Sarah Pekkanen proves yet again why she is an automatic YES for me. Gone Tonight is one of my top 5 reads this summer; I could not put it down. The story alternates between mom Ruth and daughter Catherine and the POV from each woman was equally compelling- a hard task to accomplish! If you are looking for a fast paced thriller… this is it!

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Gone Tonight is a fantastic mother-daughter story with amazing twists. Sarah Pekkanen has created two fascinating characters with twenty four year old Catherine and her mother Ruth. The two have always been extremely close and moving often has made it difficult for Catherine to establish any close friends. Ruthb is the center of Catherine's world. Ruth has always struggled to support them financially, but works as hard as possible to keep them afloat. Any Pekkanen reader knows that there will be a big catch and it comes when Ruth is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. Catherine, a nurse in an Alzheimer's unit, wonders about her mother's textbook symptoms. The two character story unfolds quickly and the plot is mesmerizing. Buckle your seat belt-navigating the twists and turns will be bumpy-but wildly entertaining.

Catherine Sterling has worked incredibly hard for her nurse’s training, and when her dream job comes through, she is beyond thrilled to accept, but it’s in Baltimore, and she doesn’t know if she can leave her mom. Ruth Sterling is showing some disturbing signs of memory loss and confusion, and Catherine’s experience working on an Alzheimer’s ward makes her even more aware of Ruth’s strange behaviors. Unsure of the best course, Catherine must decide if she can fulfill her dream of Baltimore or sacrifice everything to care for her mother at home. Discovering that Ruth’s mother had passed away at an early age from Alzheimer’s shocks Catherine, and she becomes almost obsessed with learning about Ruth’s past, a past that has been kept very well hidden.

Told through alternating viewpoints, Ruth’s and Catherine’s, and in different time periods, Gone Tonight offers an interesting perspective on mothers, daughters, and the lengths we will go to in order to protect our loved ones. I liked Catherine’s determination to learn everything she could about her mother in the hope of helping Ruth manage the disease, and I was quite surprised at the outcome. This was an exciting story, with many twists, and I was engaged throughout.

Wow wow wow! Intensity hummed in this book from beginning to end, I ended up pacing while reading. Loved it so much!

3.5 stars...

The pacing ended up being a little slower than I expected, and overall a little predictable.

I loved The Catherine chapters, and what she was up to trying to uncover her mother's past, however The Ruth chapters, when she flashes back to her life in high school were boring, and I kept dreading reading the long journal entries.

I love the author's previous work with Greer Hendricks, and I went into this thinking it would be an automatic 5 star read, but it fell a little flat for me.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for me e-arc.

I enjoyed this, the way the author broke down the story from the mother and daughter's perspectives, and the unravelling of the past, and the growing suspicion of Catherine about her mom. It was like pulling at a thread. And I like the way it ended, it was a good read.

▪️REVIEW▪️

Gone Tonight ~ Sarah Pekkanen

🙏🏼 Thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley for this eARC copy, out August 1, 2023.

Secrets between mother and daughter bring dark to light…

Catherine’s future as a nurse is in her grasp but as she starts to plan a big move to pursue her career, she starts to notice that her mom, Ruth seems off. A potential diagnosis of early on-set Alzheimer’s has Catherine considering a delay in her plans - until she starts to realize that her mom has secrets that bring her identity into question.

Sarah Pekkanen is 1/2 of the duo that wrote some of my most recommended domestic thrillers - The Wife Between Us and An Anonymous Girl so I was excited to get into this one. I thought it was good - just ok. But I think that’s my fault. I was expecting that husband/wife domestic suspense that I so loved in her other books and this isn’t that. Which isn’t a bad thing - but sometimes expectations are! Not sure I gave this a fair shake.

Perspectives alternate between mother and daughter but are connected so you can see how the lies and truths bend. I did appreciate the fact that the plot was fairly realistic and an endearing testament to the lengths that mother and daughter will go for one another. Reviews for this one are great and it hits the shelves August 1st so check it out!

I've enjoyed this author's previous books and this one was no exception. It kept my interest and had lots of twists and turns I didn't see coming. I look forward to more from this author!

This was a slow start but I found it intriguing. Then came the twists and the pace picked up. Ruth’s carefully constructed life is slowly beginning to unravel and she must do whatever she can to keep that from happening. While there was some predictability, there were still plenty of surprises.

4.5/5 stars (rounded up to 5 on here)

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

If you haven’t read this book or at least picked it up since publication day, go pick it up now!! This book was so good and kept me turning the pages and not wanting to put it down! I loved the twists and turns that Pekkanen incorporated throughout the book. This book was told in a dual timeline and I felt like that was perfect for the storyline because it allowed the readers to slowly figure out what happened in the past and how all of that is connected to the present day! Definitely one I would recommend if you are looking for a suspenseful and gripping novel!

I really enjoyed reading The Golden Couple (by this author and Greer Hendricks) last year so I was super excited to pick up this book! It took me a bit to get into it but once it started picking up I couldn’t put it down. I loved these unique characters and tore through the second half of the book trying to figure out what happened!

Catherine Sterling is about to begin her new life as a nurse in Baltimore, until her mother experiences a devastating diagnosis. It's always been just the two of them--Ruth a single mom, disowned by her parents when she told them she was pregnant. So Catherine has no choice but to stay with her mom. But she begins to suspect all is not as it seems and becomes determined to learn the truth about where her mom was from.

At the same time, Ruth is keeping secrets from Catherine. But as she suspects Catherine is close to learning more about her past, Ruth is desperate to keep Catherine safe.

This is vintage Sarah Pekkanen, full of twists and turns that will keep your head spinning. Trigger warning: early onset alzheimer's diagnosis at the beginning might be difficult for some, as it was for me. But an excellent book. #GoneTonight #NetGalley

I feel that this author is talented, and have enjoyed her other books. However I DNF’d this book.

I found both MC’s extremely unlikeable. I also found that the plot was both slow paced and predictable at times. My lack of connection with the MC’s made me not want to continue slogging through this book to find out what secrets they were hiding.

Other readers might really enjoy this psychological suspense novel. However, it just wasn’t my cups of tea!

Thank you to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for providing me with a ARC of this book to read and review.

This was my favorite by the author so far! The writing was solid, the characters engaging and the story moved along at a good pace. A great weekend read!

Ruth was just a teenager when she was turned out by her family and rejected by her boyfriend. Pregnant and alone, Ruth did everything to shield her daughter from the harsh realities of her past.
Her daughter Catherine, desperate to find out all she can about her mother starts digging, and what she finds will shatter the house of cards her mother has built.

The twists just kept on coming and I was hooked from beginning to end.
The alternating POV / dual timeline chapters gave enough information that it was fast paced but kept enough hidden that you kept going back for more.

I could not put this book down! It was superb, suspenseful, and gripping. The story and history of the characters flows effortlessly, and I couldn't get enough. I'm already looking forward to Pekkanen's next book, and I highly recommend this one.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for a widget of the ARC through NetGalley. Now available.

How far will you go to protect the person you love the most?

Gone Tonight is a slow-burn thriller following a relationship between mother and daughter and the outcome of what can happen when you try to hide your past. In the last month, Ruth has been showing signs of early alzheimers. She has lost her keys, money, her way home and even put eggs inside of the cabinet.

Her 24 year old daughter Catherine, is moving to Baltimore to begin her journey as a nurse at John Hopkins. She currently works at Sunrise where she takes care of patients who have alzheimer’s and dementia. Being aware of her mother’s symptoms, Catherine is willing to stay at home to take care of her mother.

Now that Ruth’s memory begins to fade, Catherine wants to dig into her mother’s past to get to know her more. What Catherine doesn’t know is that Ruth is willing to do anything to keep her daughter home and away from her past because there is someone out there waiting for her.

I have been a huge fan of the amazing duo of Sarah Pekkanen and Greer Hendricks. My favorite novel from these two amazing authors is: An Anonymous Girl. I was at the edge of my seat reading this book. My heart was pumping! I always recommend this book to anyone wanting to dive into the thriller genre.

When I came across Gone Tonight and realized it was written only by Sarah Pekkanen, I was astounded. I already knew that this book was going to be chef’s kiss and juicy!

I've rated Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen, 3.5 stars.

Unfortunately, this book was way too slow for my preference. I prefer to read thrillers that are more fast paced than this. I had to skip a few pages while reading because there were a lot of things that could have been left out.

What I did enjoy about this book is that it is filled with secrets, distrust, deceit and betrayal. I have this love/hate relationship with Ruth. I understand why she ran away from her family and the police. But, I believe that her outcome would’ve been better than she thought if she would’ve told the police what the Coach did to her.

I wasn’t expecting the ending with Catherine. That was a shocker for me. But, I do want to mention that the ending was still lacking in a few areas. The ending could’ve been wrapped up a little neater.

Overall, Gone Tonight is a really nice domestic thriller for readers that love the mother/daughter trope. Even though I have a few issues with this story, it is really good and I know that other readers will enjoy this book more than I did.

Ms. Pekkanen certainly knows how to keep this reader turning the pages far longer than I should have and this one is a gem. It is a slow burn as the mystery unravels bit by bit but so worth it in the end.

Gone Tonight was the first book I have read by Sarah Pekkanen and WOW! This book hooked me from the very first chapter and after finishing it I NEED more! I love the style of writing where you get both points of view from the characters and the plot of how far a mother is willing to go for their child and all the twists and turns along the way had me on the edge of my seat at certain points as I was reading. This is definitely a must read!

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen. In exchange for an honest review.

Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen is a riveting exploration of the relationship between a mother and daughter, delving into the conflicts between love, control, and personal aspirations. Deception and hidden truths, are expertly navigated between the perspectives of the two protagonists, as they grapple with their intertwined pasts and uncertain futures. With richly developed characters, a suspenseful narrative, and thought-provoking themes, the novel captivates readers from start to finish.