Not going to lie, this started out a little slow for me and I had my doubts. I shouldn't have doubted it though since Sarah Peekanen has never failed to deliver on anything else I've read by her, but I did start to doubt it. Right when I was starting to question if I could carry on or not, bam! It took off an all my doubts were gone. Keep that in mind when reading this. Give it some time before calling it quits.

I thought this had the perfect balance of revealing just enough information for you to slowly start figuring out what's going on but still having questions. There really was no huge twist which I was slightly disappointed in, there were some twists but you could see them coming.

All in all, this was a very enjoyable read! I look forward to reading more books by Sarah Pekkanen.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

From the Publisher:

Catherine Sterling thinks she knows her mother. Ruth Sterling is quiet, hardworking, and lives for her daughter. All her life, it's been just the two of them against the world. But now, Catherine is ready to spread her wings, move from home, and begin a new career. And Ruth Sterling will do anything to prevent that from happening.

Ruth Sterling thinks she knows her daughter. Catherine would never rebel, would never question anything about her mother's past or background. But when Ruth's desperate quest to keep her daughter by her side begins to reveal cracks in Ruth's carefully-constructed world, both mother and daughter begin a dance of deception.

******************************************

This was a great one! The alternating viewpoints of Catherine and Ruth, combined with shorter chapters, kept this moving through this fast-paced story. I thought I liked this about 1/4 of the way through, but by halfway, I knew this was one I was going to love. There were a few twists and turns I didn't see coming and I always love that.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Available August 1, 2023

Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen drips with deception in the most delectable way possible. Not only that but it oozes with suspense and tension which had me greedily inhaling every word in one sitting. I am enamoured by with twists peering from every nook and cranny, utterly immersive.

Ruth and Catherine Sterling are a close mother/daughter duo who would do anything for each other. Ruth works at a diner and Catherine is a nurse. When Ruth is told she has a dreadful disease, their worlds change drastically and slivers of paranoia and secrets begin to show through the cracks. Unfortunately for them, the past becomes their present and they live the repercussions of their choices.

If you are seeking a slow burn with a fascinating mother/daughter bond and secrets galore, this has your name plastered all over it. Parts of the story are a bit predictable but this in no way stole my enjoyment. The writing swept me away and the characters enthralling, as is the premise.

My sincere thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this tongue-gnawingly suspenseful novel.

"Gone Tonight" by Sarah Pekkanen is a slow burn, but so worth the time! At first it seems like Ruth is just an over protective mother who isn't ready to let her adult daughter Catherine spread her wings and live an independent life. However, as the story unfolds, we learn that there is a reason for Ruth's behavior that shocked me to my core! Catherine discovers that her whole life is based on lies and that, now that those lies are exposed, she and her mother are in incredible danger. This book is the perfect beach read; I was thoroughly engrossed and entertained. It's a page-turner for sure! Sarah Pekkanen is definitely one of my favorite thriller authors and this book helps to cement her in that position. Four stars!

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Sarah Pekkanen for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this engrossing book!

I have been a fan of Sarah Pekkanen for some time now, so I jumped at the chance to read Gone Tonight and it did not disappoint. I thought the plot was very original, ailing mother desperate to keep her only daughter close. What follows is nothing short of a ball of lies to be untangled. It was a fun read.

Wow, wow, wow, this book just got me out of a reading slump after having a few meh 3 stars this is for sure a 5 star. It is told from alternating POVs of a mother and daughter. There were lots of twists and turns a few I did not see coming. What a great thriller, Run and get this one as soon as possible. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins press for an e-Arc of this this book.
5 star

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝘼 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧'𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙪𝙣𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙡...

I absolutely loved 𝗔𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝗼𝗻𝘆𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗚𝗶𝗿𝗹, which was co-written by this author. I still find that book to be a favorite thriller of mine, therefore, I was so excited to pick this book up.

This story does focus a lot on the relationship between a mother and daughter… and how far a parent would go to protect their child.

The book itself is told in alternating timelines and POVs, which I did find confusing at first. Once I got the idea of what was going on, I felt so emerged in the story.

It was really interesting reading about Ruth’s past and what led to the way she and her daughter live. I think both characters, Ruth and Catherine, were very well portrayed. I liked the psychological aspect of the book.

While the ending wasn’t my favorite + a bit predictable, I did find it to be wrapped up smoothly. I did a combo of the ebook and audio and found both formats to be super interesting.

This was a fun read with a mother/daughter relationship. It’s a bit slow and not super thrilling, but it did have me on the edge of my seat. I’m glad I ended up enjoying this one!

Thank you so much NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC and Macmillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review!

Catherine and her mother, Ruth, have always been each other’s world. They live together and share a car. However, Catherine is ready to get out in the world and wants to attend university, leaving Ruth behind. Ruth is not ready to let Catherine go yet, as she has a reason she has kept Catherine so close to her all these years. She will not let her go without a fight.

I found this thriller to be highly entertaining. The narrator on audio was really good and I really enjoyed listening to it. It’s fast paced right from the start and I got sucked in right away. The way that Ruth manipulated her daughter was quite fascinating and sickening, although her motive for it was conflicting. The flipping POVs between Catherine and Ruth were also addicting and kept me turning the pages.

For the longest time it has only
Been Ruth and Catherine. Just the two of them, relying on each other.
When Ruth gets sick, things start to change … and the truth slowly starts to come out.
It’s all a matter of time before Catherine finds out Ruth’s well-hidden secrets.

I thought this story was okay. It was a slow burn, which I don’t typically love. I have always been obsessed with Sarah’s co-author stories with Greer Hendricks, so I had high expectations. Sadly this one fell shorter than I would have liked.

Overall it was a good story, but it just felt like it was lacking something that other stories she’s written have had.

This story has LAYERS, and I enjoyed peeling back every one of them. Ruth has a past, her daughter Catherine is her whole present. But what happens when Ruth gets a diagnosis that leads Catherine down a path into her mother's past? What secrets has Ruth meant to keep buried, and what will happen if they were to all come to the surface?

The writing in this was so well done! I felt like there was a perfect balance of giving just enough information with each chapter to keep me wanting to read more. There were so many aspects that I never felt like I could figure it all out, at least not until closer to the end, and I really enjoyed trying to put it all together.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for my gifted copy! Full review on my IG @manis.and.manuscripts

How well do we really know the people we think we know the most? Ruth and Catherine are a mother and daughter who are very close. But maybe there are some secrets between them that they’ve never known.

This was a compelling read that kept me going to see what would happen next. I really enjoyed the audiobook narration. Thank you to Macmillan Audio, St Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the audiobook to review.

This was the first book I’ve read by just Sarah Pekkanen, and while I enjoyed it, I didn’t think it did anything unique. It is definitely a good one to recommend for someone new to the genre, but if you read a lot of thrillers, you won’t find the twists shocking or compelling.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Catherine’s mom, Ruth, just got diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer’s. She’s been showing all the signs: forgetting where her keys are, getting lost on the way home from the drugstore, and calling common objects the wrong names. Now, Catherine’s dreams of going to her dream medical school are on hold. While caring for her mother, Catherine discovers lies that Ruth has been telling her. She’s not sure if she even knows who her mother is at all. She starts questioning everything. Meanwhile, Ruth is worried for her daughter. She has been keeping things from her to keep her safe. Now she’s worried that the past is coming back to harm her.

I thought this one was a little slow. The overall story was great, and I loved how it was told from both Catherine’s and Ruth’s perspectives. I just wish the book had moved along a little quicker. There were times when I felt like it dragged. However, about halfway it really picked up and I was anxious to see how it would end. I liked the way the secrets unfolded and I thought the journal entries from Ruth were so interesting. If you enjoy a slow burn thriller, I think you’ll enjoy this one. It just wasn’t fast paced enough for me.

This book is for readers who really like a slow-burning mystery (I had to go back and re-read the synopsis because it was taking so long for something “suspenseful” to happen and I thought I was reading the wrong book). Once it picks up - around 100 pages in - it has lots of good twists and turns and some good character growth. Overall it was an OK read for me.

💕You might like this book if:
🔹 you want to explore the concepts of psychopaths vs sociopaths a bit
🔹 you want to read a book that explores characters with Alzheimer’s disease
🔹 you enjoy character’s with dysfunctional family relationships

I have been reading Pekkanen’s contemporary fiction since 2016 and have found her thrillers with Greer Hendricks to be mixed bag, but most have been enjoyable, so I was excited to read her standalone thriller Gone Tonight, which hits shelves on August 1, 2023.

Ruth is a hardworking waitress who suddenly at 42 starts to experience memory lapses. Her daughter, Catherine, who recently graduated from nursing school and works on the memory wing of a senior facility, knows exactly what this means. Ruth has always been a very private woman, so Catherine decides she wants to learn all she can about her mother’s past before it’s too late and her memories are gone. But there’s a reason Ruth has worked so hard to stay off the radar for the past twenty-four years, and Catherine’s digging might lead to trouble for this mother-daughter duo.

The book starts off completely differently from what I expected – at first, this seems like a work of contemporary fiction about a daughter struggling with her mother’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, which to be honest was at times difficult to read. But around the 30% mark, we discover a huge secret about Ruth’s past and the story shifts to one that had me pleasantly surprised and kept me entertained until the end. I liked how the story was told through short alternating chapters from both Ruth and Catherine’s perspective, and found the journal entries revealing Ruth’s past to be especially captivating.

I did find Catherine’s character frustrating at times, and felt the plot relied a little too much on the miscommunication/secret keeping between the two characters. I get that if they would have been more honest with each other at any point, the plot wouldn’t have worked, but it was still a bit much at times.

Overall, I really enjoyed this standalone mystery from Pekkanen and would be interested to read more from her in the future. 4 stars for keeping me entertained and for writing an original plot

A special thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest review.

Catherine Sterling’s personal and professional worlds are beginning to collide: she’s a nurse who cares for patients with Alzheimer’s disease, and her mother is starting to show classic symptoms. The two live together, making the forgetfulness hard to miss, with Ruth Sterling looking very confused when recent events are discussed and forgetting words―calling ice cubes “water squares,” for example. Ruth is reluctant to get any scans that could confirm the likely diagnosis―her mother died of Alzheimer’s, she says, and she knows what’s ahead. But then Catherine makes a discovery that causes her to doubt that her mother’s problems are real. As the point of view shifts between the two women, readers get Ruth’s first-person point of view; her odd behavior is hiding an explosive past that Catherine knows nothing about. Readers are in for a wild cat-and-mouse game as this tight duo (boundaries, what are they?) faces terrible odds when Catherine delves into her mother’s past and Ruth hides the pair from an encroaching threat. There are some very sad moments here, related to dire poverty and child sexual abuse. Overall, it’s an eye-opening look at how “our minds…talk us out of things we don’t want to know.

When I started this book, I had no idea what to expect. It did start slightly slower than I’d have wanted, but then it kept getting better as it progressed. At the beginning of the book, I was thinking this was a general/women’s fiction book with a hint of mystery. That’s true, but by the end, this was a full-blown thriller.

A co-dependent single mother and her 24-year-old daughter dominate this story, and the book is written from their viewpoints. Catherine wants to move out of her mom’s house and move to pursue a new job. Her mother, Ruth, will do anything to stop that from happening. The reason why plays out throughout the book, as Ruth begins writing her life story for her daughter.

That’s it. That’s all I can say! I was pleasantly surprised and amused initially, then I was surprised again and again. I loved some of the pop culture references, like “Where the Heart Is” (complete with a stuffed puppy named Brownie) or having Towson, Maryland, in the story (where Elaine Benes from Seinfeld is from).

The whole book was great, but the ending was so fantastic that a final shocking epilogue wasn’t necessary, but was ALSO shocking and fantastic. This has an original plot, good writing and pretty funny yet sympathetic characters. 4.5 stars, rounded up!

(Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Sarah Pekkanen, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be published on August 1, 2023.)

I don’t know how to tell the book without spoilers so I’ll focus on the writing and characters. The writing style is excellent and kept me wanting the read. This is book that will keep you thinking about if after you close the last page. I loved the storyline and really enjoyed this book!

I enjoyed this novel… I like the fact it wasn’t rushed through and had an in depth storyline. I thought it more entertaining than thrilling though, but definitely kept my attention.

I could not put this down. I read it straight through in one setting. Well developed characters, lots of intriguing secrets, and a well paced plot made this a thriller I can highly recommend. Told from two perspectives with some flashback sequences, it grabbed my interest from the first page and never let go. Highly recommended

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader copy.