Editorial Content for Parents Weekend
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Alex Finlay’s PARENTS WEEKEND cuts right to the heart of a very real nightmare that anyone who is a parent regularly experiences --- the possibility that their child might be abducted.
In this story, which is told mostly from the perspective of five sets of parents who are visiting a small private college in Northern California, we are thrust into the middle of Parents Weekend and the realization that something may be up when none of the five students show up for an agreed-upon private dinner with their folks at a local restaurant.
"PARENTS WEEKEND is a solid thriller that utilizes the popular multiple-narrator technique to keep readers off guard from start to finish."
Joining them will be FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller, who recently relocated to the West Coast temporarily with her family to care for her sick father-in-law, who is dying. Readers of Finlay’s work will recognize Keller, who previously appeared in EVERY LAST FEAR and THE NIGHT SHIFT. She may be new to the area, but she is quite sharp.
Known as The Five, Libby, Blane, Mark, Felix and Stella have a podcast where they show off their sleuthing skills and their love of all things true crime. They had gotten involved in the case of a missing student from their campus, and it is quite possible that their disappearance has something to do with how close they may have gotten to the truth. The police and Keller are well aware that they could have marked themselves as targets of whoever is behind Natasha’s abduction. Upon learning that she was found dead, they want the truth and are blind to the danger that might befall them.
They also might have been targeted because of who their parents are --- among them, an infamous judge who ruled on a controversial high-profile case; a politician with a myriad of bodyguards; and a coach who is serving time as a convicted pedophile for crossing the line with his female students. There are plenty of red herrings and other characters added to the mix. All of this will keep readers guessing as to who is responsible for Natasha’s murder and the disappearance of The Five.
One of the most clever tactics that Keller devises is utilizing the cameras on a fleet of FedEx trucks that might have spotted the van used by Libby, Blane, Mark, Felix and Stella. She sees someone who appears to be wearing a Smurf mask driving it not long after a prior video that showed two of the students in the vehicle’s front seat. Keller eventually figures everything out, but the question will be whether or not it will be in time to save The Five.
PARENTS WEEKEND is a solid thriller that utilizes the popular multiple-narrator technique to keep readers off guard from start to finish.
Teaser
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. As the hours click by and another night falls with not so much as a text from the students, panic ensues. 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 that have come to cause them peril, or a threat to the friend group from within?
Promo
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. As the hours click by and another night falls with not so much as a text from the students, panic ensues. 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 that have come to cause them peril, or a threat to the friend group from within?
About the Book
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 that have 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.
Audiobook available, read by Brittany Pressley
