If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finlay #bookreview #thriller #suspense

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Title: If Something Happens to Me

Author:  Alex Finlay

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Publication Date: May 28, 2024

Page Count:  322

My rating: 4 stars

About the book:

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.

If Something Happens to Me is another suspenseful thriller novel from author Alex Finlay. The story in If Something Happens to Me is one that is told by changing the point of view between three central characters in the novel and takes place in the present time which is five years after a fateful event that is now coming to light.

Five years ago Ryan Richardson was with his girlfriend Alison Lane alone at night while parked in their car when suddenly Ryan is dragged from the car and hit over the head all the while hearing nothing but Ali’s screams. Ali was never seen again and of course the police looked at Ryan as the suspect but with no evidence to prove he might of been lying Ryan was never charged.

Now five years later Ryan has changed his name and after finishing college he’s headed to Europe before tackling law school. It’s while traveling Ryan gets the next Ali’s car was found but with two strangers dead inside and only a note from Ali marked “If something happens to me”. Deputy sheriff Poppy McGee is then determined to solve the cold case from five years ago and find the truth of that night.

If Something Happens to Me is the fourth thriller novel I’ve read from author Alex Finlay and the one thing I say after each one is if you haven’t tried one of those thrillers yet you really should. This latest novel was full of all of the fast paced excitement that I expected with so many twists and turns to keep readers on their toes that as usual it is hard to ever put the book down and not want to continue flying through the pages until the very end. I do know that I will continue to return to Alex Finlay’s thrillers and do hope others give them a try too.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the author:
Alex Finlay is the author of the 2021 breakout novel, EVERY LAST FEAR, the 2022’s GoodReads Choice nominee for Best Mystery & Thriller, THE NIGHT SHIFT, and his latest 2023 release, WHAT HAVE WE DONE. His work has been an Indie Next pick, a LibraryReads selection, an Amazon Editor’s Best Thriller, as well as a CNN, Newsweek, E!, BuzzFeed, Business Week, Goodreads, Parade, PopSugar, and Reader’s Digest best or most anticipated thrillers of the year. Alex’s novels have been translated into nineteen languages and are sold around the world. All of his books have been option for film and television, and EVERY LAST FEAR is in development for a series on a major streaming service. Learn more at https://alexfinlaybooks.com/