Thank you NetGalley for a copy of The Night Before!

“You are unloveable”.... that is how Laura Lochner has always viewed herself. Laura goes out on a date with an online match, Jonathan, and doesn’t come home. Has something happened to Laura? Did Jonathan do something? He keeps asking questions about Laura’s past and things Jonathan has told Laura are turning out to be lies. But what if Jonathan is the one in trouble and should be afraid of Laura?? Eleven years ago Laura was found standing over her boyfriend holding the bat that killed him... her mother once described her as having “fists for hands” so did she do something to Jonathan? Wow! This was such a fast paced book and I couldn’t put it down!!! The second I thought I was figuring out what happened eleven years ago and what happened on Laura’s date last night another twist is added and totally throws me off! I would absolutely recommend this book and will adding all of Wendy Walker’s books to my TBR pile!

As we all know the genre of physiological thrillers is highly oversaturated. A lot of the books touted as such are as thrilling as watching Jell-O set. The description of The Night Before caught my attention.
The story introduces us to sisters Rosie (the married mom and responsible one) and Laura (the single, irresponsible, damaged one). After a suspicious break up with her latest beau, Laura takes a leave from work and moves back to town settling in with Rosie and her family. When you leave your job and boyfriend behind what do you do? How do you get over the loss??? That's right; you troll online for a new hottie. We read about Laura getting all dolled up to go on a date with a stranger she meets online. She's making sure everything is perfect, and even though she is hesitant to drive her sister's minivan on her hot date, she decides to "go big or go home."
All is well in the world until the next morning. Rosie senses something is amiss. Her hot hubby wants to get some morning nookie, but Rosie decides that hearing about her sister's possible one-night stand is more important. (Now you know that's total fiction) The problem is, she can't find Laura anywhere…. And the twists begin.
The Night Before was the first book I have read by Wendy Walker, and I must say it was a crowd-pleaser. I liked that the book was told in alternating viewpoints. The story starts off with one of the sisters visiting a shrink. You know nothing good can come from this story.
If you fancy suspense and a good "Alfred Hitchcock" type cat and mouse game, The Night Before is the book for you.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

The perfect fast paced beach read. Laura is missing, her sister Rosie will stop at nothing to find her. Regardless of a tragic incident in her past, a multitude of bad choices in men, Rosie is determined to find out what happened the night before. The night Laura didn’t come home.

Laura recently moved back home with her sister Rosie and Rosie’s husband Joe and son after a heartbreaking breakup. After a few months she decides to start dating and signs up in a dating website.

One night she heads out on her first date and doesn’t come home. Rosie, Joe, and childhood friend Gabe desperately search for her. She has a history of bad choices when it comes to men and has always been haunted by a tragedy in her past. When they finally convince the police to get involved, everyone starts to wonder if Laura is in danger or if she is the dangerous one?

As the book jumps back and forth from Laura’s point of view and Her friends and family’s we find out exactly what happened The Night Before.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for a review copy of this book.

Thank you to St Martins Press for a free copy of this book for review. Wendy Walker is an auto buy author for me so I was eager to read her new book. It definitely did not disappoint. This a domestic suspense that kept me guessing throughout. Laura has recently returned to her home town to live with her sister and her husband after a bad breakup. Unfortunately Laura’s life is full of emotional baggage from her earliest memories on. When Laura heads out on a date with a man she met on a dating site her sister is understandably worried about her. Rosie’s worst fears are confirmed when Laura doesn’t return home from the date. This is where the suspense really kicks in. I don’t want to give away too much information in case of spoilers. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The writing was great as was the character development.

The Night Before by Wendy Walker is not as fast paced as some of the thrillers I have read recently, but that doesn't mean that the twists and turns don't keep coming. The storytelling by Wendy Walker is very different in that it unfolds from two different points of view. One being the main character, Laura, and the other being Laura's concerned sister Rosie. Walker weaves the story of Laura's disappearance after a blind date with her sister Rosie's frantic search to uncover Laura's whereabouts in this thriller that is sure to keep you guessing. Although the story did not seem to be as fast paced as some of the other thrillers I have read, it still managed to keep me engaged, especially because of the way in which Walker develops her characters. Giving them a sense of depth but a mysterious quality that leaves the reader wondering what could this person possibly be hiding.

I've never read anything by Wendy Walker but I've heard great things about her books so I was eager to dive into one. This story follows a woman named Laura, who is preparing to go on a date with someone she met online. Her sister Rosie becomes very concerned when Laura doesn't return home the following morning and goes on a search to find out what happened to her.

This book was full of twists and turns and most of the chapters ended with a small cliff-hanger that made it difficult to put down. I enjoyed the story and the twists but I felt like it wasn't very memorable.

The story bounces between 3 different timelines, the night before, present day, and several months in the past. I wasn't thrilled with this format because I would really become interested in one of the timelines and have to wait to get back to it.

Overall, this was a decent thriller but a bit forgettable.

I received an arc from Netgalley and the publisher to review honestly. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Told in the alternating voices of two sisters, Laura who has moved back home after a bad breakup and is getting ready for a first date and Rosie, married with child who frantically searches for Laura when she doesn't come back from her date.

A bit of a slow moving plot but the unexpected twists were more than enough to keep me reading until the end, Enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing a digital copy in return for an honest, unbiased review.

A fast paced thrilling read centered around a missing sister. The Night Before is a story told via dual timeline, one from each sister. One of the sisters, Laura, has you thinking she did one thing, while her sister Rosie and her brother in law have to piece together the puzzle. Perfectly paced with Walker revealing critical information at exactly the right time. A must read for any fans of the suspense or thriller genre.

The Night Before is the story of two sisters who are not as close as they could be, thanks to a wild ride of a childhood. It starts off sounding like it’s going to a be a thriller based on the perils of online dating, and it essentially is. It morphs fairly seamlessly into a thriller based on a very troubled woman and the violent ends that befall the men she dates. And then, then it takes a turn that isn’t expected and seems to come out of nowhere.

Laura Heart Lochner is the very troubled woman. Rosie Ferro is her sister. Rosie is married to Joe. Their best friend, since childhood, is Gabe. They are on odd quartet and that’s part of what makes The Night Before readable… you just want to figure out why it works between the group of them. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t, not really… too many secrets, too many lies.

A good deal of The Night Before is based off a death that happened when the foursome were teenagers. Nobody is quite sure exactly what happened that night, even though they were all there, and nobody has ever quite learned to trust themselves or the others. Rosie medicates herself with Benadryl and wine, Joe drinks after Rosie goes to bed, Laura had an affair with her psychiatrist, and Gabe made a career of investigating other people’s lives.

Laura, recovering from an unexpected breakup (or was it?), is staying with Rosie and Joe when she decides to try online dating, figuring a site dedicated toward older men with established careers would be a safer bet than a Swipe Right-Swipe Left app. Of course, people lie online. Laura lies online. This causes a host of problems for everyone involved, including Rosie, Joe, and Gabe when Laura doesn’t return from her date with the man they don’t know.


Because this is a thriller and a mystery, writing a review is hard, especially when it’s a fairly good mystery and thriller, because spoilers could so easily be tripped into. And I don’t want to do that because The Night Before is definitely worth your time to read. If you do read it, let me know in the comments what you think of the twist. The twist bothers me a bit, but the book is sticking with me and maybe that says more than a wonky twist does.

I received an advance copy of The Night Before through NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest and original review. All thoughts are my own and my review will be posted on multiple sites.

This. Book. Was. So. Good.

I started reading it and immediately I felt my stomach get tight in anticipation... in dread... knowing that Wendy Walker is brilliant at sucker punching the reader with information that leaves you reeling - without it ever feeling like it came out of nowhere.

Told through alternating narrators - sisters Laura and Rosie take us on a 24 hour journey that brings up old memories, distrusts, and pain.

Laura, has moved back from the city and is living with her sister, brother-in-law and nephew while she figures things out. One thing that is clear from the beginning - Laura's past is complicated, and things aren't always as they seem.

Laura goes on a date one night and isn't home in the morning ... leaving Rosie concerned. But not necessarily for her sister. What did Laura do? What follows is the back and forth; Rosie living in the present as she tries to find her sister and make sense of Laura's life: and Laura, giving us the backgrounder of her childhood and life ... all the little details you need to pay attention to while we wait for the plot to thicken and then reveal itself.

If you loved All Is Not Forgotten then this is the perfect book for you. Written in a way that leaves you a little uncomfortable, but also wanting more, Wendy Walker delivers another thrilling read. I didn't want to put it down.

Solid book throughout, with a really great ending. Highly recommended.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Wendy Walker is astoundingly good - this is the third novel I've read from her, and all three are five-star-worthy. Even with a concept that sounds pedestrian (online dating lies), Walker makes it shine with the stellar characterisation of Laura.

Laura is the kind of person we wish we weren't, but fear we might be. Even her own mother calls her "difficult to love". When you hear that as a child, it can screw you up for life. So it's no surprise that she sought out difficult relationships for herself.

Forget "unlikable" heroines - this is an unlovable character that strikes a chord.

Laura moves back to her hometown to live with her sister after an apparently disastrous relationship in New York, and decides to try online dating. But what exactly has happened before? This was a very thrilling thriller, and I would definitely recommend it. The writing style reminded me of The Wife Between Us, so whilst they’re quite different stories, if you enjoyed that then this could be the book for you.

A chilling, suspenseful, psychological thriller about a woman who has been unlucky in love and dating. She tries a dating site and thinks, just maybe, she is finally lucky. Bur she's in danger and doesn't know from whom. A very surprising "who done it!"
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC for my Kindle.

I was intrigued by the premise of The Night Before, but unfortunately I was left with a meh feeling overall. It was an okay read for me. Early on I figured out who was behind the disappearance. There were still a few surprises here and there to hold my interest though.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this e-ARC in return of my honest review.

Two sisters tell the story from each other’s end. Laura, the youngest, tomboy in childhood, in search of true love is heading for date with a man from online dating site. Everything looks promising until Rosie, the oldest sister, now married and young mom, find Laura’s room empty next morning. The past horrible secret unifies both sisters and Rosie is on the quest to find her sister. Along she unravels mind-blowing secrets from the past.

The story was gripping at times, but I did not feel particularly thrilled. I could not connect with Laura desires and fears, as she wasn’t fully drawn until very last chapters. Readers get these pieces of information from her and her sister’s flashbacks from their childhood. I did not feel Rosie who lost any traces of communication with her sister. She got so caught up with her own family taking care of her husband and son, she kind of abandon her sister. Aren’t we all a bit guilty of it though? With work everyday, never-ending chores and making house a home? I should have liked Rosie more, but I was confused why she didn’t believe her sister when accident happened?

The plot was a little bit predictable, but there were few twists I appreciated. I think I should stop right here or I’ll spill something important.

Overall, good read

I read and quite enjoyed Walker's 2017 thriller Emma in the Night, so I was excited to read The Night Before. This is compellingly written and structured, with a propulsive but measured pace and alternating perspectives/timelines. It seems it's getting harder and harder for psychological thrillers to make a lasting impact—although this one was good, it wasn't particularly striking or memorable, a solid but ultimately middle-of-the-road offering. Based on the first 3/4 of the book, I expected this to be a 4-star read. However, the pace slowed way down toward the end, all the more frustrating because, by that point, it was perfectly clear to me where the ending was headed.

The Night Before was a twisty turny ride of a thriller. I thought FOR SURE I had it figured out the first third of the book, Little did I know......
I love how the book is told in three viewpoints alternating chapters. It's told from Laura's point of view in a timeline from the Night Before, Laura's dialouge to her psychologist a few months prior and Rosie (Laura's sister) the following day.
Perfect summer thriller! Be sure to throw it in your beach bag this summer!

I was so excited to get a copy of this to read, but I started this again and again and again and couldn't seem to get past the first few chapters. It got to the point where I had to put it aside for a few weeks until I tried once more and this time I pushed through. I'm glad I did, because it was much better than my initial impression, but I was really put off that it took me so long to get into despite the fact that it was one of my most anticipated reads of this year.

I found the characters difficult to feel sympathy for, I was unable to trust the main character and found myself sucked into the unreliable narrator trope. I don't dislike books because of an unlikable main character but this was a bit tough to get through. I also found the red herring to go on for too long during the book.

Overall, I didn't dislike this book, but I felt let down a little. I was hoping for more. I would continue to read more of Wendy Walker's books no matter what, I think she has something and this wasn't enough to put me off.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The relationship between two sisters with long-buried secrets always provides a compelling basis for a psychological thriller. And The Night Before is no exception..

Laura Lochner has come home. She's on the run from a broken heart (again) and has abandoned her Wall Street job and New York City apartment, hiding out in the home of her sister, Rosie, who never left the small Connecticut town in which they grew up. Laura's life has been defined by a tragedy that occurred in her youth, and opened her up to suspicion and gossip. She has never dealt with that reality. Rather, she has been involved in a series of relationships with the wrong men. Of course, Laura has not been forthcoming with Rosie about the details.

Rosie understands her sister and has always been her protector. So of course, she allows her to take up residence in the home Rosie shares with her husband, Joe, and son. Because Laura has not been completely candid about the reasons she gave up her life in New York City, Rosie is left to surmise and attempt to understand this latest chapter in her sister's troubled life.

But Rosie is supportive when Laura announces that she has a date with a man she met on an internet dating site. Rosie helps her gt ready and loans Laura her car so that she can meet the man for a drink, with Laura's assurances that she will behave responsibly.

So Rosie is understandably upset the next morning when she discovers that Laura next came home the previous night. Worse, Laura is not responding to calls or texts, and Rosie has no idea how to reach the man Laura was scheduled to meet. Rosie saw his photo on the dating website, but has no way of knowing whether that picture was genuine or if he provided Laura with his real name. All Rosie knows is that her sister is missing, Rosie's vehicle has been abandoned, and the only person who might be able to help is their mutual childhood friend, Gabe, who lives next door in his boyhood home. Gabe performs IT forensics -- sometimes tracking down cheating spouses -- and offers assistance tracking calls to and from Laura's telephone, as well as the telephone's whereabouts.

Author Wendy Walker relates the story of the desperate search for Laura through alternating narratives. She relates the details of Laura's sessions with a New York City psychologist, commencing four months earlier, along with Laura's present-day first-person account and a third-person present-day narrative told from Rosie's perspective. The result is extremely effective. Walker reveals details about Laura's life that she disclosed to Dr. Brody as readers go along with Laura on her blind date. The focus then switches to the frantic search for her undertaken by Rosie, Joe, and Gabe. Walker switches the story's focus as deftly-times intervals, compelling the story forward and keeping readers intrigued. Along the way she expands upon Laura's history and why she has always been the dysfunctional sister, Rosie's resentments about that and fear not that Laura has been harmed but that, perhaps, she has done something untoward to her date, and grants readers an unfettered look at Laura's feelings -- her self-recriminations, lack of confidence, and awareness of how her sister regards her.

Walker deftly keeps the pace moving, providing clues to Laura's whereabouts, some of which are valid and some that prove disappointing. The suspense builds to the point that Walker reveals what happened to Laura and her location, but the focus then switches to the desperate attempts to get to her in time. Walker includes a subplot involving Rosie's jealousy about the relationship Laura and Joe share which is ultimately resolved with the revelation of family secrets that impact all of them.

The Night Before is a creative, tautly-constructed contemporary thriller and exploration of a troubled sibling relationship. It's a smart, crisp mystery that proves first dates can be murder.