Thanks to Netgalley for advanced reader copy. This was a new author to me and was excited to see the great reviews. I felt the premise had good potential. However, I felt there was too many minute details that were unnecessary. I liked the twists of not knowing who you could trust. However, they didn’t develop Catherine’s character to really know if she was “taking after” her father. I just felt it missed the mark a little, though I still finished it and felt it was readable.

I had a hard time deciding whether to give this book three or four stars. I chose 3
In the end, rounding up to three and a half. I enjoyed this book a lot, however the ending felt too familiar and a bit played out.

Love love and loved this book! Can't wait to read more from this author!
Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Gone Tonight, by one of the co-authors of The Wife Between Us, was so good! When I first started the book I was a little unsure of where it was going but man did it pick up the pace quickly! There were several twists in this book that I really didn't see coming at all. Over all, I definitely recommend this thriller!
Thank you so much to @netgalley, @stmartinspress & @sarahpekkanen for this digital ARC! Mark your calendars for the pub date
- August 1, 2023!
Short synopsis: Catherine Sterling grew up with her hard working mother, Ruth, as one of her closest friends. Catherine thought she knew everything about her mother but some things just don't add up anymore. Why is Ruth so secretive about her past?

I went back and forth, back and forth from hating each character so loving the ending, to wondering WTF. These characters are a perfect blend of cunning, brilliant and a dash of pure evil... While it starts out a little on the slower side, I soon settled in and had to finish but am still questioning so many things...

I picked up Gone Tonight, synopsis unread, because I’ve loved every book that Sarah Pekkanen has written.
Gone Tonight did not disappoint. The story follows young Ava, from an abusive home. She gets mixed up with a man named James, who shows up just when she needs him. A prank gone wrong and Ava, now Ruth runs for her and her unborn daughters life. The twists and turns of the (back story) and current day story, coupled with adrenaline of now knowing what would happen next, kept me reading into the night. The ending was unexpected and left the door open for a second book, should a sequel be in the works. A absolute page turner. 5 stars.

This story is told in alternating POVs between a mother and daughter- but of course in this genre nothing is ever as it seems and someone is definitely not telling the full truth. A compelling read that pulls you in different directions and leaves you second guessing yourself (and the characters).

Full of secrets and deep pain, Gone Tonight is a story that will twist it’s way around your heart and soul, forcing questions you may not want answered.

I’ve yet to read a book from Sarah Pekkanen that I haven’t absolutely loved.

Gone Tonight took me on a journey that I found unexpected. From the moment I started the first page, I knew I was in trouble and for a few reasons. One – I started it while in bed. Two – I’m working on a similar story (at least, when I started reading it, I thought it was similar). Three – I couldn’t just ‘read’ this story, it had me looking deep inside my own heart at my relationships – as a mother, as a daughter…and I didn’t always like what I saw.

Gone Tonight deals with family secrets – something dear to my own heart (as many of you know). The secrets grow, deepen, darken, and you’re taken on a journey you honestly don’t see coming – at least, I didn’t.

Some people love to read thrillers and try to figure out what all the twists and turns are before they happen. I’m not like that. I enjoy a book as I read it, waiting patiently for the characters to reveal their secrets as I turn each page.

I wasn’t disappointed with this story. There were twists I didn’t see coming. There were secrets I didn’t see being revealed. There were truths I had no idea were even there.

Do I recommend Sarah Pekkanen’s latest story…absolutely!

I’ve been a fan of the writing duo Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen since their debut novel The Wife Between Us in 2018. So when I learned that Sarah Pekkanen had written a solo novel, I was immediately interested it read it it.

Gone Tonight centers around single mother Ruth Sterling and her daughter Catherine. Ruth has struggled as a single mom to give Catherine the best life possible and will do anything to keep her safe. For all of Catherine’s life, her mother has been her entire world- her best friend and only family. Catherine knows nothing about Ruth’s life before her birth since Ruth keeps her past a secret. Catherine becomes suspicious of her mom's History when she catches Ruth up in a couple of lies. As Catherine starts to dig into Ruth’s past, she soon learns that maybe Ruth had a good reason to keep her History a secret.

The story is told in three parts and switches between Catherine and Ruth’s point of views. Ruth’s point of view alternates between past and present.

The beginning introduces the reader to the characters. Soon after the mystery is revealed I found myself absolutely enthralled in Ruth’s story. I really enjoyed reading from both pov’s but my favorites were the parts told from Ruth’s pov in the past. Slowly the pieces of the puzzle come together and in part three the story takes an electrifying spin that kept me on the edge of my seat dying to know what would happen next!

Sarah Pekkanan is a masterful storyteller alone or with Greer Hendricks. I see a lot of thriller readers enjoying Gone Tonight as much as I did!
Gone Tonight will be available on August 1. A massive thanks to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the copy!

Fantastic! This book was so unpredictable. I loved the different voices narrating each chapter and that the mom and daughter reveal a lot about the other that you don’t get from the actual person. This book is well thought out and very well written. I’m very familiar with the author from her co-written books, which are some of my favorite reads. I can’t wait to read more by the author in the future.

This book was thrilling from start to finish! There really aren't any big twists or turns until you get to the Epilogue, but I still enjoyed it immensely. The story is told from two different perspectives (mom Ruth's and daughter Catherine's) but it is easy to follow and you get to see what each character is experiencing and feeling. I recommend if you're looking for a suspenseful story.

Another amazing book by such a talented authors! I love when I am able to get to read a new book! Looking forward to the next!

There has only been Catherine and her mother Ruth for all of Catherine’s life. She is looking forward to completing her nursing degree and moving away to start her new life. However, Ruth (mother) wants to keep Catherine close. There are lots of secrets and lies in Ruth’s life. Little by little Catherine realizes she doesn’t know her mother at all. This book had me totally invested in the story. It is fabulous. Read this book. I highly recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and the Author for allowing me to read and review this book.

An engaging and suspenseful read, briskly-plotted and hard to put down, with an interesting pair of main protagonists and a clever ending that will not disappoint.

Catherine and her mother Ruth are an odd duo - a mother-daughter couple where it often feels like roles are being switched, back and forth, as the two flip-flop between tender, maternal care for each other, and furtive undertakings compounded by murky mistrust that could be categorized as childish.

As we meet Ruth, a forty-two year old waitress, who struggles to keep afloat financially, it quickly becomes clear that Ruth is hiding secrets. Big ones.

A mother who gave birth in her teens, a runaway and a drifter, Ruth will provide slow and tantalizing glimpses into her past, as her first-person POV narration intersperses current-day happenings with peeks into her long-overdue journaling of life experiences not yet shared.

“If it’s the last thing I do, I will keep Catherine and the horrors of my past apart.”

Catherine, a twenty-four-year-old geriatrics nurse, finished her training and on the cusp of her new career, is “tall, fine-boned and graceful.” And gradually becoming aware, as Ruth’s machinations become somewhat more desperate, that her mother’s claims cannot at all be trusted. Catherine’s first person voice is both bewildered and eerily self-sufficient - one gets the sense that she is as capable of taking care of herself, as she is of caring for her Alzheimer’s-burdened patients.

As the story twists and turns (many of which in ways that defy prediction) the author challenges us to sit back and enjoy the roller-coaster of a ride - and guess, if we can, how this clever plot will play out.

A challenge highlighted of course, by the underlying problem :

Which of the two women, (Or neither? Or both?) can be counted on as a reliable narrator?

Or in other words - who exactly can we trust to tell it like it is (or rather, was, and perhaps, will be)?

A fun read, I enjoyed this fast-paced and somewhat tricky plot, and read it pretty much straight through. Recommended for lovers of thrillers and mysteries, and just about anyone who enjoys character-based drama, with plenty of undercurrents, maneuverings, and “gotchas”.

A great big thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.

Boy, did I enjoy this book. Really held my interest from beginning to end. Everytime I thought I had figured out the scope of things I got surprised.

The plot is fabulous, the characters are fabulous, the writing is fabulous. Everything about the book is fabulous.

I would not mind a sequel, but if I don't get it, at least give me a new book by this author every six months. Okay a year, but thats my final offer. I just checked and found loads of books by Sarah. I'm such a happy person.

I rarely give 5 stars but this one really earned it.

I love stories about people running from their past and keeping secrets, so this book is right in my wheelhouse. Never underestimate what a mother would do to protect their child! The suspense in this book is crazy good, and I really enjoyed reading it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sarah Pekkanen and St Martin's Press for this ARC.

Gone Tonight is a gripping psychological thriller that’s original, perfectly paced, and flawlessly written. The story is told in alternating POV by a mother and daughter who are exceptionally close. Both characters are well crafted, likeable, and relatable.

The relationship shifts when the daughter makes a discovery that questions everything she knows about her mother. She starts digging into her mother’s background, and as her backstory is unearthed, the plot deepens and unfolds, again and again. The danger, mystery and tension that follows render the book unputdownable. The twists kept me glued to the pages, and wow…I got teary-eyed near the end of the story. That doesn’t happen often with a thriller. Highly recommended. On my list of Best Books of 2023.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for providing an ARC to read and review. This review will appear on Bayside Book Reviews at https://baysidebookreviews.com and its Instagram page on release day. Please follow us! *NetGalley Top Reviewer*

Thank you to NetGalley, Sarah Pekkanen and St Martin's Press for this ARC.

*Gone Tonight" is another Sarah Pekkanen banger. I love stories about people running from their past and keeping secrets, so this book is right up my alley. Never underestimate what a mother would do to protect their child! The suspense in this book is crazy good, and I really enjoyed reading it.

The plot is a simple premise but very complex in how it plays out.

Ruth becomes a single mother at 18. Her violent home life is compensated by her position on her high school cheer squad. She meets 'an older boy" James who stands up for her when teammates bully her. A situation gets out of control and Ruth runs for her life to protect her baby. Daughter, Catherine, is now 24 and about to leave Mom and take a job in Baltimore. When danger lurks, Ruth must protect Catherine at all costs.

I love this author 's jointly authored books and this single creation proves she's a master in the thriller suspense genre.

3.5 stars, rounded up

I really liked this fast-paced story about Catherine who is a nurse at an elderly home and her mother, Ruth. They have been together all their lives and have a very close dependable relationship. Until things start to unravel. Catherine catches her mother in one lie, and then another, until she is not sure she can believe anything her mom says and their paths start forking.

This story goes back and forth between the present time and Ruth's diary entires about her past. While I liked the diary entries, it felt a bit like telling more than showing so made those parts of the story feel like I was reading someone's synopsis of a book.

Unlike so many mystery books, this one didn't have any dislikable characters and I found myself rooting both for the mom and the daughter. I read this one in a single sitting and I am sure you will, too.

With gratitude to netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.