Author: Alex Finlay
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
Format: Kindle ARC
No. of Pages: 312
Date of Publication: May 6, 2025
My Rating: 5 Stars
DESCRIPTION:
From the bestselling author of If Something Happens to Me, comes one of the year’s most anticipated thrillers.
In the glow of their children’s exciting first year of college at a small private school in Northern California, five families plan on a night of dinner and cocktails for the opening festivities of Parents Weekend. As the parents stay out way past their bedtimes, their kids—five residents of Campisi Hall—never show up at dinner.
At first, everyone thinks that they’re just being college students, irresponsibly forgetting about the gathering or skipping out to go to a party. But as the hours click by and another night falls with not so much as a text from the students, panic ensues. Soon, the campus police call in reinforcements. Search parties are formed. Reporters swarm the small enclave. Rumors swirl and questions arise.
Libby, Blane, Mark, Felix, and Stella—The Five, as the podcasters, bloggers, and TikTok sleuths call them—come from five very different families. What led them out on that fateful night? Could it be the sins of their mothers and fathers come to cause them peril or a threat to the friend group from within?
Told through multiple points of view in past and present—and marking the return of FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller from Every Last Fear and The Night Shift—Parents Weekend explores the weight of expectation, family dysfunction, and those exhilarating first days we all remember in the dorms when our friends become our family.
In the glow of their children’s exciting first year of college at a small private school in Northern California, five families plan on a night of dinner and cocktails for the opening festivities of Parents Weekend. As the parents stay out way past their bedtimes, their kids—five residents of Campisi Hall—never show up at dinner.
At first, everyone thinks that they’re just being college students, irresponsibly forgetting about the gathering or skipping out to go to a party. But as the hours click by and another night falls with not so much as a text from the students, panic ensues. Soon, the campus police call in reinforcements. Search parties are formed. Reporters swarm the small enclave. Rumors swirl and questions arise.
Libby, Blane, Mark, Felix, and Stella—The Five, as the podcasters, bloggers, and TikTok sleuths call them—come from five very different families. What led them out on that fateful night? Could it be the sins of their mothers and fathers come to cause them peril or a threat to the friend group from within?
Told through multiple points of view in past and present—and marking the return of FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller from Every Last Fear and The Night Shift—Parents Weekend explores the weight of expectation, family dysfunction, and those exhilarating first days we all remember in the dorms when our friends become our family.
MY THOUGHTS:
Five college freshmen failed to show up at an event at their school. This wasn’t just a casual occurrence; it was Parents Weekend, and the opening event was supposed to be a sophisticated experience. Initially, the faculty assumed the kids were just being mischievous, and no one was alarmed. However, as the hours ticked by, it became increasingly apparent that something sinister was afoot. While the campus police had diligently investigated, they realized they needed more assistance. FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller was promptly called in, and an intensified search for these five young individuals began.
The young people are in this story Libby, Blane, Mark, Felix and Stella. They haven’t even had a chance to make their mark on the world, and it becomes eerily apparent that something dreadful has happened to them. The story of the missing college students gain traction quickly, attracting the attention of podcasters, bloggers as well as TikTokers. They are all keenly interested in this case. In fact, the missing group gain a new moniker—The Five.
While in some ways, although a dual timeline story, this is also a story with a very short time span. The more the reader immerses themselves in this thrilling story by Alex Finlay, the more the sense of urgency is realized. Not only is the safety of the students paramount, the reason behind their disappearance remains intriguing.
The narrative in this book is presented from multiple perspectives, adding an extra layer of intrigue. With a diverse cast of characters, each with their own unique stories, the powerful narrative unfolds, making it a fast-paced read. However, I must acknowledge that this story delves into some serious subjects, and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that. As we’ve seen Keller in two of Finlay’s previous novels, Every Last Fear and The Night Shift, her personal life plays a more significant role in this story.
Many thanks to Minotaur Books and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
Alex Finlay is the author of the 2021 breakout novel, Every Last Fear, the 2022 Goodreads Choice nominee for Best Mystery & Thriller, The Night Shift, and the 2023 LibraryReads Hall of Fame recipient, What Have We Done. His work has been an Indie Next pick, a LibraryReads selection, an Amazon Editor’s Best Thriller, as well as a Cosmopolitan, CNN, Newsweek, E!, BuzzFeed, Business Week, Goodreads, Parade, PopSugar, Scribd, and Reader’s Digest best or most anticipated thrillers of the year. Alex’s novels have been translated into twenty-one languages and are sold around the world. All of his novels have been optioned for film and television, and Every Last Fear is in development for a major limited series.
Alex writes under a pen name and is a prominent Washington, D.C. lawyer who has represented clients in more than 40 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
His next novel If Something Happens to Me releases in May 2024.
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