Five families plan on meeting their children at their college’s Parent’s Weekend dinner. The five students never show up for dinner, and when their disappearance stretches to another day, the police are called in. Parents’ Weekend is a suspenseful, well-crafted thriller that plays on every parents worse fear, and compounds that by having the parents’ all have a backstory that ramps up the tension. The first part of the book moves deliberately as the backstory’s are laid out, not only setting the stage for things to come, but also expanding the list of suspects in the students’ disappearance. The story takes off from there, with a good mix of good/bad characters, an evolving plot, and you can feel the tension with each passing chapter. This one moves quickly and I flew through the pages without realizing I was almost finished with the book, always a great sign! Definitely enjoyed this one.
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to enjoy this more, but there were a lot of side stories to keep up with. It was difficult to keep everything straight. I’ll probably try another book by this author because it was well written. I received this noon as an ARC from NetGalley

This is my first visit to an Alex Finley world, and I have to say I kind of loved it. I’m sorry I missed the first two novels featuring Special Agent Sarah Keller, but I felt like this book gave me enough backstory that I didn’t feel lost. (Although, I’m buying those book immediately. More Bob and family? Yes, thank you.)

While this was a police procedural/thriller, I thought the use of the different perspectives was really effective. Some reviewers have commented that they got lost with the number of characters, but I felt a connection to all of them very quickly. There were a couple of things about the ending that I didn’t love, but overall was happy with how everything resolved.

I particularly liked the “Where Are They Now” chapters at the end of the book. I’m not sure I ever remember a thriller making me misty eyed before, but here we are.

Thank you to the author, Net Galley and Minotaur Books for allowing me a copy of Parents Weekend in exchange for my honest review.

This book got my attention right away. I wasn’t sure what was going on and my attention was hooked. The book was very well written and I looked forward to each page

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of Parents Weekend!!

I really enjoyed this one. 5 college students fail to show for dinner with their families for parents' weekend. Did they blow off their parents for a frat party, or is something more sinister at play? Told in alternating viewpoints from all of the families, both parents and kids. Each family has their own secrets, who is hiding the biggest of them all?? I was on the edge of my seat wondering what would cause all 5 of these college students to disappear on a night they were all to be together. There is the high profile judge and his wife, opting to attend without security detail; the high-powered political figure mom, flanked by hers. Then, the Dean's secretary, whose son is attending classes on scholarship. Everybody is hiding something in this story, and I couldn't wait to see who was responsible for all the chaos!! I will definitely check out more of Mr. Finlay's work in the future! Great story, very engaging, and impossible to put down!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Parents Weekend follows a group of parents visiting their children during parents weekend. What does the group of kids have in common? They are in the same capstone group - all have different backgrounds, majors, friends. When the kids don’t show up to the parents dinner, a wild goose chase to find out what happened to the kids and why.

Overall a solid thriller and would recommend!

When 5 college students go missing on the night of “Parents Weekend”, their parents try to piece together the mystery of where their children are. This story is told from multiple points of view, and it was definitely an attention grabber. I love Finlay’s work every time, and this book was no exception. 4/5 stars!

Thank you for allowing me to review this book!
I am a fan of Alex Finlay’s work. While I enjoyed the book, the short chapters and the fast paced writing, it just wasn’t my favorite. I got to about 60% and there still wasn’t a twist or a surprising connection like he previous novels have had. I would give it a 3.5 ⭐️ and would still recommend this book to others who enjoy the mystery/thriller genre.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller is back and this is my favorite case of hers yet! I really enjoyed the plot and setting of the story; there’s nothing like a picturesque California college town with college kids being… well college kids. The scenes of the book that described the frat houses, parties, and host of fraternity members you come across while attending college was spot on and really transported you into their living rooms and/or basements. Finlay set an intriguing and suspenseful atmosphere from page one.

One thing that I loved about this novel was how the students stemmed from vastly different backgrounds, which presented their own challenges. The reality of college is meeting so many people that are different from yourself and coming together for a bigger purpose.

Another thing that worked was the way the story was told via the multiple pov’s of “the five(‘s)” parents. It was fun to see how they were choosing to live their lives and their own drama that shaped their children into who they are today. The characters were complex and flawed, which left me wanting more. The number of vantage points was also a drawback; because there were so many different perspectives, it made it hard to engage with some of the characters as the story went on.

Although the execution was flawed, if you love fast-paced thrillers with unpredictable twists and a complex plot line, I highly recommend Parents Weekend.

family drama, unexplained disappearances, suspense, multi pov, past and present
4/5!!!!

Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC for this book. I’m a huge fan of Alex Finlay and was thrilled to read it early. Five families arrive for parents weekend to take their children out do dinner, but the students did not show up. Because of such a large group of characters, it takes awhile to set things up and there are some plot holes. All in all, an enjoyable read and the short chapters kept things moving.. 3 1/2 stars rounded up.

"Parents Weekend" will be available on May 6, 2025. I would like to thank the publisher and author for providing an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this novel via NetGalley.

3 stars.

Parents Weekend follows the story of five families and the events surrounding the disappearance of their five college students during Parents Weekend. Finaly did a great job of building tension and revealing clues throughout the novel. It was a quick and exciting read, similar to the author's previous works. While I enjoyed how the large character list kept the story fast-paced, it limited the opportunity for deeper character development. Overall, the ending felt a bit rushed, but it did tie things up nicely.

3.5 / At the beginning all the different families and characters were confusing. Eventually I was able to keep them straight. It was very twisty and kept my interest.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay is an action packed thriller that takes place during parents weekend. The storyline involves both the parents and the students and it’s hard at first to keep all the characters separate but once I could get them straight, it was a thrilling book. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy mysteries.

A typical Alex Finlay book that has an abundance of characters with a million twists and turns! As opposed to some of his other works, I felt this one was pretty close to perfect. The amount of characters wasn’t too many or too confusing. I loved the plot of something going down during parents’ weekend at a college campus and loved that a precious character from one of his books was the main character in this one. It was absolutely gripping, a little creepy, and I ran through it so fast! Highly recommend this book to any thriller lovers.

This book was so hard to put down that I finished it in a day! Five college students disappear when they were supposed to attend a dinner for Parents’ Weekend. At first, the parents brush it off as normal college antics but quickly realize something is wrong. This book has a number of twists and turns that bring the reader to an unexpected ending. Thank you NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the eARC.

Set at Santa Clara University and following five students and families during Parents Weekend, this book offers a twisty mystery and insight into five families, many marriages and campus life. The students go missing just as they are to meet their parents for dinner at Parents Weekend. The book then goes into the lives of the families, from Washington DC elites, famous attorneys, celebrity plastic surgeons, single moms and convicted felons. Each chapter revolves around one of the families, including that of the FBI agent on the case, Sarah Keller. Weaving back and forth between the present search for the college kids and the past histories of the families and the students, this book is a fast-paced, dynamic mystery.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a free ARC e-book to read and review.

This one feels a bit darker than the other books but I loved it! Kept me guessing for sure and a fascinating timeline.

A dark academic mystery that left me feeling lucky, like I missed a bullet. My college years didn’t include dorms or fraternities. I knew then I was missing making potential lifelong friendships and many learning experiences. After reading this story it felt like I only missed alcohol fueled drama, hazing, bullying, and betrayal. What should’ve been an exciting new chapter for kids going off to college, new friends, new freedoms, new experiences became deadly. The plot weaves between five students and their parents as they gather for a welcome dinner at the college. This is an upper-class institution with predominantly high powered, rich, privileged parents. Expectations are high but they weren’t prepared for a missing student. As you would expect the five aren’t forthcoming with the truth, secrets and lies hinder the investigation. FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller doesn’t get the truth from many of the parents either. It seems everyone has something to hide. I enjoyed the range of personalities, careers and personal baggage the author gave the parents. It’s a twisted murder mystery, thought provoking with sorrowful undertones. Made my heart hurt to think what it must feel like to lose your child. Lots of life lessons and class disparity on display in the overall plot.
St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books (via NetGalley) provided an Advance Reader Copy of “Parents Weekend” by Alex Finlay, publication expected 05/06/2025. These are my honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily without compensation.

It’s been a while since I’ve read an Alex Finlay book and completely forgot about FBI agent Sarah Keller! I was a huge fan of The Night Shift and Every Last Fear so I was v excited when I saw her pop up again in the beginning of Parents Weekend. I’ve clearly been on a binge lately of serials with detectives, special agents and true crime podcasters.

As you all know, I love to go in blind when I’m reading thrillers so I’ll just say this book is about a parent’s open house weekend at a university in California & each family is a hot mess express. When a dinner is planned for the kids and their parents the first night and 5 kids fail to show up… the hunt is on.

This was a perfect weekend binge for me but did take a minute to get into when I started reading. There were a lot of POVs to track between the parents, the kids and Agent Keller and I wasn’t quite able to remember which kid belonged to which parent lol. I did mention that Keller was in the previous books and imo, you should read them because they’re top tier Finlay novels - however, this could be read as a standalone. 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

As a devoted fan of Alex Finlay, I find his mysteries to be continually captivating and intellectually stimulating. At first, I was a bit apprehensive about the large number of characters introduced, which led to some initial confusion on my part. However, as the story progressed, the plot began to flow more smoothly, drawing me deeper into the narrative.

The storyline, which revolves around the disappearance of college students and the myriad secrets held by their parents, provides a compelling foundation for an action-packed and engaging tale. One character who stands out to me is FBI agent Sarah Keller; her presence adds a significant layer of depth and intrigue to the novel. Overall, I wholeheartedly give this book a rating of four stars!