Happy Pub Day!!!!

A quick read that kept me interested but was otherwise…uneventful? I mean things HAPPENED and i was hooked while reading so it wasn’t a bad book just…a meh one.

I loved The Night Shift so my bar is high for Alex Finlay but this got me through a run and the installation of a pesky AC unit so a win is a win.

Multi-POV and lots of awesome character history to make it more dramatic!!!

Thanks to Macmillan audio for the ALC! Brittany Pressley narrates and she is my FAVORITE so an automatic star for her 🙂‍↕️

Thank you @minitaur_books for my complementary copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

If you enjoy a captivating mystery intertwined with family drama, then this story is perfect for you! When five sets of parents gather for their freshman children's college parents' weekend, they eagerly anticipate reuniting with their kids. However, none of the students show up for dinner, which surprises the parents but they dismiss this as a typical freshman rebellion. However, as time passes, the parents grow increasingly anxious, especially following the unsettling news that a student was found dead just a week prior. Tensions escalate, prompting the involvement of campus police. Soon, Special Agent Sarah Keller arrives on the scene—fans may remember her from Finlay’s 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘓𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘍𝘦𝘢𝘳 and 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘧𝘵. As the mystery unfolds, the stakes become higher, revealing secrets that could change everything.

I always look forward to the next Alex Finlay novel and I really enjoyed this one!

I discovered Alex Finlay last year and was really looking forward to this book. It’s a quick, easy read with an intriguing premise—five college students go missing during parents weekend. The plot definitely kept me interested, but I found the large cast of characters a bit overwhelming at times. I had to flip back a few pages now and then just to remember who was who. If you don’t read it in a short timeframe, it’s easy to lose track and need a refresher like I did. Still, an enjoyable read overall!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

You know it’s a good time of year when it’s time to read the latest Alex Finlay novel!!

“Parents Weekend” is set on a college campus (my favourite for thrillers)

Its parents weekend at Santa Clara University and five students are supposed to be meeting their parents for dinner, until they all don’t show up. Each chapter is told from the perspective of a different family. Both the parents and students all have secrets they hope to keep hidden and just make it through parents weekend.

The chapters are short and each one ends with a tiny cliffhanger to keep you guessing and wanting more! This was a hard book to put down.

We also have the third return of Agent Keller and I love to watch her journey figuring out what happened to the missing students!

Thank you so much @alexfinlayauthor and @minotaur_books for my advanced copy!

my rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🥳pub day: May 6th

I thought this was a good book. It was a bit hard for me to follow all the families and which characters belonged to which, but that’s no fault to the author. I always struggle with multiple characters and keeping track of them all. I do think there were some storylines that weren’t necessary in the grand scheme, but I understand development is important.

This was great on audio. A mystery set at a college campus when 5 students go missing. The FBI agent was great and it was well told and mysterious.

Another fast, twisty thriller from Alex Finlay! I flew through this one over a weekend. Five college students vanish during Parents Weekend, and everyone—parents and kids alike—is hiding something. Loved the return of FBI agent Sarah Keller from The Night Shift. Tons of suspects, high stakes, and nonstop suspense.

The characters in this book were not exactly endearing, but that doesn't detract from the suspense. There are also plenty of characters and subplots to keep track of. Still, I give this one a thumbs up and would recommend.

I really enjoyed the premise of this book, it’s what originally had me wanting to read it.
Sarah Keller was one of my favs in this book, she’s great and character throughout the whole story!
Overall though, I did find that the book dragged on and even there were smaller things thrown in the book, it just didn’t do it fully for me.
The ending kind of wasn’t for me. I found it got rushed and then just was done.

First of all thank you NetGalley and Minitour for the ARC of this book. This is a story about college student pranks, lies, betrayal, revenge and friendship. This story is told in short chapters but the cast of characters is so big you need a spreadsheet to keep track of everyone. It's a bit mysterious and twisted and ties up nicely at the end. I enjoyed it but don't think I would recommend it. I give it 3 1/2 stars rounded up to 4

3.5 stars.
A weekend with parents congregating at an small private college is the setting for this tense thriller. We meet the parents as they arrive, and quickly see families full of angers, jealousies and secrets, putting on a face for their young adult children, who are much more aware of the frictions present than their parents know or would like.

Five of these students are slated to arrive at the same dinner with these parents, and we meet these young people earlier in the day, nervous about a secret pertaining to a recently drowned fellow student. The Five, as they come to be known, never end up meeting their parents, which sets off a rapid security and police response.

Sarah Keller has recently joined the local FBI office; her father-in-law is quite ill, and the whole family has temporarily relocated to be near the man. Sarah is called into the search, and does what she does best: asking questions, seeing connections, and finding important clues that lead to reveals amongst the affected families, and, eventually, the location of the students.

The pace really picks up after the introductions of all the characters (and there are a lot). I was also quite happy when Keller appeared, as I knew things would start moving fast after.

The high character count meant that I was frequently confused about which parent I was dealing with, and the mystery was not as twisty as I was hoping for, but I still enjoyed this, going back and forth between the book and audio. The talented Brittany Pressley narrates, and skilfully inhabits each of the many characters in this story. Since I often will choose to go the audio route for a story if Pressley is the narrator, I was glad she took us through this latest from Alex Finlay, which, though not his best, was still a compelling story.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and to Macmillan Audio for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Not my fav by this author which is a shame as I’ve loved the other two I’ve read by him. The ending felt rushed. The epilogue was three years later and rushed with no background. There were so many POVs (which I typically love) that it was hard to keep up with who was who because the POV would be a full family so double the names the memorize.

4 stars

While this wasn’t my favorite Alex Findlay novel, it was still good. I love agent Keller and her husband Bob. Jay and Annie were great. The kids were good okay minus Stella. The parents, minus Stella’s were parents. Her parents were a special kind of wow from the moment you met them on the plane. What messed up family. The ending was good but there were definitely parts in the middle that dragged. Overall it was pretty good.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

PARENTS WEEKEND by Alex Finlay

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the e-arc.

Five freshman-year college kids disappear during the opening night of Parents Weekend, sending their families and campus into chaos. Told through multiple POVs across past and present, the story dives deep into family secrets, expectations, and the pressures that shape these young lives.

I loved the concept and the multiple perspectives- though it took me a bit to get each character/family straight, it really gave insight into each family’s dynamics. Some details of the families felt a little extra and maybe not strictly necessary, but they added fun layers to the story. The mystery kept me hooked, even if the ending stretched believability, it didn’t lose the popcorn-thriller vibe. Bonus points for returning characters from Finlay’s other books, which I only realized after reading reviews!

This was my first book I have read by Alex Finlay and I am not sure if I would be able to pick up another one. There was just so much going on with all of the multiple characters that it was confusing to keep everything together in my mind.

When the bad person is revealed, I definitely understand how they got to this point and did what they did. This was a twisty thriller that kept me guessing to the end. I look forward to reading more of Alex Finlay's work in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this one.
I love Alex Finlay’s writing. His characters are always so well written.
The book starts with introducing the reader to the families. 5 sets of parents are gathering for Parents Weekend at a college campus in CA. Their kids are part of a Capstone group and will meet them for dinner that evening. I liked how you got. Glimpse into each of the parents lives and back stories. As they gather for dinner, wiring for their kids the night is endless. Because the kids are a no show. At first they think they are plying a prank or at a party. But they aren’t. Bring in Special Agent Sarah Keller. (Love when characters from previous stories make an entrance).

They quickly realize the kids are not gone of their free will.

The clock is ticking and no one knows what’s going on. Who has them or why.

Pretty soon some clues come out and you realize something big is going on.

Fast paced. Really interesting and fun read.

This was my first Alex Finlay book so I'm not sure how it compares to the rest of his writing. I wouldn't say this book makes me want to read another one of his right away but maybe in the future. There wasn't really much connection with too many of the characters, and I didn't really get too into it until the very end when it was all coming together.

I was so thrilled to be given the opportunity to read Alex Finlay's new novel "Parents Weekend." Overall, an enjoyable read, just not a favorite like "Every Last Fear" is to me. I rounded this one up for a 3.5. This new book centers around a California college, its town, and a group of students and their parents at Parents Weekend. Thinking back to my own college kids' parent's weekends, it evoked many pleasurable memories. This book was not about those kinds of idyllic parents' weekend; this one is every parent's worst nightmare! A female student has turned up dead on a local beach and foul play is suspected. Next several of the dead young girl's friends go missing. A cleaver who-done-it, and though somewhat predictable, I found it a very enjoyable read. An interesting group of characters keep you wanting to keep turning the pages and make it a good little suspense novel.

Thank you, Alex Finlay, Net Galley and Minotaur Books, for another good eARC in exchange for my honest review. Keep pumping them out Alex, I will keep reading them! Make sure you give this one a read if you want an easy, enjoyable read.

I wish I could give feedback on this book. I requested this book when it was still possible to transfer on Kobo.

I'll update this review once I read this book on my own.

I’ve read The Night Shift and ever since, Alex Finlay became an autobuy thriller author for me!

I love his fast pacing and he writes in short chapters that makes reading so bingeable! I also love following the investigation part of all his books. And his latest book, Parents Weekend is another one you should add to your list if you’d like to read a book that you’d honestly just fly through.

I listened to it mostly on audiobook and even if the book was told in multiple POV, it wasn’t confusing at all because the narration was easy to follow!!

Now for the plot. It’s Parents Weekend at a small private school in Northern California. When the kids didn’t show up for the first night dinner, the parents thought that the kids were just being kids until they soon later find out that five of the kids were missing. Aaaand that’s all I’d say about the plot without giving anything away! 😂

Thank you @macmillan.audio for the free audiobook!!!

💭 Do you guys know that Mormon Wives season 2 is now out?! Haha. I’m excited to binge it! Also, I just finished binge watching a new show on Hulu called High Potential! It’s really good too!!! Please give me more TV show recs!!!