Review with Spoilers for If Something Happens to Me

Check out my Review with Spoilers for If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finlay. Finlay is known for his multi-POV, fast paced, suspenseful stories. His latest is more firmly in the thriller lane and reminded me a little of some popular psychological suspense books AND is perfect for fans of very successful thriller writer. Let’s discuss!

Review with Spoilers for If Something Happens to Me

This post will contain:

• Jen’s Quick Spoiler Free Take on If Something Happens to Me
• My plot summary of If Something Happens to Me
• Spoilers for the ending of the book and If Something Happens to Me Ending Explained

Jen’s Quick Take on If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finlay

• If Something Happens to Me is a high stakes thriller
• The plot is about five-year old missing persons case
• The book has a multi-POV narrative and multiple plot lines
• Publication date: May 28, 2024
• 320 pages
• Thanks to Minotaur Books for the advance copy for review, which I accepted under FTC guidelines
• Other books I’ve reviewed by this author: What Have We Done (2023) and The Night Shift (2022) and Every Last Fear (2021).

If Something Happens to Me: Analysis

Alex Finlay’s books vary between suspense stories and thrillers, but If Something Happens to Me is smack in the middle of the thriller lane, with multiple POVs and escalating tension.

The inciting event in If Something Happens to Me is intriguing:

Law student Ryan Richardson finally put his life back together after his girlfriend, Alison, disappeared five years before.

He’s on a trip to Italy with some fellow students when he gets a call from his father: Alison’s missing car has been found.

Back in the U.S., young deputy sheriff Poppy McGee is drawn into the case. It’s of special interest to her as she and her brother went to high school with Alison.

In another plot line, a Philadelphia accountant worries about his relationship with his boss, who seems like a dangerous criminal.

How do all these plot lines work together? You’ll have to read If Something Happens to Me to find out

In pace and subject matter, If Something Happens to Me reminded me a fair amount of a Harlan Coben book. I also thought it felt like a less violent Lee Child/Jack Reacher. So if those authors are among your favorites, you might want to try this one!

If Something Happens to Me: The Ending Explained with Spoilers

Did you figure out that this book has a manipulated timeline? I noticed that Alison’s father was named Michael and the Philly accountant was also named Michael and my spidey-sense had a feeling something was up.

I also was convinced that Alison was no average high school student. A teenager who doesn’t use social media and is skilled at beating people up? That’s suspicious too.

Spoiler: The Philly sections happened five years ago

YES, we have another book with timeline manipulation! Love it!

Michael Harper, the accountant, is the father of Taylor Harper, a Philadelphia middle school student who participates in the cruel bullying of Anthony, whose stepfather is shady criminal Shane O’Leary.

After Anthony takes his own life, Shane goes on a revenge mission. His crime minions kill most of the students involved in the bullying, plus the school’s headmaster.

Michael, who is former military, realizes he and Taylor are in terrible danger. Using his inside information on O’Leary’s crime enterprise as incentive, he tries to get the two of them in witness protection, but there’s an inside informant who blows the plan and almost gets them killed.

It’s convenient that Michael is Shane’s accountant, because Michael is able to steal some of O’Leary’s money and flee with Taylor.

Taylor Harper becomes Alison Lane and she and her father move to Kansas.

What happened to Alison in Kansas?

O’Leary and his thugs eventually find Michael and Alison in Kansas, but the teens are protected by Sheriff Ken Walton and Poppy’s father Mac McGee, who were on the same military bomb squad as Michael Harper.

Ken and Mac kill Patrick Donnelly and Sean Duffy, the two men sent by O’Leary to kidnap Alison. They put the two bodies in Alison’s car and push it into the river.

Alison then becomes Sophie Rousseau, and she and Michael settle in France.

Because Ken is the sheriff, no one finds Alison’s missing car. But after Ryan is being blamed for Alison’s disappearance, Ken plants evidence linking Alison’s kidnapping to a serial killer so that her case can be closed.

But when the car is found, everything gets dredged back up. (This is my second book this summer about a dredged-up car!)

Meanwhile, FBI agent Jane Fincher comes poking around. Ken warns Poppy not to talk to Jane, but Poppy is intrigued by the inside information Jane can offer about Alison’s case.

Ryan locates Alison in France by decoding a cryptic note in code that she left inside her car.

But unfortunately, Shane O’Leary kills Sheriff Ken Walton, and through Ken’s burner phone also finds Michael.

What is the Ending of If Something Happens to Me?

Shane’s younger brother Brian kidnaps Alison and tries to get Michael to transfer the stolen money back to him.

But Michael is able to outwit (and kill) Brian. Michael and Alison decide that maybe it’s time to turn themselves in and try witness protection again.

Because Ken never had time to fill Poppy in about Jane Fincher, Poppy blabs about the case to Jane. This is unfortunate, because Jane was having an affair with Patrick Donnelly, her confidential informant, who was also one of the dead men in the car. She’s the mole who blew Michael and Alison’s cover.

Poppy’s information relayed by Jane leads O’Leary back to Michael again. Shane O’Leary and his wife Gina abduct Michael in their car. To save Alison, Michael sends the car the three are in over a bridge and he, Shane and Gina drown.

Shane’s associate (and Patrick Donnelly’s father) Chaz Donnelly kidnaps Alison and Ryan. But when he hears that Shane, Gina and Michael are dead, decides there has been enough bloodshed and lets Ali and Ryan go.

One year later, Chaz is killed by the brother of a man he killed on Shane’s order.

Ryan becomes a public defender. He and Alison part ways, but he seems to be beginning a romance with Nora, a fellow law student who helped him locate Alison in France.

Your Questions from the Comments:

Who is “the Monster” aka Peter Jones?

Peter Jones aka The Monster aka Pinky Man is actually an American from Philadelphia named Glen Sweeny.

Sweeny had a gambling debt to the O’Leary family, who seems to have cut off a his pinky as an attempt to make them pay.

Then the O’Learys offer Sweeny a deal: he needs to go to Kansas and confirm that Alison is actually Taylor and kidnap her. But, as described above, the kidnapping goes wrong. Sweeny, who has failed in his mission, flees to Europe.

When Ryan tracks him down in Italy, Peter seems to suggest that his wife has been kidnapped and that they are all (Peter, his wife, and Ryan) in danger. He warns Ryan, and then Peter Jones and his wife end up dead.

If you have questions or comments, please use the comment box!