called payload. What did you learn? This is a look at some real-world thing, how certain activities are carried out, the details of philatelic theft, how drugs are transported, how money is laundered, how even benign activities are undertaken. Although there is a bit of this in looking at how O‘Leary launders his income, this was an area in which the book was lacking. While that mote of depth was absent, this will take nothing away from the pace or fun of the book.

If Something Happens to Me is a tale of murder, bullying, REVENGE, passion, and a core mystery (why was Ali kidnapped?) that explains it all. It will keep you guessing and flipping those pages. The only thing that will happen to you on reading Finlay’s latest is that warm, filling feeling of having just read a very satisfying thriller.

Review posted – 10/11/24

Publication date – 5/28/24

I received a ePub ARE and a hard copy of If Something Happens to Me from Minotaur in return for a fair review. Thanks, folks, and thanks to NetGalley for facilitating.

A very interesting read. Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this book. It wasn't really for me, but I am sure that it will be loved by the right audience.

This is a suspenseful, twisty thriller that will geek you turning pages past your bedtime. The alternating chapters kept me guessing and the cat and mouse aspect was really well done.

I've really enjoyed Alex Finlay's books in the past and this was another one that did not disappoint. I flew through this one which was nice. You are on the trip with the narrator as he tries to live his life while still trying to figure out what happened to his girlfriend 5 years ago.

This is my second Alex Finlay book, and it's easy to say I am a huge fan! I loved this book, and I could not stop reading it! I recommend Finlay to all of our patrons who come in looking for suspense and thrillers. Can't wait to read more!

Thank you to the author and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book.