Book Review: If Something Happens to Me

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… This sets Ryan on a race in search of the truth.

If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finlay will be published on May 28, 2024. St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books provided an early galley for review.

Earlier this year, I read The Night Shift by Finlay and really enjoyed it. So, I was eager to see what he would write for his next novel.

There are definitely some similarities between that book and this one. Both involve a reopened cold case involving high school students several years later. There are several narrative viewpoints in both - including one from a male connected to the incident who changes his name to avoid the infamy and one from a female in a position of law enforcement that is investigating the case. This book is also divided into three parts and features many shorter chapters, allowing for jumping around to the various threads of the tale.

I found the story to have a slow build, much like a roller coaster. While everything still moved along at a steady pace, I was hoping for some faster thrills and much sharper twists. Granted, the "slowness" might too be where my brain was at when reading this (coming off a super busy week prior). Still, I was entertained by this story.

One of the secondary characters instantly became a favorite of mine - the true crime podcaster Ziggy dela Cruz (no spoilers). This is a character of which I'd like to see more. To be used in just a small way would be a waste. Finlay has reused characters in books in the past, so there might be some hope for Ziggy down the road.

As a would-be writer myself, I did appreciate Finlay's notes in the back where he talks about how locales in the book were places he had some familiarity. That reflects a lot of writing tips and guidance I've absorbed over the years ("write what you know").