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.

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

“Smart, fast-paced and intense, Parents Weekend depicts every parent’s worst nightmare. Alex Finlay is a master at creating complex, high-stakes thrillers that are charged with emotion. Readers will love this one.”—Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of Local Woman Missing and She’s Not Sorry

“Let’s call it: there is nothing as addictive as an Alex Finlay novel. Prepare to sit transfixed as the action in Parents Weekend explodes from page one, introducing readers to five missing students and their families, each unhappy in their own way, with plenty to hide. In classic Finlay fashion, the novel combines astute character studies with shocking twists, turning the growing pains between parents and their college-aged kids into mesmerizing fodder for high-tension thrills. Finlay is at the very top of his game—I loved it and readers will too.”—Ashley Winstead, bestselling author of Midnight is the Darkest Hour

Great read

Excellent read with great details and description of Santa Clara.
That certainly made for a tragically unforgetable parent’s weekend!!

So good

Quick and enjoyable story. Loved the interconnected POVS and how the story all came together

Suspenseful

Loved this one. A clever plot line told from different viewpoints and keeps you guessing.

Maybe it’s me

Maybe I’ve read too many books like this and that’s what made it so easy to figure out early on what happened to the girl, but also this story had no big twists or climactic ending. Wasn’t horrible. But I won’t be telling anyone to read it.

Really well written

Good thriller! Lots of twists and turns. I liked the ending and everything in between.