I just finished reading this book. The plot was absolutely fantastic! It was quite the page turner, and I could nor put the book down once I began reading it. I cannot wait for it to be released. I will recommend it to everyone I know!

Wow wow wow. 5 freaking stars! This book was fast paced and had me hooked from the first page, I couldn’t t put this book down. Definitely a must read, this book, should go to the top of your TBR.

**THIS IS AN ARC REVIEW**

Wow, what a thriller! We follow a group of 5 "friends" and their parents. When they are scheduled to have a parents weekend, and they dont show up, panic ensues! I really enjoyed this thriller. It kept me invested to the shocking ending! The only thing that I didn't wholeheartedly enjoy was that there was so many characters to keep up and it made it a little hard to follow in the beginning. But once I got about halfway and connected with them, that got better! Solid 3.75 stars!!!


Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC!!!

Parents Weekend was my second read by Alex Finlay and it was a very quick and bingeable one filled with lots of action and short chapters. This book is about five missing students that takes places over the weekend where parents visit their college (I love a book with a college setting!). There was a ton of family drama and so many characters and perspectives that I found it challenging to keep track of who was who at the beginning. One of the perspectives is the detective working the case and we follow her step by step through the investigation. I think I would have enjoyed this one more if there was a bigger twist or more of shock factor for me personally as I felt a little bit underwhelmed by the end.

Overall I liked this one and rated it 3-3.5 stars. If you are looking for a quick and bingeable thriller with missing people, family drama and a college setting, check out Parents Weekend (out May 6, 2025).

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this story. The multiple storylines! The nervous parents! The content fear of wondering 'Is it my kid?"
Bravo Mr. Finlay!

The week of parents weekend a girl dies and now the night a group of parents are meeting for dinner with their kids, the kids don’t show up? Where are the 5 and are they ok?

This one has a good amount of characters! There are 5 students plus their families. We learn about 4 of them plus the FBI agent. Each chapter focuses on one of those families. We learn a lot of secrets and how they could factor into this disappearance.

I could not stop reading and a lot of the chapters ended on a cliffhanger so it made you want to keep reading to find out what happened! I did not expect the ending and the big reveal but it worked! This one is suspenseful and a little heartbreaking at the end, but a really good read!

4.5⭐️

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Not Always As It Seems 🩸 🚐 🌊
This is my second Alex Finlay book and I loved it just as much as the first. I enjoy his writing style and the way the stories unravel. This books has a lot of characters to follow and at first I thought that might mess with the story for me but I was hooked and had no trouble with the multiple family drama. And the return of Agent Sarah Keller?! Yesss. Love, love, love.
The Kellers - The Akanas - The Maldonados - The Goffmans - The Roosevelts
It’s parents weekend, what could go wrong?
Blane, Libby, Felix, Mark & Stella - The Five.
All from very different backgrounds, but somehow brought together by the force that is college. One night, pranks gone wrong and revenge will alter the course of their lives. Will FBI Agent Sarah Keller be able to unweave this mystery before someone else ends up hurt?
Thanks @Netgalley for this early copy! Be sure to mark your calendars for this one, out May 6th!

A group of college students go missing right before they are due to meet their parents for a dinner. What happened to the students? What else has the school kept quiet about? What do the students parents have to hide? You have a couple of different storylines that all intermingle at some point but keep you guessing about the original mystery of where did the students go

Popcorn thriller done well! I've got a bit of a phone game addiction going on and this book was unputdownable enough to curb it, thank goodness. I expected it to be about parents behaving badly, but it's actually a police procedural focused on trying to get their kids back after they disappear during parent's weekend. A happy surprise, because I really liked special agent Keller, who is doing the investigating.

There are a ton of characters and it's a little hard to keep straight but my secret for that is: don't try. If you need to know, you'll be reminded, otherwise just let the story sweep you along. I was glued to the pages!

this book was a little confusing at first because of all the families i was trying to keep track of, but once i focused and figured them out, i was hooked. the backstories on all of the families were wild, but not unrealistic. the way the story all came together and played out was so fitting. another hit from alex finlay!

Alex Finley has become one of the authors whose books I anticipate. Parents Weekend did not disappoint. The setting, a bucolic college campus in beautiful coastal California is a great contrast to the dark events. Finley introduces so many reasons for the mysterious events, suspense rises with each new disclosure. And the ending is satisfying. Loved the FBI agent, Keller, and would like to read more of her adventures.

I loved this one and the ties to The Night Shift! It was well-written and held my interest the whole time. The different perspectives helped tell the story and gave different angles and suspense to the plot. The parents weekend on campus setting was unique and fitting to the story. The way it was written allowed for a twist and ending that I wasn’t expecting. I also began to really empathasize with the characters. Great book!

I found this book a little hard to follow in the beginning because of so many characters. Then chapters are titled to help with this confusion but it still is some what hard to track. 5 college freshmen, all with family drama, have their parent/s coming for parents weekend. On the day of the parents arrival, the university learns of the death of a student who has been missing for a week. When all 5 students fail to show up for the family supper and none of them are answering their phones the investigation begins. It is a gripping tale with unexpected twists.

Having myself had multiple visits to private colleges for parent's weekend, I was intrigued. Right from the beginning when five students do not show up for dinner with their parents, I decided to suspend reality and just enjoy the suspense and mystery of what exactly happened. As the chapters alternate between the families and you learn more about the students through their families, Alex Finlay draws you in to their lives and relationships. This twisty suspense thriller kept my interest and was a quick read. Did I already mention that you need to suspend reality? I would like to see the author write another story that includes FBI agent Sarah Keller and her family. May 2025 Pub Date.

I really enjoyed this quick read. I was looking for something to pick up that I could knock out and this delivered. The short chapters had me flying through. I did get a tad confused with all the characters but still really enjoyed the book. I was hooked from page one and the family drama was 5 stars.

Enjoyed the book, as I always do when I read Alex Finlay's work. Several college students become friends while encountering drama with another student who is posting online blogs about them. Not so friendly ones, either. Many of the kids come from families with wealth or fame. I liked nearly none of them, to be honest, but that was mostly the point. A few had redeeming qualities but even the good ones did something not so good when push came to shove. The ending was sad, perhaps a little disappointing in that lessons may be learned but some actions can never be taken back. Great plotting and pacing. A few spoilers but mostly predictable, in a good way. Totally hit the spot for a suspense read last weekend.

Riveting thriller. Detailed characters and interesting story lines. This book held my attention through. There were a few improbable events, but overall, a well-told story.
Parents Weekend introduces us to a series of six families- five families of college students, and one FBI agent and her family. The various dynamics of the families are interesting and formative.
Each of The Five college students has a unique personality and past, that contributes to the storyline.
The ending has some twists and gives a good resolution to the story.
Would definitely recommend.

Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay
Rating: 4 stars
Pub date: 5/1

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for my advanced copy!

Alex Finlay delivers another page-turning thriller in Parents Weekend, a novel full of family drama, college nostalgia, and a chilling mystery. Set against the scenic backdrop of a small Northern California college, five families gather to celebrate their children’s first year. But when the students fail to show up to dinner and remain missing, a joyful weekend quickly spirals into chaos.

Told from multiple perspectives and bouncing between past and present, the story dives into both the mystery of what happened and the complicated lives of the parents involved. Are old secrets to blame? Or is something darker going on among the kids themselves? FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller steps in to help uncover the truth before it’s too late.

It’s twisty, suspenseful, and has just the right amount of emotional depth to keep you invested.

Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay is a quickly paced, binge-worthy “popcorn” thriller. Thanks to the short chapters, full cast of characters (all with something to hide) and the impressive FBI agent Sarah Keller on the case, I flew through this novel. The plot features 5 college students at Santa Clara University in Northern California who are discovered missing over Parents Weekend. All of the parents and missing students have skeletons in their closets. There are many suspects and several red herrings before the fairly predictable reveal and climax. I enjoyed the character of Sarah and her sunshine, golden retriever husband, Bob, and would be happy to read another novel she is featured in. Thriller fans looking for a purely entertaining, not overly serious reading experience for a plane trip or day at the pool should consider this novel. 3.5/5⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Minoraur Books for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own. Estimated release date 5/6/25

You know what, I really enjoy a good fast paced read by Alex Finlay. This is my fourth book by him and each book has had a different feel. Starting out I thought I would feel overwhelmed by the number of characters, but the way the book was setup and the short length of the chapters made it very easy and enjoyable to read. This is a twisty, college campus-set thriller that’s not lacking in the family secrets and dysfunction department. I love an equal parts character and plot driven story and this one definitely delivers. Speaking of characters, if you’ve read The Night Shift you’ll get reacquainted with a familiar character.

My only hold up was the ending. The build up was great and then the ending just kind of fizzled a bit. Don’t get me wrong, still a good ending, but for me it felt like something was missing.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this eArc of Parents Weekend! Can’t wait to see what Alex Finlay writes next.