Parents Weekend
It's Parents Weekend at Santa Clara University in Northern California. Five students from Campisi Hall - Libby, Blane, Mark, Felix, and Stella - vanish on the night they're supposed to meet their parents for dinner. Their disappearance sends shockwaves through the campus and draws in the FBI. Agent Sarah Keller, a familiar figure from Finlay's earlier thrillers, takes charge of the case. The investigation reveals layers of family secrets, old traumas, and hidden connections, as the search for the missing students overlaps with another unsolved disappearance.
- Blane, Mark, Stella, Libby and Felix - The students
- Natasha - Troubled student
- Ivan and Iza - Natasha's parents
- Alice - Felix's mom
- Sarah - FBI agent
- Natasha is found dead in a sea cave as Parents Weekend begins.
- That night, the parents arrive for dinner but none of the students show up.
- FBI Agent Sarah Keller is called in to lead the search.
- Blane is last seen with Mark at his frat house, trying to borrow a van.
- The van is caught on FedEx surveillance, driven by someone in a mask.
- Alice gives Sarah messages from "the Rizz" an anonymous app the students post on, listing Mark, Felix, and Professor Turlington as campus predators.
- Turlington tells Sarah he thinks Natasha wrote the posts but denies any relationship with her.
- Geofencing shows Natasha's phone in the same area where the students' phones last pinged.
- Sarah realizes Natasha's parents have the phone and are seeking revenge, and she races to the sea cave.
- Ivan accuses Felix of stalking Natasha, pointing out she had him saved in her phone as Dr. Creep.
- Felix insists he's innocent but agrees to take Ivan to Dr. Creep.
- Sarah deduces Dr. Creep is Professor Turlington, and police rush to his house.
- Inside, they find Felix bleeding on the floor and Ivan armed.
- Dr. Turlington had followed Natasha to the beach that night and drowned her for rejecting him.
- Ivan shoots Turlington before police fire back and kill him.
- Ivan, Turlington, and Felix all die in the confrontation.
- Three years later, the surviving students graduate and move on with their lives.
- Blane - Alive - Attends Georgetown for grad school in IPOL.
- Mark - Alive - Lands a job at a Silicon Valley startup
- Stella - Alive - Post-graduation plans remain unknown
- Libby - Alive - Begins working at St. Jude's
- Iza - Alive? - Her fate is left unresolved
- Sarah - Alive - Still with Bob and the twins and likely continuing her career with the FBI
- Annie - Alive - Graduates from Quantico with Sarah in attendance
- Cynthia - Alive - Appointed Secretary of State
- Alice - Alive - Leaves her job as Dean Pratt's secretary at USC to pursue a more fulfilling life
- Amy and Ken - Alive - Retire and live very happily as wanderers
- Nina - Alive - Divorces David and moves forward happily
- David - Alive - Starts dating again and seems content
- Kidnapping
- Murder
- Stalking
- Cancer
- Pedophilia
- Infidelity
- Child death
Hopeful
Publisher: Minotaur Books
ISBN: 9781250360724
Publish Date: May 6, 2025
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.