2.5/ 5 stars


This is my first book by this author. I had such a hard time getting into the story.

The Night Before is a mystery/thriller. The book is told from the POVs of two sisters: Laura (1st person POV) and Rosie (3rd person POV). Also we have two time periods (the days before and the present). Also we get some sessions with Laura and a Dr. Brody.

I struggled to connect with either of the sisters. Laura has returned to her hometown after years of staying away. So there is the mystery of why she stayed away for so long. Plus Laura now goes on a date and does not come home. So there is the mystery of what happened in the present.

The book started off just okay for me. I did not particularly care for the characters and was not overly invested in the mysteries.

There were a few interesting twists and turns in the second half. And the end was definitely more interesting to me. The last part of the book was the strongest. But overall I was disappointed.

A very enjoyable mystery! Some great plot twists as well. Kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. Looking forward to reading more by this author.

Though this was a pretty typical suspense/thriller, I still found it pretty interesting and quick to read. Laura goes missing after an online date and her sister, Rosie, is a wreck trying to find out what happened. The thing is that Rosie doesn't know if someone did something to Laura...OR if Laura is the one who did something to someone else. Laura has a bit of a past with men and bad things happening to those men. The twist was not all that surprising to me, but the story was told well.

"Twelve hours earlier, she was.....hopeful. Excited. Safe. Now she's gone."  
This information is all you need to tantalise you into a story that in my opinion rocketed along with twists and turns, creating a remarkable and entertaining thriller I couldn't put down.
"The Night Before" by Wendy Walker is a perfect example of a psychological thriller at it's best. Multiple points of view, family drama, tension, paranoia, distrust, deception and a life and death conclusion. Brilliant! I loved it! 
Although the storyline is far fetched and the events rather impossible - typical of the psychological genre - it was a roller coaster ride that I enjoyed from the first page. I was keen to discover what happened 'back in the woods' and actively following the details through Laura's narrative as events unfolded 'the night before' were compelling and intriguing. The constant red herrings and twists and turns often caught me out as my train of thought was sent completely down the wrong track. I liked all the characters especially Laura's sister Rosie and because there are only a few main characters to the story you feel connected to them all. A gripping denouement that was tense and exciting, rounded off a satisfying end.
I haven't heard of this author before but understand she's written other successful books previously, which I am now going to seek out and read. I'd happily recommend "The Night Before" and look forward to more by Wendy Walker in the future.

Thank you to St Martins Press for a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

Quick read. Certainly a page turner. I really didn’t see the twist coming at all. I didn’t connect with or care about any of the characters but they were all fine. This book definitely left you guessing the entire time.

This book centers around Laura, a young woman who has been unlucky in love.  After making the decision to quit her job and move in with her sister, Laura decides to give online dating a try.  She connects with a guy and quickly sets up a date with him.  She leaves for the night with the promise to come back, only she never shows up in the morning.  Told in alternating points of view, we learn the sisters stories, both past ans present, in this psychological thriller.  

In the beginning, I had a hard time getting into the book.  However once the plot got moving, I was addicted and finished within a few hours.  The characters are relatable, the action was ongoing, and the twists and turns kept coming.

I had high hopes for Wendy Walker’s latest thriller after her previous book, All Is Not Forgotten, blew me away. Unfortunately, this one wasn’t as impressive. I think the plot was decent but the characters weren’t developed fully enough to make me care what happened to them. I figured out the twist pretty quickly so most of the book was just read to see how she revealed everything. I’d suggest passing on this one and reading ‘All Is Not Forgotten’ instead. 

Thank you for the advance copy.

✨BOOK REVIEW✨
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Thank you to @netgalley #partner for my ARC of The Night Before by Wendy Walker which is set to be published May 14.
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This book hooks the reader from the start!  Laura is in a session (dated four months ago) with her therapist discussing a night from years ago that she can’t remember fully.  All she can remember is holding the weapon that killed someone and she is scared of going back into the recesses of her mind to unlock more details.
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Throughout the book the reader will be taken through several different times in Laura’s life but not in sequential order.  Random psychological sessions, and past memories, will integrate with the present as Laura finds herself going on her first date since recent heartbreak.
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When Rosie, Laura’s sister, wakes up the next morning she feels something is not right.  She soon discovers that Laura never returned from her date “The Night Before” and she begins to play detective to figure out exactly what has happened to her sister.
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But...Is Laura in danger?  Has she put her date in danger?  Or, is Rosie in danger?
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This book contained most of the classic elements for a fantastic thriller and I wanted to love it, lots of twists, turns, and surprises, but for some reason it fell short for me.  I enjoyed it but I think it lacked the quick moving timeline I expected and for that reason I give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️

After a deviating breakup, Laura moves back to her hometown into the home of her older sister and brother in law. We gradually learn that Laura has secrets in her past that may be effecting her present. 
This book was full of twists and surprises that kept me turning the pages. While my heart was never racing, I did feel quite entertained and I would definitely recommend this one if you enjoy a good domestic thriller.

This was a very rapid paced thriller, and I enjoyed how the story was told in multiple points of view. I think the author did an excellent and effective job of telling this story and pulling it all together at the end.

This book Is amazing 👏❤️ so angsty and you Can't trust anyone. The characters are well written and you just care for all or them. Wendy Walker Is an amazing writer and this book Is so fast paced that you just Can't put it down. I loved it!

You will be amazed and surprised at the turn of events in the story. The author is superbly good at keeping secrets. Nothing is as it seems until she discloses it. You will be horrified and thrilled as the story unfolds. So many secrets, so many lies and so much destruction. A wonderful suspense novel!

Oh-M-Gee!!!! This was one heck of a page turning book! I started this book last night around 6 PM and didn't even want to put it down before bed. I had heard about this book being good, but had not had the opportunity to read it until now. It took me less than 12 hours to read this brilliant work. The author had me intrigued from the very first page. I just had to know more about Laura and what say may or may not have done 11 years ago in her dark, loved starved and neglected past. This book was so full of many unimaginable turns and I was kept guessing at every turn of the page. The author skillfully played with my mind as I tried to gather clues about Laura and all of the "wrong" men that she has dated in both her present and her past. This was the first psychological thriller I have read that I wasn't able to pinpoint the culprit behind the schemes and mind games prior to the midway point of the book. I loved the fact that Laura's older sister, Rosie, was so loving and protecting of her. It was touching that she knew that something wasn't quite right when she woke up at 5 AM the next morning after Laura had went out the night before on a blind date with a man she had met on the internet. After years of pursuing the "wrong men" and searching for a love that her own father didn't bestow upon her, had Laura finally met the "right man" of her dreams?

There were so many people in this book harboring deadly secrets and spewing many lies from their lips. At times I found myself questioning, "Who's really telling the truth here?" When clues started making sense and everything about Laura's date night started coming together with the mysterious murder of her boyfriend in the past, a light bulb went off in my head and I was left astounded by the revelation. This book really left me thinking that, sometimes those who claim to be your friends really are only enemies in disguise. If you love suspenseful, knock you off the edge of your seat psychological thrillers, then this is the book for you. Taking a memorable line from the book itself, this book is full of "Violence. Secrets. Mental Illness". I promise you won't be left disappointed at the end of this sensational book. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book for the exchange of an honest review.

Thank you St. Martins Press for gifting me a copy of this book, in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I rate this book a 2.5 out of 5 Stars.

I loved Emma In The Night, and was ecstatic for this new one. I am bummed out because I did not enjoy this book. I love books that make me play the guessing game, but this book, I was clueless, I had no idea what was going on, or what the heck I was even reading. It was the wrong kind of guessing game for me. I couldn’t connect with the characters, I had no idea if Laura was a psychopath, if she was a murderer, if she was a victim. It was just a weird format, and not something I enjoyed.

There was a lot of back story. Some of it I liked, some of it really held my interest, and part of me wishes the book would have been about the secrets of the past. I know this review probably seems very harsh. I will add, that when I got 80% into the book, I really actually started to enjoy it. I think it concluded very well and I enjoyed the outcome. However, I do feel like I read two different books, and two different formatting styles.

Have you guys read this one? what were your thoughts?

“The Night Before” by Wendy Walker is a thriller about a woman named Laura who goes missing after a blind date. I found the writing to be alright, but the plot was pretty preposterous and hard to finish. 
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Loved it!! Alternating between two sisters Laura and Rosie I thought would be confusing, but instead was really great. Fast paced plot and interesting characters. ,Multiple twists that keep you guessing the whole time. This is definitely worth the read. It would be a great beach read this summer.

Multiple timelines or multiple points of view in a book can be tricky, both for the author and the reader. In The Night Before, Wendy Walker uses both, and does so very effectively. The transitions were effortless for me, and each change in time or POV layered on the critical details at just the right point.

The story, which unfolds through the eyes of Laura and her sister Rosie, centers on a blind date that Laura makes through an online dating site. She doesn't return after the date. We see relevant events from a few months prior to the date night, from the night itself, and from the days that follow.

Laura has been viewed all her life as combative and impulsive. I really liked her dawning realization of the effect her childhood had on this persona. I like Walker's writing style, which was clean and smooth, free of cliches and continuity glitches. What I liked most was the psychological interplay, and the glimpse of the lasting damage that can be done by keeping secrets.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for and advance readers copy.

Walker’s newest book will keep you guessing until the end. Like her previous books (EMMA IN THE NIGHT and ALL IS NOT FORGOTTEN) Walker takes us into the dark side of human nature.

This psychological suspense novel is told in dual timelines – the night before and the day after. There are also some flashbacks to four months earlier. You quickly grasp that something here is just not right, but what is it? And who is it? You will be racing through the pages to find out what happens next. Who is the killer? It will keep you guessing as Walker masterfully leads us along, sometimes deliberately misdirecting us.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating:  3.5 twisty stars rounded up to 4 stars

Up to this point, I hadn’t read any of author, Wendy Walker’s, books.  This book, her newest title had some early favorable buzz, and I was in the mood for a psychological thriller.  So I was happy to get approved by the publisher to read this book in eArc format before its release date.  This book lived up to the psychological thriller tag.  I’ve rated rated it 3.5 stars, which is a good solid book in my rating system.  

We meet Laura Lochner as she is trying to adjust to living back in her big sister Rosie’s household after abruptly leaving her job in New York City.  At Rosie’s urging, Laura goes on a blind date, and then she doesn’t come home.  That is the springboard for the story.  What really happened the night before?  The book is told multiple timelines and from multiple perspectives.  We hear from Laura in the past and present; Rosie in the past and present; and recent sessions between Laura and her psychiatrist.  

As you start to read this book, you immediately get the sense that there is at least one unreliable narrator, but who is it?  Is Laura the victim or the perpetrator of a crime that happened when she was a teenager?  The uncertainty about that incident ultimately alienated her from the small Connecticut community that she grew up in.  That alienation and suspicion was the catalyst for her moving out of town.  Rosie took a different path.  She stayed in the small town, married her high-school sweetheart, Joe, and together they have a toddler boy.  They appear to have the typical American Dream.  But do they really?  What secrets might the town be hiding?

There are plenty of twists and turns as we learn more about the events in Laura and Rosie’s past, as well as the race to find Laura in the present timeline.  Rosie and Joe desperately try to find the man whom Laura met on a dating website.  Is Laura in danger, or has she simply left of her own volition?  Was her date a bad guy?  This book kept me guessing almost until the end.  I hope that you find it as mysterious as I did. 

‘Thank-You’ to NetGalley; the publisher, St Martin’s Press; and the author, Wendy Walker; for providing a free e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Night Before is just what any psychological thriller fan has been waiting for. While so many come out diluting the genre, this is a novel that will actually shock you with it's twists and keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time. Fast-paced with well-written characters and a conclusion that will actually have you dropping your draw, The Night Before is sure to be the next hit thriller. Be sure to check it out today!