Parents Weekend was chaotic in the best way possible. This book is the perfect read on the beach or pool side.

This was another fast paced thriller in typical Alex Finlay fashion, with his trademark short chapters, slew of characters, misdirections and a surprising twist at the end. This one packs in, not only the friend drama, but a lot of family drama to keep things even more interesting. It also marks the return of FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller (The Night Shift and Every Last Fear).
It’s Parent’s Weekend at the elite Santa Clara University and when the group of friends don’t show up for the family dinner with their parents, it becomes apparent that something is wrong. The investigation unravels more than Agent Keller bargained for, but in the meantime the clock is ticking on finding the missing students!
The audiobook was narrated by one of my favorites, Brittany Pressley. She did a great job, as always, flawlessly performing the various voices making each one distinguishable and succinct.

I was excited to receive this as an ALC! This was a super quick listen. It was interesting to hear a female narrator given the diversity of characters; however, it was a good choice.

Loved the collegiate setting. The title was a fun play on words due to us starting out with a college students POV only for the rest of the book to be mostly from the parents POV.

Listening to this book felt like watching a crime show!! Several mysteries were introduced. We saw the first mystery be resolved at the halfway point, only for other mysteries to pop up. It was very well done.

I was confused at first with all the characters but ended up loving so many POVs.

This is a super quick listen! A great thriller.

This review will be posted on my booksta, toomanyfivestarreads, soon.

I have read several of Alex Finlay’s other books and really enjoyed them, so I was excited to read Parents Weekend. The premise immediately grabbed me. I love stories about parents and kids behaving badly, and the idea of five college students not showing up at the Parents Weekend dinner sounded so intriguing.

The audiobook narration was enjoyable, though I think the story would have benefited from multiple narrators to help distinguish all the characters.

The book moves at a fast pace with the short chapters, which I usually love. However, this felt like a case of juggling too much. There are a lot of characters, multiple points of view, and a timeline that switches between the present and past (leading up). While I normally do not mind large casts, I struggled here to keep track of everyone. I often found myself confused, especially in the beginning, about which family I was following, needing to rewind the audiobook and even take notes. We have at least 5 families with parents and children.

Even with plenty of family drama and tension, I never felt like I got to know any of the characters well enough to connect with them all that much. The story had a lot of moving parts, but I never felt fully invested.

Overall, Parents Weekend has a fantastic concept. If you enjoy messy family dynamics, lots of different perspectives, and do not mind paying close attention, this one is for you. Personally, I found it a little overwhelming, and sadly it left me feeling underwhelmed compared to Finlay’s previous books.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and Net Galley for the advance listen copy in exchange for my honest review.

DeAnn @deannsreadingriot

Parents Weekend was not what I was expecting, it still has me thinking weeks after I have finished listening to it.

This book aired on the darker side for me, or at least it seemed a little darker than everything else that I have read by him. And I am still trying to decide my overall feelings on this book. as many thrillers don't have me ruminating this long after I finish.

This book was one of the more "realistic" thrillers/mysteries I think I have ever read. Often in thrillers, I find that one of the more unrealistic features of the books are that things just seem to "all work out in the end". And that cannot really be said in this book. The ending was pretty raw and real, and there was a real sense of that is probably what would happen at the end of a tragedy like that.

However, that leads into my continued rumination of the book. Would/Could anything like this ever happen, sure. But I feel like there is just too much covering up/good acting, for this to be believable. And that is where I get stuck.

Believable storyline with questionable characters that probably wouldn't be up to the tasks they were given in this book.

So, after weeks of thought, internal debate, and going back and forth in my brain, I have decided to give this 3.5 stars ⭐⭐⭐- rounded up to 4.

***Fair warning**** If you are a lover of Alex Finlay books, this is not his typical style IMO.

It’s Parents Weekend at an elite private California college, and five undergrads and their families are supposed to meet up for drinks and dinner to kick off the weekend. The parents all arrive and start getting their drink on, but the students never show. Initially thought to be forgetfulness or irresponsibility, panic starts to rise as time goes by and calls and texts go unanswered.

Alex Finlay’s latest is a popcorn thriller and police procedural rolled into one. Fans of Finlay’s earlier books will be excited to see FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller (from The Night Shift and Every Last Fear) return, relocating to the west coast with her family. Although a good portion of the story is told from Keller’s perspective, there are lots of characters and lots of POVs between the various families and students. This is a quick read with short chapters and lots of drama, juicy secrets, and twists and turns.

Audiobook narrator Brittany Pressley is excellent as always. She does a great job differentiating the various characters so it’s easy to keep track of all of the players, even with such a large cast.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, and Macmillan Audio for providing me advance copies of this book.

3.5 stars rounded up.

Parents' Weekend was a quick and entertaining thriller, perfect for those seeking a twisty and fast-paced book to get them out of a reading slump.

We are introduced to five different families, comprised of parents and their college students, at the start of the annual parents' weekend at Santa Clara University. The story is told from these alternating POVs, as well as that of an FBI agent (Sarah Keller).

Mystery and chaos ensures when the parents congregate for the opening night dinner and their five students do not show up to the event, nor are they responding to calls or texts. Given that one of the parents is a VIP, the FBI is called to investigate and track down these missing students.

While I enjoyed the large cast of characters, the length of the story ended up being a bit too short for my preference, as it did not really dive deep enough into the background and motivations of each person. That being said, the very short chapters kept me reading and listening, to the point that I devoured this one in just a day!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook and ebook copies in exchange for my honest review.

Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay was just a meh thriller for me. In the beginning it was a tad confusing to remember all of the characters and keep their story lines straight. With five college age kids, and each of them having parents who had story lines, it was just a lot thrown at the reader in the beginning. The story line just did not have the depth that I like my thrillers to have, but it still made for an easy listen.

This was a very quick listen, and the ending was pretty predictable, but I would still recommend this book to someone who is looking for a beach read thriller, or something that won't keep you up at night.

I also thought the audio book narrator did a good job, with all of the different voices. It aided in helping me keep all the many characters straight!

What a wonderfully woven tapestry of a cast of characters. No one is secret-free and it's disheartening to see the effects on the children. This title kept me listening non-stop and I didn't see the end coming, so that's always a win for me. I'll be reading more by Finlay!

I thought the premise for Parents Weekend sounded exciting, and I was looking forward to getting into this one.

Unfortunately. I did not care for the story, had a hard time getting the many character straight, and had no connection to any character for me to really care about what was going to happen in the story.

On a positive note, the narrator was fantastic and did a wonderful job giving personality to the characters as well as setting a tone for this story.

Thank you for the opportunity to listen to Parents Weekend!

The setting for this book is parents weekend at a college campus. When 5 of the students go missing the first night when they are supposed to show up for dinner with their families the mystery begins.

I enjoyed this book overall. I thought it was paced really well and that the reveals happened at a good pace. I was surprised at the end, which is a win for thrillers in my book! I really enjoyed following Agent Keller and her family again (she was featured in Night Shift), it was nice to have a few characters that I already felt acquainted with. My biggest critique would be that there are so many characters to keep track of it was a bit confusing for the first 30 percent or so of the book, but it did get better as the book went on. I enjoyed the audio narration, the narrator made the voices all distinct enough that it helped me start to be able to identify the different characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this advance copy!

Parents Weekend serves up all the classic thriller goodness: missing college students, messy relationships, shady accusations, and red herrings flying at you from every direction. But what really made this one stand out for me was the parents. Seriously, the adults in this book are chaotic — flawed, messy, desperate — and they drive the whole story forward in a way that’s both fascinating and cringe-worthy at times.

If you love a good family drama mixed with suspense and a heavy dose of “what is wrong with these people?”, you’ll definitely vibe with this one. Not a perfect home run, but a solid, fast-paced read that kept me entertained.

3.5 Rounded to 4

Oh my goodness I was seriously on the edge of my seat the whole freaking time! I loved this so much and I couldn’t put it down!!

It’s the weekend that both parents and kids dread—and when a group of five college friends doesn’t show up for the first family event, everyone knows something’s wrong. No one’s answering their phones, and the silence is completely out of character.

This was another fast-paced, addictive read from Alex Finlay. I loved seeing FBI agent Sarah Keller back in action. The way each chapter focused on a different family made it so much easier to keep track of the big cast of characters—and trust me, I needed it! The short chapters kept the story moving and definitely pulled me into the “just one more chapter” trap... which somehow always turns into five or ten. 😅

I also listened to parts of the audiobook and thought it was fantastic. The narration was spot-on and made it even easier to stay hooked in the story.

Definitely a solid thriller to add to your shelf.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC!

I could not stop thinking about this book when I wasn't reading.

I thought the premise was really good. This book kept me guessing. As someone who reads a ton of psychological thrillers- I'm usually good at predicting the plot, but I didn't with this one.

I liked how the ending tied everything up nicely

I appreciate the author allowing me an advanced copy of this book

Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay is a fast-paced, twisty thriller that kept me thoroughly engaged from start to finish. Set during a chaotic parents' weekend at a private college, the story unfolds through multiple perspectives, including the return of FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller, which added depth and familiarity for fans of Finlay's work. The audiobook narration brought the complex cast of characters to life, enhancing the suspense and emotional tension. While the plot is intricate and full of secrets and misdirections, the short chapters and shifting viewpoints kept the momentum brisk and addictive. I appreciated the realistic portrayal of family dynamics and the mounting mystery surrounding the disappearance of five students. Overall, it was an entertaining and well-crafted mystery that I enjoyed immensely and would recommend to fans of gripping thrillers.

Alex Finlay has a formula for his thrillers - lots of characters and lots of backstories. Sometimes it works for me (Every Last Fear), sometimes it doesn’t. This time it didn’t.
The story had so much promise! The plot sounded sooo good that I couldn’t wait to dive into the audiobook, ℅ netgalley (many thanks)
But, within the first 5 chapters I was introduced to about 15 characters and it completely shattered my excitement and interest in the story. I appreciated the short chapters that made for a fast-paced plot. Yet, It was hard to stay engaged when new characters were constantly introduced and I just lost the momentum for seeing how all of these stories and characters would connect.
I would really love to read a book with this same plot, with maybe 30 less characters. The narration was pretty good. I liked her tones and flows throughout the story.

Rating: 3 stars!

There was a lot of families. There was a lot of chaos. And there was a lot of jumping around. Overall, the story had a lot of drama from all sides with the various families and their invididual crazies. Together though, it was hard to keep up with that many individual families (in my personal opinion) and the ending felt a little flat. Overall, its a quick read with an interesting plot.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved the college campus setting of this thriller! Parents weekend was the perfect setting for a group of college kids to go missing. Most of the parents had their own issues going on which made them slightly unlikeable. We learn more about the kids through the adults. It was great seeing Agent Keller again from The Night Shift! Overall really enjoyed this one!

Suspenseful story of missing college students, complicated people and relationships, family drama, accusations, red herrings, all the usual thriller fun. What makes this stand out is the dynamics within and among the parents, everything being propelled by them and their flawed ways. There's a part toward the end about a professor that will stick with me forever and bounce around in my head.