This book was almost a five star for me. I loved the dropping of hints, the thinking one thing was going on and then slowly realizing it was something else, even more intriguing. A fiercely protective mother and the daughter about to strike out on her own. Dual perspectives and dual timelines. I loved the first third, then it slowed down for me, wasnt as sharp or layered, but left wanting more at the end. Would love a second book

I've enjoyed other Sarah Pekkanen books, and was so excited to get my hands on Gone Tonight early! I really wanted to like this one, but unfortunately it fell a little flat for me. I usually don't love dual points of view but I think it really worked here. The pacing was great, causing me to speed through the entire book in a day because I had to know what happened! I just didn't love or connect with either of the main characters, and nothing really happened until the last ~15% of the book. It was a decent, quick read though and I'd definitely be interested to see what the author puts out next. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

"Gone Tonight" is told from the perspective of both main characters, Ruth and her adult daughter Catherine. Ruth would do anything to protect her daughter, including picking up and moving every few years at the drop of a hat to outrun her past. Catherine is the "good daughter" who would never rebel against her mother. That is until something in Ruth's medical history causes Catherine to investigate to know her mother better than ever before.

This was FANTASTIC!! I enjoyed the story from both characters viewpoints. Typically I find myself preferring one side of the story in formats like this, but this time I was eager to read more from both sides. I thought the pacing was great, and the constant reveals throughout the book were perfectly done and kept me flipping to the next page. This was the perfect combination of a mother/daughter drama mixed with some fantastic suspense.

There is no bond like that of a mother and daughter....
Ruth and her daughter Catherine are inseparable. It's always been just the two of them. Moving from city to city, never allowing anyone else to get too close.
Now Catherine is in her twenties, and spreading her wings, embarking on a separate career path. And Ruth is starting to panic. She must keep them together. At what lengths will Ruth go - to keep her grip on her daughter, and the past hidden?
But the tighter Ruth holds on, the more Catherine questions the reason why!
Told in the present and past, we learn what led up to Ruth's obsession with maintaining secrecy. The question is...Is it justified? Well...I'm certainly not going to spill the beans. You'll have to read this book to find out!
Wow! Sarah Pekkanen writes a gripping, suspenseful read that will keep you reading late into the night! I was captivated from the first page to the last!
Definitely one of my top thriller reads for this year!

When Ruth is caught in many lies by her daughter, Catherine, she researches illness to get her daughter to back off. Catherine, however, digs her heels in to uncover the truth. Catherine soon learns that her mother’s truth is stranger than fiction. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for my review.

I am and have always been a fan of Sarah Pekkanen. This is the first book I have seen from her without her writing partner in a long time. It was a gutsy twisty thriller and she continues to tell a great story. I remember when she first started she leaned in more towards women fiction and you can definitely see this in this novel. I loved the fast paced plot and read it in one weekend. Whatever Sarah wants to write I want to read. Thanks NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest feedback.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A novel about a mother daughter duo who have lived life on the run. When the daughter feels trapped, she searches for information about their mysterious past and finds shocking information about her mother's past.

ɢᴏɴᴇ ᴛᴏɴɪɢʜᴛ
sᴀʀᴀʜ ᴘᴇᴋᴋᴀɴᴇɴ
sᴛ. ᴍᴀʀᴛɪɴs ᴘʀᴇss
ᴘᴜʙ ᴅᴀᴛᴇ: ᴀᴜɢᴜsᴛ 𝟷 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟹
✩✩✩✩

Happy Mother’s Day weekend 💐 I finished the week out with 𝐺𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑇𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 by author Sarah Pekkanen and it was an entertaining fun thriller!

This was the perfect book to read for Mothers Day week because the plot focused on the mother/daughter relationship and how far a mother would go to keep her child safe. I loved how we had multiple storylines going on, lots of unpredictable twists, and a very eventful, stressful (in a goood way) ending!

The author did a great job with building the characters and I found them likeable. I really enjoyed Catherine’s character and how we see different parts of her personality(IYKYK)!

✨special thanks to @stmartinspress @netgalley for the early copy! This book releases on August 1st!✨

SYNOPSIS: “ 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.

No one can know Ruth's history. There is a reason why Ruth kept them moving every few years, and why she was ready--in a moment's notice--to be gone in the night. “

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.

No one can know Ruth's history. There is a reason why Ruth kept them moving every few years, and why she was ready--in a moment's notice--to be gone in the night.

I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys a dual-POV mystery with a tension release you know is coming, but stays exciting. There is complete resolution with the ending and the characters are easy to empathize with. At times their miscommunication, or lack of communication, felt over the top and I wanted to shout "talk to each other!!" but it didn't detract from the story.

This one is a slow burn which I don't normally like, but this kept my interest the entire time. I enjoyed the twists and turns along the way. I am always a fan of a story that includes betrayal and this one did not disappoint!

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Despite a slightly slow start, I was drawn into this story about a mother and daughter pair working hard to escape the pain of their past. The POV alternated between mother, Ruth, and daughter, Catherine. I enjoyed the dynamic between the two characters and while I was able to predict most of the story, it was engaging and entertaining. Quick read.

Thanks to NetGalley, Sarah Pekkanen, and the publisher for this book in exchange for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.7/5

Gone Tonight 🔪

PUB date: August 1st, 2023

Synopsis:
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.

No one can know Ruth's history. There is a reason why Ruth kept them moving every few years, and why she was ready--in a moment's notice--to be gone in the night.

Review:
This book was quite interesting. I loved the alternating POV’s every chapter. This definitely isn’t a heart stopping thriller but a slow paced thriller to say the least. Towards the end there were definitely some edge of the seat thrilling moments.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

What a great domestic suspense novel! The story was original and different than so many others I read. The twists were good not shocking but more enforcing where the story was leading. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it at the beginning but I couldn't stop reading as I got deeper into the story. I thought it would be another "crazy mom" obsession book and it's anything but! I don't feel you can say much without giving anything away.. I'll definitely recommend this to others! Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I couldn’t get into this book. Too much back and forth, which usually I do not mind, but this could not keep my interest.

I just reviewed Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen. #NetGalley

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published August 1, 2023.

It’s a story about mom Ruth and her daughter Catherine. Ruth is hiding a secret and will go to extreme lengths to protect her daughter. This book gripped me right away and never let up. Lots of twists and turns. I read it in a day!

I am a fan of Sarah Pekkanen and her previous books. Like her others, I was excited to read this one as well. This story is about a mother and daughter and how their relationship is challenged by things of the past. I enjoyed the back-and-forth time jumps to hear more of the mother's back story and the ending left you questioning. Overall it was a quick thriller read, and I enjoyed it.

Gone Tonight is the latest from an auto-read author of mine, Sarah Pekkanen, and was a really entertaining read. I am drawn to mother-daughter stories and I love a dual-POV, so the premise automatically had my attention. The plot was interesting and and I liked that the reader knew a bit more than either character, it really added to the tension.

I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys a dual-POV mystery with a tension release you know is coming, but stays exciting. There is complete resolution with the ending and the characters are easy to empathize with. At times their miscommunication, or lack of communication, felt over the top and I wanted to shout "talk to each other!!" but it didn't detract from the story.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of this book, I appreciate you!

This was a great thriller I sped through in a few days. The two POV's made for fast engaged reading and there were no loose ends. Nice little twist at the end also. Thanks to Netgalley for the free arc!

This was a fast paced, dark, twisty mystery that kept me turning the pages to see how it was all going to unfold. Told in alternating POVs between Catherine and her mother, Ruth, it felt like a unique take on the genre. I found Ruth’s history fascinating, even if I couldn’t bring myself to justify her last deception toward Catherine that begins this journey. Everything up to that point was an intense example of a mother’s drive to protect her child. Catherine’s investigative work to figure out her mother’s secrets was impressive, and her desire to figure it out was understandable considering she had no idea the danger she was inviting in. Things got a little confusing at times with the back and forth POVs and timelines, plus Ruth’s journal entries laying out her past, but it was usually pretty easy to get back on track with the story. I want to see more of how certain traits of Catherine’s personality play out in the future and what it means for Ruth.

Gone Tonight revolves around Ruth and her daughter Catherine, alternating between their point of view. Ruth is showing signs of early on-set Alzheimer’s disease, and Catherine happens to work with many Alzheimer’s patients. But Catherine has more questions than Ruth is willing to answer. It’s fast-paced with twists and turns along the way, thankfully. Truthfully at first it felt a little too heavy for me and I wasn’t interested enough to continue, but I pushed through and quickly realized how good it was becoming, so I’m glad I continued. What I liked: the mother-daughter relationship, especially a mothers love and overpowering need to protect her child. What I didn’t like: Catherine is 24 years old and sometimes acts a bit like a teenager. Granted, I guess that was the point, but I just felt she could have been a little more mature. Overall, this was a great thriller from Sarah Pekkanen that I would definitely recommend.

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for a review and opinions are my own.

This story begs the question of how far will a mother go to protect her child. And is it ok for a mother to lie to their child in order to protect them. Catherine Sterling thinks she knows her mother Ruth until she agrees to move in with her due to her newly diagnosed Alzheimers. Catherine begins to unravel the secrets of Ruth's carefully constructed world. This one will make you question if you even know and trust those closest to you.

This one is a slow burn which I don't normally like, but this kept my interest the entire time. I enjoyed the twists and turns along the way. I am always a fan of a story that includes betrayal and this one did not disappoint!

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.