Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay is a thrilling, cleverly written mystery that shines in both audiobook and print formats. Whether you’re listening or reading, this book keeps you on the edge of your seat with its gripping plot and unexpected twists.

In both versions, Finlay’s storytelling is sharp and engaging, weaving a web of secrets, lies, and family dynamics that will keep you hooked from start to finish. The characters are complex, and the suspense builds steadily, making it a true page-turner (or in the case of the audiobook, a “press-play-and-don’t-want-to-pause” experience).

The audiobook is wonderfully narrated, with the voice actors bringing the tension and emotional depth of the story to life. The pacing is spot-on, and the delivery of the twists is absolutely perfect. In print, the writing flows just as effortlessly, with the same captivating suspense and plot twists that make Finlay’s work so enjoyable.

If you’re looking for a fast-paced, well-crafted mystery with a strong sense of tension and heart, Parents Weekend is a must-read/listen. Whether you prefer audio or print, this one delivers an unforgettable experience.

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (3.25/5)

“How many worst days can one person have?”

So this one was alright but overall a miss for me. It wasn’t bad but just not my jam and here’s why…

🚫Dark Academia
🚫Too many characters without development (although I did like Agent Keller)
🚫Unnecessary characters (all of the cheating wasn’t necessary, well except the one)
🚫 Cohesiveness just didn’t get there for me. It was a bit all over the place.

I did think the audio narrator was an excellent choice and definitely added to holding my interest in the story.

I won’t go as far as to say Alex Finlay isn’t an author for me, because I do like some of his stuff. This book just wasn’t one that I was all that invested in. The only thing I remember about it was geofencing, going to the country club to meet up with the judge for the warrant and the cave details…which isn’t good bc I legit just finished the book.

All of that being said, you can tell the author really did his research in putting this one together. So kudos to him for that.

Honestly I struggled with this one. There were so many characters it became really hard to follow and was just kind of blah. The end was interesting but that was about it.

The audio was great adding an extra layer of enjoyment. Thanks for the ALC!

𐙚 - Twisty, Multi-layered Mystery
𐙚 - Layered Perspectives
𐙚 - Character Drama/ Detective Work

Intriguing from the start, Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay is a gripping, multi-layered mystery set during a parents’ weekend at Santa Clara University, where a group of students goes missing.

What works for this book is the balance between the perspectives of FBI Agent Sarah Keller and the parents, with glimpses into the lives of the missing students. Agent Keller steals the spotlight, tying the threads of the mystery together with her sharp insight and methodical approach. While it starts a bit slow with character building, the story quickly picks up, keeping the pages turning. The layered perspectives add depth, creating a gripping mystery for readers to unravel. Readers who enjoy a mix of character drama and detective work will find plenty to like here.

This is a solid, entertaining thriller that’s worth picking up for a twisty and layered read.

Well…Alex Finlay has done it again! Parents Weekend was a total blast! I love his short chapters & how he weaves the multiple POV’s together!

Parents Weekend follows, well, a group a parents after there kids go missing during…parents weekend! (Shall I say parents weekend again!)

This was super fun…I loved all the different family stories and drama. I was kinda underwhelmed by the outcome but I still totally enjoyed this book! File this under you’re best fun “popcorn thriller”.

I thought the audio was fantastic!

Five families arrive at a small private college in northern Cali for parents weekend. Despite confirming with their children, none of the five students show up to the parents dinner at the restaurant just off campus. In fact, none of the students can be found at all. One of the kids' mother is in a high profile job in D.C. and was kidnapped as a young child. Another of the kids' father is a judge who recently completed a case with a Hollywood power couple. Could that be why the kids have disappeared, or was it something else? FBI Agent Sarah Keller has just moved out to California, and finds herself in the middle of this mess. After several days, the kids are still missing and not a ping from their phones. Where could they have all gone?

I enjoyed Agent Keller's character, but the characterization of the college kids - the ones we are supposed to be invested in finding - was too minimal for me. I didn't really care if they were found or not as I didn't really know them. I dropped a star due to that. Overall, the story was engaging and a quick read.

As a parent of a college-aged daughter I was very intrigued by this thriller as soon as I saw the title! From the very beginning as we meet the various parent couples, Alex Finlay doesn't take long in building suspense - one by one we discover the parents are all pretty much a red hot mess in various incarnations. The beginning third is very taut and moves quickly into the setup; the middle third for this reader was a bit slow, and I did keep wondering when are we going to learn more about the kids, which I felt was critical to add to the tension so the reader really cares how this situation plays out; the final third moved very quickly again, maybe almost too quickly, to the reveal. While this was a wild ride filled with great red herrings and clever twists, and with some really excellent writing and rich characters, I did think the reveal was obvious by the end, but it was definitely still worth the thrill and I will definitely look for more books by Alex Finlay.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for this audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Set against the backdrop of a Northern California private college, families are gathering for Parents Weekend with their kids at the college. While drinks and small talk occupy the adults, none notice that some students never arrive. Five are missing.
Five who shared the same dorm but are all from different backgrounds.

Unfortunately, the kids were not the main focus. The parents and the FBI case were instead. I understand this, but I would have liked to learn more about The Five, as the poscasters called them.

While I enjoyed the story, it was a bit difficult to follow the large cast of characters and multiple POV. Also, this book is definitely a slow burn. Switching over from eyeballs 👀 to 🎧 audiobook helped the pacing and tone, making it much easier to follow along without the confusion.

Brittany Pressley did a stellar job with all the different voices and absolutely brought the story to life.

Read if you enjoy :
♥︎ campus setting ♥︎ lies
♥︎ secrets. ♥︎ Family drama
♥︎ betrayal. ♥︎ dual timeline
♥︎ revenge

Thanks to Macmillian Audio and Saint Martin's Press for my advanced copy. My review was voluntary.

My first dive into an Alex Finley novel proved to be a satisfying experience, offering a decent mystery that shines through its immersive multiple points of view. The shifting perspectives initially caused some confusion, but once I found my footing, they enriched the story, pulling me deeper into the narrative. Special Agent Keller’s POV stole the show, bringing a compelling and dynamic voice that stood out among the rest.
While the mystery itself leaned predictable at times, it didn’t detract from the overall enjoyment. The narrator’s performance added an extra layer of polish, enhancing the storytelling with skill and clarity. For newcomers to Finley’s work or fans of character-driven mysteries, this is a solid, engaging read worth checking out.

Every parents worst nightmare come true - your child says they will meet you for dinner and they never show up. Now times this by five! Five parents who expected their children for Parents Weekend Dinner and suddenly what was supposed to be a celebration turns into the worst night of their lives.

Oh what a delicious ride this was, as this book takes you deep into the hidden lives of parents and children until the truths are laid bare. But will everything come to light in time? You’ll just have to read this fabulous book and find out.

I highly recommend this book to lovers of thrillers, this was one of the good ones and I enjoyed every moment of it.

Parents Weekend was an enjoyable story set on a college campus. This was a pretty fast read but so many characters to keep up with. I did get sucked in from the beginning.

Another great book by Alex Finlay. "Parent's Weekend" is his latest book and it definitely grips you from the start. What a ride this book was for sure!!!

I thought I’d read Alex Finlay before, but according to my Goodreads profile, Parents Weekend is actually my first book by this author. After finishing it, I can definitely see why Finlay has such a loyal following. This thriller was more about the journey than the ending — which is probably for the best, because the ending felt a little predictable and, honestly, a bit of a letdown.

The story follows five sets of parents who travel to California for Parents Weekend, eager to spend time with their college freshman kids. All the students are part of the same capstone project, and plans are made for all the families to meet up for dinner. But when the time comes, the students never show.

FBI agent Sarah Keller (a recurring character in Finlay’s books) just happens to be in the right place at the right time and quickly becomes involved in solving the mystery of the students' disappearance.

Like I mentioned, I really enjoyed the journey — even if it took a little effort to keep all the characters straight, especially since almost every character has their own POV. That said, the audiobook narrator did a fantastic job giving each character a distinct voice, which definitely helped.
In the end, the story fell a bit flat for me, but it was still an entertaining read that kept me engaged. I think fans of slow-burn thrillers will find it worth their time.

I just finished an advanced reader’s copy of Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay and WOW—five stars from me! 🌟

This one grabs you from page one and doesn’t let go. Set against the backdrop of a prestigious college during a very unforgettable Parents Weekend, this twisty thriller explores the lengths parents will go to protect their kids, and the secrets that just won’t stay buried. 👀

We’re talking:
🛑 Secrets & lies
❤️‍🔥 Trust & betrayal
⚖️ Justice vs. revenge
🫶 Parental sacrifice
All wrapped up in an elite academic setting, complete with amateur sleuths, resurfacing past trauma, and enough jaw-dropping twists to keep you guessing to the very end.

If you’ve read Alex Finlay’s If Something Happens to Me, you’ll love the familiar feel here—multi-POV narration, a constant breadcrumb trail of clues, and characters you don’t quite know if you can trust. I thought I cracked one major twist early (DM me if you're curious—I’m staying spoiler-free here! 😉), but there were still plenty of surprises that caught me totally off guard. SO satisfying.

One heads-up for my fellow audiobook lovers: I listened to this ARC on NetGalley, and while the narration was great, this is a layered plot with lots of characters. If that sounds tricky for you, I recommend either reading the physical/e-book version or doing a combo read/listen. Either way—it's a ride worth taking! 🎧📖

Mark your calendars, thriller fans—Parents Weekend hits shelves on May 6, 2025, and it’s a perfect addition to your summer TBR. ☀️ Thank you, Alex Finlay, for another addictive, cleverly woven, and emotionally resonant story. I’m already looking forward to your launch day! 💙

And that, my friends, is today’s tea on “Parents Weekend” ☕️

When five college students don't show up to dinner at their school's 'Parent's Weekend,' their well-to-do families become concerned that this is more than just a case of playing hooky.

This was a good fast-paced read. I had both audio and ebook, but there is a pretty large cast of characters, so I found the ebook much easier to follow to occasionally flip back if I needed. I enjoyed how the story involved FBI agent Keller from some of the author's previous work (though this book is still a standalone) and she was my favourite character storyline. The tension built pretty well, and I had no idea what was going on. It was entertaining, with no real 'wow/twist' moment, but enjoyable and unpredictable. If you enjoy a good whodunit with a large cast, this would be a great book for you. I enjoyed the narrative of the audioversion!

I had the opportunity to read Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay, and it was a fantastic, fast-paced thriller. The story follows the mysterious disappearance of five college students just as their parents arrive for Parents Weekend. The plot kept me hooked from the start, and I found the character development easy to follow and well-executed.

I really enjoyed Finlay’s writing style—his pacing was spot on, and there were moments of humor woven in that added a nice touch to the suspense. This was a well-developed, engaging read, and I’m definitely looking forward to picking up more of his work in the future.

Sarah Keller, Campus Chaos, and the World’s Most Awkward Family Weekend
Review: The setup should be simple. A cozy college Parents Weekend in Northern California, full of overpriced campus hoodies, awkward small talk, and forced smiles over tepid chardonnay. But instead of the usual university fluff, five students go missing—and within hours, a wine-and-cheese welcome turns into a full-blown federal investigation.

The missing students—Libby, Blane, Felix, Stella, and Mark—were all close, all living in the same dorm, and all gone before their parents even finished their cocktails. And just days after the tragic death of another student, Natasha Belov, the school’s carefully polished image shatters. The parents panic. The campus scrambles. And the FBI calls in someone who doesn’t rattle easy: Special Agent Sarah Keller.

If you’ve read Alex Finlay’s earlier books, you already know Keller. If not—welcome to your new favorite fed. She’s cool, competent, endlessly steady, and blessedly free of tortured backstory nonsense. She’s also in town temporarily, staying with her husband Bob (aka the gold standard of fictional spouses) and their kids while caring for her father-in-law. But make no mistake—Keller’s not playing backup here. She’s front and center, cutting through red tape and parental chaos with surgical precision.

And there is plenty of chaos to cut through. These parents are a whole story unto themselves: a State Department power player with a security detail and no time for small talk, a former writer-turned-teacher still haunted by his son’s childhood abduction, a plastic surgeon barely pretending not to cheat on his wife, a school administrator stretched to her breaking point, a judge whose high-profile convictions don’t make him any better at managing grief. They’re messy. They’re self-important. They’re sometimes insufferable. But they also feel real. Flawed in ways that hit too close to home, especially when it comes to how much—or how little—they actually know their kids.

The story unfolds across multiple perspectives and timelines, bouncing between Keller, one of the missing students, and the parents unraveling in real time. It’s fast-paced, with short, punchy chapters and that signature Finlay rhythm that makes it dangerously easy to say “just one more” until suddenly it’s 2 a.m. The emotional core, though, doesn’t sit with the kids. It sits with the people left behind, the ones who are forced to confront the gaps in their relationships and the secrets they’d rather not resurface.

That said, this isn’t Finlay’s twistiest book. The mystery moves, but it’s not razor-sharp. The students—"The Five,” as the internet quickly brands them—never fully come into focus, which blunts some of the urgency around their disappearance. The final twist works, but it doesn’t gut-punch. It’s less “WHAT?!” and more “Yeah, that tracks.” And honestly, that’s fine—but if you’re coming in expecting a labyrinth of reveals, you might walk away wishing the stakes had landed harder.

But for character drama? For juicy, layered family tension and a heroine who never flinches when things get messy? This one delivers. It’s a slow build that finds its groove in the back half, and by the end, you’re not just reading for the resolution—you’re reading because you want to see how Keller handles it. And she does. Gracefully. Quietly. Without the flair, but with all the firepower.

3.5 stars. It didn’t hit as hard as his earlier thrillers, and the emotional payoff felt a little too neat. But Keller remains a standout, and if this book is laying the groundwork for more cases with her at the center? I’ll be the first in line. I just hope the next one brings a little more depth—and a lot more teeth.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for an ARC.

Reading in Between the Wines book review #40/125 for 2025:
Rating: 3 🍷🍷🍷
Book: Parents Weekend
Author: Alex Finlay
RELEASES on May 6, 2025!!!

Sipping thoughts: Parents Weekend was a near dear idea for me as I gear up to my daughter going to college in just a few short years. It is a parent’s nightmare for their child to go missing. But can you imagine 5 missing children?! This was a mystery that had a LOT of suspects and moving pieces. Be prepared to take notes if you are anything like me. It was initially hard to keep up with the characters, but I finally was able to keep them in order. The reveal was not far-fetched and made a lot of sense. I was surprised with one of the ending deaths, and it was very sad. I enjoyed this one from Finlay and look forward to his next release.

Cheers and thank you to @Netgalley and @Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of @ParentsWeekend.

#ParentsWeekend #AlexFinlay #MacmillanAudio #NetGalley #ARC #advancedreader #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bokreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult

Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay tells the story of five students locked in a mystery who go missing, their parents who are visiting their college for parents weekend, and an FBI agent who has been assigned to discover what's happened to the missing students. The story dives deep into the lives of the families, exploring all the secrets a family can hold, while trying to uncover just what happened to the students who fail to show up for the parents weekend dinner.

This book was different from the expectations I had going into it, but not in a way that disappointed me. I thought the students would be more the focus of what was happening, but the points of view stayed pretty firmly on the parents and the FBI agent, which makes sense! Halfway through the book I got the sense that I was missing some story about the FBI agent and when I looked it up I realized that she is a recurring character from Alex Finlay's other novels. Because it wasn't marked as a series I didn't realize right away that I had missed books that came previously, but it really didn't matter to the story. It was a stand alone story for a character that has appeared in what I assume are other stand alone stories.

Finlay really took the time to explore the backstories of all the families, both to give all the kids motives for why they might have been involved in whatever led to their eventual disappearance, but also for the families to potentially have been responsible. The book went in a direction that I wouldn't have suspected at first, though he laid the pieces out in a cohesive and narratively sound way, enough so that by the end it never felt like anything was coming so far out of left field that I wouldn't have been able to guess it.

All in, I enjoyed this book more than some of the other mystery thrillers I've read recently and I'm glad that I picked it up and gave it a chance. I would recommend this for anyone who likes books they need to puzzle together, or have any interest in following a FBI agent recurring character. It felt like a detective story without solely being a procedural novel. For fans of things like Criminal Minds and John Sanford.

Thanks Alex Finlay, and Minotaur books for publishing it, Macmillan Audio for sending me an ARC and NetGalley for allowing me access to request it.

This is a fast paced, suspenseful thriller about rich people behaving badly that keeps you guessing until the very end. I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

Sometimes it’s hard to keep track of who’s who in a audiobook with many different characters, but Brittany Pressley does an outstanding job with the large cast of characters in this book.