You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Thanks to NetGalley, Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio for the digital copy of this audiobook; I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Alex Finlay is the reason why I read more thrillers these days. I really enjoyed Every Last Fear and The Night Shift, so I was eager to read Parents Weekend, which features the return of FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller, who is a character that deserved better than this book.
That’s not to say Parents Weekend is bad. I’m glad to have read it, but it could have been something much better. Narrating by Brittany Pressley helped (she’s fast becoming one of my go-to narrators), but overall, I just couldn’t get invested in the story. Told from multiple POV, some characters worked better than others.
I do have to say that while I didn’t find this an excellent book, but merely a good book, I didn’t guess the ending, so that’s saying something. I would still recommend this book to fans of domestic thrillers, but it’s not Finlay’s best outing.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Thank you to the publisher for a Netgalley.
This one was good. I really enjoy Agent Keller as a character, so it was fun for her to reppear.
What I Liked: Agent Keller, McCray, and the pace of the plot. It moved fast and I like my thrillers to be fast.
What was just fine: The ending. Felt like many other thrillers I have read. The how much random political stuff we could throw in.
Overall, I think Finlay is a solid thriller/suspense writer. This was not my favorite of his, but he is an auto-read author for me for sure.
This one was good. I really enjoy Agent Keller as a character, so it was fun for her to reppear.
What I Liked: Agent Keller, McCray, and the pace of the plot. It moved fast and I like my thrillers to be fast.
What was just fine: The ending. Felt like many other thrillers I have read. The how much random political stuff we could throw in.
Overall, I think Finlay is a solid thriller/suspense writer. This was not my favorite of his, but he is an auto-read author for me for sure.
I recommend this book in the audio version, it was quick and (somewhat) low stakes (IMO, since I found it predictable). It was entertaining to listen to and I did enjoy it but I felt like it was a bit lacking. Lots of players in the mix and a LOT of povs. Each set of parents plus the students themselves plus Agent Keller. It was a lot to keep up with at the start.
The mystery itself was pretty predictable, I knew it had something to do with what was mentioned early on and who - just waited along for the why and how.
I know the title itself is about “parents” but I wish we had more focus on the students. I wanted more of their POV from the present and more to what lead them to go missing. The parents povs added a lot of filler, a lot of maybes and what ifs.
I was a little sad with the ending but still liked how it all came out. Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC!
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I really enjoyed this thriller with a throwback to college life. Five students go missing during their Parent Weekend Dinner. No one can get a hold of them, and it turns from oh you how college kids are to every parent’s worst nightmare no matter how old your kids get.
Each family had their own back story that was the threaded throughout the book. I thought Alex did an awesome job weaving in all the characters and each chapter was a different family POV.
The Maldonado Fam: Stella, Married, Dad a doctor
The Goffman Fam: Felix, Single Mom, Divorced, Mom works for school
The Roosevelt Fam: Blaine, Divorced, Mom works for government, parents DO NOT get along
The Akanas: Libby, Dad is a judge, family grieving death of son
The Wong Fam: Mark, parents not present for the weekend, dad served time for multiple CSCs
I almost missed the Agent Keller Easter egg and had to do a double take. Loved seeing her back in action and her little family doing well.
This was a suspenseful and fast paced thriller. Thank you MacMillian Audio for this ALC!n
Each family had their own back story that was the threaded throughout the book. I thought Alex did an awesome job weaving in all the characters and each chapter was a different family POV.
The Maldonado Fam: Stella, Married, Dad a doctor
The Goffman Fam: Felix, Single Mom, Divorced, Mom works for school
The Roosevelt Fam: Blaine, Divorced, Mom works for government, parents DO NOT get along
The Akanas: Libby, Dad is a judge, family grieving death of son
The Wong Fam: Mark, parents not present for the weekend, dad served time for multiple CSCs
I almost missed the Agent Keller Easter egg and had to do a double take. Loved seeing her back in action and her little family doing well.
This was a suspenseful and fast paced thriller. Thank you MacMillian Audio for this ALC!n
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated