3.5 stars

Not too bad for this author’s first solo journey. She has co-authored a number of other psych thrillers, all of which I’ve really enjoyed so I was delighted to receive an advanced copy of this book.

In this slow burn, we meet Ruth and her grown daughter Catherine. The two are as close as close can be between mother and daughter. In fact, one might even think too close. Neither have any of their own friends. They spend most nights together. Ruth even has Catherine’s location on at all times so she always knows where her daughter is. It’s always been just the two of them, with Ruth regularly packing up and moving them suddenly every few years while Catherine was growing up, which made it impossible for her to sustain friendships.. But Catherine has been offered a nursing position in Baltimore and will finally be leaving the nest…or will she? Ruth has just been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, which puts a big wrinkle in her plan. As Catherine starts to look more closely at her mother’s diagnosis, she starts to notice that maybe Ruth hasn’t been as honest with her over the years as she thought.

There was a lot to love about this book. The dual first person narration that alternated between Ruth and Catherine’s perspective was atmospheric and ominous. It moved the plot at a good pace and kept me intrigued to know what was coming next. Ruth also used a journal format to share backstory from an older time line of when she was a teenager. The execution of this worked well. There was a decent twist and the ending packed some punch.

What didn’t work as well for me was the shift in plot dynamic from suspenseful to action/adrenaline. The reader learns fairly early on what’s going on with Ruth, which took the plot in more of a cat and mouse direction. I was hoping for pure suspense. Some of the plot elements were also far fetched so one needs to be able to suspend disbelief to some degree. And the audiobook version could have used a second narrator to perform Catherine’s perspective. This would have added depth and animation in bringing the storyline alive via audio.

There were some hits and misses in this one but overall it was engaging and kept my interest. Would recommend to others.

Thanks #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for an advanced ecopy and #MacMillanAudio for an audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was amazing. Twisty, dark, suspenseful with drama and secrets!
Told between Ruth and Catherine, a mother daughter duo. I loved the concept, the layout and the dialogue!
Add this to your list! Coming in August 2023.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

A well structured, slower moving thriller with minimal twists and turns. The author slowly weaves the story together until the reader finally has the whole picture. I do enjoy stories where we slowly learn everything we need to know, but I would have enjoyed some bigger reveals.

I could never decide if I liked Ruth or not. I understand the choices she made were due to necessity, but like Catherine, I feel she could have done things differently. Catherine felt a little bland to me honestly, but I appreciated that she wasn’t a damsel in distress and took matters into her own hands. This really dove deep into doing whatever it takes to protect your children and ran with it.

I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was lucky enough to buddy read this one and it kept me so engaged with all the different opinions on what was happening and where this one was headed. I was very quick to believe both of our narrators are reliable while not all in my group were so easily swayed. Told from a mother and daughter’s POVs the reader is privy to there is something in their past, but not what that is.

This format was a great fit for this story. Not only is there two POVs, but Ruth is documenting what has happened to get them to where they are now. Ruth is lying to her daughter and trying to protect her to the best of her ability. And fearful she might not be able to come clean, she is writing an account of what happened and what she has kept from her daughter Catherine.

I am not sure either character is likable or if the story remains plausible at all points, but seriously none of that mattered as I read this one. There was the perfect amount of build up and tension to make me need to know their story and what would happen to them. Quite a few times I was on the edge of my seat.

Both the book and audiobook kept my attention and wanting more. Kate Mara does a great job narrating the audiobook and letting the story shine.

If this isn’t on your tbr, you need to make room and add it.

I’ve been reading and enjoying Sarah Pekkanen’s novels for years now, but Gone Tonight is far and away the best of the bunch. My thanks go to Net Galley, Macmillan Audio and St. Martin’s Press for the invitation to read and review. This book will be available to the public August 1, 2023. If you love psychological fiction or thrillers, you should order it now.

In her previous thrillers—the ones I’ve read, at least—there is similarity. She’s written about women ganging up on one woman, and love triangles, or what appear to be love triangles. This one is different, and it’s better. Here we have just two characters, mother Ruth and her young adult daughter Catherine. The unseen character is James, Catherine’s biological father. Throughout the story, Ruth is vigilant, always watchful. She’s afraid she’s being stalked, or investigated, or otherwise watched. Ruth isn’t merely careful; she keeps a bug-out bag ready for each of them, varies her routine to where she really doesn’t have one. She doesn’t take the same exact route to any of the places she frequents regularly. To see and hear this character, one would think that the CIA, the Mafia, and all of the cartels were out to get her and kill her.

Early in the book, Ruth provides Catherine with some hard news: she has early onset Alzheimer’s. I tell you this in particular, because when I saw it, my eyes glazed over with boredom and I thought that this thriller wasn’t going to thrill me at all. I nearly slid the book onto the bottom of my stack, and that would have been a terrible mistake, because this is *not* an Alzheimer’s story.

Catherine has never met any of her relatives; Ruth lies to keep her from investigating them. But now Catherine is an intelligent adult, and there is the internet. It’s mighty hard to keep a secret these days, and that’s rough for Ruth, because she’s got a lot of them, some bigger than others. As Catherine digs, she is surprised, and this makes her dig even harder. She keeps finding things, and Ruth keeps changing her explanations. It isn’t long before Catherine realizes she’s been lied to, and she stops telling Ruth what she discovers.

The format Pekkanen uses is an effective one, and it’s easy to follow. She changes the point of view in the standard way from one to the other and back with both sides told in the first person, but the tricky part is how to provide Ruth’s narrative. Catherine can give us her first person narrative and we think nothing of it, but Ruth talks to no one except her daughter, and even so, she lies to her daughter all the damn time, so under what circumstances will she spill her guts to us? The solution isn’t all that original, but it’s effective and reasonably believable. Ruth has a secret diary that she’s writing for Catherine to have when Ruth is gone. It requires me to overlook the unlikelihood of someone as obsessively private as Ruth sitting down and documenting the whole shooting match, including names and dates in writing, but this is such a fun book that I set my momentary disbelief aside and keep reading, because I have to know what happens next.

Once we are past the Alzheimer’s passage, my attention is rapt, but friend, the last ten percent of Gone Tonight is one for the ages! I rarely say this, but this creepy little novel would make an amazing movie or miniseries.
Actor Kate Mara reads the audio version, and she does a fine job. Highly recommended!

Gone Tonight is a domestic thriller that at the beginning makes you wonder if it is a thriller. Catherine has recently completed her nursing degree and is preparing to move to Boston to accept a nursing position. Ruth, her mother, will do anything to stop Catherine from moving. When Catherine realizes Ruth is trying to keep her in Pennsylvania, Catherine realizes it is time for some answers. Ruth has never revealed much information about herself. Ruth and Catherine have no other family, it's just the two of them. As Catherine starts to investigate, she realizes there is much about her mother she doesn't know.

This was a very quick read for me. I found myself wanting to keep returning to read to see what was going to happen. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

There are few relationships closer than the one between a mother and her daughter, and in this story it’s amplified by the fact that Catherine and her mother, Ruth, have only ever had each other.

This split POV thriller is filled with suspense and mystery from the start, and doesn’t slow down as you move through each Act. I loved how each chapter switched perspectives, and some of Ruth’s story was told in the format of personal journal entries. This kept me really hooked on both the past and present timelines in this story.

I read this one in a few sittings, and was genuinely excited to come back to it every time. Definitely recommend to fans of psychological thrillers, family dramas, and stories with multiple/ alternative POVs!

Wow! What a great book! Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen is one of my favorite thrillers so far of the year! I couldn’t put it down.

The story follows the mother daughter relationship of Ruth and Catherine. As the story unfolds you find out what transpired in Ruth’s past.

Through twists and turns Gone Tonight is filled with the complications of a mother daughter relationship, revenge, hope and forgiveness.

I’ve previously read other thrillers by Sarah Pekkanen, but this is her first independent thriller and I will definitely pick up anything she writes in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Not going to lie, this started out a little slow for me and I had my doubts. I shouldn't have doubted it though since Sarah Peekanen has never failed to deliver on anything else I've read by her, but I did start to doubt it. Right when I was starting to question if I could carry on or not, bam! It took off an all my doubts were gone. Keep that in mind when reading this. Give it some time before calling it quits.

I thought this had the perfect balance of revealing just enough information for you to slowly start figuring out what's going on but still having questions. There really was no huge twist which I was slightly disappointed in, there were some twists but you could see them coming.

All in all, this was a very enjoyable read! I look forward to reading more books by Sarah Pekkanen.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

From the Publisher:

Catherine Sterling thinks she knows her mother. Ruth Sterling is quiet, hardworking, and lives for her daughter. All her life, it's been just the two of them against the world. But now, Catherine is ready to spread her wings, move from home, and begin a new career. And Ruth Sterling will do anything to prevent that from happening.

Ruth Sterling thinks she knows her daughter. Catherine would never rebel, would never question anything about her mother's past or background. But when Ruth's desperate quest to keep her daughter by her side begins to reveal cracks in Ruth's carefully-constructed world, both mother and daughter begin a dance of deception.

******************************************

This was a great one! The alternating viewpoints of Catherine and Ruth, combined with shorter chapters, kept this moving through this fast-paced story. I thought I liked this about 1/4 of the way through, but by halfway, I knew this was one I was going to love. There were a few twists and turns I didn't see coming and I always love that.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Available August 1, 2023

Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen drips with deception in the most delectable way possible. Not only that but it oozes with suspense and tension which had me greedily inhaling every word in one sitting. I am enamoured by with twists peering from every nook and cranny, utterly immersive.

Ruth and Catherine Sterling are a close mother/daughter duo who would do anything for each other. Ruth works at a diner and Catherine is a nurse. When Ruth is told she has a dreadful disease, their worlds change drastically and slivers of paranoia and secrets begin to show through the cracks. Unfortunately for them, the past becomes their present and they live the repercussions of their choices.

If you are seeking a slow burn with a fascinating mother/daughter bond and secrets galore, this has your name plastered all over it. Parts of the story are a bit predictable but this in no way stole my enjoyment. The writing swept me away and the characters enthralling, as is the premise.

My sincere thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this tongue-gnawingly suspenseful novel.

"Gone Tonight" by Sarah Pekkanen is a slow burn, but so worth the time! At first it seems like Ruth is just an over protective mother who isn't ready to let her adult daughter Catherine spread her wings and live an independent life. However, as the story unfolds, we learn that there is a reason for Ruth's behavior that shocked me to my core! Catherine discovers that her whole life is based on lies and that, now that those lies are exposed, she and her mother are in incredible danger. This book is the perfect beach read; I was thoroughly engrossed and entertained. It's a page-turner for sure! Sarah Pekkanen is definitely one of my favorite thriller authors and this book helps to cement her in that position. Four stars!

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Sarah Pekkanen for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this engrossing book!

I have been a fan of Sarah Pekkanen for some time now, so I jumped at the chance to read Gone Tonight and it did not disappoint. I thought the plot was very original, ailing mother desperate to keep her only daughter close. What follows is nothing short of a ball of lies to be untangled. It was a fun read.

Wow, wow, wow, this book just got me out of a reading slump after having a few meh 3 stars this is for sure a 5 star. It is told from alternating POVs of a mother and daughter. There were lots of twists and turns a few I did not see coming. What a great thriller, Run and get this one as soon as possible. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins press for an e-Arc of this this book.
5 star

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝘼 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧'𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙪𝙣𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙡...

I absolutely loved 𝗔𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝗼𝗻𝘆𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗚𝗶𝗿𝗹, which was co-written by this author. I still find that book to be a favorite thriller of mine, therefore, I was so excited to pick this book up.

This story does focus a lot on the relationship between a mother and daughter… and how far a parent would go to protect their child.

The book itself is told in alternating timelines and POVs, which I did find confusing at first. Once I got the idea of what was going on, I felt so emerged in the story.

It was really interesting reading about Ruth’s past and what led to the way she and her daughter live. I think both characters, Ruth and Catherine, were very well portrayed. I liked the psychological aspect of the book.

While the ending wasn’t my favorite + a bit predictable, I did find it to be wrapped up smoothly. I did a combo of the ebook and audio and found both formats to be super interesting.

This was a fun read with a mother/daughter relationship. It’s a bit slow and not super thrilling, but it did have me on the edge of my seat. I’m glad I ended up enjoying this one!

Thank you so much NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC and Macmillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review!

Catherine and her mother, Ruth, have always been each other’s world. They live together and share a car. However, Catherine is ready to get out in the world and wants to attend university, leaving Ruth behind. Ruth is not ready to let Catherine go yet, as she has a reason she has kept Catherine so close to her all these years. She will not let her go without a fight.

I found this thriller to be highly entertaining. The narrator on audio was really good and I really enjoyed listening to it. It’s fast paced right from the start and I got sucked in right away. The way that Ruth manipulated her daughter was quite fascinating and sickening, although her motive for it was conflicting. The flipping POVs between Catherine and Ruth were also addicting and kept me turning the pages.

For the longest time it has only
Been Ruth and Catherine. Just the two of them, relying on each other.
When Ruth gets sick, things start to change … and the truth slowly starts to come out.
It’s all a matter of time before Catherine finds out Ruth’s well-hidden secrets.

I thought this story was okay. It was a slow burn, which I don’t typically love. I have always been obsessed with Sarah’s co-author stories with Greer Hendricks, so I had high expectations. Sadly this one fell shorter than I would have liked.

Overall it was a good story, but it just felt like it was lacking something that other stories she’s written have had.

This story has LAYERS, and I enjoyed peeling back every one of them. Ruth has a past, her daughter Catherine is her whole present. But what happens when Ruth gets a diagnosis that leads Catherine down a path into her mother's past? What secrets has Ruth meant to keep buried, and what will happen if they were to all come to the surface?

The writing in this was so well done! I felt like there was a perfect balance of giving just enough information with each chapter to keep me wanting to read more. There were so many aspects that I never felt like I could figure it all out, at least not until closer to the end, and I really enjoyed trying to put it all together.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for my gifted copy! Full review on my IG @manis.and.manuscripts

How well do we really know the people we think we know the most? Ruth and Catherine are a mother and daughter who are very close. But maybe there are some secrets between them that they’ve never known.

This was a compelling read that kept me going to see what would happen next. I really enjoyed the audiobook narration. Thank you to Macmillan Audio, St Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the audiobook to review.

This was the first book I’ve read by just Sarah Pekkanen, and while I enjoyed it, I didn’t think it did anything unique. It is definitely a good one to recommend for someone new to the genre, but if you read a lot of thrillers, you won’t find the twists shocking or compelling.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.