Because I have enjoyed Alex Finlay's previous works, with The Night Shift and If Something Happens to Me, being recent faves. When I saw “Parents Weekend”, I knew I would likely enjoy the read!

When the Five are a group of freshman students who are TikTok famous for their podcasting, fail to show up to Santa Clara University’s Parents Weekend kickoff dinner. The Campus Police seem not be overly concerned and presume youthful shenanigans at first, but they are also nervous about another campus scandal after after not taking a call about another missing student seriously and was later found dead. From there the chapters are from multiple POV, but although at times a bit confusing and a tad uneven, we get the full story and perspective. The book also features the return of FBI agent Keller from the Night Shift, so that's a pleasant surprise.

My takeaway is that this author tends to write both adult and youth voices well and his plots are always engaging and twisty. I liked it and would recommend!

2.5 🌟 rounded down

Please, authors, I beg of you - don't make me keep track of that many characters ever again, this isn't Game of Thrones 🫠

Nearly every chapter changed POV. There are the missing 5, their parents, college staff, the FBI agent, her family members, various cops/security detail, other college students, etc etc. My god just stop it.

Besides that, it was just okay. Not much depth is explored for the characters because there are so many of them. You get to know the parents better than the kids who are missing. The parents aren't particularly likeable, either. I mainly liked Agent Keller and her family. I didn't feel much tension build up or anything throughout the plot. Side plots seemed to resolve nearly immediately. It was a very quick read though, I'll give it that. I would give Finlay another shot because I liked If Something Happens to Me.

Recommended for popcorn thriller readers who have a good memory for characters.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

4.25 stars
The events in this book take place during a Parents Weekend at a private college in Northern California. A small group of students from the same dorm room are supposed to meet their parents at a celebratory dinner. They come from a variety of backgrounds, so not all of the parents click. Some of the spouses aren't getting along either, so for some it was already going to be a long weekend, even before a series of events occur that definitely are NOT on the agenda.

The story is told from multiple points-of-view and this keeps the story moving quickly. There is a combination of characters to root for and others that are hard to take. My favorite characters aren't even parents or students. FBI Agent Sarah Kelly is on a temporary assignment in the area due to a family situation. She becomes involved in an investigation of a missing student and finds secrets around every corner. Sarah and her supportive husband, Bob, are wonderful characters and I would love to see Sarah leading a future investigation. I like her bravery and her initiative and also the way she takes a student who is interning at the campus security office under her wing.

The book is suspenseful and parts are bittersweet. There are a lot of red herrings to keep you guessing as to what is really going on with this group of students. This is the second book I've read by Finlay, and I like his style of writing. The ending was a bit rushed, but a detailed epilogue helps to wrap things up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advance copy of the ebook.

WOW!! Can Alex Finlay do any wrong?? I've read and LOVED everything he's written and Parents Weekend is no exception. I finished this in ONE sitting! Lots of twist and turns, right to the very end. Great characters, I especially like he brought back FBI agent Keller from previous books. This one is not to be missed!

Great suspense read; kept me guessing till near the end. It's parents weekend at college and it starts out with sad news. A student is found drowned after being found in a cave on the beach after high tide. Soon after five students disappear. Is it connected...Since one of the parents attending is an official from Washington, an FBI agent on temporary duty to the area is called in to assist the local and campus police. So many leads are found while investigating, but it is determined early on it has nothing to do with the official. So, why were the kids taken and who took them. The parents of all the kids have secrets and issues and lies they have told, but did any of them do this?

I enjoyed this book, the short chapters made it feel like a quick read which I really like in mystery/crime books.
Really good plot, i liked the characters and while they were different from each other they fit together perfectly at the same time. Overall, it wrapped everything up well but I do think there could have been a little more to it.

3.50…….If you’re looking for a quick read, an escape and another fun thriller try Parent’s Weekend by Alex Finlay.

It’s college weekend at a private college in California and right as the weekend is getting started a girl is found dead. Next five students and their parents are meeting for dinner, but……..the kids don’t show up. 24 hours later the search begins.

There are a lot of characters to keep track of, many who you won’t like. Spoiler……Felix, the character I liked the most dies in the end. All in all it was a faced pace, fun read. It was fun to reminisce about my college days while reading the book.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press l Minotaur Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I look forward to reading more Alex Finlay books. They are a great way to escape from a hectic day.

Quick read. Love the short chapters. I really like Agent Sarah Keller and wish there was a bit more of her, Bob and the kids in the story. The mystery was okay. The characters could have been better. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

That prologue 🙌🏼 if you know you know ‼️

When you wish you could go back to that D on your report card or when you use to be afraid your parents would find your edible or condom stash….

I appreciated the modern day slang and use of tik tok. I was engaged immediately, but it did take me a minute to follow the multiple pov & characters.

I have decided that rich people drama is officially my favourite genre. Throw in a campus and a murder mystery and you will have me on the first page. I loved the multiple points of view this was told in, the twist, and the messiness of the characters. A fun, fast read!

It is parents' weekend at a small, elite private college, and five families arrange to have dinner together. As the night goes on, things get scary, when none of their college age children show up.

This is my second book. I’ve read by this author, and I enjoyed the first book, but this one was a little bit of a letdown. This is a mystery and a thriller, but there were so many characters and the storyline changed so much that it was really hard to follow along. I just feel like the timeline changed so often that it was really hard to keep up with what was going on.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc and alc.

Alex Finlay is back with another fantastic thriller!! I really enjoyed this book and I finished it within a day or two. Furthermore, Brittany Pressley does a fabulous job as the audiobook narrator and I love how she brought the characters in the story to life. Yes, I may have preferred it if this book had multicast narration, but if there was only going to be one narrator for this book, I am very glad it was Brittany Pressley! I highly recommend picking up this thriller this summer, and I am looking forward to Alex's next book!

Thank you @stmartinspress @minotaur_books and @NetGalley for my copy!

There are many characters and POVs in this story, but I felt that I was able to keep track of everyone. This story was a good combination of character development and plot driven. I loved agent Keller’s character in Finlay’s The Night Shift and Every Last Fear, so I was happy to see her again in this story. She’s smart and she’s not afraid to take risks. I did not see where the story was heading, and I enjoyed the fast paced journey to get there. I felt like the story ending may have been a bit rushed, but I enjoyed this one and would recommend it.

Fast paced and quick read. Although I did feel in the middle it dragged a little too much but overall a good read. Most things in the book was predictable and of course there were some that were not.

When 5 kids go missing right away people thought it was a prank or kids just going off grid for a bit. When they realize it was not a prank you have local cops and the FBI involved. The parents of these kids tend to have their own drama in their lives. It makes you think is it the parents doing that these kids are missing or is it the kids themselves?

Thank you NetGalley for this Arc!

I love this author’s writing style and knew I was going to enjoy this one going into it! Such great character development and twists!

BOOK REVIEW: PARENTS WEEKEND

I loveeee thrillers set on college campuses and absolutely loved If Something Happens to me, so I knew I had to pick this one up! I went between my @netgalley copy and audio and enjoyed both!

Five families come into town for a Parents Weekend at a small private college in California. Their kids never show up to the welcome dinner, which turns the weekend into a tailspin as the search for the missing students commences, which unearths hidden truths from each family.

This one was pretty fast paced and with multiple POVs and timelines was a little hard to follow at times for me just bc there were so many characters to track. Overall I liked it but it wasn’t my fav from this author. I also didn’t feel super connected to the missing students as the story revolves much more around the families and their drama than it did the students themselves.

I’d recommend if you want a quick popcorn thriller!

The characters in this book were messy with lots of drama and I loved that! While the description of this book totally hooked me, it ended up being way more about the detective than the students and it turned out to be a little different than what I thought it would be. There were a lot of characters and it was a little difficult to keep up with, and it started to feel totally unrealistic at the end. Overall it was an entertaining read and I wanted to know what happened, but it was not my favorite. 2.5 / 5 stars for me!

Genuinely... what happened here? This feels like the first draft you send to an editor. At times it barely feels like more than an outline just to get the basic story on the page. There are times the writing is so bare bones I thought I was missing something, and there are blatant spelling and grammar errors. I know this is an ARC but typically they're farther along than a basic editing stage. Again, this feels like a story that was chugged out within a few weeks and then sent off to the printer with no further discussion.

Even the story is pretty poor- it doesn't feel like any care was taken with any of these characters or their actions. I'm struggling to find specific things to say about it because it was just so generally terrible. I've read one of Alex Finlay's books in the past and I didn't like it, but that was more about content I disagreed with and it felt mostly competent. Is this a publishing thing, like was this rushed out? I'm genuinely baffled. It's been a long time since I read something so poorly slapped together, especially by a known and well-liked author.

Thanks for the advanced reader copy from Netgalley. Parents Weekend is a good easy beach read about college kids going missing and secrets. Popcorn thriller.

Finlay always does a good job of giving you multiple POVs that keep you on your toes. I felt like this was the true definition of a popcorn thriller. I was hooked and flew through it. It had super short chapters (my favorite) and having so many characters helped *and* hindered the story. It was hard to keep track of it. All the characters are unlikeable which kept the drama alive. The twist was predictable but it wasn’t bad, just not my favorite.

Thank you @netgalley for my copy!