Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: August 1, 2023
I know Sarah Pekkanen exclusively from her co-authored works with Greer Hendricks, so I was super excited to be able to experience Pekkanen’s solo writing prowess with new new novel, “Gone Tonight”.
Catherine Sterling is the only daughter of a single mother, and for Catherine’s entire life her, and her mother Ruth, have been the best of friends. But now, in her twenties, Catherine is ready to spread her wings and experience life for herself. Of course, Ruth is not going to let that happen and she will do whatever it takes to keep Catherine close to her, and away from Ruth’s secret truth.
“Gone Tonight” is so full of twists and turns, it was hard to put down. The relationship between Catherine and Ruth grows from mothered to smothered, and the reader gets to experience the whole thing firsthand. The story is told from the perspective of both Ruth and Catherine, so their individual stories slowly unfold, neither Catherine or Ruth revealing their deepest secrets to each other, eventually putting both of their lives at risk. Ruth’s viewpoint is interspersed with journal entries from her adolescent years, which flows well and naturally with the rest of the plot.
The character development in this novel is spot on. I felt for Catherine right off the bat as she watched her mother struggle from what she thinks is Alzheimer’s. It took a little longer to develop a kinship with Ruth, as her secrets were buried deeper under multiple disguises, but she, too, was likable and brave once her walls came down. Between the two protagonists, readers will develop a deep connection with one, if not both, of the Sterling women.
As the story plays out, the plot itself could go in a million different directions, but Pekkanen pulls the right chord, and the tension develops slowly, then steams like a whistling teapot, leading to the final unexpected conclusion. An emotional tale of a mother and a daughter, both coming to understand themselves as individual women separate from the other, but with an epic number of suspenseful twists weaved in. Although Pekkanen has other solo novels under her belt, I haven’t yet had a chance to read them but it won’t be a mistake I make twice. “Gone Tonight” started off as one thing, and ended up as a completely different thing entirely, but I loved all of it!

I received an advance digital copy of this book from the author, publisher and NetGalley.com. Thanks to all for the opportunity to read and review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Gone Tonight is a story about a relationship between a mother and daughter. A relationship that is based on lies and deception, leaving the daughter no choice but to dig deeper into her mother's murky past and find the truth. It is a quick paced thriller leaving you wondering how much of our personalities are really because of how we were raised or is it our genetics.

5 out of 5 stars. Highly recommended.

Wow!

This captured me right from the start and I am still thinking about it days after finishing.

Catherine grew up as the only child of Ruth. They lived pretty solitary lives, living at poverty levels and moving frequently. Catherine knew Ruth was rejected by Catherine's father and Ruth's strict Catholic family when Ruth got pregnant as a young girl.

When 24-year old Catherine finishes college and thinks she is about to start her own life in Baltimore, Ruth, at 42, started showing signs of Alzheimer's. The devastating realization changes everything. But after a little research by Catherine, she comes to the realization that everything Ruth has told her about her life is a lie. Catherine tries to track down Ruth's family and the results are deadly.

The story is told alternately by Catherine and Ruth. Catherine's voice sounds a little old for a 24-yr old, but she has had to mature a little faster than the average sorority girl.

Excellent read. I am glad to find a new author whose work I love and I will recommend this to many.

This one got me in my feels. I have a strained relationship with my mother, so seeing the POV from the mother helped me put myself in my mom’s shoes. It helped me empathize in ways I hadn’t before. This was good, I really enjoyed it.

I will always read a book by this author and she never disappoints. This book will pull you in from the beginning and you just want to keep going all the way until the end. I loved it.

Wow....Gone Tonight was totally not what I was expecting! I've been a fan of Ms. Pekkanen's earlier books, as well as the thrillers she co-wrote with Greer Hendricks. She's one of those authors I'll always read, so I didn't even look at the description of the book before reading. I did, however, see a reference to it as a "wild ride".
Gone Tonight is the story of Ruth, and her daughter, Catherine. Catherine's 24, and for her entire life, her mother was her only family. Early in the book, Catherine describes her mother as the "co-architect of our existence" and that is an apt description.
But, things start to change when the book opens and Catherine has graduated from college and will shortly move to Baltimore to begin her adult life and a new career in nursing. Ruth and Catherine tell their stories, in alternating chapters, and it truly becomes a wild ride that will keep you reading late into the night.
Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read Gone Tonight in exchange for an honest review.

When I started reading Gone Tonight, the new thriller by Sarah Pekkanen, I thought that the story was going to be completely different than what it actually turned out to be.
I assumed it was going to be a mother/daughter story detailing a mother’s declining health, with maybe some psychological twists along the way.
What it was instead was a story resilience, deceit, and a little bit of farfetched mayhem.
All of it made for a good story that kept me guessing.
I particularly liked how the author took the reader along with Catherine through her journey with her mom, Ruth, before focusing more on Ruth’s point of view.
The switch is gradual, so it is not jarring. In fact, I really didn’t even register it until I began writing this review. It was sly and very effective.
I don’t want to give plot points away, because there are enough subtle twists (along with bigger ones) that could easily be identified, and that would ruin the carefully planned surprises.
The way Ruth’s story unfolds was realistic. If someone has a deep, dark secret they’ve held for many years, it isn’t easily revealed. The way the reader learns Ruth’s history leads to the gut-wrenching impact of a formative event.
It’s written in a way that totally takes the reader by surprise, both in its intensity and ferocity. It also lays a foundation for other reasons Ruth did not want her secret to be known – even by her own daughter.
While there were some moments that required a suspension of disbelief, I thought that it all wrapped up neatly. Well, not exactly. Because the author wisely leaves both Ruth and Catherine’s futures open to interpretation.
And that’s life. Even if one problem is solved, that doesn’t mean life is smooth sailing from there on. In fact, there may be more questions that arise.
That’s all I’m going to say about that (before I DO start to give things away). Sarah Pekkanen is one of my favorite authors and Gone Tonight is the kind of thriller that keeps me coming back for more of her work.

Sarah Pekkanen is such a good writer! I have read all the books that she has co-authored with Greer Hendricks, and I have loved every one. The story is about two women: Ruth and her daughter Catherine. This is such a compelling story, full of twists and secrets. Highly recommended!

How far would a mother go to protect her child? This is the question that comes up during this story. This book is scheduled to come out later this year so no spoilers from me. This is the first time I am reading a solo book from this author as I am used to her writing in duo. The story builds slowly and is told from two POVs. We the readers know what is going on or so we think. The main character was a little frustrating. I thank the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this story. All opinions are my own and freely given.

I liked this book but didn't love it! The story was kind of slow and twists and turns were not exciting. Lots of good ideas but not well executed. Worth reading if you have nothing else to read but not a "must read". Thank you @netgalley for another opportunity to read and review this ARC!

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!

Ruth and Catherine Sterling are a close mother daughter duo, each holding their own secrets. Catherine just got her dream job and ready to leave her mother behind to go and start her new role in a new city. Ruth begins to exhibit symptoms of Alzheimer's which makes Catherine weary of leaving. This novel switches back and forth from each women's perspective and rationale of their actions. Each wants to keep things private from each other, but overlap starts to occur and causes Catherine to question her mother. Her past, her symptoms, even her name. Pekkanen's books always are a page turner and this one is no different! A psychological thriller!

3.75 stars, rounded up to 4.*

I've read a few titles written by Sarah Pekkanen in collaboration with Greer Hendricks, and enjoyed the suspense so I was excited to see this title available on NetGalley.

As the story opened, I was initially intrigued but confused because I was fully 20% into the book before it became apparent that there was any mystery/thriller angle at all. That said, the book is well-written and Pekkanen does a great job introducing characters that are believable. The story is told in alternating voices between Ruth Sterling, a hardscrabble waitress/single mom, and her daughter Catherine. Catherine works at a Memory Care center and is on the verge of moving away to take her dream job at Johns Hopkins. When it becomes clear that Ruth is developing early-onset Alzheimers, Catherine has to reevaluate her plans.

At this point, Catherine begins to try to find out about her mother's past. When she discovers that her mother might be faking the memory loss symptoms, she. digs in to find out why.

I really liked this book and thought the twists and turns were great. I especially liked the final twist. I'd highly recommend this one to fans of domestic thrillers and contemporary mysteries.

*with thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Catherine and her mother, Ruth, have always been close due to growing up just the two of them facing many challenges together. Catherine has finished nursing school and she is getting ready to move and start her own life apart from her mom for the first time. However, Catherine becomes suspicious of her mother and secrets from their past start to emerge and impact their present.

Gone Tonight had some very intriguing plot lines. There were several twists throughout the book, some of which I guessed and some I didn’t. Overall, I enjoyed this novel and look forward to more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

This was such a slow burn, I thought this book might not be for me. Boy, was I ever wrong. It was good! There were plenty of character building and analysis, I felt I was reading an actually true crime. Really well structured and tensed. When I finally got into it, I couldn't put it down and read it all in one night. While I gave this 5 stars, I do wish that the ending was one chapter back where (spoiler alert) Ruth reunites with her family. I cried because of that chapter. The last bit of twist was quite unnecessary and spoiled what was set out beautifully before. I'm tired of that old troupe of "he took the fall."

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free book.

This book was a page turner! I loved the plot, loved the characters, loved the different perspectives. The twist was unexpected and I couldn't wait to get to the end but was then sad that it was over! Highly recommend. Thank you for the opportunity to review this ARC, I will be reading more by this author.

After Ruth Sterling is led astray by her high school boyfriend she spends the rest of her life running from the events of one night, and soon has her daughter Catherine to protect as well. I enjoyed the dual perspectives of the two women as history catches up with them, and Pekkanen’s dual timeline presented in journal entries was a great addition to her latest book, Gone Tonight. I was deceived by some of the twists and turns and enjoyed Sarah Pekkanen’s latest suspense thriller. I received an ARC of this book, all opinions are my own.

Wow!! All I can say is that Sarah Pekkanen has blown my mind with her latest thriller, Gone Tonight. This book is filled with twists, turns and lots of secrets. Told from a mother and her daughter’s POV, this book kept me up at night. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. I HIGHLY recommend Gone Tonight!!

Thank you to St. Martins Press, Netgalley and Sarah Pekkanen for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

This is a creepy if repetitive jaunt. You're given nibbles throughout the first two acts and then the story explodes. If wants to feel panicky but there's a choppiness about it that detracts from that feeling. The characters are built well enough and the book has good flow. This would make a good beach read.

I received an ARC from the publisher 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.

I loved this book by Sarah Pekkanen. She is one of my favorite authors and has had a successful leap to suspense/mystery novels in the last few years, both with Greer and now as an individual.
I read this in less than 24 hours because I just had to know what happened!