For Ruth, it's her and Catherine against the world. They've been through a lot together, and Ruth truly believes that Catherine will be by her side forever. When Catherine decides she wants to spread her wings, Ruth realizes she needs to do something to keep her daughter where she belongs.

When Catherine finds out that Ruth has received a terrible diagnosis, she knows she can't leave her mother behind. Unfortunately for Ruth, Catherine's job and degree lead her to do research of her own, and suddenly it's mother against daughter, both of them hiding things from each other that may change their entire lives.

When I read the premise of this book, I almost skipped it. It didn't sound all that interesting to me. But this book is SO much more interesting than the premise, and I found myself thoroughly enjoying it until the very end.

The style is a back and forth first-person narrative, which worked well. The author’s narrative is compelling and reminds the reader that many families are full of secrets, some of them dark and hidden within the recesses of people’s psyches. An excellent novel! 5 stars ⭐️

I have to admit, this felt like an average thriller to me at best. The main threat to Ruth and her daughter, Catherine, doesn't show up until the last quarter of the book. Before then, the tension runs high based solely on the secrets Ruth is keeping and the secrets Catherine starts to keep as she tries to figure out who her mother really is. There are also quite a few gaps of some basic information that, I think, should have been included/addressed. For example:

Ruth knows that Catherine works in a memory care unit at an assisted living facility. Did she not think through the fact that Catherine would know what dementia/Alzheimer's really looks like?

Ruth gets pregnant with Catherine when she's a teenager and runs away from home. What about basic pregnancy challenges like morning sickness? Swollen feet? UTIs? Maternity clothes? Also, when she had Catherine, where did she deliver? Didn't the hospital staff have any questions for her about family/next of kin not coming to visit?

Catherine thinks about how she and her mother moved around a lot through the years. Did they just circle Ruth's original hometown in all those moves? Why wouldn't Ruth try to get farther away?

If Ruth knew the date of James's parole, why was she so freaked out for so many years? It seems like she always lived with this sense of looking over her shoulder, but the narrative clearly states that James was in prison for a definite 20+ years. So why is Ruth living like James just went to prison 20 minutes ago and is about to get out any second? It almost feels like a bad version of a spy film.

Catherine is 24. Did she really not try to press her mother any harder before all this for information about her past? And how is it that Ruth was able to squeeze out enough money to pay for nursing school and yet they don't have enough to go to a hotel to hide?

These were just some of the many questions that kept popping into my brain as I read. I wanted to like this way more, I really did. I've enjoyed the books that Sarah Pekkanen and Greer Hendricks have co-authored in the past, and because those are all thrillers I figured this would be a solid read too. But this one felt over the top and not in a good way.

The book didn't surprise me in at all. It just left me confused about the need for all the subterfuge. Clues were dropped in with a casual air, but it was blatantly obvious that an object/person was included to come back later as a key plot element. Most of the time, I was even able to reasonably guess what the item/person would be for later. And the journal entries felt like a clumsy way to give readers information. I just didn't buy into the premise that in some of the most tense moments of her life, Ruth would stop everything else and sit down to write in her journal She couldn't write in it for 24 years, and now, when she thinks she needs to run for her life, she's sitting down and sharing her thoughts and feelings? Not realistic at all..

If you're in the mood for a thriller that won't require a lot of effort on your part, this is good to pick up.

I must say, I love a dual POV, no matter what genre of book - and this one certainly delivered the duality!

Sarah Pekkanen provided absolutely wonderful storytelling as we were taken on the journey of a mother and daughter breaking down walls to their past. Ruth (Ava) has kept so much hidden and built up so many walls for so long to protect Catherine, but Catherine is starting to see all the holes in the stories her mother tells.

I finished this book in a day once I started it as I was incredibly invested in everything that was happening and wanted to continue to piece things together. I feel like I could read it again and get new details that I didn't get the first time as it was packed full of information.

This book was very good. I wouldn't say it was very thrilling per say, BUT it was a good mystery/family drama. I liked the alternating POV's between Ruth and her daughter Catherine. Overall, a very good read. Great book by herself !

Ruth Sterling will do anything to protect her daughter, Catherine. She has invented an entire life to protect Catherine from the truth about Catherine's father, James. But, Catherine is curious about her mother, and digs until she finds her biological father. This sets up a dangerous showdown between James, Ruth, and Catherine.
When James and Ruth (Ava) were teens, and in love, James needed to protect Ava, and in doing so, committed a crime. He never knew about their daughter, Catherine. Ava left town, changed her name, and cut off communications with her family. Now years later, Catherine stirs it all up.
Mother and daughter hide secrets from each other in this psychological thriller.

Trigger Warning: Alzheimer's, Memory Trouble

From the start, I was hooked. The story swaps point of view between, the mom - Ruth and the daughter - Catherine. Their relationship is extremely closeknit until things start unraveling. Ruth begins to tell the reader the truth from the start while Catherine is living naively in the dark. Until Ruth slips a tiny bit. Just enough for Catherine to catch on that things might not be as her mom lead on her whole life. We are then taken through Catherine's every move to try to unravel the lies that her mom told her. Are the lies meant to keep her safe or to manipulate and deceive her? One of them makes a catastrophic mistake that will change everything.

The change in povs was not confusing at all. And even though the reader found out what Ruth was hiding, that did not change the level of suspense Gone Tonight provided the reader. This was fast paced and well written. Definitely a psychological thriller I would be happy to recommend.

I loved this psychological thriller about a single woman and her daughter who have been on the run for 24 years. But the daughter doesn't KNOW they have been on the run, doesn't know her mom's real name or why her mom is so overprotective. Good page turner.

Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen is a story with a dual POV between mother and daughter, and is filled with deception at every turn. We are introduced to Catherine who is working as a nurse in a memory care unit and her mother is exhibiting signs of Alzheimer’s. When her mother reveals that Alzheimer’s runs in her family, Catherine decides to learn about her mother’s past. However, the more she tries to learn, the less her mother’s story lines up - and the more her mother desperately tries to hide the past. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

THEIR BOND RUNS DEEP. THEIR LIES RUN DARK.

GONE TONIGHT was really good, as I expected it to be. This mother daughter drama was intense, complex, heavily and deeply layered with secrets, lies, doubts, mistrust, and danger. Ruth has so many secrets and seems to be a master manipulator of her daughter and presumably everyone else. Catherine seems to be the good girl, trying to do right by her own standards and to grow her wings and find freedom from her mom. But like any good dramatic thriller, both of these characters have much more to them than the reader can at first comprehend.
Twisty, fun, well-paced, and a surprise at the end. Well done Sarah Pekkanen.

Really enjoyed this. The twists just kept coming. She is one of my favorite shoes for authors and she’s just as great in her own thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC

I loved reading this one. It was very captivating and I loved trying to piece it all together as I read. This is definitely one to add to your list.

a slow burn but I really enjoyed the unfolding. A mother/daughter duo alternated perspectives and timelines. I love an unreliable narrator and both of these characters proved to be a little sketchy. With no connections to their community and no extended family, all they have is each other. The twists and turns start flying as we discover why they are alone.

This just missed the boat for me. I found myself wanting for more thrilling factors. The twist wasn't very surprising. I really prefer this writer with her counterpart.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Full review to come. This one was a 5-star thriller. Highly recommend.

Thoroughly enjoyed Gone Tonight by @sarahpekkanen . It’s full of twists and turns, had me completely hooked and I couldn’t put it down.

The mother/daughter relationship was fascinating. I loved the surprises. The story was unique and compelling. Add to your TBR!

Thank you, @stmartinspress !

this just didn't do it for me. I quickly disliked the main characters and I just struggle with books centering around super toxic parental relationships. I found the story very slow and unengaging. I think I prefer this author when paired with Hendricks.

I've enjoyed books that Sarah Peckkkanen co-authored with Greer Hendricks and looked forward to reading Gone Tonight. This book alternates between Catherine and her mother, Ruth's POV and timelines. What has Ruth done to protect her daughter? Catherine and Ruth have a close relationship. When Catherine begins to think that her mother is hiding something from her, she begins investigating. There are twists and surprises has we discover what Ruth has been hiding from Catherine.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Ruth takes a mother's love to its extreme. She will do anything to protect her daughter Catherine from her past. Catherine is a dutiful daughter, bound at the hip to her single mother. So when Ruth is diagnosed with a fatal disease, Catherine at first goes into a tailspin. Determined to see if her mother's past can yield more information that will save her, Catherine plunges into an investigation her mother is unable to stop.

Sarah Pekkanen is a master at finding the twist, and then twisting it just a bit more!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance reader's copy.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Setting: Pennsylvania

I believe this is Pekkanen's first solo book and I liked it a lot.
Gone Tonight is told by daughter and mother duo Catherine and Ruth with a mixture of mystery and thriller. Catherine feels she can’t trust her mother because her mother never wants to answer basic questions about herself. Ruth always feared sharing too much about herself with her daughter because of her past. However, the secrets are getting harder to hide.
Pekkanen did a great showing the dysfunction between the mother and daughter. This was really entertaining even though the majority of the mystery was revealed. I really like at the end how Cath created boundaries with her mother.

I also thought the narrator Kate Mara was fantastic.

Thank you so much Netgalley and St Martins Press for a copy of Gone Tonight in exchange for an honest review.