A quick and entertaining weekend read.

It’s parent’s weekend at Santa Clara University. When five first-year students fail to show up at the opening night dinner, their parents race to uncover where they’ve gone. Along the way, their family secrets are unveiled to the world and to one another.

Parent’s Weekend follows the typical path that you’d expect from a thriller/murder mystery. I thought I would find the jumping between families to be confusing, but Alex Finlay does a good job of making each of the families decently distinct, helping to keep them apart. I found the focus really being in on what the parents were doing, thinking, saying to be an interesting twist on the genre. I also liked the occasional jump to seeing the events through the eyes of their children.

I found the pacing to be well done. Everything moves quickly, so there’s always something going on, and I felt that the reveal of details and smattering of clues were well timed. The characters were pretty typical for what I’d expect from a thriller like this one. They’re well-rounded but without a lot of depth; trying to delve into them any farther would have been difficult given the number of characters Finlay was working with. Thankfully, I didn’t find any of them super unlikable or bland which always turns me off on a book.

There’s definitely a twist at the end that I didn’t expect which was nice given that I felt like I knew where the book was leading the entire time.

When I started reading, I didn’t realise that the FBI agent had appeared in previous Finlay works. I will say, I didn’t need to read any of the previous ones to get into this one. This definitely reads as a standalone book, and any context that was needed was neatly woven in that I didn’t even know there were other books.

Overall, this is a solid book. If you’re really into the crime/thriller/detective-y genre, I found it to be a good and compelling read. It’s fast-paced enough that I made it threw in a few days and the chapters kept me wanting more.

I liked the multiple POVs, and the fast-paced, engaging plotting. The mystery surrounding the five missing kids is unravelled slowly, but there’s so much happening with clues dropping that you can’t possibly get bored. Each family has their own storyline and secrets, which adds to the overall intrigue.

Five college students go missing. Can their parents save them?

I thought the plot was intriguing but I felt that the parents and their messed up lives got in the way. The story should have been about the students not the parents. I also didn’t connect with the students or their parents. My favorite characters were the heroes of the story Agent Sarah Keller and her husband Bob. I also enjoyed the short chapters.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Brittany Pressley. Brittany had a great reading voice and gave each character their own voice.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Parents Weekend was a quick and entertaining thriller. I flew through it, and the audiobook narrator, Brittany Pressley, did an amazing job. The story had some good twists, but there were too many characters for me. It made things feel a little all over the place at times. Still, it delivered on the suspense and kept me curious enough to see how it all played out.

Parents weekend is the latest from Alex Finlay, quickly becoming an auto purchase author for me.
As with all his earlier ones, this is a fast-paced, page-turning twisting thriller that keeps ratcheting the suspense and twists. Parents weekend has arrived for college students and the campus is abuzz with excitement. Five groups of parents arrive in town and bond over drinks and dinner while they wait for their children to join them. Time creeps by and the five students never arrive. Is their absence a. Prank on the parents or something more sinister? And do the sins of the parents have a part to play in the disappearances?
A fun, fast thriller perfect for summer reading season! Finlay scores again and will gain more fans!

Thanks to the publisher for the arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

PARENT’S WEEKEND
Alex Finlay

PARENTS WEEKEND was really good. I knew I would like it I did not know I would love it.

It’s PARENTS WEEKEND, and all the parents have arrived. They’re all very different from each other, their only commonality being that their children attend school together.

The parents arrive at dinner hopeful and excited. They order a few drinks and settle in, waiting for their children to arrive. Only as time ticks by do they realize none of the children are there.

As a few of the parents start to get anxious, others convince them it isn’t a big deal. There is hazing going on, and they chalk it up to a prank.

As night turns to dawn, the parents realize something far more nefarious is going on. They alert authorities, and before the sun rises, they assemble a search party, and they are on the hunt for the college students.


I would say if you’ve read Finally before with mixed ratings, this is the best opportunity to give it a try. I had more fun with PARENTS WEEKEND than I thought I would.

I have always enjoyed aspects of Finlay’s writing, and this time, I thought everything came together more successfully than in the prior attempts.

Are you planning to pick up PARENTS WEEKEND?

Thanks to Netgalley, St Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copies!

PARENTS WEEKEND…⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was a fast paced, keep you on your toes, read. I honestly went into this book totally blind and enjoyed the journey we went on. We're introduced immediately to new characters for the first several chapters and plunged straight into the drama, 4 students missing on parent's weekend at college, other than being in the same capstone group, why was it these 4?

I love a true crime style fiction book so loved the format. Trying to keep up with all the characters was hard initially but then we got moving and it was easier to keep the connections. There were some surprises along the way but it wasn't overly suspenseful, I love being fooled by the author but I didn't have that happen here, it was a bit predictable as we got to the closing chapter.

This was still a good read and a short one at that so if you need a quick zippy read, this is a good choice!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. Alex Finlay does it again! This thrilled had me hanging on to the edge of my seat the whole time. I just couldn't put it down. My only complaint was there were SO many characters. It was hard to keep track of them all.

another pub day, another review! alex finlay is back with a quick, light, and entertaining mystery that takes place at a california college during parent's weekend. this book has a lot of twists and red herrings, which i normally love, but these ones all got squared away a little too quickly. i wanted them to breathe a little bit and cause some more tension, but it didn't bother me too much. i have personal opinions about the whodunnit/ending, but i won't spoil it for anybody.

my main issue with this book is that i didn't have enough time to get to know anybody in it. there were just way too many characters and not enough space. the only person who we get to spend time with is special agent sarah keller. i liked her and her family, but even she could have used more of a deep dive because they all came across a little too perfect (then again, i did audibly shout "BOB!!" at one part of the book). this is the third of finlay's books that keller has been in, but i didn't remember (and i LOVED the night shift!) her. overall, i think she's a strong and levelheaded lady and i appreciated her steadiness, but i just wanted to get to know even more.

also, the author's note at the end made me laugh — i didn't know alex finlay and david ellis were besties and this quick little acknowledgment was a very fun way to wrap up the book!

thanks to st. martin's press and minotaur books for the digital copy of this book on netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Being a fan of Alex Finlay’s work, I was thrilled to see that his newest book, Parent’s Weekend, sees the return of Special Agent Sarah Keller. (from Every Last Fear and The Night Shift). While not quite as good as last years excellent If Something Happens to Me, Parent’s Weekend was still a very engaging read. As the title indicates, the story takes place on a college’s parent’s weekend, where five students go missing. What exactly happened to them? Who is responsible. Told from multiple POVs and across two timelines, Finlay weaves an entertaining tale littered with family dysfunction. While there are quite a few characters to keep straight, the short chapters reminded me of James Patterson, which had the effect of keeping me reading longer than I originally intended. I’d like to thank St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of Parent’s Weekend.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/parents-weekend-alex-finlay/1146167585?ean=9781250360731&bvnotificationId=f0799b25-2af9-11f0-93bd-0affed7ccdb7&bvmessageType=REVIEW_APPROVED&bvrecipientDomain=gmail.com#review/345334696

The older I get the more I like thriller books, and I also understand why my grandmother always had one in her hands. Alex is now on my favorite thriller authors because he constantly had me second guessing myself. Did the book end at all how I thought it would? Nope not at all! I truly love when a book keeps me on the edge of my seat and this book did that! And yes I did cry a little a the end.

📚: Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay
⭐️: 4/5

Ah, parents weekend on a college campus. A time for students to show their parents around, hide the contents of their mini fridge, and hope for not too many embarrassing childhood references. Except for this year at Santa Clara University, where instead parents weekend means a dead student, five missing students, and families falling apart.

It’s been a hot minute since we had a new Alex Finlay book (over 2 years!) and I forgot how compulsively addictive his reads are.

Cover to cover in just a few hours, this was twisty with memorable characters that I had to know what happened to them. (I also love that it takes place in the same universe as Finlay’s other books - the Blockbuster murders reference made me want to pick up The Night Shift all over again.)

Minus one star for an ending that, while satisfying, didn’t necessarily leave my jaw on the ground. For such a twisty ride, I wanted just a bit more shock at the end.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press via @netgalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Parents Weekend is out today!

Read Completed 5/5/25 | 3.25 stars | Book #63 of 2025
I read this book as an advanced copy audiobook provided by the publisher, Macmillan Publishing. Thank you to Macmillan for this opportunity! This free copy did not affect my opinion in any way.

Alex Finlay's books are (almost) always enjoyable, but in classic Alex Finlay fashion, this was another big cast of characters that just made it hard for me to connect with anyone. We're always bouncing around from chapter to chapter -- and this time, we have whole FAMILIES to keep track of each chapter. Since it's Parents' Weekend, we have two parents for almost every student as well as the students themselves, and everyone has their own little story going. It wasn't a bad thing, but for my tastes, personally, it just makes it really hard to care about anyone. There are at least 18 main characters here and it's just a lot.

The ending wasn't super surprising or exciting. I was too busy watching all of the characters to really start guessing at who the bad guy what and what was going on, but it really wasn't shocking at all when it came up, so it wasn't super satisfying and it really wasn't a big twist or anything.

This was a fine read but I can't say I'd go out and recommend it. I think I would have wondered what it was all about if I didn't read it, and I'm glad I picked it up, but this isn't going to be memorable at all for me. It was just okay!

AUDIOBOOK THOUGHTS: Brittany Pressley did the narration for this book, and she's one of my favorite audiobook narrators! Even after all these years, I still really like her voice for just about anything, and I always think she does a good job with thrillers. There are a lot of different voices here and they felt different enough considering there are tons of different characters to voice. I'd definitely recommend the audiobook, though I know one narrator for all this may not be ideal for some people.

If college orientation ever felt chaotic, try adding a missing persons case, a tangle of family secrets, and an FBI agent trying to piece it all together during Parents Weekend. This one was a ride.

The setup is instantly gripping: five freshmen vanish during what should be a feel-good campus visit with their families. At first, it seems like a miscommunication or maybe just youthful rebellion but things escalate quickly, and suddenly the entire school is under scrutiny. Cue the media frenzy, speculation, and the inevitable arrival of Agent Sarah Keller, returning from Finlay’s earlier novels and anchoring the story with her sharp instincts and no-nonsense approach.

The plot moves fast, really fast. Short chapters keep the energy up, and the constant POV shifts make it feel like a rotating spotlight on each family, each with their own skeletons and motives. At times, it borders on overwhelming; there are a lot of characters to keep track of, and not everyone gets enough space to fully land. That said, it’s part of the charm. The messy cast mirrors the chaos of the situation, and there’s something satisfying about watching all these threads slowly converge.

Not every twist surprised me, and a few moments felt a little too tidy, but the emotional weight landed, especially in the final stretch. Finlay excels at layering domestic drama into his thrillers, and this one is no exception.

If you’re in the mood for a fast, high-stakes mystery with a campus backdrop, flawed families, and a steady current of dread, this is worth adding to your list.

Absolutely LOVED this book!! Alex Finlay never misses—his thrillers are always chef’s kiss! The mystery had me hooked, the twists were wild, and I was legit stressed about “The Five” disappearing. FBI Agent Sarah Keller coming back? ICONIC. Fast-paced, juicy, and full of drama—10/10 would recommend!!

Every parent knows that sending their child to college is a time of excitement, anticipation and empty nesting. Five families will experience a new type of experience when visiting their children at college for the first time. Parents weekend will never be the same at Santa Clara University.

Libby, Blane, Mark, Felix and Stella are about to have their lives change forever. The five fail to show up at Campisi Hall to meet their parents. At first, there isn’t panic at the lack of attendance at dinner. Then the minutes tick by which leads to calls to the police. As search parties begin, the media comes out in full force. When the FBI calls in agent Sarah Feller, questions begin to form about the part each parent may play in the disappearance of the students. What fate lies for each of the five?

Parents Weekend is the latest release from Alex Finlay. Let me start by stating I love a good thriller, and each book I have read by Finlay has fit the bill perfectly. Well….until Parents Weekend. While the first part of the book drew me in with the premise of what was to come, the second half of the book left a lot to be desired.

The characters involved in the story are overwhelming. With each person comes a detail connecting them to the students’ disappearance. At the same time, the details were lackluster and failed to offer substance to the plot. There was a lot of ‘fluff’ without the ‘bones’ to back it up. When paired with a dual timeline – Parents Weekend failed to deliver an ‘on the edge of your seat’ ending that I expect from a good thriller.

I really enjoyed this new one by Alex Finlay. Definitely kept me guessing until the end! Five college freshmen are a part of a capstone group and it's Parents Weekend at their university, so they invite all 5 of their families to get together for a dinner. The parents all show up to this dinner, but the kids never do. At first, they kind of shrug it off like it's just kids being kids, but when hours go by and they still don't show up, they start to panic and finally go to the police. Definitely recommend checking it out for a fast-paced mystery thriller!

Alex brings you back to meet with FBI agent Sarah Keller and a twisted story of missing college kids over parents weekend! It’s an edge of your sweat thriller that will leave you up late trying to figure out what happened and who did it!

Huge shout out to Netgalley, Minotaur Books & Alex for the eARC! I loved this!

What To Expect:
⭐ Family Drama and complicated relationships
⭐ Academia
⭐ College Kids Finding Trouble
⭐ Parents weekend at college
⭐ Multiple storylines all tied to one overarching story
⭐ A slew of main and sub characters who bring a lot of color to the story
⭐ The return of Special FBI Agent Sarah Keller from Alex's previous stories!


My Thoughts:
absolute STRONG follow up to “If Something Happens To Me”. Alex hits it out of the park with this storyline, characters and multiple story views telling one story. The premise is awesome and I was still trying to figure out who was involved and HOW! The END!!!! All I have to say is when you think you have it fully figured out YOU DO NOT! Something Alex is incredible at doing.

There are a slew of characters involved in this story. Some you will love, some you will immediately cringe at and some you just loathe. You pick villains very very quickly in this story. Some you may even incorrectly view that way and some that you won’t but should! Overall, you will find deeply rooted a story of families. A story of families who all have things they are going through, that unless you dig deep you won’t understand the layers of crap they are all dealing with not just as a group but as individuals.

As far as writing it’s as enthralling as the last story Alex released. An edge of your seat, fast page turning story that leaves you up late reading. I read this in a few hours because I just couldn’t put it down. There is one main overarching story, but within that are multiple viewpoints from different families but also along the same time frame. Mixed in to it all is the actual case, the individuals involved in the investigation and their stories intertwined. You definitely have to keep your focus, on who is speaking the main character points at each time.

All in all it is well written, well organized and the characters are all well developed! I didn’t feel any gaps were missing. Can’t wait for the next one!

Synopsis:
In the glow of their children’s exciting first year of college at a small private school in Northern California, five families plan on a night of 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 at dinner.

At first, everyone thinks that they’re just being college students, irresponsibly forgetting about the gathering or skipping out to go to a party. But as the hours click by and another night falls with not so much as a text from the students, panic ensues. Soon, the campus police call in reinforcements. Search parties are formed. Reporters swarm the small enclave. Rumors swirl and questions arise.

Libby, Blane, Mark, Felix, and Stella—The Five, as the podcasters, bloggers, and TikTok sleuths call them—come from five very different families. What led them out on that fateful night? Could it be the sins of their mothers and fathers come to cause them peril or a threat to the friend group from within?

Told through multiple points of view in past and present—and marking the return of FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller from Every Last Fear and The Night Shift—Parents Weekend explores the weight of expectation, family dysfunction, and those exhilarating first days we all remember in the dorms when our friends become our family.

When one student dies before parents weekend and five go missing during. The parents of the college student are on full panic mode, but they are college students who may just be partying. When they don’t show up, the cops and FBI get involved. One wrong action put this horrible weekend in to play. This is a thriller set in California and around parents weekend where the parents come in to see how their kids are doing away from home for the first time away at college.

5 kids go missing during a weekend at college when all the parents come for a visit.
This was fast-paced enough with multi-POV and drama with each group of parents/kids, but overall the story was just blah. No character depth and some parts were pretty predictable. Lots of red herrings that fell flat. I also really dislike when authors allude to pop culture references for no reason - there were dozens of these references and I found them mildly annoying. I got this from NetGalley as an ARC and won’t be recommending this one unfortunately.