I loved the vibe of this-college weekend but seen through the eyes of several sets of parents. It was a unique and intriguing premise. Although a little stressful as a reader with college-aged children! I think Finlay did a good job of setting the scene and differentiating many different characters. I found the college student with a political parent a unique premise - and actually would have liked more of that and less of some of the other characters.
I did not expect the ending and I am usually pretty good at guessing the twists!
Overall a fun read!

🎓 For my friends who want a college thriller with interesting characters.

PARENTS WEEKEND by Alex Finlay (Brittany Pressley, Narrator)

🎧 Thanks, @stmartinspress @minotaur_books, for the e-book review copy via #NetGalley and @Macmillan.audio, for the audiobook review copy. #macaudio2025 (Available now) 7 hours, 24 minutes

Five families descend on a small private California college for Parents Weekend, each with a full component of emotional baggage. When their students go missing, panic replaces the tone of pride and reunion, especially since a sixth student was found dead days prior.

The mystery storyline was solid, and the pacing was perfect, but the real fun came from watching the relationship dynamics and how the family members coped under stress. I especially enjoyed spending time with FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller and her family (from EVERY LAST FEAR and THE NIGHT SHIFT, also by this author). I liked her so much, I now have to find copies of those two books. She’s insightful (obviously), but also humble and thoughtful, with a grounded and respectful relationship with her husband and kids. And - unique to this genre - she doesn’t take unnecessary risks. Calculated risks? Yes, but not unwarranted. She resonated with me. I could read an entire book just about her.

**Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press/Minotaur, and Alex Finlay for an ARC of this book!**

Ah, there's nothing like your freshman year of college: the first taste of freedom, complete with late nights, parties, and finding friends who will become your new family in this new home away from home. But what happens when you get a visit from mom and dad during the all-important Parents Weekend? Are you on your best behavior, putting on a carefully curated show to make them proud? Or could your family be walking into a COMPLETELY different version of your life...one replete with secrets, lies...and even danger?

The five sets of parents of students Libby, Blane, Mark, Felix, and Stella are about to find out. Upon arrival at the small private school in North Carolina, they step off of their planes (some with a slight alcohol and pill induced buzz, mind you!) and discover that the kids are nowhere to be found and never show up to the dinner with their families. Police and search parties quickly get involved, but no one has seen a trace and the case quickly snowballs into dark and mysterious territory. What do these kids have in common...and could the actions of one have led to the demise of many? Or are these PARENTS entangled in a web of complex secrets and dirty deeds that have put their children in the middle of the crossfire...and potentially led to their collective downfall...or maybe even death?

It's been more than a bit of a roller coaster ride for me with Alex Finlay: I started off on the highest of highs with his first book, Every Last Fear, and had all but declared him a must-read author based on that book alone. His short chapters, engaging characters, and action-packed plot took my breath away and had me TEARING through pages. His next effort, the 90's nostalgia soaked The Night Shift, was more of the same: pulse-pounding, thrilling action from first page to last, with a cast of characters I quickly grew to care for and an ending I did NOT see coming. Throw in the indomitable, no-nonsense with a heart of gold female lead, better known as FBI Agent Sarah Keller, and I figured Finlay had truly converted me to the action thriller...permanently.

But when I say that this book reminded me of the sort of whiplash trauma I experienced going from two stone-cold stunners to "What Have I Done" AND left me wondering if THIS book was EVEN WORSE than that one...I honestly wish it was hyperbole.

There are still vestiges of the Finlay I know and love, and let's start with the positive: his short, action-packed chapters are as reliable as the sun. (Okay, maybe not the greatest example with the overabundance of rain in the past 3 months....but you know what I mean). The upside to this aspect of his books is that no matter how painful a chapter feels, much like the shot at the doctor's office, you know it isn't going to last too long. Not only do his plots basically rely on this breakneck pacing, it also gives you the reader a little jolt of satisfaction when you can stop and say, "Wow. I've read 40 chapters!" (Well, until you remember there are 40 MORE, anyway.) Though this book STILL took far longer for me to get through than it should, when I got to the point of just trying to push through it, knowing I could knock out a few chapters in 5 minutes was somewhat of a relief.

There's also the TRIUMPHANT (and frankly, much needed) return of FBI Agent Sarah Keller, her husband Bob, and their kiddos. Not sure why this one character has become so iconic and feels so NECESSARY to Finlay's writing at this point, but it was a huge relief to see her. Unfortunately, though, all this managed to do was emphasize a couple of points for me:

Keller really needs her own spin off series, with her at the helm. Having such a memorable and unique character sort of have to play second fiddle to the plot itself (and a mediocre one at that) is just UNFAIR.

And one that may be a BIT more controversial - I wish Finlay was writing something OTHER than thrillers.

Yes, I know that seems out of left field, but let me explain. After watching the quality and originality of these thrillers sort of slowly veer downwards, I honestly get the sense that maybe Finlay just needs to try something new. Watching him develop a character like Agent Keller so thoroughly, and yet introduce no less than TWENTY NEW CHARACTERS in this one that I could hardly keep track of, tell apart, or tell you a thing about a few weeks later sort of points to the fact that I think he may be losing the forest for the trees. For instance, the first part of the book spends a SIGNIFICANT amount of time on all of the sets of parents and their less than savory behavior etc....only for this to not really matter at all by the end of the book. It's one thing to try to throw the reader off the scent in order to obstruct the truth, but to drop characters entirely once they no longer serve the narrative feels like sloppier writing than I expect from Finlay...and I honestly wonder how he'd fare by switching up genres a bit.

Another reason I feel like this might be a good move for Finlay is the way both of my last two reads from him have seemed to veer sharply from action thriller to YA thriller in the middle of the book..and this sort of transition rarely works well. Not only did it make the denouement feel sort of oversimplified and predictable, I struggled to feel any sort of connection to the younger characters. Thrillers that try to make use of the podcast or Tik Tok tropes feel a bit one note to me and like they are simply trying to appeal to what they believe is popular rather than what serves the story. The ending was a bit predictable and just didn't feel like it had been worth all of the buildup (and the eighty plus chapters) it took to get there...and frankly, the whole story felt like it could have taken place without ANY of the parent characters even involved whatsoever....which feels more than a BIT strange for a book with said parents MENTIONED IN THE TITLE.

And while the idea of a Parents Weekend SOUNDS wonderful in theory, I think the students in this tale would agree that with parents like these, they were more than ready to put the "END" in this particular weekend.

3 stars

I really enjoyed this book! I thought the premise was interesting and once you get used to all the jumping around with the different characters the story is easy to follow and keeps you hooked. I definitely plan to check out the other books Agent Sarah Keller is in.

Another book by Alex Finlay you cannot put down. I read all his books in one sitting because they're that addictive. The multiple POV are short so you aren't having to do a lot of tracking and the flashbacks really captivate you.

Alex Finlay's thrillers are highly touted. I missed his debut(?) (considering this is a pen name/rebrand, I'm hesitant to call it a debut), I'd heard good things, but never found the time to get to it. Last year, I finally managed to check out his new release and found it... fine. It was a traditional thriller. Entertaining enough, but now, a year later, I don't think I can recall a single thing about it. It was like fast food. Decent going down, but gone from your memory within 24 hours. This one was better. And I say that because I feel like at least something about this will stick with me. I think it'll be the setting. The college campus feels gorgeous, and I'd be interested to spend more time digging through its secrets. However, the rest of it was as by-the-book (too cliche?) as the other one. Fun enough in the moment, but I don't think it'll make any top lists for me. Either way, I'll check out his next one. He's bound to get it right sometime.

This was a DNF for me. Too trite and try too hard. I really didn't like the characters, and I didn't find anything redeeming in the storyline. I was looking forward to reading this, because the premise sounded promising. Thank you, anyway, for the opportunity to read it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Parents Weekend is a fun, twisty thriller taking place at University parents weekend. 5 of the students seemingly disappear, and another was found deceased earlier in the week. How do these events tie into each other, if at all? Are the kids really in danger?

I loved the pacing, the different points of view, and the twists and turns throughout! Recommended

I liked this book a lot better than I expected! Alex Finlay is kinda sorta an auto buy author for me, but he tends to be hit or miss. Overall, I think Parents Weekend was a success. I have seen complaints about too many characters, but I actually thought it was fine and didn't find it hard to keep track of everyone. The premise was really interesting, and I always enjoy rich people behaving badly which is a decent amount of what is going on with these parents anyway. The mystery was solid enough, and I was even surprised by the ending, even if it wasn't the most jaw-dropping thing I've ever read. My biggest critique is that everything seemed to wrap up VERY quickly. I needed more of a slow resolution after spending so much time with the set up for everything. This is definitely a quick and easy summer/beach/pool read if you enjoy thrillers!

This was an intriguing story, I enjoyed the mystery of what happened to the kids before the dinner. Alex Finlay does a great job bringing out all these secrets from the families but you can tell right away that these are just there to divert your attention away. I will say I figured out who was behind the missing kids pretty quickly, but I was shocked with how it came about and the final conclusion was interesting. I loved that this book had short chapters making it very easy to devour quickly.

I really enjoyed this! As a parent whose oldest is getting ready to go to college this year it really hit close to home. It was thrilling and captivating! I haven't read a book by Alex Finlay that hasn't made me feel for the characters in some way!

Alex Finlay's books never fail to keep me turning the page. Parents Weekend is another good read. The story brings us to a prestigious university in CA where we meet several students, many who have affullent and well-known parents. When the five students go missing during Parents Weekend, FBI Agent Keller is brought in where she begins to unravel the secrets of the parents and works to find the students. Overall, it wasn't my favorite from Finlay, but still a fast-paced story that will keep you guessing until the end.

Thank you Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay. This was such a fun, fast-paced read that delivered exactly what I was hoping for. It had family drama, unexpected twists, and just the right amount of chaos. Finlay has a great way of writing characters who feel familiar but still manage to surprise you. I loved how the tension built naturally, and even when things got a little wild, it all still worked. Some parts moved quickly and I would’ve liked a bit more time with a few of the side characters, but overall, this one kept me turning the pages. It’s sharp, clever, and honestly a little too relatable in the best way. A great weekend read.

Heavy in characters, lack of character development and a tad over the top ‘twist’ turned this book into one that was just okay for me, but definitely not one that will stand out or that I will even remember much of over time.

I feel like this is one of those books that I wouldn't have liked as much if I had read it. I was pretty invested in the audiobook but I think that is due in large part to Brittany Pressley's narration. I am not sure how a single narrator can make an audio book feel like it is being performed by a full cast but she always manages to do it.

We have five students and five families. That makes for a lot of characters to get to know and that is typically something I do not like in a book; however, I caught on pretty quickly to who everyone was but it is hard to really form any sort of connection to any of them because you don't get to spend much time with them as individual characters. The exception to this is the character of SA Keller. She is a constant in this story so she is the one I felt most connected to. The remaining characters are wealthy, prominent, dysfunctional as hell families who have secrets about their secrets and are likely to not know a truth from a lie. They are pretentious and egotistical and think their social status gives them privilege. None of them are very likeable. The plot itself was decent. I was intrigued by the events as they unfolded. The pace was a little slow but the unraveling of the mystery was pretty steady. I did guess pretty early what was going on so I felt it was a little predictable. I was surprised by one event and a little impressed that the author chose to go that direction with one particular character. I feel like the actual story is a solid 3 stars but with the narration, it's 4 so I'm going to split the difference at 3.5.

This book felt like a Veronica Mars episode. Or, not an episode, but maybe a story arc? I felt like the whodunnit aspect was pretty far-fetched and this book was just an excuse for us to catch up with Agent Sarah. It was a little strange that this book took place so long after the others. I'm not used to detective series having such big time jumps, so I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be invested in her life or not.

Take an interesting cast of characters, including a high level government official, a prominent judge, a secretary single mom, and a convicted sex offender, add in plenty of marital drama, and place them all at a parent's weekend gathering at a California university to celebrate their children's freshman year. But the students being celebrated, "The Five" as they are known around campus, never show. Is this a case of irresponsible young adults ghosting their parents, or something much darker and more sinister? Portrayed in alternating perspectives, the story is twisty and engaging, as fans have come to expect from Finlay and as an added bonus FBI agent Sarah Keller makes a reappearance. Not quite as compelling or intricate as Finlay's earlier titles, but still suspenseful fun that makes a fits the bill as a summer beach read.

Netgalley ARC

3.5 stars, rounded up for goodreads

I liked this slow-burn mystery. Despite the slower pacing for a thriller, this one kept me guessing, and I didn't find myself bored. I devoured it pretty quickly, and I think it would be a great read for the beach this summer. The bit of insight into the "where did they end up" in the epilogue was a nice touch.

Our main character, Agent Keller, is apparently from a couple of previous Finlay novels, but I'd forgotten about her, so it felt like a new character. At first, I wasn't sure why so much time was being spent on the parents, but once I figured out that the story is actually about the parents more than the students, that stopped feeling so weird. There are a lot of characters to keep track of here, but they're pretty easy to distinguish as the book goes on because they're dealing with entirely different things in their lives. Almost everyone is a terrible person, but that was sort of part of the fun.

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Parents Weekend was a fun, quick read! I enjoyed it. One of my favorite types of book are books with multiple point of views and this one was done well. Felt like I was watching a Netflix series. This book was not as mysterious as expected and I guessed some of the twists/turns, but it doesn’t mean that it wasn’t entertaining. Great story!

PARENTS WEEKEND, Alex Finlay ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This fast-paced, twisty thriller is set on a college campus full of secrets. I really enjoyed the multiple POVs which kept the story moving along. You do have to suspend belief for a few parts, but still a gripping, bingeable read.