Finlay’s books are always a great palate cleanser. They move fast and draw you in quickly. However, I will say this book was a little harder because there were so many characters. It took about a third of the book to remember who was who. It moved quickly and kept me interested but it didn’t work for me like some of his others.

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

❗️❗️❗️BANGER ALERT ❗️❗️❗️

Holy Batman was this one a BANGER!!! Alex Finlay knocked it outta the park! He brought this all the way home! Bravo Mr. Finlay 🙌

Our story starts with it being Parents Weekend for first year students at Santa Clara University in California. It’s the big weekend and it’s supposed to start with a nice dinner. The only kicker…. the students never show.

Five students are missing. Why would they not show? Are their parents involved somehow?

Alex Finlay is a master at cliffhanger chapters! Every single chapter leaves you ripping through the pages well into the night. Unputdownable, suspenseful and a thoroughly entertaining read with a satisfying finish! A twisty must read thriller!

Massive thanks to Minotaur Books, Alex Finlay and NetGalley for the opportunity!
Pub date - 5/6/25

5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Alex Finlay has become sort of an auto-request because I've enjoyed eveything I've read of his.

This story has a good amount of characters and POVs. The one constant is Sarah Keller and I loved getting to be back with her navigating.

Plot wise, it's a bit of a slow meandering. It wasn't nearly ad tension filled as I was expecting, yet the way it unfolded was quite satisfying. (Yes, I'm being vague on purpose.)

Overall, it was another great read and I'm eager to see what comes next.

**Huge thanks to the publisher for providing the arc free of charge**

Starts off a little slow but then it really picks up. The short chapters and overall premise make this book impossible to put down, I just HAD to know what happened next. Told from alternating POVS of family members and the detective on the case, you’ll never guess why these kids went missing…
If you’re a fan of Alex Finlays other books you’ll like this one too, publishing in May.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my thoughts.

Super fast read. Parent's weekend at college and the group of 5 kids go missing. Told mainly through the point of view of parents and an FBI Agent. The book kept me guessing which made me want to keep reading. I loved the female FBI Agent, Sarah Keller. I am excited to see that she is featured in other of Finlay's books, and look forward to checking them out. Thank you to Netgalley for this advanced copy.

The premise of the book was engaging from the start: 5 students from a university in California disappear at the same time without a trace before meeting their parents for dinner. It was intriguing to understand all of the background stories in order to determine the cause of the disappearance. Agent Keller from Finlay's previous books returned, which added a fun element.
I gave this book 3 stars due to almost 20 characters to keep track of, predictability, and rushed ending. I still look forward to Finlay's future books with more twists and complex mystery.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a solid 3+ star popcorn thriller. It's very fast paced with short chapters from shifting perspectives so it's a quick read. This is my first book from the author, but apparently the featured FBI agent appears in other novels as well. And for a quick beach read, I'd go find them.

My only complaint is that the first 25% is a little slow, by design, as all of the characters and backstories are introduced. It picks up from there. But as happens in thrillers, the conclusion feels rushed and wrapped up a little abruptly.

This super didn't work for me. I found the number of characters was a lot - and I did see where we were eventually going but it still didn't work for me. I feel like each time the plot just goes so ridiculous that I don't end up feeling like I had a good time getting there - because nothing feels satisfying or like it nicely came together. Ultimately I found the explanation just didn't land.
The other note I will make is that I don't appreciate the racist or maybe culturally insensitive perspective this book took. I don't know if it was intentional or unintentional - but I don't like it and makes me feel uncomfortable.

It's college parents weekend, and five families have made plans to all have dinner together to kick off the weekend. The parents have an enjoyable evening, but none of their children ever show up to dinner. The next day, none of the kids had been heard from, and they all seemed to have vanished from their dorm rooms. But where did they go? Is this a parent's weekend prank or something more sinister? Soon, campus security decided to call local law enforcement to help find the five missing students if they could be found.

I love Alex Finlay’s books because they are engaging enough to read in one sitting.

This book showed how everyone’s family is dysfunctional in its own way, but those things don’t have to define you. I will say that for a while, I thought I had the answer to the mystery, but I was completely wrong, and I’m so glad that I didn’t figure it out because the way it turned out was fantastic!

I liked Alex Finlay's other books, but this one was a bit of a letdown. Although it had a good plot and was engaging, I found it lacking in character development, and, at times, the student's motives were suspect.

It's Parents Weekend at a small, exclusive college in Northern California. The parents of five students have traveled to attend a dinner and celebrate their children's accomplishments. The students, all planning to participate in the dinner, never show. As the hours pass and the students, all of whom have turned off their phones, remain missing, the police and an FBI agent are called in. The Five, as referred to in the media, are in peril, and time is running out.

I expected and got a suspenseful psychological thriller. There were twists and red herrings galore, and although I did figure out who was behind the students' disappearance, the story was a good rollercoaster ride. What was never satisfactorily explained to me was why the students went to the initial location where authorities lost track of them. Maybe I missed something, but their destination didn't make sense. Additionally, the ending felt a bit rushed. Despite these two distractions, I liked the book. 3.5/5 stars.

Thank you, NetGalley and Minotaur Books, for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The publication date is May 6, 2025.

This one was just ok. Too many characters, with none of them likeable. Kinda weird, cobbled together story that didn't truly work.

🫣 T H R I L L E R T H U R S D A Y review 🫣 featuring “Parents Weekend” by Alex Finlay!

MY RATING: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

A group of parents arrive for a weekend at Santa Clara College to celebrate their kid’s first year of college. Five families plan a dinner all together and are annoyed when it’s parents only at the table and no kids. All of their kids are in the same dorm together and seem to be in the same social circle. Did they bail on their parents to party or is something more serious going on here??

The lack of communication begins to feel OFF and when the parents involve the campus police and the FBI, total chaos rocks the campus! What ensues is a fast paced race against time to find the missing kids! Told from several character perspectives and dual timelines, there is A LOT going on that will keep your heart pounding and the wheels in your brain turning!

Thank you kindly to @alexfinlayauthor @minotaur_books @stmartinspress @netgalley for my #gifted advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book releases on May 6, 2025!

Thank you so much for this arc. Unfortunately I found all the characters to be incredibly annoying and I couldn't connect to anyone. I became so uninterested in anything going on.

There are a lot of characters to keep track of (and everyone has a secret), but you’re able to catch up pretty quickly.

The super short chapters make for a quick read and I’m thrilled he brought back one of my favorite characters- FBI Special Agent Keller 😊

The Night Shift is my favorite of his, and I feel like I’m constantly chasing that high, but Parents Weekend has definitely claimed the number two spot!

Parents Weekend
By Alex Finlay
3 stars

Alex’s books always keep me engaged with their short chapters, fast pace, and so many different character POV’s. This was no different and I really enjoyed trying to figure out this story. Unfortunately, this one had so many characters that were never fully developed.

The information gained from each different character at times felt random and didn’t add anything to the overall plot. For instance, one of the characters mother is a big wig in government and she sleeps with one of her security guards on her son’s college dorm beds? Okie dokie? I just felt like everyone of the parents in the books were bas people, from a surgeon who cheats on his wife, to a wife of a judge who has an affair, to the government mother being cold towards everyone, and then we get agent Keller who is thrust into all of this when she just moved to California to help her husbands declining father. Justice for BOB because that man is a SAINT!

The reasoning behind the premise of the book was heartbreaking and I figured it out before the reveal. I was most upset about Felix’s character and his poor mother! I wanted more closure at the end and didn’t get that at all. I also have no idea how Agent Keller could just come up with some of her ideas to help solve this case. It’s obviously fiction but there were times when she’d think of something or just so happen to be told something that no one else thought of ( she’s literally FBI, there’s campus police, regular police, and a college student intern working on the case) that would lead to a huge breakthrough.

While definitely a read that will be easy and quick to get through, it was just too much with 15+ characters to keep track of and a plot with so many holes.

The author manages so many moving oieces or leads so well. Kept me guessing til the end. I finished this in a day as I just couldn’t put it down.

I love reading anything written by Alex Finlay. I know my weekend is going to be great when I have a book from Alex Finlay. His books are always fast paced and unputdownable. Loved the short chapters and all the family secrets that these characters hold close to the chest. Like his other stories, this one doesn’t hold back and will keep you at the edge of your seat. Thank you Alex Finlay, NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this digital arc!

Parents Weekend is fast paced, action packed read that addresses every parents nightmare.

Their children did not show up for dinner at Parents Weeekend.

When the parents figure out that they are indeed missing panic sets in.

The campus police are called, the story has hit the media big time and chaos has arrived.

The teens are podcasters, bloggers and Tik Tok sleuths and call themselves The Five.

Twists and turns, secrets and lies , betrayal and the icing on the cake is Agent Keller is back.

Alex Finlay takes the reader down a twisted path to the conclusion that might be a bit predictable but it is a fun read.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for the privilege of reading and reviewing Parents Weekend.

I normally love Finlay’s books, but this one was a really slow read for me. I just don’t feel like we needed even half the points of view because they slowed down the pace. And frankly, by the time we got to the reveal, I really just wanted to be done with the book, which was most definitely not a thriller.

I read someone say that they enjoyed Bob the most as a character and I sort of agree with them, but at the same time, they aren’t really much of a character at all. I just think this one was too big of a cast to successfully pull it off.

A great mystery thriller and one that I think would be perfect for the summer! To me it also gave subtle Freida McFadden vibes which I absolutely loved!