This book had a lot of promise but ultimately, it just wasn't for me. There were way too many characters and at times, it felt difficult to keep up with. I also found myself getting annoyed with all the pop culture references and how both the students and parents acted. This would be a good YA read for those in college but if you're in your 20s like me, you can probably skip this one.

Like the other Alex Finlay books I’ve had the pleasure of reading so far, Parents Weekend managed to grab and hold my attention from the beginning of the story through to the end. It was suspenseful and kept me guessing, while simultaneously weaving in elements of humor, emotion, and reality in a clever and captivating way. It’s a relatively short read, making it easy to binge!

When parents from very different backgrounds come to visit their first year collegiate students at the college’s annual “parents weekend,” most are consumed with their personal lives and dramas, not expecting a weekend that will change their lives and link them to strangers. But when their five students go missing, everything changes. Rumors abound and social media goes wild, but a determined FBI agent is set on getting to the bottom of things.

I will warn that there is a very large cast of characters here. I alternated between the audiobook and ebook versions when reading, and actually found it easier to keep everyone straight when reading the ebook version. There is a lot of POV shifting, which certainly adds to the story, but may take a little bit for the reader to get their bearings and keep straight who is who.

Huge thank you to Alex Finlay, Macmillan Audio, St. Martin’s Press, & NetGalley for the ARC! All opinions are my own.

This was a quick, exciting read about five college freshmen who go missing on their way to a group dinner at Parents' Weekend. It's pretty straightforward -- there's sort of a twisty? But it was a bit too obvious to really call this twisty -- with a lot of potential suspects, and a satisfying ending. There are a LOT of characters so that took a minute to get used to each of them (and I'm not sure I ever felt quick comfortable with who was Libby and who was Stella) but I enjoyed this and am glad I read it! 3.5 stars rounded up

This was an action packed and thrilling book. There are multiple POVs as the story unravels but the author does a great job of holding your attention throughout.

Thank you Minotaur books for the ARC to read ahead of publication! This one is scheduled to pub May 6th, GET READY thriller lovers!

In his signature style, this is told in multi-POV. Normally we get seemingly unrelated characters that will eventually come together as the story progresses. In this one, the characters have in common that they go to the same school or are parents of the kids at the school. Said parents are visiting for Parent's Weekend so we know how they relate in that sense. I still loved that the author brings doubt and secrets to each family so the reader is left unsure which of the family's "issues" might be the cause of the kids going missing. I found it easy enough after a few chapters to keep the families straight but less so for the kids, specifically for the girls. I didn't feel enough time to connect to the student characters which, honestly, was fine in this story as the family dramas seem to push along the investigation way more than what comes of the kids lives at school.

The story progressed well for me, I was never bored, I read this super fast because I needed to know what happened here!

Surprisingly, of the novels I've read from this author, this is my first that features Agent Keller. I loved her character. Any time I get a BA woman FBI Agent, police, etc I'm super on board and excited. Bringing her family into the story really gave her character great depth and a second side than some of the single, loner agents I've read about. She was my favorite character in this.

Side note: the Reader's Note where the author tells that he got the idea on his own kid's Parent's Weekend made me chuckle a little. Lol.

A fast, engaging read with short chapters and multiple POVs that keep the pace moving.
While it took a little time to sort out the characters, once I did, I found myself drawn into the story. That said, the mystery felt somewhat predictable, and the ending didn’t quite deliver the twist I was hoping for.

DNF. After the first few chapters, I didn't care about any of the characters or situations, and I found what Blake's mother did too stereotypical. Not a great choice for me, as I'm not a thriller reader normally.

I started this on audio and then around halfway started an immersive read. While there wasn't a huge thrill, I did really enjoy the mystery and being inside of the investigation. There were a lot of characters to keep up with and I had to keep looking back to reference last names due to the parents being called Mr. and Mrs. so and so and then I couldn't remember which kid was theirs. Each chapter did began with the characters name and that did help me keep everything straight. I could see how the pacing could be a bit slower if reading it physically, there wasn't anything really twisty to make me want to keep reading until the very end. There really was no big AHA or shocking moment but I did enjoy the ending. Overall, it wasn't the best thriller ever but I was entertained and was able to finish it in less than a day.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I've been a fan of Alex Finlay ever since I read “The Night Shift.” After reading and loving his last 2023 release, “If Something Happens To Me,” my anticipation for “Parents' Weekend” was high. Sadly, this one felt more like a missed opportunity than a home run. Jumping from POV within chapters and having so many different narrators was a choice, and I’m not sure it worked for me. The pacing in this is good, as is most of Finlay’s novels, but I didn’t feel the urgency. I didn’t really care about any of these kids. By the end, I struggled to care about their fates or the risks they faced. Their personalities felt more like caricatures than real people. The development of the thrill itself was just not well done, I think because it was bogged down by too many characters. I wanted a twistier, more layered mystery. This one reminded me of a slower episode of a crime series, with clues that felt easy to piece together from the start. I did enjoy the return of FBI Agent Sarah Keller and her husband Bob. She was the bright spot of the novel for me. She is a very compelling character and I enjoy reading her. Thanks to Alex Finlay, Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press/ Minotaur Books for an e-arc in exchange for my thoughts. I do hope we see more of Agent Keller in future books. Even though this was not my favorite book by Alex, I will definitely check out his next book.

Thank you so much Minotaur for the gifted book!

I always love a new Alex Finlay book! His book THE NIGHT SHIFT is one of the most memorable thrillers to me still to this day!

I loved that the story was set on a school campus over parents' weekend! That was such a unique and fun spin on a campus thriller, especially when the parents are as interesting and....toxic (lol) as they were here!

Overall, this was a quick and easy read that kept me guessing! I think this will be a big hit!

3.5 rounded up for Goodreads

I got thru this one but to be honest it was a bit of a struggle. Maybe my frame of mind? Chapters told in rotating perspectives of the families involved. Don't think this was Alex's best.

A small private college is hosting parents weekend. A group of five friends have their families visit together and when the kids don’t show up for the dinner they had planned, they start to worry. What is really going on with The Five ? Could their dysfunctional families have something to do with their disappearances ?

This is the first book I have read by Alex Finlay but it won't be the last. I so enjoyed this thriller/mystery and just loved all of the characters. I have been to a couple of Parents weekends and nothing this tragic but I can believe most of what he wrote.
The mystery begins with five young adults disappearing during Parents’ Weekend and another student found dead. Alex Finlay told about each of the families and the problems that they were having. This had me keep reading and not wanting to put it down until I found out what happened and if the missing students and the dead student were related.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for the ARC.

Alex Finlay is one of those authors that is really good at cliffhanger chapter endings that aren't overdone. The whole novel was suspenseful and engaging. The only thing I had a little trouble with was at the beginning keeping the families straight. I wouldn't say the ending was shocking, but still enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed how each chapter spoke about a different person. We were able to see into the lives of each character. There were also little side twists and moments that really kept my attention while reading.

When the big reveal was explained, I was like "Really? That's it" But , I kept reading and more information was given, making it not be a totally obvious reveal.

I would like to rate the book 3.5 or 3.75 stars, but since we can't do that, I will rate it 4 stars. Will definitely read more by this author

This is my fourth book by Alex Finlay and I was highly anticipating it. This was a fast paced thriller about a girl who is found dead and 5 college students who go missing during Parents weekend at a college in Northern California. We are following quite a few families in this book as well as FBI agent Sarah Keller. Apparently she was in past Finlay books, but I don’t remember her.
I liked how this book had short chapters, and was very fast to read. I think I liked the chapters with FBI Agent Keller the most. I thought the story wrapped up pretty quickly at the end, I would have liked a bit more building up to the ending. It was a good story but it was just missing some excitement and action. The parents had similar problems as well as the kids. Overall, I liked this story but it wasn’t my favorite Alex Finlay book, I will definitely continue reading his books.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[ Thank you to Alex Finlay and St. Martin's Press for the advanced electronic copy in exchange for honest review ]

3.75 stars!

I've been a fan of Alex Finlay since I read The Night Shift. I'm usually fairly pleased with his other novels and this is no exception.

On Parent's Weekend at college, the parents show up - but the kids don't. With short chapters in multiple POV (it takes a bit to remember who each character mentioned is), the read flies by. If you've read The Night Shift, you'll recognize Agent Keller's return and I really like her character as a strong female agent that's good at her job and confident. I read this in 2 sittings over 2 days because it's shorter (320 pages) and the short chapters, plus you want to know what happens.

My main issues for lowering the stars a bit are with characters and the ending. I don't mind that most of the parents are kind of unlikable (or straight up awful people in the case of Mark Wong's father), but I wish there had been more character development or description of the kids. With them being missing, it was hard to develop sympathy for them when we barely got to know them, whether through flashbacks or parents stories, etc. The ending felt a bit rushed but it was a fairly short book to fit all the people and events into.

Still an enjoyable read and worth checking out for a quick mystery!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance review copy in return for an honest review. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I feel like the end of this book really redeemed most of the rest of the book. I usually appreciate a book with short chapters but since it had so many characters and switched around so much it started to get confusing.

This book was good. The pacing was great. I think that the issue I had lies more with me than the story. I feel like I have read at least three arcs in the past year with the same premise. I would recommend overall.

This story is about 5 college students that disappear before a dinner with their parents during parents weekend. What made it more alarming was a student was found dead just shortly before.

I found that having so many characters made it difficult to follow at times. I would say the first half of the book I was confused most of the time. I did catch up and did enjoy the ending and how the author wrapped everything up.

This is the first book I have read by this author and am curious on reading more especially if FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller is in them. I really liked her character.

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, Minotaur Books, and Alex Finlay for the eArc.