I’ve read several of Pekkanen’s co-authored books and have always really enjoyed them! This was my first by just her and I found it to be such a bingey, suspenseful, and entertaining thriller!

We follow a mother and daughter duo, where the mother is doing everything to keep her daughter safe from her tumultuous past, even if that means creating layer upon layer of carefully crafted lies to protect her secrets…while her daughter will do anything to expose the truth behind them all.

I loved the alternating chapters, which really just kept me on the edge of my seat. Some of the lengths the mother goes to, to protect her daughter was a bit hard to read about and at times it felt like the story could only be headed in one direction which didn’t leave room for much of a twist/shocking reveal. However, the final chapter turned things around for me and left me with a bit of ambiguity which I love in an ending!

Overall this was such a solid, fast paced read, that I would recommend.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for this #gifted ARC!

How far would you go to keep a loved one safe from potential danger? Would you lie to her? Would you undermine her blossoming friendships? Would you control every detail of her life so she’d never have to know the pain you’ve known? Sarah Pekkanen’s startling, breathtaking tale of a mother and daughter will plunge you into a plot layered by lies and trauma but still infused with love. Through deft writing and thoughtful character development, she’s created a fast-paced thriller in Gone Tonight, daring to ask deep questions about love versus fear, and control versus protection.

GONE TONIGHT. Wow, just wow. The book started off a bit slow for me, but I realized it was meant to be to build the story. Ruth is a single Mom who loves her daughter Catherine. Her only desire in life is to keep Catherine close to her at all times. Maybe too close. But why? Catherine wants to get out from under her moms watchful eye and start being independent but why won’t her Mom let her? Why is Ruth acting so strange? What is she hiding? As I went through the pages, I could not figure out what was going to happen next which is the best kind of book to me. I think I got whiplash from all the twists and turns in this book. There is at times some heavy subject matter, but that just adds to the complexity of this book. Thank you to Netgalley and St Martins Press for allowing me to read this amazing book.

raveling With T’s Thoughts:

I have to be honest… When I started Gone Tonight, I was a wee bit disappointed. It started off like a daughter saying good-bye to her mother in one of the saddest ways possible.

However, I should have known that Sarah Pekkanen had a few things up her sleeve.

What I Liked:

This cover gives me good book vibes.

There is one particular twist that I loved.

I liked the ending!



Bottom line: While the book may have started off in a different way than I had anticipated it going, once the book got going, I did enjoy it. There was a couple of things that I felt didn’t quite work- but overall, it was a good read.



*This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.*

Ruth Sterling will do anything to keep her daughter safe. Catherine is ready to break free from her mother's tight grasp and start a life on her own. Ruth can't let that happen or her whole world could fall apart. Her carefully constructed life of lies starts to crumble and Catherine just wants to know the truth. This mother-daughter pair are at odds pulling truth from lies and a very real danger lies in the truth.

This book has more twists than I ever expected, in the best way. They didn't feel contrived or out of place. They felt like true twists to keep the plot moving toward the resolution point. I don't want to give much away, but I found the mother-daughter dynamic in this very interesting. The way it evolves and reveals itself throughout the story is very well done. A great summer thriller!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of Gone Tonight.

This book had very interesting characters, but I am tired of the dirty teacher trope. I will still read other books from these awesome authors, but this was not my favorite.

I normally enjoy books by this author, and while this book was ok, it definitely jumped all over the shop and was distracting to keep track of. I finished it but I did think it was a little predictable.

Sometimes, I'm glad I have a son. This mother/daughter relationship thing is not for the weak at heart.

Gone Tonight Sarah Pekkanen




Can you dislike all the characters and still love the book? Yes

I eagerly picked up this book and read it in one sitting.


A word to the reader, it starts of slow but then it really gets going- stay with it it truly is worth the slow start.
The genre is mystery and while there IS one, I thought it was more psychological suspense or even domestic thriller.

Anyway, Ruth is Catherine's mother and what a pair they are..

The book is told in alternating chapters by both mother and daughter.

Mom has her reasons for wanting to keep her daughter close.

Catherine is concerned about mom's odd behavior and memory lapses and confusion.

Things get crazy in this story.

It kept me flipping kindle pages until the end like most of her books do.
I did not see much of the plot coming, but I was along for the ride for sure.


thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for allowing me to review this advanced e arc.
Highly recommended 4***

really good book and kept me on my on my toes of what would happen. really enjoyed the characters and their journey and would read this author again.

One thing is really loved about this book was that it constantly kept me guessing! Told from the perspectives of a single mom and her daughter, the family always seems to be on the run, Right when things start to go so well, life begins to fall apart again. Who is the bad guy? Who is telling the truth? Who’s a liar? Wanting to keep reading until the very end to find out what happened made this a solid thriller for me.

I was very excited to read this book. Sarah Pekkanen and Greer Hendrix are some of my favorite authors, and seeing Sarah publishing a solo work, I had to read it.

I have to start by saying that this book deals with situations that may be hard for some people to read about. Trigger Warning on teenage pregnancy, homeless hardships, poverty, domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, pain pills, alcohol use, and mishandling of medication.

The book started a little slow for me but after Coach's murder scene, it took off, and the action and adrenaline rush never stopped. Loved the structure of the book, each of the main characters, Ruth and Catherine, get to tell us their story, one chapter after another.

I had to hold my breath for most of the time. I really thought James was going to get out victorious but it was good to see that somehow Ruth got justice for all that occurred in the past with him. Also, I knew Ruth's motives to protect Catherine may have not been the best but I loved to see how protective she was of her as her mother, she would have done anything to make sure she was okay.

I loved this book and enjoyed it a lot, however, my favorite scene is the final one with Ruth, her brother, and her father. It got to my heart, more than I expected and it honestly surprised me.

What a thriller. It kept me on the edge of my seat, and I couldn't stop reading.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the Advanced Free Copy in exchange for an honest review.

GONE TONIGHT starts off slow — a mother and daughter, sharing an apartment, and neither has a social life. Bit by bit elements are added to their boring non-life. The pace does make you want to tell these characters to hurry up and tell more. As the momentum increases, you will have more questions than answers.

The protagonists, Ruth Sterling, and her daughter Catherine, offer two points of view on a single plot that is presented in three acts. In the first act, the interaction between the two seems typical of a mother and her grown daughter. It doesn't start to become clear why mother and daughter still share an apartment or why Catherine shows no real signs of independence. Ruth is as protective of Catherine as a mother would be of a young child.

As the explanation of Ruth's behavior becomes clearer, you begin to understand that the relationship between the two is all based on lies. Once the reason for these lies is known, the intense rollercoaster ride finally begins.

Psychological thrillers can be frustrating to read. GONE TONIGHT had me putting it aside after reading a few chapters then picking it up again to read a few more until I was more than halfway through the book. Then, I hopped on that rollercoaster and read to the end.

I've loved Sarah Pekkanen and Greer Hendrick's books together so I was super excited to read Gone Tonight. We follow a mother daughter duo and the secrets they are keeping from each other.

While Catherine Sterling thinks she knows her mother, Ruth, there are a lot of gaps in the story of her life. When Catherine decides to leave home, Ruth is prepared to go to any length to prevent that from happening, and keep her daughter close. Catherine begins to question her mother’s intentions and actions, and starts to look into her world a bit closer.

This is a compelling suspense novel, and quite the page turner! Both Ruth and Catherine are dynamic, well-developed characters, and I liked their alternating perspectives. My favorite component of the book was Ruth’s backstory, which was told in the form of an ongoing journal entry the character is writing to her daughter. If you enjoy mother-daughter thrillers, definitely pick this one up!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my gifted e-ARC!

Ruth is determined to keep her daughter, Catherine, with her at all times. Catherine is determined to start her own life on her own terms. When these two opposing forces collide, what Ruth feared and Catherine never saw coming is set into motion.

So this book was definitely full of suspense. Catherine and Ruth are both very strong female characters whose choices cause constant tension. I called the first big reveal, but there was another big one I did not guess. The ending was somewhat predictable but the very ending gave me chills. So even though some parts were a bit obvious, I would still recommend this book.

Wow, I loved this one! The perfect little thriller. It was fast paced, and I couldn't put it down. I always love a good book with a mother/daughter character set. This definitely will keep you up reading. The ending was great as well.

I really enjoyed this one. I listened to the audio and found myself needing to finish to see what happened. Solid book!

I'm always a fan of Sarah Pekkanen and this book was no different. Told from both the mom and the daughter's perspectives, I couldn't decide which version of the truth to believe.

I really liked this psychological suspense story. It is told from two different perspectives: a mother, Ruth, and her adult daughter, Catherine. Catherine lives with her mother and works as a nurse. The book starts with Ruth being diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's, and Catherine knows from experience that patients with this disease need constant support. This conflicts with Catherine's plan to take a new job in another state so she stays. From the beginning Ruth has intentionally never told her anything about her past so this obviously makes Catherine want to dig into their family history. After hitting multiple dead ends, she realizes her mother is hiding something. The alternating chapters revealing pieces of the mystery bit by bit helps to build tension. The whole time I was reading it I had an unsettled feeling that something was off but I couldn't put my finger on it. This is a classic suspense novel with the inevitable unreliable narrator. But which one is it? or is it both? It doesn't require a lot of brain power to figure it out, but it's a good read if you have some time to kill.