I absolutely loved Alex Finlay's first two books, especially, The Night Shift. He has quickly become a favorite mystery/thriller writer for me. His last one did not quite hit the mark for me as a favorite. But he was definitely back on his A game with If Something Happens To Me. This was so fast paced and kept me up late reading. This is the story of the mysterious disappearance of a teen girl, Ali. Right away, the boyfriend, Ryan quickly becomes the top suspect. But with no real evidence and him having a really good lawyer, he is never charged. But he still has a cloud of suspicion hanging over him. Years later Ali's car is found at the bottom of a lake with two dead men and a cryptic note inside. Things quickly take off from here. There were so many twists and turns in this one that I didn't see coming, especially the ending. Overall, a fun, fast pace read and I will continue to read whatever he writes in the future!

BOOK REVIEW❤️‍🔥🔎📍🪓💣🚨🌧️✈️🇫🇷🇮🇹

If Something Happens To Me - Alex Finlay
Pub date: 5/28/2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

👀 WOW this one was so fun! I needed an action-packed ride like this to bring me back from my recent reading slump. I’ll admit after reading the synop, I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy this one but I loved it.
This story is told in multiple POV’s but wasn’t confusing to follow, which obviously was great.
I LOVED the “mobster” aspect — not many thriller authors can successfully intertwine a mob/mafia storyline into a crime novel, but this was done perfectly in my opinion.
Another thing I truly enjoyed about this book was that there was really no side nonsense. From the very first page, the reader is thrown into ALL the action. There’s enough backstory to keep you informed, but no rambling or unnecessary side plots.
I was fully invested from the very beginning and never got bored! This plot is over the top and wild, but I wasn’t rolling my eyes at any of the far fetched moments. Yes it was crazy, but it was extremely entertaining at the same time.
Such a fun, edge of your seat, action-packed thriller!!

THANK YOU @alexfinlayauthor @netgalley @minotaur_books @stmartinspress for this e-arc! All opinions are my own.

👀Make sure to grab this one when it hits shelves on 5/28!!

#thrillerbooks #thrillerbooksaddict #thrillerbookreview #alexfinlay #ifsomethinghappenstome #netgalleyreview #arcreview #arcreviewer #minotaurbooks #stmartinspress

I really enjoyed this book! It had a plot that had me hooked from the beginning. I liked Alison and Ryan's story and all of the backstory that leads to the quick and twisty ending. Alex Finlay is a must read author for me and this is just another book that is well done and has many layers but it works so well! There are multiple perspectives and it was so well done! Highly recommend this book!

𝗠𝘆 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 4 ½ ⭐️✨
IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO ME
🤍𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: thriller
📖 336 pages
𝗘𝗺𝗼𝗷𝗶𝘀: 🎙️🏍️🇮🇹🚔🕵🏻‍♀️✉️🇫🇷🆘🔥💊🚙
𝗣𝘂𝗯 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲: 5/28/2024

💙𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲💙

Thank you @netgalley @minotaurbooks for the #gifted copy!

IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO ME was captivating from start to finish! I found myself completely engrossed, reading at such a pace that I had to doublecheck the page count 😅 . The story features a wide array of characters & multiple POV, creating a complex web of suspense where trust is a scarce commodity & identifying the guilty party is a thrilling challenge.

The narrative is packed with relentless suspense, nonstop action, & unexpected twists. Each chapter, narrated from a different perspective, kept me equally invested, eager to see how the pieces fit together. The seamless shift between viewpoints added depth & intrigue, making it a compelling read that I highly recommend!

⚠️ bullying, suicide

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲:
◽️ podcasts
◽️ multiple POV
◽️ suspense & twists

𝗣𝗹𝗼𝘁: For 5 years, Ryan Richardson has been haunted by a night of terror, where his girlfriend Ali was abducted. Despite suspicion & online harassment, he's rebuilt his life, studying law under a new identity. A call from his father about Ali's car resurfaces the past, leading Ryan on a journey across continents. As he delves into the mystery, unexpected allies emerge, hinting at salvation from unexpected places. From Italy to the UK to Paris, Ryan's quest for truth uncovers a web of intrigue linking distant locales & unlikely figures.

What a bingeable read this was! This is my second by this author and I definitely need to read his backlist now!

I really enjoyed how Finlay takes a handful of characters with intriguing plot points, who seemingly have nothing to do with one another, yet somehow all interconnect flawlessly.

I loved the short chapters, which kept me fully invested and on the edge of my seat trying to figure out how everything connected within this story. While twisty reveals ensued, they did seem a bit over the top, yet he made them feel believable. My only critique is it was hard to keep track of the characters especially when first names and last names are used interchangeably.

Overall I really enjoyed and will recommend as a solid thriller!
Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur for my #gifted ARCs!

An entertaining summer thriller!

Five years ago, college-bound Alison Lane was abducted in her car at night, and her boyfriend, Ryan Richardson, left behind injured. Ali was never seen again, and Ryan has never been able to get past the suspicion hanging over him that he was somehow involved in Ali‘s disappearance.

Meanwhile, Poppy McGee [award for most fun character name!] has just started work as the deputy sheriff in her hometown of Leavenworth, Kansas. On her first day on the job, the car of missing Alison Lane is discovered in a local lake - and inside it, a cryptic message in an envelope that says „If something happens to me…“.

Following the grizzly discovery, both Ryan - in Tuscany on a trip with friends from law school - and Poppy try to untangle what really happened to Ali. Ryan‘s chase takes him from Italy to the UK and finally, to France, while Poppy quickly realizes some answers lie much closer to home.

Told from three different perspectives - Ryan‘s, Poppy‘s, and Philadelphia local Shane O‘Leary‘s - the book is split into three parts. The first was by far the most fun. Although by the time a certain character is introduced in chapter 4 you can pretty much guess where this is going (and I was able to correctly predict the big twist), I still found the book very entertaining. Sure, the whole thing was a bit over the top and you’ll need some suspension of disbelief at various stages, but I’d consider this the literary equivalent to summer cinema: an enjoyable popcorn thriller. Fast-paced, with some strong, complex characters, and a tour across Europe, this is a fun summer read.

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

„If Something Happens to Me“ is slated to be published on May 28, 2024.

Ryan Richardsons girlfriend went missing 5 years ago and believedto be dead. Everyone believedit was Ryan that killedher even though there was no evidenceto proveit. So when her car was found 5 years later with 2 guys tied to it but no Ali the police began to wonder if she was still alive.

I have read this author before and loved all his books. This one was good as well with a story line that kept the audience intrigued. The only critique I have is there were too many characters and too many POV.
I feel personally it made the story a bit confusing and hard to follow. I usually give 5 stars on his books but I still think the story was good and giving 4 stars.

I want to thank Netgalley and Minotaur books for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first Alex Finlay book, and I was pleasantly surprised. I did call the "big" twist pretty early on, but it didn't take too much away from the remaining development of the book.

Ultimately, I wished for a slightly different ending, but I also appreciate Finlay going down the unexpected route.

All in all, it was a really good book, and a great summer read.

If Something Happens to Me is a riveting, puzzle-piece mystery/thriller from Alex Finlay. It’s layered, quick-reading, nicely paced and one you won’t want to put down.

Ryan Richardson has lived his adult life under suspicion from the tragic day when his high school girlfriend was pulled from his car and disappeared while on a late night, beach date. Ryan remembers very little of the incident, until a vague memory arises years later, which only casts more suspicions his way. Five years later, with a name change and a fresh start underway, he finds himself in Italy with a group of fellow law students when his past shows up once again in alarming fashion.

Poppy McGee is a new deputy sheriff and is immediately drawn into a murder mystery when a submerged vehicle is found in the local lake with two dead men inside. This shocking discovery is one that hits closer to home than Poppy would like. The submerged car is the one Ryan’s missing girlfriend was driving that fateful night, and within its confines a cryptic note is found within an envelope stating, “If something happens to me”.

There are so many facets to this story and it’s so cleverly plotted that it keeps the reader interested throughout the entirety of the plot. This is a compulsive story that is suspenseful, easily accessible and highly entertaining. Alex Finlay is consistently a winning author for me with compelling characters, diverse plots that are intriguing and well-written, and conclusions that are satisfying.

Wow. Alex Finaly is the master of weaving together storylines and characters that you think have nothing in common and then BAM! You are blown away by the way it all comes together. In this story, we follow a law student, a mobster, and a new sheriff’s deputy all over the word from Kansas to Paris, with other stops along the way, as they all play a part in a high schooler who went missing five years ago. It really is masterfully done. I was SHOCKED in the ways some of this story played out. The twists were twisty which is always a plus in my book.

If you haven’t read any of Finlay’s work, this would be a great place to start. I think it showcases some of the best of his work and is a fast, hold your attention the whole time, read.

I LOVED this on audiobook! I am a sucker for a full cast narration moment. With a lot of characters to keep straight, across multiple locations around the world, having three separate narrators was PERFECTION with helping me keep all the moving pieces of this story straight. Highly, highly recommend listening to this one

I was so excited to read Alex Finlay's latest, and If Something Happens to Me was such an amazing book - I thought about it for days after finishing it! Told from different character perspectives, what seem like several different stories seamlessly come together as one for a gripping finale. I don't usually love crime boss thrillers, but this one was spectacular. Finlay does an amazing job creating each character uniquely, and drafting a realistic and believable plot. I cannot recommend this one enough!

If Something Happens to Me is my third Alex Finlay book and I have enjoyed them all. This is a psychological thriller full of twists and turns that keep you wondering what will happen next. The short chapters kept me on the edge of my seat and I blew through this book. There was so much action, dual timelines, multiple characters. At times I did find there were too many characters I kept wondering who was who for awhile. There are also some characters thrown in that give you little bits of info but then you never hear about them again. While I did figure out some of the big twists this was a great book.

4.5 rounded down for a few of the character issues and some mini plots that just seemed so far fetched.

This book comes out on May 28 and definitely recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of If Something Happens to by Alex FInlay for an honest review.

This one felt a bit Koontz-esque as we're given multiple points of view and locations that didn't seem all that related. It was fun watching it come together.

I liked how this unfolded: a mashup of thriller and a very enjoyable, slow burn of a mystery. Finlay's books never disappoint, and this was nearly impossible to put down at bedtime.

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the eARC of If Something Happens to Me. I thought this was a really clever book. I don't want to spoil anything but the author does a great job of having some unique twists with characters and timelines. I think it's a fun ride and a light fast paced read.

I really enjoyed this book. The storylines, at first, had me wondering how it would all come together. How were these stories related. But then it hits and you see how all the characters are intertwined. This book is fast paced. The short chapters make it a fast read. Will definitely be recommending!

I have enjoyed this author’s previous works so I knew I needed to read this one. I listened to the audiobook for a little more than half and I liked it. The narrators did an excellent job and I think it helped me keep the people/locations straight since this book took place in multiple cities with several narrators. As I often do if I have the option I switched to kindle at the halfway point because I was done waiting for the resolution. I didn’t see every twist coming but I did see most of them. The people in this one at first seem completely separate but by the end you can see the threads that tie them together. Ryan is in law school on a school trip to Europe. He’s changed his last name because while he wasn’t charged so many people believed he killed his high school girlfriend who disappeared after being with him and still has never been found. But not everyone has forgot who he is and his pasts may find him even on another continent. Poppy is home from military service and got a job as a deputy, not something she expected, but she’s excited to start. On her first day the car Alison had been in when she disappeared is found but instead of her body there are bodies of two men in the car. This mystery was not bad although it was a little over the top at times I found it to be a fun and wild ride.

Okay, this book was a little convoluted. I did love the dramatic pacing, and the opening made my heart race. However, the mob storylines and action fell flat for me. I felt like there was a bit too much going on and it became hard to keep track of names, timelines, and motives.

Like a lot of Finlay’s other books, I enjoyed this. Also like a lot of his other books, it felt overpopulated with characters and slightly confusing. I did see a lot of the twists coming but it was not boring. I was very invested and loved Poppy’s character. I liked that it was an intercontinental mystery and loved the descriptions of France, Italy, and England.

Nice action packed thriller, but a little unbelievable at times. I also found the writing subpar and the overall author's commentary on things like social media, US VS UK cultural differences just did not land well. This is not the book I would openly recommend to my friends, however I can see some people enjoying its fast pacing and plot.

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

If Something Happens to Me has been making its way onto best of and most anticipated lists while keeping a strong rating which is hard for a book to do, even at early stages, and had me intrigued. While I enjoy mysteries and thrillers I generally don’t like to navigate many characters or when it becomes sheriff or detective focused (to the point of being procedural) so I had been a little cautious to read this but all the great reception encouraged me on. I am so glad I did!

While this isn’t your classic thriller or mystery novel it’s leaps beyond. Not procedural at all and building distinct enough characters while weaving them into the story masterfully, this was a pleasure to read. While this story is about Allison gone missing and Ryan, her boyfriend’s, journey past that to present day when the mystery cracks open again, it’s also about the mob and the army and vigilantism. Everything came together with hardly a red herring in sight and kept me enjoying the book throughout while anticipating what would come next.

Highly recommended and just perfectly balanced.