Excellent heartfelt novel about the bond between mother and daughter. Catherine is a nurse with plans to move away from her mothers house and start a new job at a large respected hospital. Catherine has always been extremely close to her mother and had no reason to doubt her mother’s story about her life before she was born. As Catherine tries to dig into her mothers past, she learns she has no idea about her mother’s past, or even her real name for that matter. What Catherine doesn’t know is that every choice her mother made was to keep her daughter safe from a looming threat that has finally reared its head. Fast paced, excellent novel that is not to be missed. One of the best books of the year! Would give way more than 5 stars if possible.

Ruth Sterling is beginning to forget things. Her daughter, Catherine, is about to move away to start working as a nurse. All their lives its just been the two of them. With Ruth being diagnosed with early Alzheimer's disease, will Catherine be able to finally break away from her mother or be trapped. They have never lived apart and their lives have always been closed to other people. However, Ruth has secrets....will Catherine finally be able to know where her mother comes from. This was very original and fresh. Kept me guessing about what was going on. Highly recommend.

4ish stars

I wish I would have know going into this book that it dealt with topics like Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. I probably would have read it anyway, but it would have been a useful piece of information to have before beginning. Although I realize that the author often writes books on her own, this is the first of hers I’ve read where she wasn’t joined by her frequent co-author. I was expecting it to be fluffier (so to speak) and a bit faster-paced/more dramatic. Although it wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be like, I still mostly enjoyed this story.

4.5/5

I enjoyed reading this thriller! The story switches between the POV of mother, Ruth, and daughter, Catherine. I found both of their perspectives interesting to read, and felt that alternating between the two added a unique element of suspense to the story. I found myself questioning every character and their intentions right until the very end. Overall this was a suspenseful and engaging read!

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I was really interested to see which way this story was going to go, and I thought it was quite different from anything I’ve read by Pekkanen before. I really liked how they gave flashbacks to Ruth’s teenage years, it gave great context for her present day life. I did feel like I wanted more details about her ex boyfriend earlier in on the story, it felt like it took a little too long to understand their dynamic. The last quarter of the book moved really quickly, and I loved all of the action. Really great story that had me guessing until the very end!

I absolutely loved this book and cannot recommend it enough for any thriller fan. It has mystery, dual POVs, unreliable narrators, murder, and allllll the secrets. 😏
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Also. The writing just hooks you immediately, drawing you in. Ruth is a mother, absolutely devoted to doing anything and everything to protect her daughter Catherine. But from what? As she spins lies and deceit…. She believes it is in Catherine’s best interest. Is it? Are their lives at stake??
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Welp. You’ll just have to read it to find out! This book really focuses on the love a mother has for her daughter and the concept of nature vs nurture. And asks the question….Can a psychopath be born?

Read this if you...
like a slow burn
think everyone has a little bit of darkness inside
enjoy being on the edge of your seat

What I loved:
All I can say to start is, wow. I think this might easily be my most favorite read of 2023 so far. I was originally drawn to this book because of my love for thrillers, but also its mention and strong focus on Alzheimer's. I have my own family experiences with this incredibly taxing disease, and was interested in how it could, in fact, be woven into one of my favorite genres.

Ruth and her daughter, Catherine, have a bond like no other. Over the years, it has caused them to be inseparable. As Catherine gets older, and begins to settle into her career, Ruth begins to panic. However, what's really keeping her from letting Catherine chase her dreams? How long can Ruth keep her past hidden and her daughter protected? As a dual-perspective read, I thought the storyline unfolded perfectly, and I loved how all strings connected - there was nothing left unanswered.

What wasn't my favorite:
I think I'm coming out lucky, yet again. There isn't much I would change about this book, and I think Sarah Pekkanen wrote an incredibly suspenseful read that is sure to keep you up all night. Get ready for a page-turner that can easily be read in one sitting!

Credit:
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Having read many of this authors and writing partners previous books I was very excited to see this solo project especially after reading the premise.

As I was into the book and upon finishing it was definitely not your typical “thriller”, but I enjoyed this fresh take.

This story alternates between two different POVs. Catherine, the daughter and Ruth, her Mother. Catherine has lived a very sheltered chaotic close life with her extremely over protective Mother. Her Mother shares little to nothing about her past, but when Catherine has a new job opportunity that will cause her to move away from her Mother, her Mother gets diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Welllllll…. This starts the wild unraveling of a life and Mother that Catherine thought she knew , but boy was she wrong !! Suddenly Catherine wants to know more about her Mother’s past because she’s slowly starting to feel everything she thinks she knows about her Mother is a lie.

This does start out slow and continues to be a bit of a slow burn, but once things start to unravel I had to keep reading!
I thoroughly enjoyed the effortless transitions between the characters POV. I also found the way through each character’s POV we as readers find out their secrets they are keeping from each other long before the whole truth is exposed to them.

I really found this to be an interesting read as it does tackle some sensitive topics such as Alzheimer’s, and it shows the author did her research. It also brings in a little psychology on what traits and behaviors through generations.

I will say the ending was a little wild, and wraps up this books story it begs the question about how our past can knowingly and unknowingly shape a potentially wild future!!

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martins Press, and the author for an ARC!

Sarah Pekkanen now has a solo thriller in “Gone Tonight” after two best-selling novels co-authored with Greer Hendricks, “The Wife Between Us” and “The Golden Couple.”

This is a mother/daughter book, told in alternating POVs. Catherine is a 24 year old nursing student whose only known family has been her 42 year old somewhat mysterious mother Ruth, who has often uprooted the two of them on a moment’s notice. As Ruth immediately declares, she knows how to disappear. Catherine is about to leave for a nursing scholarship in Baltimore and Ruth does not want that to happen. The “why” is wrapped up in Ruth’s background — she’s only ever told Catherine that she was a pregnant teenager who was forced to leave her unloving family and boyfriend. At this moment, it seems like Ruth is presenting symptoms of early-onset Alzeimher’s — but is that the truth or a ploy to keep Catherine from leaving? Catherine, believing her mother’s mind might fade away soon, starts an investigation into her mother’s past and starts to discover many uncomfortable things. This is not the perfect mother/daughter relationship at all.

The author does a great job of ratcheting up tension as the story of Ruth starts to unravel — we’re not sure who to root for, but as revelations build, the complicated story tugs at our emotions. 5 stars!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Ruth has hazel eyes and Catherine’s eyes are continually described as “denim” colored.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Although the “middle of the woods” plays an important part of the plot.

For me thrillers have to catch me by the throat right away, or be a tantalizing burn...this was neither. More a look at mother daughter relationships with a foreseeable twist.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Arguably one of the best books I've ever read. Gripping. Suspenseful. Heart-stopping. Sarah has done it again!

It has always been Catherine and her mother, Ruth, against the world. Catherine knows her mother to be a quiet, serious, and hardworking woman. They have always been together but now Catherine wants to advance her career and doing so means moving.

Ruth will do anything to keep Catherine with her. She wasn't expecting Catherine to want to move, to question things, or to dig into her past. What secrets will be uncovered?

How well do you really know someone? How well do you know your parent(s)?

This was a gripping and hard to put down book. I enjoyed how the book is told through the past and present timelines. As more is divulged, I found myself more immersed in the story. I felt for Catherine wanting to grow and move on with her life. She is an adult now and ready to spread her wings. Ruth is fearful and willing to do whatever it takes to keep Catherine close to her. I was intrigued with why she felt the need to keep her so close. As children, we only know our parents as parents, we don't know everything about them, their pasts, their experiences, only what they choose to share with us. Ruth has not shared much at all.

This was a well written and thrilling book. I enjoyed the mounting suspense, especially in the last half of the book. There are secrets and then there are secrets!!! Wowza! So good! What an enjoyable thriller that built into a thrilling second half. I enjoyed Catherine and Ruth's mother-daughter relationship, it's an interesting dynamic. I also enjoyed the role of secrets in this book.

Sarah Pekkanen has written another thrilling book that kept me on my toes. I had both the kindle and audiobook versions of this book and found myself listening to most of the book via audiobook as the narration was so terrific.

Gripping, suspenseful, thought provoking and hard to put down!

I wanted to read this book because I had enjoyed Sarah Pekkanen's books with Greer Hendricks. The story follows Ruth and her daughter Catherine. They are very close but when Catherine gets a job and wants to move away Ruth goes to extremes to keep her form going. The reason behind her overprotectiveness is what drives the book. The overall story was intriguing in parts but something was missing to make it a great book. I think what bothered me was the implication that Catherine was possibly a psychopath who had been violent since she was little. Still a solid book but just not my favorite. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
This review is for both the audio and ebook version
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for the ARC and early listen! Wow what a story! Enjoyed listening/reading about the history behind Catherine Sterling thinks and her mother Ruth Sterling. Reading this was like solving a puzzle. All the characters were great since they were all essential to the story and how it would all unfold.
This story is definitely a thrill ride with a few twists and turns.
Highly recommend!
Narrated by Kate Mara: Did a great job telling the story! Did not want to stop listening!

A sloooowww burn without much payoff at the end. I am a pretty fast reader, but this book took me weeks to get through because I just wasn't excited to pick it up. I've loved her books written with Greer Hendricks, but this one was not for me.

With appreciation to St Martin's Press for the ebook copy and MacMillan Audiobook for the excellent audiobook: Gone Tonight is a great slow burn tension filled suspense read, filled with effective twists and an uneasy sense that Catherine is stepping into dangerous territory with all of her questions (main character, trying to uncover a past that's been withheld from her... to uncover how much she doesn't know about her mother and their past). I was really drawn into the author's moody writing and how she took care to time the placing of new reveals/twists throughout the story, it kept me engaged and wanting to know how the story was going to tie up.

I found this to really work well on audiobook in particular and want to say that Kate Mara's narration was fantastic (and I am a fan, watching her on Class of 09 right now), I hope she continues to do suspense audiobooks as she captured Sarah Pekkanen's style and pacing effectively. The ebook format was great as well as I appreciated being immersed in the moody writing (I alternated between both formats as I found Mara's narration to really engage me when I could not sit to read but wanted to keep up with the story!).

What a great read! The twists!!! Omg. I didn’t see this one coming. I really loved the mother daughter relationship even as they unfurl all the secrets and work through it. & The secrets! So delicious!

I loved the journal entries as Ruth writes and divulges everything. This is just a wild story full of twists. I love how they were slowly released continuously propelling the story forward.

The different perspectives & past/present telling of the story brought so much depth and layers.

And the final chapter… shook.

Everyone seems to really think this was the bees knees, but unfortunately for me it fell a little flat.

I knew the first big reveal at only the 4% mark, but had to wait until 31% for confirmation. The journal entries regarding the past were quite deliciously horrible, but I found the present to be so lackluster until nearly the halfway mark that I was really just slogging through. And the last 25% could have been condensed to a few chapters and wrapped things up perfectly fine. So there you have it. Every reader has a different experience with each book they pick up. I wish I would have enjoyed this one as much as all of my friends did.

2.5 Stars

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!

My thanks to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to review this arc.

How far would a mother go to prevent her 24 year old daughter from moving away from her to take a nursing job? Even fake an Alzheimers diagnosis in her early 40s? That's exactly what Ruth Sterling is doing to her daughter Catherine. This story is told from the POV of Ruth and Catherine. When the WHY is revealed as to Ruth's actions, the reader will be very surprised.

Good book. Highly recommend.

Ruth has been on the run since she was a teenager trying to keep her old life completely separate from her and her daughter, Catherine, who knows nothing about her mothers past. She keeps any details about her past hidden, with only just small clues revealed accidentally or when absolutely necessary. Now Ruth is showing signs of Alzheimer’s & When Catherine starts to become suspicious of Ruth and wants to find out the truth, we finally get into some thrills and some action. Prior to that, it moved very slowly and felt kinda clunky.
While the narrator was good, being just two main women as the mains, it would have benefited from having two women narrate rather than just one to help distinguish them better.
I had hoped for more from this one. It wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t as good as I anticipated.
Thanks to Macmillan Audio for this audiobook arc in exchange for my review.