This was a fun one. I enjoyed the story, the setting and the multiple characters with multiple POV. A fast read, I read this in a day. The story flowed well and the ending wasn't exactly what I had expected. I really loved the college town setting. Fans of Frieda McFadden, John Marrs, etc would also enjoy this read. I can't wait to read more from this author!

Wow, Parents Weekend just completely sucked me in! You know how some thrillers can feel a little predictable? Not this one. From the very first page, I was hooked, trying to piece together all the secrets swirling around that isolated college campus. There were definitely moments, especially as the story unfolded, where I felt a knot of anxiety in my stomach – the kind that makes you fly through the pages.

The way Finlay built the suspense was masterful. Just when I thought I had a handle on things, another layer would be peeled back, leading me down a completely different path. The characters were complex and flawed, making their struggles and motivations feel so real. I particularly appreciated how the story explored the fierce protectiveness of parents and the unbreakable bonds of family, even when faced with unimaginable circumstances. There were also some really powerful undercurrents about the strength of women in the face of adversity and the importance of looking out for each other.

While there were some dark themes explored – things that definitely made me feel uneasy – they weren't gratuitous. They served to heighten the stakes and add a layer of grit to the narrative. The ending? Let's just say it left me reeling. It wasn't necessarily what I expected, and while a small part of me might have wished for a slightly different resolution, it ultimately felt earned and impactful within the context of the story.

Overall, Parents Weekend is a gripping and thought-provoking thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat until the very last page. If you're looking for a book that will keep you guessing and leave a lasting impression, definitely pick this one up. Highly recommended!

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s press for the ARC copy.

Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay is a fast-paced, suspenseful read that hooked me from the beginning. The plot is full of twists and tension, and the short chapters made it easy to fly through — I finished it quickly because I genuinely wanted to see how it all played out. Finlay does a great job of keeping the reader engaged, with just enough intrigue to keep the pages turning.

However, while the setup and buildup were strong, the resolution left me a bit disappointed. After all the momentum, the ending felt rushed and not quite as satisfying as I hoped.

Overall, it was entertaining and worth the read, but the payoff didn't quite match the promise. A solid thriller with a gripping start, but the ending may not land for everyone.

In the glow of their children’s exciting first year of college at a small private school in Northern California, five families gather over dinner and cocktails for the opening festivities of Parents Weekend. As the parents stay out way past their bedtimes, their kids—five residents of Campisi Hall—never show up to dinner.

This was a great read, I really liked it

It is out May 6, 2025 and I highly recommend it

Thank you to @minotaur_books , @netgalley and @alexfinlayauthor for the #gifted ebook.

Before starting this book I made sure to settle in comfortably knowing that I was going to lose myself into this story and of course I was right! Five families travel to a small private college ready to celebrate their children’s first year at a dinner thrown especially for them. The five college kids never show for dinner and panic ensues. Told from multiple points of view this is an intense and suspenseful story from beginning to end!

First, special thank you to St. Martin's Press and MacMillan Audio for the e-arcs in exchange of my honest review. Brittany Pressley on narration is another favorite of mine and it was fantastic!
I always love how Alex Finlay can write a book with multi-POV ( yes! a lot of POV) and make it to where it flows smooth and not chaotic.
The story is about a group of parents visiting their college kids in the university for a Parent's Weekend. The parents and kids are supposed to have dinner and dinner they did but the kids did not show up. Not just that, they also went missing.
I love that there are so many angles and sides to the mystery that was evolving. I love that there were so many possible suspects that could have been responsible. I love how the kids were portrayed as realistic college kids and that the parents sounded to me like how they should. There were so many characters and yet they are very distinguishable from each other. Beautiful writing all the way through that kept me on my toes till the very end! I highly recommend!

This book was great fun. I read it in one sitting. I was underwhelmed by the predictable ending but it read super fast and was a blast.

Agent Sarah Keller returns in this gripping story of a college Parents Weekend and the chaos that unfolds.

One student's dead and five are missing - and all their parents have something to hide. As Agent Sarah Keller investigates, the story becomes more entangled as secrets, lies, affairs, and hidden pasts come to life. Can she find the missing students before one becomes six dead? And will these parents be able to enjoy their Parents Weekend...

I have read all of Alex Finlay's novels, and I think this may be my favorite one yet. I absolutely love Sarah Keller as a character - and this novel really explores the duality of career woman and motherhood as she navigates a very serious case while balancing the demands of her family's personal life. She's a complete bad ass and I love her dry humor throughout the novel - a lot of her lines made me laugh.

With so many different plots, twists, turns, and red herrings, I really didn't have a clue where this was headed for most of the book. I will say I ended up catching on right before the reveal - but if you aren't paying attention, you're going to miss it! And that is what is so fun about Alex Finlay's novels - he is just that good at creating an intertwined narrative where no one seems anything but a mixture of innocence and guilt.

If you love twisty thrillers that read quick - you definitely want to make this a priority in your tbr!

Thank you, St. Martin's Press and Netgalley, for a copy of this e-arc and audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed a lot of things about this book. First, I love short chapters. I mainly listened to the audio of the book, so it felt like it flew by. I loved the plot and was immediately captured by the drama unfolding. The only difficulty I had was keeping track of all the characters. I eventually got the hang of it, but listening made it much harder, especially with only one narrator. Despite this, I enjoyed the book overall and thought the plot twist was decent. It's not the best I've ever read, but by no means the worst. Overall, it was a fun/fast read for any mystery/thriller lover.

3.5 stars rounded down

I devoured this in one setting. I loved that this book was such a fun fast read. I enjoyed the characters and the setting. College campus was perfect. This is definitely a quick read, lots of twists and turns and overall just a great book!!

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the copy of this ARC.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book felt a little scattered. I couldn’t quite tell what it wanted to be: Thriller focused on the college kids, FBI who-dun-it novel, or uncovering scandal. It also felt like there was too many POVs happening and it was extremely hard to keep track of. I think if the central theme had been presented and then started weaving in different POVs throughout the story rather than each chapter at the beginning being a different family, I would’ve had an easier time with this one. I appreciate the author trying something new though! I feel like this book was way more character based than action based which is interesting for a thriller. It was incredibly fast paced and made for a very quick read. I liked getting to see all the characters graduations at the end to wrap up the story. Overall, I just had a hard time sinking my teeth into this one.

5 out of 5 Stars!

When 5 families gather around Friday night for the opening festivities of Parents Weekend, they expect to meet up with their children. But as the night goes on, panic increases when they cannot get in touch with their kids. They are college students, so were they irresponsible and forgetting about the dinner? Libby, Blane, Mark, Felix, and Stella all come from very different families. So, what drew them out together on that Friday night? Was it fate, or did one of their secrets come out?

I was so excited to see Alex Finaly’s new book come out, “Parents Weekend”. Last year, I was given an ARC of “If Something Happens to Me”, and I was HOOKED by that novel. To no surprise, I was equally hooked on “Parents Weekend”. This was a fast-paced mystery that constantly had me on my toes. We get MULTIPLE perspectives throughout this book, which quickened the pace I was reading. The end of every chapter left me wanting more and questioning what I really knew.

Not only are we figuring out what happened to the five college kids, but we are trying to figure out their family’s secrets. Every family had their own secrets they didn’t want to discover, which added another level of surprise. We got to hear perspectives from the parents, the kids, the detective, and more that I won’t spoil. I personally love books with dozens of perspectives, as I can never guess the ending with so many suspects. Which is what exactly happened in this book. The ending really threw me for a loop, and I did not see it coming. The ending felt like a full circle, which is one of my favorite ways to conclude a mystery.

Alex Finlay is turning out to be one of my favorite authors! I cannot wait to read more by him in the future and to read his past books. Pick up “Parents Weekend” by Alex Finlay on May 6th, 2025.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Emilia Hart, and Netgalley for a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

This was a solid/decent read.

Entertaining and suspenseful.

It was a slow start but then it began to pick up. Enjoyed how the story turned out to be about.

This was a bingeable thriller. I loved that Agent Keller made a reappearance. That being said, I didn’t feel truly invested in the story or characters. Due to the large number of characters and different POVs, they didn’t feel fully developed. But if you’re looking for a quick, twisty, entertaining read, this meets the criteria.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a copy of this book!

Devoured this in just a couple of days! Agent Sarah Keller, featured in two of Finlay’s earlier five-star thrillers, is back and in California. She gets assigned a mysterious case at a small private college where five students go missing during Parents Weekend. The story alternates between her POV and that of the various families of the missing students, and man is it a tale of rich people behaving badly. That put me off a little bit, there was so much lying and infidelity going on, but overall it was a solid mystery that came together nicely in the end. I didn’t like it quite as much as the last two Keller books, but it kept my attention the whole time and I think it will be a great read for the beach bags this summer!

Thank you NetGalley and St Martins Press Publishing for sending this DRC for review consideration.

Loved the college campus setting—it made the perfect backdrop for this twisty thriller! Parents Weekend adds tension as students go missing, and the flawed, distracted parents add an extra layer of intrigue. Loved the multiple POVs. Enjoyed seeing Agent Keller return from The Night Shift!

SO GOOD!

Another great book by Alex Finley!

It would have 5 stars from me if I didn’t guess the perps. But overall it was written so well, and the plot and story line were really enjoyable. I was actual able to keep straight the different couples / families, and that’s a win for me. Usually that means they’re described really well and different in distinct ways. 10/10 on that aspect for me.

Regarding me guessing, it clicked about halfway in. But there were still quite a few things I was surprised with. Would definitely recommend this to others!

I appreciated the opportunity to read Alex Finlay's latest novel.

It's parents weekend at the college. A group of parents attending the weekend are awaiting their children for dinner reservations, when their children don't show up. Instantly the parents begin to worry, each of them coming from different backgrounds and having different reasons for their fears.

I appreciated that this book was set on a college campus. I am a fan of an academia setting. I found the premise to be a bit predictable, but it was an enjoyable read overall.

Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay is another entertaining read by Alex Finlay, it follows FBI special agent Sarah Keller. In the new book Sarah Keller is investigating the disappearance of five college students during Parent’s Weekend.
Alex Finlay’s books are always very fast-paced and addicting and Parent Weekend was as good as the previous ones.
Overall, I thought this was a great read and I look forward to reading more of Finlay's work.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As always, a very heartfelt thank you to @netgalley and @minotaur_books for the opportunity to read Alex Finlay’s newest thriller “Parents Weekend,” which releases May 6, 2025.

While it’s true that I read this over the course of an evening and enjoyed it, I found this one to be more of a popcorn thriller than some of his earlier work. There was a large ensemble cast and, while handled well by Finlay, made it feel as though the story lacked depth as time couldn’t really be spent getting to know the characters on the page as the plot needed to be moved along lest it stagnate.

I did enjoy the reappearance of Agent Sarah Keller from his earlier work, as well as her husband Bob and the twins. I also thoroughly enjoyed Chief Jay McCray, who is introduced early on and who shines throughout.

The loss of life in this one felt senseless and the character’s motivations were frustrating, but given it centers on a group of young college kids and their disappearance, it fits. The ending felt rushed, with a lot happening all at once, but overall I enjoyed it and would recommend it as a nice little palette cleanser between heavier reads.

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