GONE TONIGHT starts off slow — a mother and daughter, sharing an apartment, and neither has a social life. Bit by bit elements are added to their boring non-life. The pace does make you want to tell these characters to hurry up and tell more. As the momentum increases, you will have more questions than answers.

The protagonists, Ruth Sterling, and her daughter Catherine, offer two points of view on a single plot that is presented in three acts. In the first act, the interaction between the two seems typical of a mother and her grown daughter. It doesn't start to become clear why mother and daughter still share an apartment or why Catherine shows no real signs of independence. Ruth is as protective of Catherine as a mother would be of a young child.

As the explanation of Ruth's behavior becomes clearer, you begin to understand that the relationship between the two is all based on lies. Once the reason for these lies is known, the intense rollercoaster ride finally begins.

Psychological thrillers can be frustrating to read. GONE TONIGHT had me putting it aside after reading a few chapters then picking it up again to read a few more until I was more than halfway through the book. Then, I hopped on that rollercoaster and read to the end.

I've loved Sarah Pekkanen and Greer Hendrick's books together so I was super excited to read Gone Tonight. We follow a mother daughter duo and the secrets they are keeping from each other.

While Catherine Sterling thinks she knows her mother, Ruth, there are a lot of gaps in the story of her life. When Catherine decides to leave home, Ruth is prepared to go to any length to prevent that from happening, and keep her daughter close. Catherine begins to question her mother’s intentions and actions, and starts to look into her world a bit closer.

This is a compelling suspense novel, and quite the page turner! Both Ruth and Catherine are dynamic, well-developed characters, and I liked their alternating perspectives. My favorite component of the book was Ruth’s backstory, which was told in the form of an ongoing journal entry the character is writing to her daughter. If you enjoy mother-daughter thrillers, definitely pick this one up!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my gifted e-ARC!

Ruth is determined to keep her daughter, Catherine, with her at all times. Catherine is determined to start her own life on her own terms. When these two opposing forces collide, what Ruth feared and Catherine never saw coming is set into motion.

So this book was definitely full of suspense. Catherine and Ruth are both very strong female characters whose choices cause constant tension. I called the first big reveal, but there was another big one I did not guess. The ending was somewhat predictable but the very ending gave me chills. So even though some parts were a bit obvious, I would still recommend this book.

Wow, I loved this one! The perfect little thriller. It was fast paced, and I couldn't put it down. I always love a good book with a mother/daughter character set. This definitely will keep you up reading. The ending was great as well.

I really enjoyed this one. I listened to the audio and found myself needing to finish to see what happened. Solid book!

I'm always a fan of Sarah Pekkanen and this book was no different. Told from both the mom and the daughter's perspectives, I couldn't decide which version of the truth to believe.

I really liked this psychological suspense story. It is told from two different perspectives: a mother, Ruth, and her adult daughter, Catherine. Catherine lives with her mother and works as a nurse. The book starts with Ruth being diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's, and Catherine knows from experience that patients with this disease need constant support. This conflicts with Catherine's plan to take a new job in another state so she stays. From the beginning Ruth has intentionally never told her anything about her past so this obviously makes Catherine want to dig into their family history. After hitting multiple dead ends, she realizes her mother is hiding something. The alternating chapters revealing pieces of the mystery bit by bit helps to build tension. The whole time I was reading it I had an unsettled feeling that something was off but I couldn't put my finger on it. This is a classic suspense novel with the inevitable unreliable narrator. But which one is it? or is it both? It doesn't require a lot of brain power to figure it out, but it's a good read if you have some time to kill.

The story unfolds in three compelling acts, each carefully crafting a web of suspense and mystery that questions the darkness that can reside within a person and explores the depths a mother will go to protect her child. Ruth Sterling has lost her keys, a twenty dollar bill, her train of thought and her way home from the drugstore. Her 24 year old daughter, Catherine, was about to move to Baltimore to start work as a nurse at John Hopkins, having graduated cum laude. Her specialty is geriatrics, and she is currently working in the Memory Wing at Sunrise, a high end facility where people with dementia, Alzheimer’s or traumatic brain injuries reside. Catherine is well aware of the sobering, heartbreaking statistics of the disease, and since it’s always been just the two of them, she and her Mom, her future plans may have to change. They have never lived apart, and they don’t have the money for Ruth to live in a facility like Sunrise. In fact, they moved frequently throughout Catherine’s childhood, whenever her mom became too far behind on the bills. Imagine the plot like a game of hide-and-seek, only Ruth is hiding secrets from her past and unbeknownst to her, Catherine is seeking to uncover them. Unfortunately, Catherine doesn’t realize that uncovering these secrets will put both she and her mom in danger. The story unfolds and reveals a plot twist as well as events leading up to the moment that will have the reader bobbing their head in understanding?!

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher.

Pretty good domestic thriller. A bit slow paced at first but it picks up as you go along. Not my favorite by this author and a little bleak but it kept me engaged which is what you want from this genre!

Gone Tonight will capture your undivided attention. This excellent psychological page turner encapsulates so many elements of a great suspenseful story, such as mystery, anticipation, surprise, and shock!

Ruth, the mother and Catherine the daughter each explain their own thoughts and background in their own chapters. Ruth is the single mother to Catherine who is now an adult. She has graduated nursing school and has been hired by a hospital so she will be moving away from her mother. Ruth has a problem with this. And a terrible secret.

Ruth’s childhood was miserable. She had an alcoholic mother and a father who tried his best to keep her and her brother safe from the turbulence she caused them. She was also bullied at school. But when she was a young teenager, Ruth’s life is turned upside down and she finds herself in danger, pregnant and alone. She decides to run away. And she makes a promise. She will always protect her daughter Catherine from the horror she witnessed.

But now with Catherine ready to move on to a new job and a new apartment, Ruth becomes terrified of what might lay ahead for them both. Then, Catherine discovers Ruth is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s. Now, Catherine feels as if she must put her own plans aside and take care of the mother who has sacrificed so much for her over the years.

Ruth begins to create a journal of her memories for Catherine so she can understand what happened to her and why she must always be careful. But Catherine begins to suspect something is going on. Knowing her mother will begin to forget, Catherine tries to get her to talk about her past, but Ruth does not seem to give her any answers to where she came from and who her family is. When Catherine tries to do a bit of investigating online, she cannot find anything about her mother’s life. What could she be hiding? And why?

Ruth can see what’s happening. Catherine is looking at her differently. How does she handle this? She must protect her daughter. Then out of the blue, Ruth’s world which she has so carefully built comes crashing down! And now Catherine is in danger!

Secrets it seems are always exposed no matter how hard you try to distance yourself from them. Now Ruth must not only put a plan into action she has been preparing for years, but she must tell Catherine what she has been hiding her whole life. And now they must try and work as a team to protect each other.

Gone Tonight is a chilling story of bullying, domestic violence and abuse, fear and so much more. With a twisty ending, this story will haunt you for awhile!

Thank you #NetGalley #St.Martin’sPress #SarahPekkanen #GoneTonight for the advanced copy.

Catherine Sterling has always seen her mom, Ruth, as a quiet, hardworking woman who at times has felt a bit over-protective of Catherine but they have been able to form a close bond with just the two of them. Just as Catherine is about to spread her wings, Ruth is diagnosed with early onset, quickly progressing Alzheimer's disease. But, as Catherine adds up all the times that Ruth has uprooted her life just when she was forming her own bonds with others, she begins to question Ruth's diagnosis and true intentions! Is Ruth really sick? Does she have an unhealthy attachment to her daughter? What is Ruth afraid of?

Gone Tonight keeps the suspense up and is full of surprises! Where it falls short is in it's unreliability, the author spends whole paragraphs trying to convince the reader of how the plot can work when in reality, it can't.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Gone Tonight is a dark domestic thriller by bestselling author Sarah Pekkanen. The book started a little slow for me, but once I hit the midpoint, I couldn't put it down. The story is not very twisty but still intense (especially the ending). Some aspects reminded me of my favorite thriller, Jar of Hearts. Overall, I enjoyed Gone Tonight and would recommend it to thriller and mystery readers.

Another excellent book from Sarah Pekkanen. This story is told in alternating chapters between a mother and daughter. As the novel progresses, layers are peeled away and you discover many truths the pair are hiding from each other. There is also a throwback timeline, to give you a view of the mother's backstory and helps explain her current situation.
I love a story with twists and turns and this book definitely had them. I felt like a few of the twists were pretty easy to predict, but there were some others that definitely surprised me.
Overall a great book for summer reading that you won't put down. 4/5 stars
Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to my friends at @stmartinspress and @macmillan.audio for the #gifted copies of this book.

Compulsive. Addictive. Bingeable. This book came in the mail on Saturday, and I closed the last page on by Sunday!

Deception abounds in this unique storyline, and Pekkanen adeptly plots each reveal creating a propulsive read.

A mother and daughter against the world, until secrets start to crack that once firm foundation, begging the question: just how well do you know those you love?

Many thrillers beg that question. And yet, Pekkanen manages to do it in a fresh and innovative new way, creating a unique balancing act between love and deception that thrills.

This was a perfect summer read for me- fast paced, cleverly executed, and fully entertaining. I can’t wait to see what Pekkanen does next!

Sarah Pekkanen will wow you with her newest book! Hold on for the big twist in the plot! It will take you by surprise, and have you turning the pages. The author has a writing style in all of her books of doing this and is fast becoming one of the authors that I really look forward to reading her books because I know I’m in for a real treat! Run and grab a copy of this book.. it’s a not to be missed book!

i devoured this book! so happy to be reading more from Sarah Pekkanen again—the co-author of THE WIFE BETWEEN US and AN ANONYMOUS GIRLS.

this was really captivating and i loved the dual POVs. the moms was my favorite. there were so many good themes in this one about family and survival and womanhood. it is not a “thriller” though—definitely more of a suspense with lots of family drama.

it starts off super interesting and kept my attention the entire time, i was very invested to figure out how it would end and how each timeline would overlap in the present and finished it in two sittings.

despite the 4 stars, this is one of the better thrillers i’ve read this summer. it brought me out of a book rut which was a god send lol!

there were a few things that i would change to make it a 5 star. one is a big thing but would be a spoiler so i’ll omit that from my review. the others were minimal. i did want the ending to be a biiiit more open ended bc i personally don’t love when thrillers wrap up really nicely but there was a slightly sinister allusion at the end which i enjoyed.

all in all—i definitely enjoyed this and reco to others! excited to see what else Pekkanen whips up on her own :)

thanks to St Martins Press for the gifted copy ❤️

I enjoyed this fast-paced thriller! I found it really fun to see alternating perspectives between mother and daughter. It was rather unique to read, because as the mother reveals the crazy secrets she has kept for so long, her daughter begins to figure some of them out on her own, and then questions every detail of her life. I found myself unsure how I would feel if I were in her shoes. I truly had no idea how this book would end, and liked the unsettling feeling it left me with. Great thriller!

This was a fun audiobook!
I have read a few Pekkanen books that she cowrote with Greer Hendricks, and loved them. This is my first solo Pekkanen book.
The book has two different POVs, and two timelines. This was not hard to follow whatsoever, and reminded me a little of What Lies Between Us, one of my all time favourite thrillers, from John Marrs.
If executed well, this format is so gripping, as the past and present clues start to fall into place.
I think two different narrators would have helped some readers though.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an e-arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

To her daughter Catherine, Ruth seems like a quiet woman with a small life. She's anything but. The scant details of her history? It's easier not to slip up if you don't share anything. The lack of a social life? Part of her deception. Her wariness about Catherine's social media? The internet is just another place her daughter might unwittingly reveal something about her mother's identity.

But Catherine is starting to catch on that things aren't quite as they seem, and she pulls us along for what begins as a slow burn mystery and turns into a wild ride.