This story is told in alternating POVs between a mother and daughter- but of course in this genre nothing is ever as it seems and someone is definitely not telling the full truth. A compelling read that pulls you in different directions and leaves you second guessing yourself (and the characters).

Full of secrets and deep pain, Gone Tonight is a story that will twist it’s way around your heart and soul, forcing questions you may not want answered.

I’ve yet to read a book from Sarah Pekkanen that I haven’t absolutely loved.

Gone Tonight took me on a journey that I found unexpected. From the moment I started the first page, I knew I was in trouble and for a few reasons. One – I started it while in bed. Two – I’m working on a similar story (at least, when I started reading it, I thought it was similar). Three – I couldn’t just ‘read’ this story, it had me looking deep inside my own heart at my relationships – as a mother, as a daughter…and I didn’t always like what I saw.

Gone Tonight deals with family secrets – something dear to my own heart (as many of you know). The secrets grow, deepen, darken, and you’re taken on a journey you honestly don’t see coming – at least, I didn’t.

Some people love to read thrillers and try to figure out what all the twists and turns are before they happen. I’m not like that. I enjoy a book as I read it, waiting patiently for the characters to reveal their secrets as I turn each page.

I wasn’t disappointed with this story. There were twists I didn’t see coming. There were secrets I didn’t see being revealed. There were truths I had no idea were even there.

Do I recommend Sarah Pekkanen’s latest story…absolutely!

I’ve been a fan of the writing duo Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen since their debut novel The Wife Between Us in 2018. So when I learned that Sarah Pekkanen had written a solo novel, I was immediately interested it read it it.

Gone Tonight centers around single mother Ruth Sterling and her daughter Catherine. Ruth has struggled as a single mom to give Catherine the best life possible and will do anything to keep her safe. For all of Catherine’s life, her mother has been her entire world- her best friend and only family. Catherine knows nothing about Ruth’s life before her birth since Ruth keeps her past a secret. Catherine becomes suspicious of her mom's History when she catches Ruth up in a couple of lies. As Catherine starts to dig into Ruth’s past, she soon learns that maybe Ruth had a good reason to keep her History a secret.

The story is told in three parts and switches between Catherine and Ruth’s point of views. Ruth’s point of view alternates between past and present.

The beginning introduces the reader to the characters. Soon after the mystery is revealed I found myself absolutely enthralled in Ruth’s story. I really enjoyed reading from both pov’s but my favorites were the parts told from Ruth’s pov in the past. Slowly the pieces of the puzzle come together and in part three the story takes an electrifying spin that kept me on the edge of my seat dying to know what would happen next!

Sarah Pekkanan is a masterful storyteller alone or with Greer Hendricks. I see a lot of thriller readers enjoying Gone Tonight as much as I did!
Gone Tonight will be available on August 1. A massive thanks to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the copy!

Fantastic! This book was so unpredictable. I loved the different voices narrating each chapter and that the mom and daughter reveal a lot about the other that you don’t get from the actual person. This book is well thought out and very well written. I’m very familiar with the author from her co-written books, which are some of my favorite reads. I can’t wait to read more by the author in the future.

This book was thrilling from start to finish! There really aren't any big twists or turns until you get to the Epilogue, but I still enjoyed it immensely. The story is told from two different perspectives (mom Ruth's and daughter Catherine's) but it is easy to follow and you get to see what each character is experiencing and feeling. I recommend if you're looking for a suspenseful story.

Another amazing book by such a talented authors! I love when I am able to get to read a new book! Looking forward to the next!

There has only been Catherine and her mother Ruth for all of Catherine’s life. She is looking forward to completing her nursing degree and moving away to start her new life. However, Ruth (mother) wants to keep Catherine close. There are lots of secrets and lies in Ruth’s life. Little by little Catherine realizes she doesn’t know her mother at all. This book had me totally invested in the story. It is fabulous. Read this book. I highly recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and the Author for allowing me to read and review this book.

An engaging and suspenseful read, briskly-plotted and hard to put down, with an interesting pair of main protagonists and a clever ending that will not disappoint.

Catherine and her mother Ruth are an odd duo - a mother-daughter couple where it often feels like roles are being switched, back and forth, as the two flip-flop between tender, maternal care for each other, and furtive undertakings compounded by murky mistrust that could be categorized as childish.

As we meet Ruth, a forty-two year old waitress, who struggles to keep afloat financially, it quickly becomes clear that Ruth is hiding secrets. Big ones.

A mother who gave birth in her teens, a runaway and a drifter, Ruth will provide slow and tantalizing glimpses into her past, as her first-person POV narration intersperses current-day happenings with peeks into her long-overdue journaling of life experiences not yet shared.

“If it’s the last thing I do, I will keep Catherine and the horrors of my past apart.”

Catherine, a twenty-four-year-old geriatrics nurse, finished her training and on the cusp of her new career, is “tall, fine-boned and graceful.” And gradually becoming aware, as Ruth’s machinations become somewhat more desperate, that her mother’s claims cannot at all be trusted. Catherine’s first person voice is both bewildered and eerily self-sufficient - one gets the sense that she is as capable of taking care of herself, as she is of caring for her Alzheimer’s-burdened patients.

As the story twists and turns (many of which in ways that defy prediction) the author challenges us to sit back and enjoy the roller-coaster of a ride - and guess, if we can, how this clever plot will play out.

A challenge highlighted of course, by the underlying problem :

Which of the two women, (Or neither? Or both?) can be counted on as a reliable narrator?

Or in other words - who exactly can we trust to tell it like it is (or rather, was, and perhaps, will be)?

A fun read, I enjoyed this fast-paced and somewhat tricky plot, and read it pretty much straight through. Recommended for lovers of thrillers and mysteries, and just about anyone who enjoys character-based drama, with plenty of undercurrents, maneuverings, and “gotchas”.

A great big thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.

Boy, did I enjoy this book. Really held my interest from beginning to end. Everytime I thought I had figured out the scope of things I got surprised.

The plot is fabulous, the characters are fabulous, the writing is fabulous. Everything about the book is fabulous.

I would not mind a sequel, but if I don't get it, at least give me a new book by this author every six months. Okay a year, but thats my final offer. I just checked and found loads of books by Sarah. I'm such a happy person.

I rarely give 5 stars but this one really earned it.

I love stories about people running from their past and keeping secrets, so this book is right in my wheelhouse. Never underestimate what a mother would do to protect their child! The suspense in this book is crazy good, and I really enjoyed reading it.

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

Gone Tonight is a gripping psychological thriller that’s original, perfectly paced, and flawlessly written. The story is told in alternating POV by a mother and daughter who are exceptionally close. Both characters are well crafted, likeable, and relatable.

The relationship shifts when the daughter makes a discovery that questions everything she knows about her mother. She starts digging into her mother’s background, and as her backstory is unearthed, the plot deepens and unfolds, again and again. The danger, mystery and tension that follows render the book unputdownable. The twists kept me glued to the pages, and wow…I got teary-eyed near the end of the story. That doesn’t happen often with a thriller. Highly recommended. On my list of Best Books of 2023.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for providing an ARC to read and review. This review will appear on Bayside Book Reviews at https://baysidebookreviews.com and its Instagram page on release day. Please follow us! *NetGalley Top Reviewer*

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

*Gone Tonight" is another Sarah Pekkanen banger. I love stories about people running from their past and keeping secrets, so this book is right up my alley. Never underestimate what a mother would do to protect their child! The suspense in this book is crazy good, and I really enjoyed reading it.

The plot is a simple premise but very complex in how it plays out.

Ruth becomes a single mother at 18. Her violent home life is compensated by her position on her high school cheer squad. She meets 'an older boy" James who stands up for her when teammates bully her. A situation gets out of control and Ruth runs for her life to protect her baby. Daughter, Catherine, is now 24 and about to leave Mom and take a job in Baltimore. When danger lurks, Ruth must protect Catherine at all costs.

I love this author 's jointly authored books and this single creation proves she's a master in the thriller suspense genre.

3.5 stars, rounded up

I really liked this fast-paced story about Catherine who is a nurse at an elderly home and her mother, Ruth. They have been together all their lives and have a very close dependable relationship. Until things start to unravel. Catherine catches her mother in one lie, and then another, until she is not sure she can believe anything her mom says and their paths start forking.

This story goes back and forth between the present time and Ruth's diary entires about her past. While I liked the diary entries, it felt a bit like telling more than showing so made those parts of the story feel like I was reading someone's synopsis of a book.

Unlike so many mystery books, this one didn't have any dislikable characters and I found myself rooting both for the mom and the daughter. I read this one in a single sitting and I am sure you will, too.

With gratitude to netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ruth and Catherine only have each other. Catherine has graduated from Nursing school and works at a nursing home - ready to move and work in a hospital. It is then she discovers her mother is showing signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease. How can Catherine leave her mother now? This really tugged at my heartstrings as my own mother suffers from the same disease and is in a nursing home. But that is only a part of the story. Seems that Ruth might not be as bad as Catherine thought. As she starts to dig into her mother's life, there are somethings even more frightening than a memory that is fading--somethings that should stay hidden. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

This novel’s plot was so incredibly interesting to me. Half mother/daughter drama, half tense thriller- it kept me turning the pages at warp speed. Each character was so expertly written with so many layers. It kept me guessing and wanting more!

I could not put this book down, which is just the kind of book I needed when I picked up Gone Tonight. This is probably the best Sarah Pekkanen book I have read thus far. The story is told by the Ruth and her daughter Catherine - who have been living, just the two of them, for all of Catherine's life. However, this is about to change, as Catherine has completed her nursing program and has secured a job at John's Hopkins. Devastating news has her rethinking this decision, and she may be staying with Mom after all. However, nothing is as it seems in this book. One of the amazing things about this book is that you truly have no idea about what is coming. There is one story that you are 100% into and then in quick succession twists and turns are thrown in, in a truly masterful way. 100% recommend this book to everyone who likes a good psychological thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Gone Tonight, Sarah PekkanenThank you Netgalley for the early copy of this book!Ruth and Catherine are mother and daughter who truly only have each other. Catherine is finishing up nursing school, ready to head out on her own, but when Ruth starts showing signs of early Alzheimer's, Catherine's plans. The more Catherine starts looking into not only her mother's symptoms but also her past, the more things are just not adding up and making sense. The book is told from both points of view and also past and present. This is really your typical thriller read and while I enjoyed the characters and the storyline, I thought it was a little far-fetched and really just unbelievable at times.

This book begins with Catherine's mother Ruth being diagnosed with early onset dementia. Emotions are raw as the implications of this diagnoses are fully realized, and Catherine realizes she may need to change some upcoming life plans. At this point in the book (not having read any summary before starting reading), I thought this was going to be a deeply emotion and heartwarming mother/daughter story. But THEN - little clues start to appear, and Catherine discovers that her mother may not be exactly who she has always thought she would. Catherine wants to learn more about Ruth's past, but Ruth wants to protect her from what she doesn't know. The book quickly develops into a high pace thriller as history is revealed and real danger is realized.
This book had my heart racing, and I couldn't put it down until I had reached the end!

I just got done reading Gone Tonight, and all I can say is WOW! Sarah Pekkanen has always been one of my favorite authors, but after reading this, she IS my favorite! I loved everything about this book; everything from the characters to the shocking ending! Gone Tonight deserves to be on all the bestsellers lists and I will be telling everyone to grab a copy!