I love Wendy Walker's books so I was excited to read this one. Wow! Seriously, it hooks you from the beginning and doesn't let up for one minute. Each chapter I kept thinking, "Wait. Huh?? What just happened?" Secrets, lies, obsession, internet dating...what's not to like? Plot revolves around sisters, Laura and Rosie as Laura is attempting dating life again after being dumped. But of course it's a man she met on a dating website so he's a virtual stranger, and when she goes missing after the date...well, you may think you know where this is going but I assure you that you don't! Prepare to have your head spin!

Review by 2shay..........

This is a very strange and gripping story, a story that is a little painful to read and impossible to put down. It took me the better part of the book to like Laura. I didn’t understand her issues at first. As the story unfolded, with segments told in parts, some before and some during the events, it became clear that someone, possibly Laura herself, is crazy. Homicidal, in fact.

Laura was raised in a great neighborhood with lots of kids having kid adventures and a lot of fun. Rosie and Laura were best friends with Joe and Gabe. They went everywhere together and were tightly bonded from a young age. The bond was so tight, that eventually Rosie and Joe were married. Rosie and Joe were perfect together while Laura and Gabe went away to college. While still in high school, Laura had been present at the death of a young man she had a crush on. Even though the killer was caught and brought to justice, there were some who never believed that Laura wasn’t responsible.

There are many long held secrets revealed as the story progresses. No matter how well you think you know your neighbors, no one really knows what goes on in other lives. Some of those secrets impacted Laura in ways she never understood until recently. It broke my heart.

Ms. Walker has written an especially touching story. Tightly plotted, one segment leading seamlessly into the next, she has displayed all the style you expect in a great read. It’s a complex story. Life is complex, with no easy answers to why some get thrown so many curves, like Laura, while others, like Rosie, have a smoother path. And, like Rosie and Laura, the love of family has few boundaries.

Grab a copy and.....

Enjoy! ARC graciously provided by St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an honest and voluntary review.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Since the teasers and hints for this novel were short and sweet, I am going to try to keep my review and the synopsis short and sweet as well. The novel’s description is simply this “Twelve hours earlier, she was...Hopeful. Excited. Safe. Now she's gone.” Take that for what you will but you will only get this from me; a woman goes missing, and her past comes to light which makes everyone in her life question what happened to her. There it is, that’s all you’re getting.
Wendy Walker returns with “The Night Before”, a story hot on the tails of her previous masterpiece, “All is Not Forgotten”. “Night” has one twist after another (two big ones in particular) which are delightfully unexpected. The characters are all likable and believable and the storyline will leave you guessing throughout.
There is one particular twist in the novel that had me a bit confused (in fact, I took out a pen and paper to draw a diagram to help me figure it out, mind you that could just be the way my visual mind works) but even with that, the novel continued to entertain me. It was a book I read quickly, and a book that was hard to put down and just as thrilling and suspenseful as the tiny synopsis suggests.
I look forward to the novels’ release and wish Ms. Walker nothing but the best of luck. “The Night Before” has confirmed for me that I will read, devour and actively seek out anything Ms. Walker wants to put to paper. In a world of remakes and “revamps” and total lack of ingenuity, Ms. Walker takes a simple premise and turns it into a creative and unique story unlike any other. Well done!

5 plus stars. Unputdownable. While I was trying to figure out what was going on, I admit I hadn't completely had the picture solved and that's not a common thing to happen for me, when I read thrillers. I thought it was intense, loved having multiple points of views, timelines, to hear more of the backstory. It's definitely a puzzle that will keep thriller lovers working their brain into a pile of mush. You don't know whose who and whose the good or bad characters and likely will not until the author gives you the answer the way she wants. A must read. Chilling in many ways!
Will let Chapter Chatter Pub know all about it, when it's ready to be promoted to them!

Oooohhh my! If you’re like me and loved Wendy Walker’s novels, than The Night Before is an absolute MUST READ!

This twisty, turny novel will hook you immediately and I promise you won’t be able to function until you finish! I couldn’t get this book off my mind- whether I was washing dishes, food shopping or even watching television (I knew I had to put life on hold and finish when I was daydreaming about this book while watching This Is Us lol)! In true Wendy Walker fashion, the storyline was cleverly written to create the maxium amount of suspense that keeps you turning pages until waaaaay past your bedtime! It’s official, The Night Before is a 2019 favorite for me and a total 5 star read! Wendy Walker is an definitely automatic 1-click author, but even she outdid herself with this gem!

Another hit from Wendy Walker, and in my opinion her best yet. The main character is both mysterious and sympathetic, which is often difficult to pull off. The story feels very grounded in reality, yet leaves you turning the pages to find out how things will resolve. Highly recommend.

The night before by author Wendy Walker is a MUST READ! It is one of the most tense books I’ve read this year!! I it was fast paced and beyond great! I cannot recommend this book enough! I am planning to write a full review closer to release (May 2019) This is a book you really won’t want to miss. Full of well structured characters and a solid plot. So much thrill and psychological aspects, I was excited and unsure what to expect at first. All I knew was I loved reading “Emma in the Night” and Wendy Walker did not disappoint with her newest novel, The Night Before!
Thank you VERY MUCH to the publisher and Netgalley for my arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Brilliantly tense thriller. So many secrets need to be uncovered before the finale and how tightly plotted they are. Read it in one hit, totally unputdownable.

Laura and Rosie are sisters whose lives have gone in very different directions. Rosie marries her childhood sweetheart Joe and they start a family in the town where they grew up. Laura, on the other hand, knows a thing or two about choosing the wrong men and after another breakup, she flees her apartment, her job, and her life and comes to stay with Rosie.
So what could possibly go wrong when Laura makes a date with a man she found on an online dating site. At worst, Laura doesn't 'click' with her date, and at best, she has a good time. When Rosie discovers that Laura didn't come home and that she isn't answering her phone, she is frantic to find her sister. Chapters alternate between Laura and what happened on her date, Rosie's search for her sister, and Laura's therapy sessions before she moved in with Rosie.
The book description is very short, more like a teaser, and it piqued my interest immediately. I don't want to say much more about the story except that many secrets will be revealed and what I was sure was happening wasn't even close to what the author penned. This was a quick read(320 pages) that had me flipping pages to find out what happened to Laura.
I loved Emma in the Night and added Wendy Walker to my 'must read more by this author list'. The Night Before kept me guessing, had well-written characters and a plot that moved along at breakneck speed. If you haven't read her other books, now would be a good time to add them to your list since this book won't be published until next year.
I received an e-ARC from Jordan Hanley at St. Martin's Press through NetGalley.

A great read!

This kept me on the edge of my seat and wanting to know more. Laura's history is certainly troublesome, and I loved the perspective of a narrator/main character I wasn't sure if I could trust. That's echoed by her sister, who doesn't seem to 100% trust her either.

The Night Before is a solid read and held my interest through twists and turns. Would recommend to a friend!

Something happened ten years ago that caused Laura to leave her hometown and not return except for an occasional day trip on a holiday. Now after suffering a broken heart she returns to stay with her sister and her sister's family for a while. She finds a date on a dating website and heads out for the evening, but never returns...

This book is told through three different points of view - Laura's, her sister Rosie's as she searches for where Laura is, and sessions Laura has with a therapist. All three points of view are at different points in time, but they work really well together. Wendy Walker has done a great job of keeping the different narrators separated, but keeping the story together. This story has lots of twists and turns and leads you in many different directions. The ending was amazing and as you read it, you can think back and see how the story was pointing to it in an indirect sort of way. I did not guess what was going to happen, but I really liked the fact that it wasn't just out of the blue, there were clues I just did not pick up on.

Laura is an unreliable narrator, which has been done a lot recently, but The Night Before was different than other books. In only took me a few pages to get sucked in and realize that it wasn't the same old story line again. I highly recommend this page turner!

The Night Before is the latest story from Wendy Walker. Ms Walker is consistent, making this book difficult to put down, as were her previous titles. In The Night Before, the current story takes place in just a couple of days with the past woven in, bringing the reader needed information. I was given an early copy to review.

I received this book "The Night Before" from NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own. "I don't know....She was just born that way. Born with fists for hands. It's hard to love a girl like that." Laura has felt unloved her whole life and this is her story.
This book has to be the best book I have read this year! I loved this book!!! Suspenseful, page turner, did not want to put this book down, words flow smoothly, must read, will keep you guessing, highly recommend!

What a rollercoaster! This book had me on the edge of my seat for most of the read. I was thoroughly satisfied with how the book turned out and how it ended. A well written, suspenseful psychological thriller.

Where is Laura? What is Laura? Killer or victim? This was a surprisingly great book! I didn't know what the book was about which was perfect because once you start reading no matter what your captivated into reading this mystery till the end! Plan on staying up all night reading!! Loved the book flipping between Rosie and Laura! The end was a total surprise! I can't say enough about how much I loved this book. I don't want to give any spoilers because not knowing what is going on is the best part of figuring out this mystery.. Where is Laura! Loved.. buy this book.. read it today! You will not be disappointed!

I was super excited to be receive an email telling me I was auto approved for this title as I had reviewed Wendy Walkers previous novel Emma in the Night.

Again, this novel has strong psychopathic theme central to it. Laura has returned to her childhood town after a 10-year enforced ostracization. Laura has an unsettled history, that saw her childhood boyfriend beaten to death with a baseball bat, and a mentally ill man convicted of the murder. But Laura was found with the baseball bat in her hand and blood on her dress. Was she as innocent as she claimed to be?

After the break-up of a relationship Laura returns to her childhood town to live with her sister. Keen to start afresh she signs up to a dating website and goes on a date. But when she doesn’t return her sister becomes concerned that history might be repeating itself and goes in search of her sister.

This is a good old fashioned twisty page turner. The dual narrators, Laura and Rosie make a good slant to the unfolding of events, and the ending is clever. I enjoyed this, and for me it’s the better of the two Wendy Walker novels I have read.

Thank you to Netgalley, and to the publisher for offering me the chance to review this novel super early. I just loved it.

Laura has an unsettling history of instability, so when she suddenly leaves her job and apartment and moves in with her sister, Rosie is not surprised. Rosie is, however, wary. With the hope of cheering Laura up, Rosie convinces Laura to sign up for a dating website. That first date made everyone nervous – Laura, Rosie, Rosie’s husband Joe, their longtime friend Gabe – and when Laura didn’t come home, they began searching for any clues she might have left behind.

I don’t want to say too much, since this book won’t come out for a while, but I was definitely hooked. Laura’s history, Rosie’s considerable concern, Gabe’s talent for digital searching, Joe’s strength and stability…this is a fast-paced, excellent, and suspenseful read.

Another page turner fromWalker, and a book I happy to talk up. While I thought the end seemed rushed, I enjoyed the thriller and was happy to read it in one sitting!

I received an early ARC - reading the premise had me curiously interested.

I enjoyed her two previous books, but this one blew me away! WOW!!

I highly recommend this book!!!

She was hard to love as a child and was told so.
So she rejects anything remotely feminine- the color pink, dresses, smiles, ...willing away
all "girly" things and her good looks

Now, escaping a previous boyfriend
who was a manly man, who made it safe to lay down her sword and shield.
She had a starving inner child who was hungry for love, for some compassion and understanding
I could completely relate to character!!

I highly recommend this book!!

Rosie's sister Laura moved in with her and her husband after a bad breakup. When Laura tries to reenter the dating world, she goes out with a man she met on a dating website and doesn't return home the next day. But are Rosie and Joe afraid of what her date did to Laura or what she did to him?

I was invited to read this on Netgalley and took St. Martin's up on the offer. I'm glad I did.

The Night Before is a tale of secrets, obsession, and the past acting as an anchor. Or is it? Laura is a woman on the run from her past, a past that saw her high school boyfriend beaten to death with a baseball bat and a mentally ill man convicted of the crime. But is that what really happened? As one of the characters says "You never really know what's lurking inside someone" or something to that effect.

The story is split into three timelines: Laura with her therapist months before, Laura on the night of, and Rosie after Laura has disappeared. It wound up being a great tool for building suspense. Misdirection is one of the hallmarks of a good thriller for me and I think Wendy Walker had my number from the first page. I made all the wrong assumptions based on the trail she laid down, just like most of the characters. I had an inkling something was amiss but couldn't lay my finger on it until it was way too late.

I'm a gumshoe from way back. I've read a few hundred mystery and suspense novels over the years. There's nothing I enjoy more than having an author pull the wool over my eyes and make me feel like a rube. Wendy Walker accomplished just that. Four out of five stars.