Book Review: If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finlay

3
Genre ~ suspense thriller
Setting ~ Kansas, Pennsylvania, Europe
Publication date ~ May 28, 2024
Page Count ~ 322 (p+ 84 chapters +e)
Audio length ~ 7 hours 16 minutes
Narratosr ~ Helen Laser, John Pirhalla, Paul Dateh
POV ~ multiple 3rd
Featuring ~ 3 part story, short chapters, suicide

My review:

Ryan was clonked on the noggin 5 years ago and girlfriend, Ali, was missing when he woke up. Now he’s in Europe with his law school friends when he sees someone that brings back memories from that horrible night.

Michael is an accountant who got involved with a very dangerous man. I wasn’t sure how his storyline was going to fit in, but I was quite pleased with how it did. Looking back now I’m like duh.

Poppy is the deputy sheriff looking for answers when Ali’s car is found in the lake with 2 bodies inside. I thought she did a great job for her first case.

The prologue was super promising, but the middle was really slow for me. Don’t get me wrong, there was a good amount of action, and there was a nice twist, but it was just a bit too slow moving for me. Even though there was a lot going on I was never fully engaged. I did like how it was all wrapped up, but I could’ve gone for a little more thrilling pizzazz. Jackpot for short chapters.

Narration notes:
All the narrators did a fine job. Ryan sounded age appropriate, but could have shown a little more emotion during the action packed moments though.

There is plenty of love for this one, so don’t take my word for it.

Get your copy on ~ Amazon

Add to your never ending TBR  ~ goodreads

I’d love to hear your thoughts if you’ve read it.

Book blurb:

For the past five years, Ryan Richardson has relived that terrible night. The car door ripping open. The crushing blow to the head. The hands yanking him from the vehicle. His girlfriend Ali’s piercing scream as she is taken.

With no trace of Ali or the car, a cloud of suspicion hangs over Ryan. But with no proof and a good lawyer, he’s never charged, though that doesn’t matter to the podcasters and internet trolls. Now, Ryan has changed his last name, and entered law school. He’s put his past behind him.

Until, on a summer trip abroad to Italy with his law-school classmates, Ryan gets a call from his father: Ali’s car has finally been found, submerged in a lake in his hometown. Inside are two dead men and a cryptic note with five words written on the envelope in Ali’s handwriting: If something happens to me…

Then, halfway around the world, the unthinkable happens: Ryan sees the man who has haunted his dreams since that night.

As Ryan races from the rolling hills of Tuscany, to a rural village in the UK, to the glittering streets of Paris in search of the truth, he has no idea that his salvation may lie with a young sheriff’s deputy in Kansas working her first case, and a mobster in Philadelphia who’s experienced tragedy of his own.

In classic Alex Finlay form, If Something Happens to Me is told by several distinct, compelling characters whose paths intersect, detonating into a story of twist after pulse-pounding twist. The novel cements Finlay as one of the leading thriller writers today.

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