This is the second book I’ve read by this author, and I like this one. There is a full cast of characters. In the beginning, I was a little confused, but the author does an amazing job of repeating who everyone is without it being annoying. Unfortunately when I read this one, I was in a reading slump, but I believe this one you could definitely binge. If you like lots of characters, multiple points of view, a college campus setting and lots of family drama, you may want to check this one out!

If you are looking for a fast paced thriller that is mixed with messy family drama, this is the book for you. I flew through this book, as I do with all of Alex Finlay's work. I love the short chapters and multiple POV's it really helps keep the story flowing and makes it a quick enjoyable read.

It's Parents Weekend at SCU and parent's from all different areas and backgrounds are coming to see their college freshman. There was already a missing college girl before the weekend started so tension was high on campus already. Then, a group of students doesn't show up to the parent's dinner leading to a wild search for the missing students while uncovering family secrets and student drama.

This one kept me on the edge of my seat and had me racing through this book. I stayed up way too late on the few nights I was reading this one just to get one more chapter in. I love Alex Finlay's writing style and how everything unfolds right in front of your eyes so perfectly. Definitely check this one out!

Thank you St. Martin's Press and Minotaur Books for this gifted copy to review!

Alex Finlay has done it again. I love Special Agent Keller and what she brings to each novel. She is a great character that is strong and perfect to build a story around. The jumps between characters helps to swirl the mystery and bring the twists and turns together. Overall this was a great book that kept me wanting more. Absolutely recommend to those who love mystery, thrillers, or other Finlay books.

This story was woven together flawlessly! Five students from five very different situations and backgrounds go missing - following a recent fellow students death - for no apparent reason and with no trace. The way this author shows us the story from each student/family’s perspective and brings it all together is smooth and satisfying. The story itself had me guessing and unable to stop thinking about it even when I had to put it down.

A group of naughty college kids and a bunch of parents with secrets? Say no more! College thrillers are one of my favorites and I really enjoyed this one! Special Agent Keller is back in this book and still as awesome as before! I loved the multiple POVs which lead to multiple theories. This book is totally bingeable with its short chapters and popcorn thrillers feel!

This is another solid thriller from Alex Finlay. I love that it takes place over a weekend—such an encapsulated time frame—because that and the short chapters and fast pace really add to the feeling of urgency. I always love a thriller that involves a group of friends, and I loved getting the backstory of their drama piece by piece. I loved the different points of view and dysfunctional characters, and I loved seeing Agent Keller again! This was a quick, easy, fun to read thriller, which is my favorite kind of

5 college kids go missing during Parents Weekend at their college, an interesting premise that drew me in.

5 chapters in, we had 5 different "family" POVs that changed between the father, mother and sometimes the child. The frequency of the changing POVs made it difficult to keep everyone straight or grow attached to them.

I liked the investigator and her storyline, but she was the only character I really enjoyed.

An interesting concept and a very fast-paced read but the ending lacked resolution for me and there were too many POVs and characters for such a short book.
2.75⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for the eARC.

This was a quick read but unfortunately one that left a lot to be desired. The writing style was very poor and the story not very gripping.

Parents Weekend
Panic sets in for 5 diverse families when their kids don’t show up for Opening Festivities at the small private college. The FBI is called in but will they find the 5 students in time?
I read through the night to finish this spine-chilling thriller! 5 stars

Parents Weekend is an average mystery/thriller. This is the third book that I’ve read by Finlay. I loved his first book, but I was not really a fan of this one.

I think the main issue I had with this book is that there were too many perspectives and it became difficult to keep all the characters’ stories together. The plot got to be very confusing and I ended up not really caring about any of the characters. I think Keller was an interesting character, and I would’ve liked the story more if it was all told from her perspective.

Also, the main mystery was lacking for me. Everything happened so fast that I just didn’t feel any connection to the characters or the story. I did like the short chapters and this was a fast read, but I wanted more from the plot.

Overall, this was not my favorite book by this author. I think I’m just not a fan of books with numerous perspectives. You might want to read this if you enjoy multiple perspectives and you’re looking for a quick mystery.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

• campus thriller
• multiple POV
• fast-paced

This one has so. many. characters. 🤯 I had trouble keeping them organized and connecting to their stories. That said, I had to know what was going on, so I flew through it. The audio narration definitely kept me engaged. Overall, it was just an okay thriller for me.

🗣 Thank you to netgalley, Minotaur Books/SMP and macmillan.audio for the opportunity to read and review this book via both gifted eARC and audio! All opinions are honest and my own.

This book hooked me from the first page! Set against the backdrop of an idyllic college campus, it unravels the mysterious disappearance of five freshmen during Parents Weekend. As panic rises and secrets come to light, the story cleverly weaves together the perspectives of the parents left behind and the mysterious lives of their children. With social media sleuths circling and tensions rising, this book explores not only what happened that night, but also the dark undercurrents running beneath seemingly perfect families. Fast-paced, thought-provoking, and impossible to put down!

Thanks, Minotaur Books and NetGalley, for the eARC of Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay!

This book focuses on five families as their children go missing during parents weekend at a private college and FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller who is investigating their disappearances. Unfortunately, I found this book to be disappointing overall. I didn't connect with any of the characters, and many of them fell into stereotypes (e.g., the frat bros, the A+ student, the cheating husband). While I didn't see the twist coming, the ending felt a little too tidy, especially the epilogue which takes place a few years down the road.

If you're looking for an easy read + family drama + police procedural, this may be for you!

WOW, this was fantastic! I absolutely flew through it. I loved how each student and their family had their own backstory so real and relatable. The older I get, the more I recognize the weight our families carry, and this book captured that perfectly. 💔❤️

Some characters made my heart grow two sizes (looking at you, Keller fam 🫶), while others definitely needed a smack upside the head 🙄😂. It took a second to keep track of all the POVs, there are a lot, but once I did, I was hooked. Another ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ read from Alex Finlay!

📖 If you love fast-paced thrillers with multiple POVs, complex family dynamics, and jaw-dropping twists you need to add this to your TBR ASAP!

Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay is a decent police procedural in which we see only a part of the investigation but get an intriguing introduction to the family of one of the investigators: Sarah Keller. The rest of the vignettes about families are about the families of the victims. There were four: two boys and three girls. One of the girls had drowned earlier in the week but Keller thought she was involved. The four just disappeared on their way to diner with their parents on the first night of Parents Weekend. They were pretty much normal kids but the same couldn’t be said of their parents. As the stories unfolded, the was love, remorse, disrespect, and so much more. Had it affected their children? Undoubtedly, but did it play into the crime? Mostly, no.

Lots of characters involved. When one reaches an age wherein one is a parent to a college student, there is plenty of water under the bridge. Some good, some bad. And everyone has run into crazy people. There seemed to be a high count in these peoples’ lives: some unique, some not. Good characters and a story well told. Chapters were short and the story moved along quickly. Keller was a good FBI agent who was out of her depth her but performed admirably, having gut reactions which solved the mystery. The solution came out of left field and it helped make the book. I enjoyed the read.

I was invited to read Parents Weekend by St Martin’s Press. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #StMartinsPress #AlexFinlay #ParentsWeekend

Thanks, Minotaur Books and NetGalley, for my eARC of Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

This one was just okay for me. There were a lot of characters and the ending was predictable. I also didn't have a connection to the characters so it dulled my care of their disappearance. We focused more on the parents and their drama, which kept me interested, as well as Special Agent Keller.

This is my first book by Alex Finlay and while it fell a bit flat for me, I'd enjoy reading other books featuring Special Agent Keller.

If you like familial drama, this one is for you!

I enjoyed this fast-paced thriller. Is it the world’s most complex story line? No. Did it have an overwhelming number of characters? Probably. Was the ending predictable? Definitely. Were there any surprising twists? Not really. Did I enjoy it anyway? Yes!

Not every book needs to be deeply thought-provoking. Sometimes a straightforward whodunnit is exactly what you need. This one required little effort to get through, and honestly, I appreciated that. After recently tackling some dense, slow-paced historical fiction, Parents Weekend was a welcome change. It kept me engaged, and I finished it in a single day.

I loved seeing FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller return. She’s sharp, fearless, and knows how to get things done. I’d definitely read more books featuring her.

While I agree with other reviewers that the ending lacked some punch, the overall story was solid, and I enjoyed the effortless escape it provided for a few hours.

Thank you @netgalley, @stmartinspress and @minotaurbooks for an eARC, which I’ve read and reviewed voluntarily.

☆ 𝘱𝘶𝘣 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 ☆
𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙒𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙚𝙣𝙙 by Alex Finlay
★★★★ 4/5 stars

⁕ 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 :
-California campus setting
-missing persons
-family drama
-multiple POV
-police investigations
-red herrings
-short chapters

⁕ 𝙈𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 :
Alex Finlay delivers a twisty, fast-paced mystery that feels more like a true crime documentary than your typical college drama. Despite the university backdrop, it doesn't fall into the typical dark academia vibe—which I actually really appreciated. Instead of moody professors & secret societies, the focus is on the high-stakes investigation to find missing students, which I found far more compelling. That true crime feel kept me hooked the whole way through.

The short, fast-paced chapters made it impossible to put down, & I loved how the multiple POVs were woven together. There's a big cast of characters, but the audiobook really helped keep everyone straight-Brittany Pressley's narration was fantastic (as always)!

I didn't realize FBI Agent Keller was a recurring character until after I finished, but now I'm definitely going back to read Every Last Fear and The Night Shift.

Parents Weekend would make a great poolside thriller you could easy binge in a weekend 😉

Thanks @macmillan.audio + @netgalley for the opportunity to read & listen to this ARC!

This story is about 5 families who all come to visit their children at college for parents weekend. When they go to dinner, none of the kids show up. From there we learn that the kids are missing. The story unfolds as the police investigate and try to figure out what happened. Each chapter is about a different family so you have to pay attention. There are many twists and turns. These families have more going on than just the disappearance of their children. It took me some time to get invested as I was trying to get the families and their storylines straight, but once I got halfway through the story, I couldn't put it down. Very suspenseful! Although I figured out some parts of the plot from the clues that the author left, there were still a few parts that were a surprise. I loved how the author used modern technology to solve the crime. Great story! This is one that you'll want to put on your summer reading list!

Alex Finlay has done it again with Parent's Weekend. I loved it and could not put it down! I was so invested I had a Note on my iPhone so I could keep track of each character and theories on what was going on! I recommend this book to anyone who loves thrillers or mysteries.