Love a good fast paced thriller and this one did not disappoint. Lots of twists and turns throughout the book. I feel like I have read enough thrillers, I can usually figure out the twist halfway through. However, this one had me guessing until the very end. Very well written with good developed characters. Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Night Before has been on my TBR list for several months and it did not disappoint! It takes a lot for a thriller to deliver shock that you don’t see coming, but The Night Before did it with ease. The less you know going into this one, the better! Highly recommend!

After Laura's boyfriend abruptly breaks up with her, he returns her childhood hometown to live with her sister and her family. Her sister, Rosie married her childhood friend, Joe and they have baby Mason. Laura, Rosie, Joe and Gabe all hung around together while growing up. Laura did a profile on a dating site and has a date with someone she has never met before. The next morning, Rosie discovers Laura did not return home from her date. The next few days are spent trying to find out what happened to Laura and who was the date that she never really identified. From there, the story takes on many twists, turns and surprises. This is an unputdownable page-turner that kept me engrossed from the first page. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this very captivating book.

After hearing wonderful things about Wendy Walker’s precious books, I was so looking forward to sinking my teeth into her latest, The Night Before. It was an entertaining and quick read, and while I enjoyed it, it left me wanting more from what I can clearly tell is a great storyteller. This one fell a little short for me, mainly because it reminded me of so many other thrillers I’ve read, so it almost felt like I was reading it for a second time. Was it entertaining and twisty and gripping? Sure! I think it will do really well and people will thoroughly enjoy it. Was it super original in an otherwise “tropey” genre? Not exactly. But you know, sometimes you just really want a thriller that you can fly through that entertains without tons of anxiety. This is that book. While this one didn’t exactly blow me away, I’m definitely looking forward to reading Wendy Walker’s other stories.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the free advance copy in exchange for review!

I went into this book at bedtime, thinking I would read for a short while then go to sleep. Next thing I know it’s 2 a.m. and I have to force myself to put the book down. What.a.ride! 🙌🏼
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Twelve hours earlier, she was...

Hopeful.

Excited.

Safe.

Now she's gone.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
That synopsis was all the info I had going into the book. I was intrigued and completely hooked from page one. This is a gripping, white knuckled roller coaster ride of twists and turns. Just when I thought I had it figured out the author threw another twist at me. Fast paced and intense, this is a fun ride. If you love psychological suspense and thrillers told with an unreliable narrator, then this is the book for you! Thank you @stmartinspress for this advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed the twists and turns of this thriller. I had me guessing right to the end. I felt it had the right amount of characters and suspense. It reminds us that so many things in our past determine how we will deal with situations we face. I will definitely be reading more from this author. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

"We are drawn to the familiar, even if it hurts us."

I could not put this book down! Laura has an extremely hard time picking the right men. For her entire life, she's been labeled as "hard to love." After she moves in with her sister after a bad breakup, she finds a date online and goes out with him on a Thursday night. Friday morning her sister, Rosie, discovers that she is missing. What happened the night before?

This story has it all: secrets between family and friends, betrayal, and enough mystery to keep you guessing. Both Laura and Rosie are relatable. The only thing Laura wants in her life is for someone to love her and she will do anything she can to get it. She feels that she is unworthy of love. Is she really that hard to love or is it all in her mind? Rosie just wants to protect her sister. To keep her from harm and all of Laura's self-destructive feelings. She just wants her to be okay..

I got lost in this book because there are so many twists and turns. I couldn't wait to find out what happened. Wendy Walker did such a great job with this book. The way she writes is beautiful. I'm looking forward to reading more of her work!

4 stars! Fast paced and hard to put down! Kept me guessing up until the end. This is the 3rd book I have enjoyed by this author and was thrilled to get an advanced copy from Netgalley and the publisher.

Laura has never been lucky in love. She's always choosing the wrong men. After a bad breakup, she decided to leave New York and go back home to Connecticut. She moves in with her sister Rosie and her family. Laura is determined to give love a second chance, she goes online thinking she is ready to start dating again, she meets a man named Jonathan Fields. Rosie who has always worried about her troubled sister is excited about this date, she starts helping her to get ready. Laura leaves, but she doesn't return. Rosie feels something went terribly wrong.

The Night Before alternates multiple timelines and is told from the POV of the two sisters. Wendy Walker delivers an engaging read, and intense well-written and enjoyable psychological thriller. I did try to guess how the story was going to be unfolded but there is a shocking and unexpected revelation near the end that brings everything together. Go into this one without knowing too much and it will definitely be one of your favorite. Highly recommend to all thriller fans.

Thank you to St, Martin Press and NetGalley who provided me with an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own. #TheNightBefore #NetGalley

Laura has moved back home to live with her sister and husband after a bad break up. Laura finally decides to go on a date off of a match online but she never comes home. The writer does a great job of breaking her night up into hourly flashbacks of her night while flashing to the present on that hour. Each chapter had more and more clues and made everyone look guilty! It kept me guessing until the end! Great read!

I've been in a bit of a mystery/thriller funk recently that had me actually thinking that maybe I'm not actually a huge mystery/thriller fan. Sure, I liked Gone Girl and The Kind Worth Killing is one of my favorite books, but maybe they were just flukes? So I was definitely hoping this one would break me out of that funk.

It kind of did? I will say I overall enjoyed this one and finished it pretty quickly. I was also pleasantly surprised by some of the twists and turns; some certainly seemed predictable at first glance, but ended up being not so straightforward. The author does a good job keeping you on your toes once the reveals start coming. However, I wish the characters had been a bit more compelling; even the main character's backstory could be a bit more fleshed out throughout. The story also felt like a lot of build-up with a very quick resolution and a somewhat unsatisfying ending that just felt incomplete for some reason.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was really good! It truly was a real page turner. It kept me guessing for most of the book. Things started to be more clear though shortly before the 'big' reveal. I felt like I kind of put it together a little bit earlier than I should have. Because of that, when the big reveal happened, it didn't feel like a major surprise. But, all in all, still a really good read. Would definitely recommend it to anyone.

I would rate this is a bit higher than my 3 stars but it doesn't quite get up there with my 4's so i'm leaving this as a 3. The story circulates around Laura who goes on a blind date and doesn't return home. It then jumps timelines between the night before, current, and the past. We get tidbits from Laura's point of view and that of her sister. We are introduced to pieces of Laura's past and begin to wonder if she is the victim or possibly the aggressor.

I found this thriller to have a decent amount of twists and turns to keep me engaged and absorbed with finding out what happened to Laura and how all the pieces would tie together.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel for my unbiased opinion.

This twisty turny thriller will have you questioning what you think you know almost to the very end. An interesting look at what effects childhood trauma or neglect can do to a person’s mind.

It seems like Laura can never do anything right. Her whole life has been fraught with bad decisions, and know the only man who ever told her that he loves her, Kevin, has cut her off too. She heads to her childhood home, hoping somehow things will change, and knowing that her sister Rosie and brother-in-law Joe will take her in. She's learned a lot from Kevin, and even though he no longer wants to be with her, she feels like she might be able to move on. She goes on a dating website and ends up planning a date with a man she found in there. Could this be the start of a new life for her? Or will her history with men repeat itself?? Well written psychological story with all the twists and turns! #NetGalley came thru again!

I found every single character annoying, especially Laura. I figured out the twist to the story as soon as Gabe stepped into the picture when he started helping Rosie. Joe's admission to Rosie was ridiculous and it was a trope to explain Laura's neurosis. Predictable and disappointing.

Simply Superb!
This is my first book by Wendy Walker and what an amazing way to start the weekend!
The night before is suspenseful, gritty and a compelling read. Although, I found it to be a bit repetitive at times I think I'll ignore that and give it all 5 stars because this was such a great read! I found both the story and the characters really really good! I just love the protagonist in this one - Laura Lochner. I think I'm drawn to books with characters are super flawed(but so much substance) and this one was right down my alley, ticking every box and quality I look for in a thriller. I look forward to reading more by this author!
Thanks to NetGalley, Wendy Walker & the publishers for an arc.

This was a fast-paced, fun ride!! I had a hard time pushing through All Is Not Forgotten to get to where the pace picked up, and I loved Emma In The Night, so I wasn't sure which of those paths this one would take. I'm thrilled to say that it really didn't let up for the entire book!
I didn't see a lot of what happened coming, which is always a treat. While we do get some character development, this book is definitely more plot driven, so if you're more of a plot person, this one is for you.
I don't want to say much more because I think you just have to go into it knowing as little as possible. Thanks Netgalley!!

A good thriller, which unravelled slowly and kept you guessing. A clever read. Would read more of this authors books.

This book was great! I loved the psychological mind games. The story revolves around Laura Lochner, who returns home to small town Connecticut and is staying with her sister and her family after a breakup. However, home is a place that Laura has been largely avoiding for years because as a teenager, her first boyfriend was killed and she was found standing over him holding a bloody bat. The boyfriend's car was later found in the woods with a mentally ill homeless man living in it and he was charged with the murder, but some people had remained suspicious of Laura. Laura has been unlucky in love ever since the first boyfriend (Mitch), but while staying with her sister and family, she decides to try online dating and she agrees to a blind date with a guy named Jonathan. She fails to return from the date, which worries her sister, Rosie, who assumes that something horrible has happened -- though she worries less about what Jonathan might have done to Laura, but rather what Laura might have done to him.

The story alternates between the night of the date and the day after the date, with some chapters dealing with earlier events. This alternation of the storyline between characters and events helps build the suspense, creates new questions, and adds to the overall psychological creepiness of the story. There are a number of surprising plot twists in the book; I do not want to say too much about the storyline itself because I do not want to spoil the fun for other readers. If you like psychological suspense, you will enjoy this book.

I received an uncorrected proof copy via NetGalley.