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Parents Weekend: A Novel

AN INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER

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 gather over 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 to dinner.

At first, everyone thinks they’re just being college students, irresponsibly forgetting about the gathering or skipping out to go to a party. But as the hours tick 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 soon call them—come from very different families. What drew 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 from each family’s point of view—and marking the return of FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller from Every Last Fear and The Night ShiftParents Weekend explores the weight of expectation, family dysfunction, and those exhilarating first days in the dorms when friends become family.

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Published May 6, 2025

320 pages

Average rating: 7.18

22 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Andrea-The Shelf Life Books
Jul 03, 2025
7/10 stars
When Five freshman from Santa Clara University do not show up to the University’s Parents weekend dinner, is it a coincidence or is there something more sinister happening? Blane, Stella, Felix, Libby and Mark had all spoken to their parents earlier that day to finalize plans for dinner, but by dinner time, all five were unreachable and nowhere to be found. Typically, the parents and campus police would not be overly concerned about their students not showing up. They would have figured they were side tracked by a party or friends, but earlier in the week, a student was found dead. When Sarah Keller asked for a temporary transfer to the Northern California office so that she could be with you husband Bob and the twins to take care of Bob’s ailing father. But in true Special Agent Keller fashion, she is asked to investigate the missing five students. There is a large cast of characters that we follow through this fast-paced journey. It seems that every family has plenty of secrets. From infidelity to betrayal and tragic losses, which hints at a deeper connection to the disappearances. I absolutely love Alex Finlay’s fast-paced, action-packed writing style, but this one was a little bit too much of a cozy thriller. I felt that there were so many families, faculty, police officers and FBI agents, that I kept needing to pause to remember who that was. Overall, this one was a 4 star read for me, I did enjoy the book and the unstoppable Agent Keller. I can’t wait to read more from this author.
Tanja
Jun 25, 2025
8/10 stars
This is a twisty, suspenseful mystery set at a private college in Northern California. Five students go missing during Parents Weekend. What connects them? What secrets are their parents hiding? And will they make it back alive?

I loved unraveling each family's story—so many layers and secrets to uncover. My favorite character? Hands down, FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller. She was a total standout.

This was my first Alex Finlay novel, but definitely not my last. Solid, fast-paced mystery that kept me hooked from start to finish.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the E-ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts!
@sweettea_and_a_book
Apr 28, 2025
2/10 stars
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. 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.

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