Personally everything by Alex Finley is guaranteed great and this was no exception!! I enjoyed multiple POVs and fast paced/ action packed and unputdownable writing style! Thank you NetGalley and publisher for ARC of this book!

This is my first book by Finlay although I always hear great things. The multiple POVs, which I usually enjoyed, confused me in the beginning. Once I was able to separate them, this book became very intriguing. The college students were just as interesting as the parents. I was so invested I had to sit and read in one night because it kept me on the edge of my seat with all the twists and gossip!

I will read more by Finlay.

This was super pacy and fun, loved the students POV and campus setting, I was completely engrossed from the beginning, I really enjoy this authors books!

It’s parent’s weekend. The kids didn’t show up for diner with their parents. At first, they think their kids are just being normal college kids until they still don’t hear from their kids after a day. Where are the kids?

3.5 stars ⭐️ There are a lot of characters from which we hear their point of view, including the detective investigating. I didn’t feel as connected to the characters and not as on the edge of my seat.

Thank you to Alex Finlay, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When 5 freshmen go missing on Parent's Weekend, an all out search begins to find them. It's especially vital since on student was found dead the week before, and one of the missing students is the Asst. Secretary of State's son.

Told from the students POV and the current police detective's search, Parent's Weekend will keep you on your toes, guessing where the kids are, who killed the student the week before and detesting the parents of these students.

Parents Weekend at a small, private (aka WEALTHY) college takes a turn! The drama between students hardly compares to the drama between parents! Deaths, Missing Persons, & Mysteries galore. If you are a fan of Alex Finlay or looking for a new suspense read, pick this up!

Thank you to NetGalley, Alex Finlay, and Minotaur Books for the ARC in exchange for my review. I really enjoyed this book! This one was a quick paced page turner. The story line was easy to follow and entertaining. I wish there was more of backstory on the missing kids but it focused more on the parents. There was a LOT of characters to keep track of and they lacked appropriate development as a result. There was definitely some moments I did not anticipate. I would read more from this author in the future

I've always been a fan of Alex Finlay, so I was thrilled to get an ARC of Parents Weekend. Needless to say, I was hooked within the first few chapters. Told from alternating perspectives, timelines and locations, Finlay did an exceptional job of weaving together the narrative to make a cohesive story. Even though there were quite a few POVs, I was always able to follow the plot. There were a few - what I would call fantastical elements - to the plot but Finlay somehow even makes those elements plausible. And as always, there was plenty of family drama to go around. Once again Finlay delivers!

My students devour mysteries so I think they will like this one. It does focus more on the parents and their many issues, a lot of which they won't relate to. The missing students will be more relatable to them and the intern working for agent Keller. There is some discussion of bullying and stalking and self esteem issues and social media and pranking.

Parents weekend at a upper middle class college , starts with expectations and then turns into a nightmare for five families when their children disappear. Many of the couples were unlikeable and the book focused on their relationships as well as the mystery of the students. It was enjoyable to see Sarah Keller, who was in two earlier books and those books are my favorites of his. This one was medium for me , fast moving and on the shorter side, I missed the shaper punch of his earlier books.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

I am a big fan of Alex Finlay and his newest book is no exception. Parents Weekend is set in a small private college in California and follows the story of 5 college kids who go missing during a parents weekend visit. I love the college campus setting and the characters. This is a fast-paced thriller and a fun read! I couldn't put it down because I was so engrossed in the mystery and just wanted to know what was going on!

Thank you @minotaurbooks and @netgalley for the digital arc!

When a group of college students go missing on parents weekend, FBI agent Sarah Keller must race to find answers before it’s too late, exposing all the family secrets and drama.

I had high hopes for this one but unfortunately it fell flat for me. There were a lot of characters to keep track of and red herrings that didn’t lead to anything. The ending was predictable and felt rushed. I liked the return of agent Sarah Keller and the picturesque college setting and would still pick up the next one by Alex Finlay since I enjoyed his other books!

Rating 3

Parents Weekend is the perfect book to grab for your weekend thriller binge-read. It's fast paced, engrossing, high-stakes, and fascinating. This one had me in a grip, all the way through.

It's parents weekend at a university in Northern California, and some of the parents are very high-profile. When a group of kids never makes it to dinner on the first night, they start to worry. Yes, college kids are too cool to hang out with their parents, but not a one of them is answering their phone, and this is not the school's first incident. Just recently a girl turned up dead. We're thrown into a break-neck paced investigation to find out what happened to the kids and why, and if it's already too late to save them.

I knew early on that this book was going to be a good one. The kind of characters the author chose to include, and the type of details showcased made the entire reading experience so enjoyable! The tension remained high through the whole thing, and the conclusion made a lot of sense when we finally got there, while still being twisty and surprising. I cannot imagine being an investigator in a situation like this. So many things to handle, to look into, to question...

I've been absolutely loving thrillers recently, and ones like this just make me crave more more more.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for providing me with an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC of Parents Weekend!

This book had really strong character development. There were a lot of families to keep track of, but because they were all different and very flawed it was easy to keep track.

I did figure out who was responsible pretty early on, so there wasn't much of a twist.

I would recommend checking this one out!

I found this to be an engaging popcorn thriller told from multiple points of view . It was good overall but didn’t enjoy it quite as much as his other books
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review book

Finlay's upcoming novel (due out May 6, 2025) features the detective from The Night Shift, Sarah Keller. (This is still a standalone.) Her family recently moved to her husband Bob's childhood home in sunny California to take care of his father. For Sarah, that means putting in for a hardship transfer and being the new agent on the block. I enjoyed seeing more of their family dynamic.

However, before she even gets a chance to settle in, Sarah is called to duty when a group of 5 college students go missing on Parents Weekend.

This book alternates between each set of parents, who are quite interesting, especially the mom high up in the state department who has credible threats against her and operates with a full time security detail. Each chapter is short and the book moves at a fast pace.

There was some humor (there has to be when it's a book centered around college kids and pledges) and there was character growth despite being a mostly plot driven novel.

I was surprised that the police didn't spend any time investigating whether the kid's disappearance was linked to another major event that occurred early on, but yet explored all minor avenues of conflict, including events linked to only one set of parents. But I enjoyed the investigation and learning about these imperfect parents and the effects of their mistakes on other families and their own.

If Alex Finlay's writing it, I'm reading it.

Parent’s Weekend begins with a night of dinner and cocktails with students and parents. For five parents though, all Campisi Hall residents, their kids never show up for the dinner and no one is answering their phones. Are they all angry at their parents?

The five students: Libby, Blane, Mark, Felix and Stella come from different backgrounds. All of the families have something to hide but the kids seemed to be hiding something as well. What caused them to all miss dinner and where are they? Could they be sleeping off a night of partying or were they collateral damage from something their parents have done?

I love Alex Finley’s writing style. She keeps you on the edge of your seat with short gripping chapters, told from multiple points of view, that are hard to put down. Fan favorite FBI Agent Sarah Keller from the novel Every Last Fear is added to our list of characters. The chapters each highlighted a family, including Agent Keller, which helped keep the storylines straight. The end comes together nicely and was a complete surprise.

Another great read by Alex Finley! Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing the digital copy for an honest review.

Another structured buddy read, gone feral! We all flew through this one and I think a lot of that was due to short chapters!! 🙌🏼 When I first started, it was hard to follow with all the changing characters. It felt like too many POVs, with the students and their parents and all of their baggage! There were so many scandal and secrets! I felt overwhelmed by the number of characters and had a hard time connecting to any of them. This was definitely more of a popcorn thriller for me, which I didn’t expect! It was very predictable and had too many red herrings for me. I did like that there were characters and little Easter eggs from some of Finlay’s previous novels! Overall, I enjoyed it and am excited to see what is next for Alex!

Thank you Minotaur Books for the gifted ARC!

3.5 stars rounded up.

This is an extremely bingeable, twisty popcorn thriller. I figured almost everything out less than halfway through the book, but there were so many characters and so many secrets I couldn't help but keep turning pages. Weirdly enough, even though I was pretty sure how everything was going to come together, it didn't hinder my enjoyment of the book.

I think this would be a great read for someone who is just starting to dip their toe into the thriller pool, but avid thriller readers may be a little disappointed with it.

I will continue to read everything Alex Finlay writes! Parents Weekend pub date is May 6.

Thank you to NetGalley, Alex Finlay and St Martin’s Press for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Another binge read from Finley - this is so easy to slide right into and instantly want to know what’s going on. This one is mysterious, twisty and full of action. Definitely recommend.