Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the ARC of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.
Ruth and Catherine are mother and daughter, surviving life together. Catherine is certain that her mother is keeping secrets, and she is determined to find out.
I really enjoyed this book, it was like unpeeling an onion, there is always one more layer. I liked the characterization of both Catherine and Ruth, and how the story is told from both points of view.
I look forward to reading more by Sarah Pekkanen.

In Gone Tonight we follow the Mother and daughter duo, Catherine and her mother Ruth. All of their life’s it’s been just the two of them for as long as Catherine can remember but soon she will be leaving the nest. And Ruth will do anything to prevent that from happening.⁣
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This book is not at all what it seems! It’s definitely an intense read that kept me going. For one,the complex relationship between mother and daughter will keep you turning the page that’s for sure! This novel is a slow burn but I would say It’s definitely worth it and I really loved the ending.⁣
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After reading Gone Tonight I’m definitely going to be checking out Sarah Pekkanen’s other books! Make to grab yourself a copy of this one when it releases on august first.

This is the only thriller that was able to bring me to tears more than once. I was invested in the lives of Catherine and Ruth instantly. Their complicated mother-daughter relationship propelled this emotional thriller that was filled with deception, betrayal, and breathtaking suspense. It's a slow burn that is unquestionably worth the wait. Catherine and Ruth are multi-dimensional, full of flaws, and undying love and devotion to each other. The writing beautifully portrays the intricate and intriguing dynamic between mother and daughter. There were several twists I never saw coming. The initial twist blew me away. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my ARC.

This book all seemed so mundane, until it wasn’t. I kept asking myself when the thriller part would kick in and had a few questions. Why was her mother keeping these secrets for so long? Your daughter is 24 now. Don’t you think she would have been fine to know these things by now? If you believe her safety depends on your vigilance, wouldn’t she try to be safer if she knew the whole picture?

The first half of the book was relatively slow due to how mundane things seemed. Once things started unfolding, it picked up, and I found the book much more enjoyable. The more Catherine dug into the secrets her mother was keeping for her, the worse it got. I enjoyed the alternating viewpoints and that the chapters were fairly short, giving you an easy stopping place. I like how this one came together. Thank you, St. Martin’s, for sending over an advanced copy

I really liked the books this author co-wrote, so I was excited to read this one! The story line excited me and I loved the odd mother/daughter relationship. The ending was a bit quick, but, overall, very good book! I would read another by this author (not with her co-writer!).

⭐️: 3/5

Ruth Sterling and her daughter Catherine have always been each other’s only family. Catherine thinks she knows her mother, but when she begins to spread her wings and start a career away from her mother’s influence, she finds that Ruth may take drastic measures to make sure that does not happen.

I’ve read all of the books coauthored by Sarah Pekkanen and Greer Hendricks, but I’ve never read one by just one of the authors in the writing duo, so I was intrigued by this one. I had an inkling that I liked the writing style of one more than the other, and in the beginning on the book it felt like it was Pekkanen’s that I liked better, but by the end I was unsure again. I was really intrigued in the setup of the story, with the secrets that both mother and daughter kept from each other and the mystery that the reader was drawn into about Ruth’s true past. My favorite parts were Ruth’s journal entries into the past. The way that the perspective switched from mother to daughter every chapter kept the book moving along really smoothly, and the shorter chapters made it a singable read. Where this fell a little flat for me was just the character development. I get frustrated so easily by the dumb thriller bimbo trope, and I felt like both of the characters fell into that trap. It just felt overdramatic and annoying at points, especially with how whiny Catherine was. She constantly overreacts, while Ruth constantly lies for really no reason. I liked this read as a bit of a mindless thriller, but that was all it was for me.

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!!

This book started out like a slow burn, I didn’t know who to believe and wasn’t sure where the storyline was going. But once things started unraveling, they unraveled quickly and had me on the edge of my seat anxious to find out what was going to happen. Pekkanen does an excellent job exploring the complex relationships between mothers and daughters, in a captivating thriller that makes you question how far you can or should go to protect the people you love. This book is full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the very end.

Thank you @sarahpekkanen, @stmartinspress & @netgalley for the gifted ARC of this book.

Gone Tonight was a pretty good story about mother and daughter, Ruth and Catherine, and the consequences of keeping secrets. It wasn't quite what I expected from the description but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The writing was exceptional as all Pekkanen novels are. I wasn't much a fan of either of these women during most of the book but understood the mother's story and motive much better by the end. Still, I felt something was missing that should've clicked in place earlier in the story. Overall it was good read.

I have never met a Sarah Pekkanen book I didn't like! That being said, I have only ever read her novels co-written with Greer Hendrick so I was VERY excited to get my hands on this one and check it out! Many thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this gem! It started as a slow bun (bordered a little too slow for me at times) with twists and tension, but took off in the second half and had me speeding to finish, unable to put it down! I liked the alternating story line and found myself grasping for more of each character's plot line as their chapters ended and shifted to the next character's POV.

I enjoyed the mother/daughter storyline (being that I am both), however, thought the daughter was a little hard on her mom in the end. Her stubborn curiosity was one thing, but her disdain near the end is off-putting. Unsure if that is a purposeful, telling characteristic of her parentage or not, but, nonetheless I thought she could have been a little more grateful to her mother after everything. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed watching all the pieces of this puzzle fall into place and would love more installments of this mother daughter duo in the future if that's in the cards for Pekkanen!

This book. Wow. Pekkanen always delivers (admittedly I'm mostly familiar with her novels co-authored with Greer Hendricks) but Gone Tonight was next level and definitely put Pekkanen on my radar as a solo author.

We've all read books where people don't really know the people they love and where people were hiding things. This was done differently and it felt fresh even if it wasn't the most original concept.

With alternating narrators - Ruth and her daughter Catherine - we learn of a story about a mother and daughter who are basically alone in the world. Fearful her time and luck are running out, Ruth starts to tell her story by writing it down to share with Catherine in the event she disappears. What unfolds is terrifying but also devastatingly sad and traumatic.

There were twists in this novel I totally didn't expect and I loved that big reveals were made early on. Nothing was dragged out but I was still kept on the edge of my seat at every turn.

This novel also makes you think - what lengths would you go to in order to protect the people you love? How deep is a mother's love?

All in all, this was a shockingly good one and a book I'll definitely recommend.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, MacMillan Audio, and NetGalley for the copy.

I enjoyed this read. The pace was a little slow for my taste but the plot kept me going. Overall, I think the pace was slow to medium and a mix of character and plot driven. This is a dark, emotional, tense, mysterious read. Things seemed predictable but then the author would throw another twist in.

I enjoyed Catherine’s perspective the most and seeing the information of her mother unfold.

The narrator for the audiobook was not my favorite but also did not ruin the story.

I will be recommending this to my reading friends.

4.5 stars. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of Gone Tonight! Pub date 8/1/23.
I have read several books from Sarah Pekkanen that she has written jointly with Greer Hendricks, so I was looking forward to reading her newest solo novel.
Told from alternating points of view, the story follows Ruth and her newly college-graduated daughter, Catherine. Their close relationship encounters new challenges as Catherine sets out to discover who her mother really is and what she is hiding from her past.
I thoroughly enjoyed this slow-burn psychological thriller, which fell just short of 5-stars due to a few plot holes and a fairly predictable grand reveal at the end.

Gone Tonight draws you in slowly but surely and keeps you reading as you follow Ruth and Catherine who are mother and daughter.

Secrets, secrets, secrets. Crazy meets crazy and I love crazy.

Catherine is about to leave the nest and Ruth must keep her daughter their at all costs.

Does Catherine really know her mother.

It seems not.

Twists and turns, secrets and lies will the mother and daughter bond break or survive.

Sarah Pekkanen keeps you hooked from the first to the last page.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an excellent read.

BIG pieces of her vibes! And my review will almost be the same.

This one was okay, I liked the ending but I had troubles staying engaged throughout. I was definitely interested in the mom and if there had been more lead up or more suspicious circumstances surrounding the initial crime, that would’ve hit right. The mothers story was more interesting than the daughters and I didn’t feel like the whole Alzheimer’s plot point at the start made that much sense overall. The ending was more interesting guyyyyyyys. It was all just “wow how convenient” things don’t happen like that. There is a 2% chance (being generous about it) that the main thing occurred…

I did audio and it took me awhile to understand who was talking but once I did it got a bit better.

CONTENT WARNING: parental abandonment, death of a parent, terminal illness, alcoholism, child abuse, emotional abuse, racial slur (for Latines), prejudice, bullying, sexual assault, violence, murder, blood, mention of self-harm

I’ve loved the Hendricks/Pekkanen books, so when I saw this, I just couldn’t resist. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I still had some high hopes for this one. And I was really happy to see that it met all of my expectations plus it briefly featured a chihuahua, so that basically sold me on the book even more.

The narrative switches between the POV of Catherine and Ruth, and we slowly get to see the carefully constructed world of these two women unravel. In the beginning, it’s blatantly obvious that these two have a desperately unhealthy relationship. They’re extremely codependent, and don’t seem to have any other relationships with anyone else, with the exception of an ex of Catherine’s from the past. Of course, it’s really hard to build relationships with others when you’re constantly on the move.

It’s easy to empathize with both main characters. While I don’t necessarily agree with all of their decisions, I could see where they were coming from, at least. Catherine is on the verge of making her first big change in life, by moving to work for Johns Hopkins hospital as a nurse after graduating. But her mother is determined to keep Catherine close to her. For her part, Catherine is working hard to unravel all the little lies and inconsistencies that she discovers slowly about her mother. Pekkanen is fantastic at misdirection, revealing small clues and letting the reader try to put things together for themselves before everything is revealed.

As for Ruth, bits and pieces of her story are revealed over the course of the book, and I liked learning about her slowly. It was interesting to compare present-day Ruth to the younger version of herself and see how much she has changed. And I appreciated how realistic the escape plans that Ruth maintains were—she’s watchful and prepared to run at a moment’s notice, with money, a go-bag, a burner phone, and identification. Seeing how far in advance she’s been prepping was impressive.

While this isn’t the kind of book that has a lot of jump scares in it, the tension both between the two main characters as well as the tension that builds in the story itself kept me hooked. I was invested quickly, and the short chapters kept me reading late into the night. This is a wonderful thriller, and I will definitely be looking into reading Pekkanen’s backlist, which I didn’t even know existed until now. Just adding them to the extra-long TBR.

Thank you to Sarah Pekkanen, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC read.

This book follows our main characters Ruth and Catherine, who are mother and daughter. For all of Catherine's life she has only had Ruth, she knows her father and grandparents didn't want her and she had no friends as they moved so often. Recently Catherine notices her mom is having issues with her memory, she's doing weird things like forgetting how to get home from the store or putting eggs in the cabinet. instead of the fridge Catherine is a nurse so she knows this is all adding up to where Ruth needs to get tested to see if she has early-onset Alzheimer's... only to find out Ruth's mother has died from exactly this. Catherine is freaking out because she is wondering if this is going to be her fate.. she does some digging in her mom's past and things slowly start coming to light that Ruth has tried so hard to bury. Who is the person she calls mom? Will Catherine wish she left her mother's past uncovered?

I won't say more as I don't want to ruin any of the story. I think this book was very well written and kept me engaged but I felt like I was able to guess the story and major plot twists, I left feeling like something was missing for me. I don't think this is the author's fault, I just felt like it was missing something for me.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read. I love when authors do dual POVs but the past and present could have been a little clearer as I found myself having to read a couple of sentences before I noticed it changed. I will definitely check out more from this author.

Gone Tonight was a 5 star read for me!! It was addictive and so mesmerizing. This story is told in short chapters & I couldn’t listen fast enough!!!

I have really enjoyed the writing duo of Sarah Pekkanen & Greer Hendricks since their debut novel in 2018. Such incredible storytellers together and individually!

Gone Tonight is a domestic thriller that’s layered, full of suspenseful twist and turns, an emotional tale of a mother and daughter and ends with an unexpected conclusion!! This one kept me on the edge of my seat and guessing the entire time.

This is most definitely a story of how far will a mother go to protect her child?! And wow! What a ride!! Buckle up your seatbelt because it’s about to go fast and furious from the start to the very end.

Like I said I gave this a 5 star review because I absolutely LOVED this story. However, sadly, I wasn’t a fan of the audiobook. I had to replay some chapters back. The narrator is a newer narrator with this being only their 5th book as a narrator from what I read and I just think it wasn’t the best performance. The reason it didn’t work for me was the narrator was so monotone throughout their performance of voicing the characters that it was hard to distinguish who was who at times. Due to the storyline being told not only from dual timelines it was also told from dual POVs. So again, at times I’d have to re listen to the chapter because one chapter went into the next and I got slightly confused at times because I didn’t realize the switch of chapters because the POVs sounded the same. I think this is a skill set that will happen over time. And for a story like this one, that monotone experience was not the fit for this book.

Hands down still HIGHLY recommend this addicting book, just read it physically & skip the audiobook of this one.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an ALC in exchange for my honest review! The story was amazing!

GONE TONIGHT by Sarah Pekkanen
Publication Date: 8/1/2023
St. Martins’ Press
Macmillan Audio: 10 hrs 9 min by Kate Mara


Wonderful slow-burn mystery thriller chock full of twists, turns and red herrings. Watch the unravelling of the perfect mother-daughter relationship between single mom,Ruth Sterling and her daughter Catherine. Secrets will surface as Catherine is about to move away and embark on her nursing career. She has given notice to the nursing home, where she excels in treating and dealing with the dementia patients. She has been accepted for her first career job as a nurse, at Johns Hopkins University Hospital. This will be the first time she will live separate from her adoring mother, Ruth. Suddenly she starts to notice disturbing changes in her mother’s behavior and actions…. she suspects early onset Alzheimer disease. A trickle of her mother’s past history is revealed with glaring inconsistencies.
Pekkanen proves to be a masterful storyteller, as she unspools a complex narrative told from the perspective of not only Catherine and Ruth, but in a piecemeal fashion Ruth’s backstory as an adolescent. Secrets will be revealed with disastrous implications that ratchet up the intrigue and suspense, culminating in an explosive denouement.
I personally switched back and forth between my kindle and the excellent audio narration provided by actress Kate Mara. She was able to bring life to the mother daughter duo in the theatre of my mind. Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for providing an Uncorrected Proof and Advance Audio version of this wonderful mystery, in exchange for my honest review.

Catherine, 24 years old, has been under her mother’s thumb all her life. But when she accepts a new job far from home, her mother desperately needs to keep her close, and Catherine begins to uncover her mother’s lies. Gone Tonight is a taut and suspenseful story told in alternating POVs between Catherine and her mother Ruth, with the details of Ruth’s life deftly revealed through Ruth’s entries in her journal. This is a definite page turner, as the reader eagerly devours Ruth’s story as Catherine unknowingly puts both their lives at risk as she searches for the truth. A mother’s undying love for her child propels this expertly plotted book, and will keep you glued to the pages. I received an arc of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Gone Tonight
Sarah Pekkanen
4-4.5⭐️

Blurb: Catherine Sterling thinks she knows her mother.
Ruth Sterling thinks she knows her daughter.
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.

If you’re in the mood for a slow-burn, suspenseful, cat & mouse story, Gone Tonight is for you! I was totally hooked from beginning to end with well written story about the lengths a mother will go to keep her child safe. The perfect pacing and the short chapters had me flying through the pages. There were so many twists, turns, and secrets I didn’t want it to end but couldn’t wait finish and find out the truth.

Pub Date: 8/1/23: Absolutely would recommend! I’ve loved Pekkanen’s work as a duo with Greer Hendricks, so I was super intrigued to read her as a solo thriller author. She did not disappoint.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the #gifted digital/physical copies in exchange for my honest review.