Sarah Pekkanen is a must-read! I love her books cowritten with Greer Hendricks, so when I saw Gone Tonight was available, I just had to go for it.

And I'm so glad I did! Ruth has spent her adult life protecting her daughter Catherine. They are inseparable and Ruth wants to keep it that way. But when Catherine starts to question her mother's past and whether or not her current signs of early onset Alzheimers are even real, she finds out more than she bargained for.

4 out of 5 stars! I don't want to give too much away, it's best to go into this one as blind as possible.

This book is a very well written journey of a mother and daughter. When I first started the book, I wasn’t sure it was going to be my preferred type of reading, but I stuck with it. I found myself quickly immersed in the history of this mother and daughter, and the lengths the mother, Ruth, will go to in order to protect her adult daughter, Catherine from impending danger. As the story unfolds, it is very clear that neither Ruth nor Catherine have any idea of the secrets that are about to unfold.



Thank you NetGalley and Sarah Pekkanen for allowing me the opportunity to receive an advanced copy of Gone Tonight in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely loved this book. Great story line that kept me glued until the end. Quick easy read that I highly recommend to everyone. Sarah Pekkanen is now on my must read list!

Ruth has been keeping secrets from her daughter Catherine all her life, and now, as Catherine is an adult, those secrets start to unravel. Each secret unlocked another part of the mystery, and it was a wild ride to follow along on.

This book had me absolutely hooked! I love thrillers where little hints are dropped, and you can pick up on little things while still being held in suspense as to how it all comes together in the end.

I thought the author did a good job depicting a mother’s relentless love as well as a daughter’s struggle in her relationship with her mother, particularly as an adult. Additionally, I appreciated the themes of wrestling with identity and where we come from and how it forms who we grow up to be. I picked up on a few clues the author dropped throughout the story, but there were a couple of twists that I was pleasantly surprised by. The ending brought some really great closure to the characters’ stories and development.

Review: This was a decently good book. It was more predictable than I thought it would be based on Pekkanen’s previous books, but I still enjoyed the story. I can understand the mothers need to protect her daughter at all costs, but I didn’t care for one of the lies she told. I’ll leave it at that as I don’t want to spoil anything. The story was definitely still good and I would recommend to others if they enjoy thrillers. Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the ARC!

This book was not a favorite. Story slow and pretty shallow. Characters not like able. I did finish but was tempted to stop kid way thru. Definitely didn’t hold my interest.

Awesome book. What a talented writer. I loved the suspense and twists. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Five stars!

Thank you so much @StMartinsPress for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 01 Aug 2023)

SYNOPSIS | Ruth gave birth to Catherine at 17 years old and they have been on the run their whole lives since. 25 years later, Catherine begins to question why she has been uprooted every time she starts to feel comfortable somewhere and begins to investigate what her mum is actually hiding from.

WHAT I LIKED:
- flashbacks to Ruth's past & diary entries
- messy mother daughter relationship

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- the pacing was pretty slow until the 80% mark
- the dual POVs weren't equally interesting (I much preferred Ruth's chapters)
- a lot of extra details that felt like filler & could have been edited out

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen.

Decent storyline and plot, well written characters. But something fell a bit flat for me reading this one.

While I enjoyed Ruth’s backstory, I felt like that was all it was. The present time was a bit mundane. Mother and daughter living together, going to work, an early onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis changed Catherine (daughter’s)plan to go to school. Little clues dropped a long the way help Catherine to discover secrets Ruth has been hiding from her for 24 years.


The whole time the reader knows there is more going on than what’s presented but it was just a slower paced read.

The end picked up nicely, yet it felt anticlimactic.

I enjoyed the book, but it was easy to put down and didn’t keep me on the edge of my seat.

I didn't know what to expect from this book and feel like its best to go in blind. The story kept me guessing up until the end.

Great story told from 2 viewpoints. Ruth tells the story of a young girl who found out she was pregnant and exiled from her family. Catherine, her daughter, has plans to move away to pursue her goals. As the story progresses there are holes in Ruth's stories and Catherine begins to wonder what is true. The story pacing was strong with just enough ambiguity to leave one wondering what was the truth.

Sarah Pekkanen stands true to her reputation! This was the first book I read by her that was only written by her and it didn't disappoint! How well do you know who your Mother was back in High School? This was a fast read as I couldn't put it down until I knew their stories that brought them to the present

Thank you Netgalley, St Martin’s Press and the author Sarah Pekkanen.
What a story, secrets abound. The love of a mother for her daughter.
What happens when your secrets come out, because eventually they will.
Love the characters, the story. Fast read.
Recommend. 4 stars

I really enjoyed this and watching the dynamics play out between mother and daughter. It was interesting to see how they maneuvered with and against each other as the plot unfolded. Always love Sarah's work!

Thank you to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

All in all, this was a good, solid read. There were quite a few moments that had me literally hooked to my Kindle (which means neglecting my sleeping habits), and overall it was a fast paced story. However, I wasn't a fan of how the author used shifting POVs to progress the plot; the chapters were short and they shifted between Ruth and her adult daughter, Catherine. Basically, Ruth was hiding some major secrets from Catherine, Catherine started to grow suspicious of Ruth, and those suspicions led Catherine to begin investigating Ruth to discover the truth for herself. While it wasn't necessarily a bad way to do things, I found myself growing somewhat bored by this dynamic. I think it was drawn out a little too much, and the end was a bit too predictable for my tastes.

Overall, I'm happy that I was able to read it and I'd still definitely recommend it if you like alternating character perspectives. I'm just not sure this author is for me.

Gone Tonight is told from 2 viewpoints, so the reader gets both Catherine and Ruth’s side of events. The chapters mostly alternate between the two. The story of Ruth’s past and how it connects with her illness is doled out in tantalizing segments that keeps the reader rapidly turning pages. The love a mother has for her child, can’t be replaced. And it is evident in this book.

This is a good quick read thriller. There are some heavy and emotional topics and not so much twisty as it is tense and mysterious. But I enjoyed it. Catherine and Ruth are two strong women which is always good to see.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy.

I absolutely loved this book! I loved how original it was, I get sick of reading the same old thriller over and over again. This was like contemporary fiction mixed with a thriller, and it kept me engaged until the very end. I love her writing style, as well...It seems very matured, compared to a lot of juvenile stuff I've been running into lately. Actually 4 and a half stars!

4.25 Stars

Ruth Sterling is young, naïve, and insecure when the unthinkable happens. Soon after she’s forced to assume a new identity and run for her life, she realizes hers isn’t the only life at stake.

Catherine Sterling has her whole life ahead of her, the college education she’s dreamt about within her grasp. But just when she thinks her mother Ruth has come to grips with cutting the apron strings, Ruth reels her back in, and suspicion builds as Catherine questions Ruth's past and her true motivation for keeping her close.

A propulsive duo-POV, GONE TONIGHT, at its core, is a riveting story commemorating the sacred bond that exists between mother and daughter…and the kind of secrets capable of shattering it. Suspenseful and heart wrenching, this is one readers won’t want to miss. My thanks to St. Martin's Press, Sarah Pekkanen, & NetGalley for the ARC.

Unfortunately, after reading a third of this book, I just couldn’t continue on. It may not have been the right book for me or just not the right time. The writing felt very juvenile and simplistic.