An eclectic group of parents descend on an sunny California college for parents weekend only for all of their children to go missing. Insert a race against the clock to find these 5 kids before the unimaginable happens.
I liked the setting of this book, but that could be my bias for Jesuit universities coming through. I also genuinely like Agent Keller as a reoccurring character in Finlay's books. Unfortunately, that's about all I liked in this one.

There were way too many characters and side plots that were trying to act as red herrings, but instead felt like incomplete thoughts that would come in out of nowhere and leave just as quickly.
The sheer number of characters made it hard to tell them apart at times, especially since almost all of them were never fully fledged out.

Also there was at least one really weird comment about homeless people that felt very inconsiderate and inappropriate.

One more thing, Finlay mentions in the author's note that he set it at Santa Clara because that's where his son is currently attending and he had the idea during a parents weekend, and that just felt weird to me.

Overall, while it was a super quick read, I found it to be very disappointing, especially since I have liked Finlay's work in the past.

This was the first book I have read from Alex Finlay. I found at times that there were too many characters...too many storylines to keep straight. Definitely, a huge web to twists and turns.

Parents are meeting at their children's school for a parent's weekend. You have well to do families and those barely getting by. They all carry secrets and will come to the surface. I did enjoy the FBI agent Keller and head of school police.

I found the multiple POV too much.

What a fun story! I devoured Parent's Weekend in just a few sittings! This audiobook was engaging, unique and was a pleasant mix of dark academia meets thriller meets family drama. I loved the different family dynamics Finlay created in this book between all of the family members as well as the backstory/character development of FBI Agent Sarah Keller. If you like fast-paced, multi-layered thrillers, or any pf Finlay's other novels, this book is definitely for you!

For freshmen at UC Santa Clara, it's Parents Weekend and families from around the county arrive for a a weekend of bonding and festivities. Libby, Blane, Mark, Felix, and Stella, known as "The Five", mysteriously miss out on the welcome dinner due to appears to be house parties and college shenanigan's, leaving their parents reeling and confused. What a first seems like a childish mishap becomes more serious as the students never return to their dorms and become unreachable by their families. After, it's all hands on deck to discover what happened to the unlucky freshmen and how they play into the recent death of their classmate Natasha Belov. FBI Agent, Sarah Keller, a recurring character from Finlay's past novels, is called in to assist with the case, and with her arrival comes a seriousness to the matter that no one saw coming.

Full of lies, family secrets, Parents Weekend will keep you guessing with jaw-dropping twists and shocking reveals. Thank you for the advanced copy of this book!

Parent’s Weekend is a fast-paced, emotionally charged thriller that begins with five college students vanishing during a campus event and their parents left reeling. Told through multiple points of view and timelines, the novel explores family secrets, the pressures of young adulthood, and the dark echoes of past choices. With FBI Agent Sarah Keller returning to untangle the mystery, Alex Finlay weaves a smart, twisty story full of suspense, heart, and surprises.

Five big fat stars!!⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC audiobook of Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay!
What a great book!
This one was right up my alley!
An action packed thriller that will keep you hanging on until the very end.
And the narrator, Brittany Pressley is just the icing on this cake!
Highly recommended!!

*Parents Weekend* by Alex Finlay is set against the lively, complicated backdrop of a college campus — a setting I always enjoy. The atmosphere was captured really well, from the buzzing energy of the students to the tension between parents who don't always see eye to eye. I thought using the families' differences and similarities as a storytelling device was smart; it kept the plot layered and gave different emotional perspectives on the events that unfolded.

Listening to the audiobook, I appreciated how the multiple perspectives added depth, but at the same time, it did get a little difficult to keep all the characters straight. With so many families and storylines overlapping, I occasionally found myself pausing to reorient who was connected to who. It wasn’t confusing enough to take away from the experience completely, but it made the story feel a little more scattered than I would have liked.

Plot-wise, *Parents Weekend* moved along easily, but it didn’t carry the tension or suspense that I was hoping for from an Alex Finlay novel. The stakes never felt quite as high as they could have been, and by the time the resolution came around, it landed a little flat. That said, the final chapters did tie things together cleanly, and I appreciated how everything was wrapped up without unnecessary twists.

Overall, while *Parents Weekend* didn’t fully deliver on the high-intensity thrills I was expecting, it’s still a decent listen for those who enjoy college settings and layered family dynamics. I would recommend it — but with a lukewarm suggestion rather than an enthusiastic one. I would rate it 3 out of 5 stars. I’m grateful to have received an Advanced Listeners Copy from NetGalley and Macmillan Audio.

Alex Finlay is usually a hit or miss for me and this one was a miss. It was boring and I couldn't get into the story. It lacked originality and at times I found myself tuning out. Looking forward to the next Alex Finlay though!!

Alex Finlay has done it again — Parents Weekend absolutely blew me away! As a thriller lover, I was hooked from the very first page. I especially love when a story drops you right into the action, about a third of the way into the plot, and then rewinds to show you how everything unraveled. That’s exactly what Finlay did here, and it worked so well. The book opens with a gut-wrenching scene: a group of kids trapped in a cave as the high tide creeps in, and we know things aren't looking good. From there, we rewind three days and piece together all the events leading up to that heart-pounding moment. The suspense was electric — I couldn't turn the pages fast enough!

What made this book stand out even more was the twist. I thought I had it all figured out, but nope — the final reveal completely caught me off guard in the best way. I love when a thriller truly shocks me, and Parents Weekend kept me guessing right up until the very end. Every time I thought I had the culprit pinned down, another clue would pop up and throw me off track. If you’re looking for a fast-paced, twisty thriller that will keep you second-guessing yourself the whole way through, this one needs to be at the top of your TBR list!

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