3.75 stars.

A domestic suspense read with good pacing and effectively told from two points of view, Catherine and her over-protective mother, Ruth. Ruth’s notebook entries describing her past were well done and slowly revealed the many secrets she was hiding. Good, unexpected turn in the first quarter of the book. However, parts of the plot required suspension of belief. Not my favourite thriller read but it was a quick, easy read.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

WOW! What a ride! Riveting book! I could NOT put this book down! I don’t want to give any spoilers but I’ll give a brief overview. Catherine has just graduated from nursing school and is getting ready to move away. She’s been raised by her single mother Ruth. Ruth is suddenly diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s. Should Catherine stay and help her mom or move away? What happened to her dad? So many questions! Such a good book!

Catherine Sterling has gotten her nursing degree and has a job offer from John Hopkins to work in their geriatrics unit. She has already given notice at the nursing home where she works on the memory care wing. Then her mother Ruth, whom she lives with, breaks the news that she has been diagnosed with Early-Onset Alzheimer's. Catherine prepares to ditch all of the plans she has made for her future so that she can stay and be there for her mom. Curious about her family background, and knowing that she needs to get answers while she still can, Catherine starts questioning her mom about her family and where she grew up. But the more evasive Ruth becomes, and the more Catherine digs for answers, the more lies Catherine uncovers. Is anything Ruth has told her over the past 24 years the truth? And what exactly have they been running from?

This book started out as a bit of a slow burn, but once it picked up speed, I didn't want to put it down. It was told in the alternating viewpoints of Catherine and Ruth, and a lot of the chapters by Ruth, were her writing in a journal, detailing the past, so you found out exactly what it was that had happened to make Ruth go on the run. I really liked Catherine, but I have to say, Ruth creeped me out. She was manipulative and a compulsive liar . I loved getting to slowly find out the backstory like that. It added to the suspense. If you are a fan of thrillers, then you are definitely going to want to add this to your TBR pile!

I went in blind to Gone Tonight by @sarahpekkanen and this had so many surprises for me. When I first started, I was learning about Ruth and her daughter Catherine. Ruth thinks she has early on-set Alzheimer’s. Catherine has just gotten a job at John Hopkins’s, several hours away from her mother when they learn of the diagnosis. I thought the beginning was an odd way for a thriller to start and then the story took off with lots of twists. It was a very interesting domestic thriller in the sense that there wasn’t much of a mystery to solve and I wasn’t necessarily trying to figure out what was going to happen but it was still a really interesting thriller!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.

I love Sara Pekkanen’s books and I was thrilled when I received a copy of both ebook and audio files from St.Martin’s Press and MacMillan Audio in exchange of my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Told in 2 voices, Catherine, a fresh nursing graduate and her mom Ruth, this suspense- thriller was a slow burn that turned into a sudden rush race of time in a matter of life and death situation. I enjoyed it because to me it was a fast paced enough to keep me on my toes. No crazy twists that will cause one a whiplash, nor unbelievable surprises. It was a steady, what is gonna happen and what is the ending kind of a read.

The audio was narrated by Kate Mara, though her delivery was great, I wished that there were different voices between Ruth and Catherine. The mono-sound was a little dragging to me, but overall, it was still a good read!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC! I will post my review on my bookstagram account - @bookofthemeg on publishing day- 8/1!
I really enjoyed this fast paced thriller from Sarah Pekkanen. I was excited to read this author as a stand alone- I loved all the books with Geer Hendricks so I knew this would be a good one!
The dual viewpoints worked well throughout the story and the short chapters made it so easy for me to go, “just one more chapter!”
There were lots of secrets revealed and ai would recommend Gone Tonight to anyone who loves thrillers, family secrets, and mother daughter relationships.

Ruth has always been driven by her need to protect her daughter, Catherine. The only thing she doesn’t do for her is tell the truth. When Catherine becomes suspicious of her mother’s behavior, she unknowingly brings the past Ruth is running from right to their door.

Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen AUDIO opens as a simple tale of a woman dealing with her mother’s early onset Alzheimer’s but it quickly morphs into a thriller in which her mother reveals herself as an accessory to a murder, which took place before Catherine was born. Ruth has done a fabulous job of covering it up, not only from the authorities, but from her own daughter as well.. Ruth is writing in a journal, telling the whole story. Catherine knows something is not right and is investigating on her own based on the minimal information she has gleaned from Ruth. It is all pretty much accurate, but very misleading. It is an exciting listen.

Both are strong characters. Ruth has believed she is acting in the best interests of both Catherine and herself. Catherine feels lied to and rightly so. James, who is far from innocent, I read as maybe not as bad as Ruth believes, at least as far as she is concerned. Maybe he loves her. Maybe not. It is full of emotions which can often present as confusing. Both Ruth and Catherine are clever and that almost leads to their downfalls. It was a compelling listen. Very well done.

Kate Mara is the reader and holds an even tone no matter what is happening, which really adds to the horror of it all. In the beginning I was confused as to who was who, but that was not her fault. I was not listening carefully enough. Good reader. It was an excellent read, both in audio and print, possibly easier to empathize in print. First of Pekkanen’s novels I’ve read so I have little to compare to.

I was invited to listen to a free audio version of Gone Tonight Macmillan Audio and print version by St. Martins Press, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #MacMillanAudio #StMartinsPress #SarahPekkanen #KateMara #GoneTonight

This was a quick read/listen. I was pulled in from the start with QUESTIONS! The first half of the book was so well handled as we switched POVs and tried to see what was going on with Ruth and Catherine. Once the pieces came together in the second half, the story took a new twist and kept me invested all the way to the end. Thumbs up from me!
I was excited to listen to Kate Mara’s narration. While I like her voice, she could do with some inflection and character training as the narration itself was kind of flat.
*Thanks to St Martin’s Press, MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for the advance review copies.

Catherine and her mother, Ruth have always been alone and extremely close to one another with no other family members in their lives. At 24 years old, Catherine, a geriatrics nurse, decides that it’s time to live a separate life from her mother and accepts a job at John Hopkins Hospital and makes plans to move away. But suddenly, Ruth develops symptoms indicating that her health is deteriorating so Catherine gives up her plans so she can stay close to her mother. However, Catherine begins to uncover clues about Ruth’s past that open suspicions that things may not be as they seem, while unknowingly putting both women in danger.
This story is told in the alternating perspectives of Catherine and Ruth in present time along with Ruth’s journaling and musings about her past revealing how their current lives unfolded. I really enjoyed this creative technique for telling a story that builds and builds into an exciting and suspenseful thriller. Both characters are well developed and I found myself being pulled in and empathizing with both of them. The author is very creative with making the characters’ actions believable and not far-fetched which is something I appreciate in well written thrillers. This is definitely an engaging book that is hard to put down.
#NetGalley #St. Martin’s Press

Considering I'm all packed for a three week trip, I would fit right in with the characters in this book who have up and moved at a moment’s notice a few times. Told in dual POV chapters alternating from Christine (24 year old nurse) and Ann (40 year old waitress and Christine’s mother), Gone Tonight follows their relationship as Christine prepares to move away from home.
I did a mix of the audiobook and the ARC - thanks to both Macmillan Audio and St Martin's Press for advanced copies from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. Being that there is only one narrator of the audiobook, I had to follow pretty closely with the text in the first few chapters to make sure I knew which character’s view was being heard (thanks for the heads up about this, Laurie!). I enjoyed the narration once I got over that hurdle. Although marketed as a thriller, this felt more like a contemporary fiction read - there are some mystery and thriller devices and plot points, but the twists seemed secondary to the mother-daughter relationship and the mother’s backstory. I enjoy contemporary fiction so that’s not a problem for me, but I just want other readers to know the emphasis for this domestic thriller. It will be available Tuesday 8/1!

I really enjoyed this slow paced thriller . The storyline had some really unique aspects and the ending left the reader wanting more - a second book would be nice - while still filly wrapping up the story

How far would a mother go to protect her child? Ruth Sterling would do anything to protect her daughter, Catherine. It seems Ruth has early onset Alzheimer’s but Catherine soon starts questioning things and soon realizes she doesn’t know anything about her mom’s past and because of that she feels she doesn’t even know her mom at all.

This book started out a little slow and I was wondering where it was headed in the first few chapters. But the pace soon picked up and things got really tense towards the end. The story alternated between Catherine and Ruth, past and present, and we, along with Catherine, start uncovering the secrets that Ruth has been hiding for years.

This was a solid thriller and I absolutely enjoyed it. I was at the edge of my seat and had a hard time putting this one down. Gone Tonight is a must read for thriller fans.

Catherine and her mother Ruth have pretty involved albeit a slightly dysfunctional looking relationship. 24-year old Catherine, a trained nurse, still resides with her single mother and even allows her to track her location on the phone. Just when Catherine tries to spread her wings by moving out to a different city, she learns that her mother is suffering from Alzheimer's. Thereafter unfolds a complex web of secrets. I don't want to say more because I don't want to spoil the suspense. Written in typical Pekkanen style, this book is an unputdownable, fast paced read. Perfect for the long summer beach reading coming up!!

Thank you Netgalley, St Martin's Press and Sarah Pekkanen for the ARC.

This is a very slow burn, character driven thriller that focuses on a single mother and her daughter and their life together. Their relationship is incredibly close, yet daughter Catherine starts to realize that all may not be as it seems with her mother. The pace is so slow that I actually checked the description again to see if this was really the thriller that I expected, but as it progresses, it starts to race toward some very surprising conclusions. I look forward to what she writes next! Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance digital copy.

This book had a slow build to an intense story. I liked the alternating perspective of the mom and daughter with the past being told through journal entries. The author did a good job of presenting information in a way that I could emphasize with both of them. She also presented the setting of a memory care facility and an Alzheimer's diagnosis with respect and seemingly good facts. There were a few things that dropped that I wasn't expecting and it made the book fast paced for me. I read it in a just a few days. The ending was exciting and worked for me. A 5 star read!

I've enjoyed a few different books by Sarah Pekkanen and Greer Hendricks, but this is the first one I've read in which Sarah is the sole author. The first part of the book reads like a domestic drama with a close, but at times tense, relationship between a mother and a daughter. The narrative alternates between Ruth Sterling and her daughter, Catherine. It's obvious Ruth is keeping secrets from Catherine, but whether or not she has good intentions isn't clear. My opinion kept changing as the book progressed.

The story gets more suspenseful as it continues, becoming more of a thriller, but some of the reveals made it hard to root for either mother or daughter. I enjoyed the plot twists in the last part of the book although a couple things didn't seem to add up. The ending is purposely ambiguous and works well for the book. I would rate it 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars.

I received an advance copy of this ebook at no cost from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.

Gone Tonight
By: Sarah Pekkanen

4 Stars

A daughter should know her mother, right? Catherine Sterling thinks so. When she is on the verge of a big move, secrets about her mother Ruth, begin to make her question her entire life. It's always been just the two of them. A move and now secrets, threaten that bond. Ruth Sterling has a very scary past, one which she believes will put not only her in danger, but her daughter as well. So she has hid it, among other things. As her mother she will do anthing to protect Catherine, just like she always has has, right?

This was a fast paced thriller with an awesome set of characters. It almost felt like I was getting 2 storylines that converged with a shocking twist of an end. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy this story was to grab and keep my attention. Another great thriller for the win.

I'd like to thank the author and netgalley for this ARC copy in return for an honest review.
Stormi Ellis
Boundless Book Reviews

This was certainly a twisted story. It has lots of surprises and secrets along the way. I was a bit surprised by some of them. It’s definitely a keep you on the edge of your seat book! Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator could have been better about distinguishing voices for characters or had 2 narrators. Love this author, she is great about writing books that are both suspenseful and emotional.