Parents Weekend

A Novel

By: Alex Finlay

Narrated by: Brittany Pressley

From the bestselling author of If Something Happens to Me, which AudioFile called "thoroughly engaging from beginning to end," comes one of the year’s most anticipated thrillers.

This program features an author's note and acknowledgments read by the author.

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.

A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books.

©2025 Alex Finlay (P)2025 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

One of BookBub’s “Must-Read Mysteries and Thrillers of 2025”

“From one of the genre's best . . . Finlay has a gift for intertwining many storylines and characters in a cohesive, compelling way. The tropes used here don't feel stale, and plenty of surprises and red herrings will keep readers interested. Fans won't want to miss Finlay's latest.”—Booklist

“Finlay writes . . . with red herrings galore, and he caps the proceedings with a particularly shocking conclusion.”—Publishers Weekly

“[Finlay] crafts a genuine page-turner with a cast of flawed and realistic human characters. Plan a weekend to devour this terrific thriller.”—First Clue

B+ rating

Not his best, love this author, but also finished it all in 2 days, but stopped last 30 minutes. Would’ve been excellent bc storyline was really interesting & unique but cheesy lifetime one liners make you laugh out loud. One that comes to mind, “Never send a man in to do a woman’s job. Now go get my son” Sorry. B+ rating just for that one line alone. Still recommend & authors note at end was super precious

Characters

It was a quick read, but not really a thriller. I was expecting so much more from the book.

Wow loved it!

Wasn’t quite sure where the author was going on this twisted journey but I really liked everything about it. I try not to become cynical about mysteries or if I can be truly surprised by now but this book exceeds expectations. This story has depth and relatable complex subplots. I was captivated by all the families for very different reasons. Although for me, the who was a bit predictable, the exemplary writing and interesting characters were great detractors. I absolutely enjoyed listening to this one.

Brittney is such a gifted narrator and she again uses her talents to convey a full diverse cast of different genders with distinct voices and full emotional ranges!!

Intriguing Quick Listen

I will read everything by Alex Finley! This audiobook was easy to pick up and quickly become intrigued by the people, their background, relationships and the plot. There was a lot going on - but not too much that it was hard to keep track of. Once I started listening, it was hard to put down.

The narrator or the author messed up

The narrator kept calling one of the parents Keller when her name was Sara Keller! It was so annoying. I don’t know if the author messed that up or if it was the narrator. The narrator didn’t do well with the different character voices and there are a ton of different characters!! Some trigger warnings would be appropriate as there is some talk of self harm and suicide.

Such potential

The storyline itself was pretty meh.. I didn't find anything startling or surprising most of the characters are completely unlikable. Adding to that, the narration about drove me crazy. I appreciate the attempt to separate voices with different tones etc. but the male voices are just awful. Overall a disappointment.

Quite a story

First book for me by this author did not know what to expect until the end.

Alex Has Done It Again!

Parents Weekend is another terrific accomplishment from rising star Alex Finlay!!! Love the detailed richness of each character development and insight into each of the five, very different families as well as the author's depth of detail in setting each scene as he takes you on a fast paced journey of suspense!! I love that FBI Agent Sarah Keller is back on the scene in Parents Weekend!!! Keep them coming Alex!!!

Good, not great

Found the story a bit boring. Narration was good, always helps the book when the narrator can alter the voice/accent for each character. Not my favorite book by this author. The end was the best part.

Great story

Fast paced story with believable characters and a beautiful setting. Keeps you guessing until the end!