I go through phases where I binge watch true crime. I am always baffled watching investigations unfold where there are multiple suspects and all of them have good evidence against them. Was it the clingy guy at school? The guy who she got fired at work and really didn't seem to like her after? The ex boyfriend with the criminal record? Soooo many possibilities, making you think this person was doomed one way or another. Then when the investigation is concluded...it was none of those. That is how this book made me feel. I never knew who to trust. Who was hiding something big. Who was just telling white lies. Either way, the story line kept me thoroughly entertained and I could not put the book down.

4 stars

The Night Before is the first thriller I've read in about 8 years and it was perfect to get back to that genre.
The description on NetGalley intrigued me and got me hooked right away.

Twelve hours earlier, she was...
Hopeful.
Excited.
Safe.
Now she's gone.

To tell you a bit more about the story, it begins with Laura getting ready for a date with a man she met on an online dating site. As the blurb suggests, she won't make it back from the date.
The story is told from Laura and her sister, Rosie's points of view and with different timelines, which I really loved. It adds to the suspense and makes you want to read even faster! At some point I couldn't even put the book down, I had to know how it ended.
There was not a moment I was bored, you always get more info, more details that just leave you yearning for more.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes thrillers and who's looking for a book full of suspense that you can't put down!
I'm really happy I read this book and I'm super ready to go back to reading thrillers more often.

This was really confusing. I was just waiting and waiting to things get more clear, but they never did. It was a strange reading experience, not knowing what was going on at all. Normally I don't mind the not knowing, but in this case with the style of the writing I just wasn't really enjoying it much. The writing didn’t let me connect to any of the characters and the ending was a bit underwhelming.

All in all not a bad book, but I was expecting more.

I couldn't stop reading this fast paced thriller. So many clues and secrets to unravel. Where is Laura; what has happened to her or what has she done! A thrilling ride to the end.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC

Thank you #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced version of this book.

I had never heard of this author before, but the premise of the book was intriguing. I honestly enjoyed the heck out of it and wasn’t disappointed. There’s a good build up throughout that kept me guessing and second guessing trying to figure out what was really going on and why. I couldn’t put the book down when I got to the last few chapters and it all started really coming together. I’ll be looking for more from this author for sure.

The first half was a bit iffy, kinda slow and I couldn’t figure out where the hell it was going. But halfway through the secrets and twists started spilling and I couldn’t put it down. Damn!! The characters were semi-likable and nothing was as it seemed. I only wish there was a bit more of an explanation as to why the person did what they did. At this point I’ll read anything she puts out.

https://twitter.com/PaulaSofia_71/status/1108523919538036737

"There's a good reason to stay with the herd, {they told her] Nothing less than survival itself. If you keep leaving the herd, the wolves will come. Laura always had the same response 'good thing I like wolves.' "

Rosie and Laura are sisters and Laura lives with Rosie and her husband at the moment. The book starts with Laura getting ready for a date and really heats up when Rosie wakes up the next day and realizes Laura isn't home yet. The blurb for this book said:
"Twelve hours earlier, she was...

Hopeful.

Excited.

Safe.


Now she's gone."
and really that's all you need to go on. If you want more I refer you to the quote that started this review.
If you like psychological thrillers and domestic suspense you'll love this. The sister relationship and drama was just a bonus to me. The story goes on in a lively and lyrical pace and kept surprising me with fresh details to obsessively think over.
This was my second time reading a book by Wendy Walker after being a bit disappointed with Emma in the Night and I'm so glad I gave her a second chance! You can tell she's just getting stronger as an author and I cannot wait to see what she does next!

The Night Before is psychological thriller about a troubled woman who’s online date goes awry. But it’s much more than that, with several twists and turns that keeps the pages turning. As the story progresses, so does the mystery, as each chapter unfurls with more storylines, but never to the point where the reader gets confused. The author pulls it all together nicely in a fast paced, riveting book. Highly recommended.

When I read the description of this book I HAD to read it. Was NOT disappointed! An absolutely bonkers ride. And what a twist! Cannot wait to recommend!

4 stars.*

I stumbled upon The Night Before on a list of soon to be released thrillers not-to-be-missed. I was thrilled to find it on NetGalley and jumped at the chance to review it before it is published. It is the first book by Wendy Walker that I have read.

I read a lot of psychological thrillers and pride myself on figuring out the twist, or at least part of it well before the end of the story. I really thought I had this one figured out, but Ms. Walker did an excellent job of keeping the plot twists coming and keeping me unsure right up until the end.

The Night Before is the story of Laura Lochner, whom we meet as she is preparing to go out on her first date since she was dumped over text and suffered such a traumatic breakdown that she has left her successful job in Manhattan and moved back to her hometown to live with her older sister, Rosie & her husband, Joe and young son, Mason. The story toggles back and forth between Laura's evening and sessions with her therapist in the city in the months leading up to her fleeing the city.

We learn that Laura has some plus-sized daddy issues, a suspicious event in high school where her boyfriend wound up dead, and a host of additional mental and emotional troubles that render her completely insecure in relationships.

When Laura doesn't come home the following morning, Rosie is immediately certain that something has gone wrong. But she's not sure if something has happened to Laura or if Laura DID something herself.

I will definitely be recommending this one to my fellow psych-thriller fans and I'll be looking for more by Wendy Walker.

*With thanks to NetGalley for the advance digital copy of the book in exchange for this honest review.

Wow I did not see that coming. At one stage I really thought someone else was behind her disappearance and as the story tells of the events of the night before I was waiting for something to happen to her in the way I thought it was going to work out and wasn't expecting that twist.

Wow, an amazing story that did not have the outcome I had expected. The characters were a little difficult to get into but once I did. WOW!! The brain is a wonderful thing to see develop all the twists turns and circles that occur.

This book is like a mobius strip! Remember that paper loop with a twist? Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the free e-galley.

Laura has been seeing a psychologist and by the time she arrives back in her hometown to stay with her sister, Rosie, she may finally have figured out why she has so much trouble with men. Does it have anything to do with the night in high school when she was found near her boyfriend's dead body, holding the murder weapon? When Laura doesn’t turn up the day following an internet date, Rosie is left to unravel the mystery of what happened the night before, as well as what happened years ago.

There’s quite a lot going on in Wendy Walker’s newest novel due out May 14th. The Night Before follows Laura’s sessions with her psychologist, her evening with the suspicious guy she matched up with on the internet, and Rosie’s attempts to locate her afterwards, along with a few flashbacks to the fated evening when Laura’s high school boyfriend was murdered.

The author handles the switch between timelines and narrators with quite a bit of precision, offering a fairly consistent pattern to follow so that you can anticipate which part of the story comes at you next. I loved this, because I never felt lost. Every few chapters, I was certain I had the answer to this engaging thriller, but then just like the aforementioned mobius strip, the story would twist and flip me to a new theory. In the end, I went back my original solution—partly right, partly wrong.

Walker is a true master of suspense.

This book is a great psychological thriller! Laura goes out on a date with a man she meets a dating website. When she doesn't return home the next day, her sister Rosie tries to piece together Laura's life to find out where she is. This book is told in Laura's and Rosie's perspectives. This is a great thriller that keeps you reading with lots of twists and turns. I received an advanced readers copy from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. All opinions are my own.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to review an advanced reader copy of The Night Before. I recently read Wendy Walker's earlier novel, All is Not Forgotten so I was looking forward to another page-turner, and The Night Before delivered!

This book is thrilling, incorporates a questionable narrator whom you're not sure you can trust, and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Many of the big reveals are shocking, and it took a long time for me to formulate a theory on what happened to Laura, and how Jonathan, Joe, Gabe and Rosie may have played a part in her running away, or being abducted.

This book was intriguing from start to finish. I kept questioning each of their characters, and their involvement with Laura's disappearance. I felt that this book had a lot of elements similar to other suspenseful novels that I've recently read, but the way Walker constructed them into a single story was quite different than other thrillers. I did feel that the ending was wrapped up a little too perfectly, although I was satisfied that the more complex details of the storyline were explained.

I recommend this book if you're looking for a fast-paced thriller that keeps you guessing!

Laura is recently single, and moved from New York to her sister Rosie's house in Connecticut. Laura is about to go on a date with a man she met on a dating website. From the get go it is clear that Laura is damaged. She has a mysterious past, connected to a murder. Laura never returns home from her date, and Rosie and her husband, Joe start unpacking and investigating her life to try and find her.

The narrative switches between Laura "The Night Before' and Rosie the day after.

I found this book to be too verbose. The plot moved very slowly and frustratingly on Laura's side.

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley.

I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book. I enjoyed this author's previous book, All is not Forgotten. This author's uniqueness in spinning a good tale will hopefully always keep me coming back for more.

I will give you a bit of truth. I wasn't sure what to rate this book. I teetered on it for a couple of reasons. First, I was only lead astray on the upcoming twist once, but while my mind went in the wrong direction for a short time, I felt disappointed that I had figured it out so fast (which I hadn't). Second, there were a couple of weak spots in the book that drug for me. I am not a fan of slow. But those were such a small part of my reading experience, it's easy to overlook them.

I did figure it out (at least the who) a little sooner than the big reveal. I wasn't disappointed in that though. I just picked up the breadcrumbs along the way and kept it moving. The pace of this book is mostly good. Giving just enough to keep you turning the pages, all the while throwing misdirection at you during many turns.

This book is a devious, twisting book that definitely kept me reading furiously until the last page. I love when I am presented with a picture that is completely the opposite as it actually is, keeping my mind in constant motion. This book is definitely worth a read!

Told from different timelines and different points of view this novel was a stunning read! Lost of jaw drop moments ensued and made you gasp as you read the different twists in the different narratives. This novel held my entire attention as i was white knuckled gripping each and every page (well actually on my kindle but you get the point). This is one of those novels go in blind and enjoy it!

Nobody writes damaged characters quite like Wendy Walker! The Night Before is a clever, insightful, shrewdly plotted psychological thriller, which starts out strong and keeps building to a final, heart-pounding conclusion. With a fast pace and life-like characters, this unique and dark story is one you won’t want to miss!

The story follows two sisters, Laura, who is unimaginably damaged from an incident in her childhood, and Rosie, who’s spent her life worrying about Laura. The chapters flow smoothly between each sister and bounce between before the night Laura disappears and after, as Rosie tries to find her.

The intriguing thing about this book is that, while there are surprising twists, they are smooth and realistic, rather than sharp and shocking. Walker’s plotting is so clever that each twist seems inevitable, but only after the fact, making The Night Before an engrossing and stunning tale of sisterly love and dark secrets.

A twisty suspense novel that has you asking how well do you know those closest to you and what happens if you find out you don’t know them at all.