The Night Before was a fast-paced thrilling read about a woman who goes on a blind date and doesn't return home.

Laura Lochner has always chosen the wrong men, falling too fast for men who would never love her back. After her latest relationship implodes, she returns home to stay with her sister and get back on her feet. Determined to try again and get it right this time, Laura decides to try internet dating. Rosie Ferro has always tried to look out for her sister, but Laura hasn't always made it easy. When Laura doesn't return home from her blind date Rosie grows more worried by the hour. But not just about what her date may have done to her sister, but what her sister may have done to her date.

The Night Before is told in alternating chapters from Laura and Rosie's points of view. Laura's chapters start on Thursday night as she is preparing for her blind date. Rosie's pick up on Friday morning when she discovers Laura did not return home from her date. We also get random chapters a page or two in length from two to four months prior to the story detailing conversations between Laura and her psychiatrist. I liked the addition of these chapters with the psychiatrist as they added some interesting backstory to what is going on with Laura in the previous/next chapter. It was interesting watching the events in Laura's storyline play out and catch up in time to Rosie's. Plus the dual perspective allowed the author to reveal information to the reader before the characters discovered it themselves which helped keep things interesting while we watched them puzzle it out.

I don't want to reveal too much of the plot, so I will try to be vague about what happens. Ultimately what sets in motion the events of this book was a tragedy Laura was involved in as a teenager that altered the course of her life. It was interesting watching the reveal of what happened that night from the different characters' perspectives and seeing how the way they viewed the other people involved affected those perspectives. The suspense of where Laura is after her date and what happened to cause her to disappear was very well done. I found myself eagerly reading her chapters trying to find the clue that would reveal where she was. I will say the author does a fantastic job keeping you guessing until the last minute with the perfect blend of intrigue and suspense.

Overall The Night Before was a fantastic read and I highly recommend it if you're looking for a great suspense read. I definitely plan to read more from the author in the future.

I really loved this book in a new to me author. The characters and location really and to the story. I can't wait to read the next one. This book keeps you guessing until the end.

A gripping and timely thriller, full of taut pacing and layered and complex characters. Unputdownable.

An interesting premise, but I really struggled to get into this one and ultimately didn't finish. I wasn't sure why I should care about what happened in the present or the past to either sister.

It has taken me a while to process this book since finishing it. While I overall enjoyed it I don't know if I would say that it was my favorite thriller of all time. It definitely has some twists and turns you will not see coming and is slightly disturbing.

Laura has moved home to move in with her sister after a recent nasty breakup. Laura has not had the best luck in love and has had a rather sketchy past that includes being found near a dead body drenched in blood. When Laura leaves her sister to go on a date and dosen't return home secrets are uncovered and the twists will have you shocked. This is a quick read!

ACTUAL STAR RATING: 4.5

Wendy Walker is an utter genius! I absolutely LOVE reading books by this author and THE NIGHT BEFORE was no exception. This was an amazing and intriguing psychological thriller that kept me completely invested from start to finish. If you are craving a super easy and fast-paced thriller. this will be the perfect choice for you!
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Things I loved:
-This was a super fast read. I finished this in 2 sittings because I was totally intrigued by the plot and NEEDED to know how things would end.
-This book also had alternating perspectives and timelines, which was super fun and unique
-If you love a book that keeps you guessing til the end and makes you question every character, this will absolutely satisfy your palette
-The ending was superb because I would never have guessed it from a mile away. Walker did an amazing job of pulling everything together really well and the shock value was worth the read!
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My only issue was that this book dragged a little bit in the middle, but the ending was SO FREAKING GOOD that it completely made up for it!

I gave this one a four out of five stars. I liked how it kept me guessing till the very end. This was my first Wendy Walker but I want to read more of her stuff. I liked how the author kept the suspense going all the way through.

The Night Before by Wendy Walker
This book was excellent!!! It was suspenseful and kept you on the edge of your seat! The author truly knows how to captivate her audience and keep them guessing! I am so glad I had the opportunity to preview the book. Thanks Netgalley!

3.5 stars rounded up. I received this as an ARC. This was the perfect book for a chilly winter day in. Her prose pulled me in from the first few pages and I read straight through in one sitting. A very interesting and twisty read! I was genuinely shocked one several occasions with plot twists. Great!
#thenightbefore #netgalley

A woman leaves on a first date and doesn’t return home. Her sister tries to remain calm but she can’t. Something is wrong, she is sure of it. But is she more worried for her sister or the person she was on the date with? A twisty, compulsive thriller that will pull you in until the very final page!

I love the way Wendy Walker writes! A blend of suspense, twists, and character-driven plot elements, it’s hard to pin down a genre for this book. It is a psychological thriller that is heavy on the psychology and seems to carry some broader messages of self-reflection and healing from past trauma. Truly, an outstanding book!

Told in flashbacks to the night before, Laura Lochner is preparing for a date with Jonathan Fields. She is trying her best to be more like her sister Rosie—she’s wearing a dress and make up, she is flirting. Laura is staying with her sister and her husband and young son in the wake of a bad break up.

In the present time, Rosie is worried that her sister Laura didn’t return home from her date. She knows she might be paranoid, but Laura needs her protection. Rosie is certain something sinister happens when her minivan is found near the bar they met at with parking tickets—Laura is nowhere to be found.

As we flash back and forward, we also begin to learn more about Laura’s past. Laura, the girl whose own mother described her as “born with fists for hands”. Laura, who has met her fair share of wolves, but is no lamb…

I loved the narrative structure of this. The chapters with Laura’s date (the night before) build so much suspense, since you know she hasn’t returned home in the present time. But what exactly happened? Meanwhile, we get flashbacks to Laura’s sessions with her therapist, which provide some interesting insight into her past and some secrets buried deep.

This book has so much more to it than meets the eye. It isn’t a typical thriller at all. There is a depth to the psychology of the characters and the story that are so compelling. I am a fan of Wendy Walker now and already bought her next book.

The Night Before is suspenseful, character-driven writing at its finest with a jaw-dropping twist that will definitely have you coming back for more!

Thank you to St Martin’s Press for my copy. Opinions are my own.

What a thrill ride!!!! As if internet dating isn’t scary enough, now we have a story about a first date gone incredibly wrong.
Two sisters. One really dark secret. A blind date and one doesn’t return. Did the date hurt her or did she hurt the date? One sister’s quest to find out what happened brings up so much more.

I really liked the premise of this and the first half was great. But the twist was SO DISAPPOINTING. It fell right into the current patterns for thrillers and I had been hoping for something more original. A let down for me.

truly did not see all the twists/turns coming!! this was such a quick read, and it kept me engross the whole time. best to go into this blind! you would be in for a treat.

Exciting and gripping. It kept me on ,y toes trying to figure out how the two timeline's of the two characters, Rosie and Laura, fit together. Also kept me guessing. What happened to Laura? Her story fed on every potential ending of every mystery/thriller I've ever read. Maybe she did kill Mitch all those years ago. Maybe she is psychopath. Maybe she has blocked out all the trauma and doesn't remember anything accurately.
The thing is, though, once you have it figured out and the truth is revealed, it still takes a bit for the book to wrap up. While the reader me doesn't always enjoy the books that wrap everything up in the very last pages, because then I'm left with, "But how do they move on, what happens to them next....?" That type of a book doesn't drag things out.
This felt like the end was just filling pages because we already reached the climax. I just think it needed to wrap up a bit quicker.
All in all, though, a great mystery.

4.5 stars. I rarely give 5 stars, so a 4.5 is near perfect in my book. Wendy Walker weaves a super suspenseful tale in "The Night Before". I am not sure if I have read any books by her before, but I will definitely look for some in the future. She does a great job going back and forth in time to tell a multi-layered story. She delves pretty deeply into the characters' psyche and does a great job in developing their personalities and psychological history. However, all is not as it seems. There are several twists as the suspense builds, and I often found that I was not sure of what exactly was going on. But, she does a great job in ironing it all out. I love a book like this that keeps me guessing throughout. Without scary or graphic violence, I still felt on the edge of my seat through this entire read. If you love a psychological thriller, give this one a try.

Wendy Walker does it again! I suspected everyone in this story and I swear about half way through it seemed like the story was wrapping up, only to take a sharp left. I couldn’t stop reading because I had to find out what happened. I am hooked on this author, her writing style, character development and exhilarating plot twists and can’t wait for more.

This was a great read - an exciting read with so many twists and turns! A fast moving, page turner psychological thriller that will have you wondering what will happen next...and wondering who you can trust! Told through alternating perspectives, with a past that will come to light, this is a book to read for sure! And then when I finished reading the book, I realized that Eva Longoria is in talks to produce this for television! YES!

This was an amazing book that keeps you guessing throughout. The book is very suspenseful. I couldn't put it down. I would never have seen the end coming.

Wendy Walker likes to write books where she leads you along a path, all while sprinkling little nuggets of info that make you question everything, and then throw in a couple major twists that hopefully make you scream “WHAT!??!” as you finish the book.

The writing was a little tough for me, at least the parts with Laura, because it was so much about her inner monologue. But the writing style became secondary as the pace and plot picked up. This isn’t my favorite suspense novel but it got the job done. 3.5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press.

This is the third book I have read by Wendy Walker and this one did not disappoint. I do not want to spoil this story, so will just give the basics. Something happened in Laura's past that had her fleeing her hometown after graduation. She has been in therapy and after another disappointment, has returned home to live with her sister Rosie and her family. After being there for a bit, Laura is ready to try dating again. She joins a dating site and goes out on her first date with a man named Jonathan. Her sister sees her off with some trepidation. The next morning, she realizes that Laura did not come home. What happened? Where is she? Who was the man she went out with? Rosie and her husband begin their own investigation.

This was a great story. I loved the premise and it kept me guessing throughout the story. It is told from the POV of both Laura and Rosie. It is told in the present, but there are some flashbacks to fill the reader in on why Rosie is so concerned. The secondary characters are interesting and add much to the story. This was a well-written thriller with an engaging story that had me reading/listening throughout the day. When I thought I had figured out what was happening there was a twist that had me smiling and flipping pages. This was one of those books you can't put down.