4 stars.*

I stumbled upon The Night Before on a list of soon to be released thrillers not-to-be-missed. I was thrilled to find it on NetGalley and jumped at the chance to review it before it is published. It is the first book by Wendy Walker that I have read.

I read a lot of psychological thrillers and pride myself on figuring out the twist, or at least part of it well before the end of the story. I really thought I had this one figured out, but Ms. Walker did an excellent job of keeping the plot twists coming and keeping me unsure right up until the end.

The Night Before is the story of Laura Lochner, whom we meet as she is preparing to go out on her first date since she was dumped over text and suffered such a traumatic breakdown that she has left her successful job in Manhattan and moved back to her hometown to live with her older sister, Rosie & her husband, Joe and young son, Mason. The story toggles back and forth between Laura's evening and sessions with her therapist in the city in the months leading up to her fleeing the city.

We learn that Laura has some plus-sized daddy issues, a suspicious event in high school where her boyfriend wound up dead, and a host of additional mental and emotional troubles that render her completely insecure in relationships.

When Laura doesn't come home the following morning, Rosie is immediately certain that something has gone wrong. But she's not sure if something has happened to Laura or if Laura DID something herself.

I will definitely be recommending this one to my fellow psych-thriller fans and I'll be looking for more by Wendy Walker.

*With thanks to NetGalley for the advance digital copy of the book in exchange for this honest review.

Wow I did not see that coming. At one stage I really thought someone else was behind her disappearance and as the story tells of the events of the night before I was waiting for something to happen to her in the way I thought it was going to work out and wasn't expecting that twist.

Wow, an amazing story that did not have the outcome I had expected. The characters were a little difficult to get into but once I did. WOW!! The brain is a wonderful thing to see develop all the twists turns and circles that occur.

This book is like a mobius strip! Remember that paper loop with a twist? Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the free e-galley.

Laura has been seeing a psychologist and by the time she arrives back in her hometown to stay with her sister, Rosie, she may finally have figured out why she has so much trouble with men. Does it have anything to do with the night in high school when she was found near her boyfriend's dead body, holding the murder weapon? When Laura doesn’t turn up the day following an internet date, Rosie is left to unravel the mystery of what happened the night before, as well as what happened years ago.

There’s quite a lot going on in Wendy Walker’s newest novel due out May 14th. The Night Before follows Laura’s sessions with her psychologist, her evening with the suspicious guy she matched up with on the internet, and Rosie’s attempts to locate her afterwards, along with a few flashbacks to the fated evening when Laura’s high school boyfriend was murdered.

The author handles the switch between timelines and narrators with quite a bit of precision, offering a fairly consistent pattern to follow so that you can anticipate which part of the story comes at you next. I loved this, because I never felt lost. Every few chapters, I was certain I had the answer to this engaging thriller, but then just like the aforementioned mobius strip, the story would twist and flip me to a new theory. In the end, I went back my original solution—partly right, partly wrong.

Walker is a true master of suspense.

This book is a great psychological thriller! Laura goes out on a date with a man she meets a dating website. When she doesn't return home the next day, her sister Rosie tries to piece together Laura's life to find out where she is. This book is told in Laura's and Rosie's perspectives. This is a great thriller that keeps you reading with lots of twists and turns. I received an advanced readers copy from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. All opinions are my own.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to review an advanced reader copy of The Night Before. I recently read Wendy Walker's earlier novel, All is Not Forgotten so I was looking forward to another page-turner, and The Night Before delivered!

This book is thrilling, incorporates a questionable narrator whom you're not sure you can trust, and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Many of the big reveals are shocking, and it took a long time for me to formulate a theory on what happened to Laura, and how Jonathan, Joe, Gabe and Rosie may have played a part in her running away, or being abducted.

This book was intriguing from start to finish. I kept questioning each of their characters, and their involvement with Laura's disappearance. I felt that this book had a lot of elements similar to other suspenseful novels that I've recently read, but the way Walker constructed them into a single story was quite different than other thrillers. I did feel that the ending was wrapped up a little too perfectly, although I was satisfied that the more complex details of the storyline were explained.

I recommend this book if you're looking for a fast-paced thriller that keeps you guessing!

This book was great!!!! Couldnt put it down and had me wondering at every page and was not what i expected in the end!! Loved it and cant wait to read more by this author!!

Laura is recently single, and moved from New York to her sister Rosie's house in Connecticut. Laura is about to go on a date with a man she met on a dating website. From the get go it is clear that Laura is damaged. She has a mysterious past, connected to a murder. Laura never returns home from her date, and Rosie and her husband, Joe start unpacking and investigating her life to try and find her.

The narrative switches between Laura "The Night Before' and Rosie the day after.

I found this book to be too verbose. The plot moved very slowly and frustratingly on Laura's side.

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley.

I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book. I enjoyed this author's previous book, All is not Forgotten. This author's uniqueness in spinning a good tale will hopefully always keep me coming back for more.

I will give you a bit of truth. I wasn't sure what to rate this book. I teetered on it for a couple of reasons. First, I was only lead astray on the upcoming twist once, but while my mind went in the wrong direction for a short time, I felt disappointed that I had figured it out so fast (which I hadn't). Second, there were a couple of weak spots in the book that drug for me. I am not a fan of slow. But those were such a small part of my reading experience, it's easy to overlook them.

I did figure it out (at least the who) a little sooner than the big reveal. I wasn't disappointed in that though. I just picked up the breadcrumbs along the way and kept it moving. The pace of this book is mostly good. Giving just enough to keep you turning the pages, all the while throwing misdirection at you during many turns.

This book is a devious, twisting book that definitely kept me reading furiously until the last page. I love when I am presented with a picture that is completely the opposite as it actually is, keeping my mind in constant motion. This book is definitely worth a read!

Told from different timelines and different points of view this novel was a stunning read! Lost of jaw drop moments ensued and made you gasp as you read the different twists in the different narratives. This novel held my entire attention as i was white knuckled gripping each and every page (well actually on my kindle but you get the point). This is one of those novels go in blind and enjoy it!

Nobody writes damaged characters quite like Wendy Walker! The Night Before is a clever, insightful, shrewdly plotted psychological thriller, which starts out strong and keeps building to a final, heart-pounding conclusion. With a fast pace and life-like characters, this unique and dark story is one you won’t want to miss!

The story follows two sisters, Laura, who is unimaginably damaged from an incident in her childhood, and Rosie, who’s spent her life worrying about Laura. The chapters flow smoothly between each sister and bounce between before the night Laura disappears and after, as Rosie tries to find her.

The intriguing thing about this book is that, while there are surprising twists, they are smooth and realistic, rather than sharp and shocking. Walker’s plotting is so clever that each twist seems inevitable, but only after the fact, making The Night Before an engrossing and stunning tale of sisterly love and dark secrets.

A twisty suspense novel that has you asking how well do you know those closest to you and what happens if you find out you don’t know them at all.

This book follows a date gone wrong. With so many dating apps out there, do you really know who you are talking to?

This thriller follows Laura’s first date with a man from a dating app. With split time, we are able to follow the date night with Laura, and try to figure out why she never came home from the date.
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While we follow Laura’s date, we also get to follow Laura’s sister Rosie and watch her collect clues about her sisters disappearance. As she starts getting closer to figuring out the truth, will she get put in harms way too?

I could not put this book down. I HAD to figure out what happened to Laura. This book is filled with attachment issues and family secrets that add a whole layer to the plot.

Laura has spent her life looking for love and feeling that she is unlovable. Many of her adult issues stem from her childhood when her father left the family for another woman and when her high school boyfriend was murdered while they were together. Did she kill him or was it really the crazy, homeless man who lived in the woods? Laura herself doesn’t have all the answers to that question which has contributed to her psychological fragility. After a breakup with a man she’d been dating, she moves home to live with her sister and brother-in-law. They encourage her to try dating again and help her to create an online dating profile. She doesn’t come home after her first date with a man named Jonathan Fields. The race is on to find her and find out as much as possible about this man. Did Laura flip out and do something to him? Did he do something to harm her? That part of the story is told from Laura’s perspective while on the date and through her sister Rosie’s perspective as she frantically searches for her sister.

This book is well written and grabs your attention early on and doesn’t let go until the end. The author does a really good job of making you look at each character and think they could be guilty. Pick up a copy! I hope you enjoy the journey to finding the truth!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

What a ride! This thriller will take you through a story from various perspectives. This story is about a childhood trauma following a group of friends into adulthood, affecting current decisions and relationships. You will be drawn into this book quickly and won't be able to put it down until it's over. I highly recommend this book and am so glad I had the opportunity to read an ARC through Netgalley.
This book did not disappoint-5 STARS!

A taut, psychologically thrilling and twisting storyline from start to finish! Readers won't know who to believe and what the truth might be. Laura is Rosie's sister, and has always had a pattern of behavior when it comes to men, pinpointing back to the time in high school, when her boyfriend was murdered in her presence. A shadow has followed Laura ever since and no one has truly known what the truth of the matter was. After a deciding he needs a break from her recent relationship, Laura comes to live with Rosie and her husband Joe, back in her childhood home town. In recent days she decides to try her hand at dating again and doesn't come home after her first date. The frantic rush is on to find Laura and discover what may have happened the night before. Readers will find themselves up until all hours of the night, flipping pages feverishly to find out what happens and who is to be believed. Filled with twists, the characters and story will have you doubting what you truly believe happened and how secrets from the past can follow and haunt you.

The last few pages of this one were a lot more intense than I predicted. What a crazy, twisty read this was! I love a good thriller, especially when I it has me thinking I’ve got it all figured out only to throw me off the path completely.

This is a story of an emotionally broken woman who is looking for a man who is willing to love her even when she believes she’s unlovable. All her life, Laura Lochner has looked for love in the wrong places and has decided it’s time for a change. She decides to look for love using a dating website. Her fear of finding the wrong man is constantly in her mind but knows she will one day find the one.

Her decision to meet up with Jonathan Fields, a man she men online, will trigger a series of events which make this book extremely difficult to put down. When Laura doesn’t return home, her sister Rosie begins to worry about what might have happened. Do to Laura’s past; Rosie begins to feel concern not only for Laura but for the man named Jonathan Fields.

A fast paced read with some great twists. Excellent.

Loved this thriller, fast paced and really kept me engaged throughout. Definitely will be looking out for this author in the future. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book!

4* Be Careful Stars

This was a fast paced well written eerie thriller.

The story of the disappearance of Laura alternates between 3 timelines, the night of her blind date, the days after and her therapy session’s months before she left her Wall Street Job and moved into her sister Rosie’s house in Connecticut, which also happened to be the suburb where they both grew up. The chapters are short which makes for a page turning read.

Just when you think you have it all figured out you are thrown a twist two which keeps you guessing until the end. The characters were interesting, some likeable and some not.

I would recommend this book to lovers of a good thriller, with interesting characters and red herrings that will have you guessing and entertained to the end.

Many thanks to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for my copy to read and review.

TheNight Before was my first book to read by Wendy Walker. I absolutely loved it. The book was fast-paced with many twists. The subject of internet dating is very current and immediately captured me. This book will intrigue you if you are considering internet dating. I highly recommend.