I wasn’t sure how I felt about the ending. There were several twists, but I felt like they were underwhelming at best. This story had so much potential, but the ending just fell flat for me. It was a little too frenetic and scattered. I wish that a better ending could have been used. Decent book, but disappointing ending.

This is a mystery story taut with tension. It is told from multiple point of views reflecting on the past as well as focusing on the present. Ten years ago their lives are ripped apart with the death of teenage Meghan. She is a daughter, sister and friend. All the characters are keeping secrets and the author does a superb job of keeping the reader guessing who the murderer is. Readers will be surprised to the very end. The author created great characters and keeps the reader turning the pages with interesting dialogue.

This was such a fun read. I loved the story telling and the atmospheric vibe. I would read more by this author.

This was definitely a rollercoaster of a tale!

First, the fun part: wonderful characters, each a fully rounded person with a secret. The story-telling keeps you turning pages long after you should get up and take a break. It is atmospheric ('a dark and stormy night') and believable, for the most part.

Now for the disappointing part; by the end of the second chapter I had figured out who the villain was, and by the time I had reached the mid-point of the book, I was getting a tad bored. The Mom and youngest daughter were the first to reach the house on the cliff. Their descriptions of the house's desolate beauty and the terrifying loneliness of the location were lovely. But every single person who arrived after them also described the house on the cliff, its furnishings and the isolated location. It got redundant pretty fast. Several long stretches of characters reliving memories and rehashing the past also dragged the momentum of the action down to turtle speed in several spots.

Back to the fun; the ending, although it could be seen a mile away, was satisfying and tied all loose ends up in the neatest of bows (and I love being right!). Not a bad way to while away a rainy afternoon.

A family torn apart by tragedy are summoned by an anonymous host to a home by the sea where a storm soon rages and everyone is trapped together, forced to confront what happened that one night ten years ago.

A locked room thriller where everyone is suspect and secrets linger on the edges of paranoia, this story had me in its grip with each subsequent chapter. Told between the present and the past, a twisted image of a family emerges and I was possessed by the need to get to the end and find out what went wrong.

With a cast of unlikable characters that all have the potential to be the killer, I only saw half of the ending that was coming my way, and even then, it was more disturbing than I could have imagined.

I highly recommend this book to readers who like locked room, psychological thrillers, with a cast of characters who drop hints and suspicions that will have you flying through the pages of this book!

4.5✨'s

I read and reviewed a DRC of this book thanks to Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine via NetGalley. All honest opinions are my own.

This would have been 5 stars, but the writing style made it hard for me to get into. I really appreciated the plot though, and I wanted to know what happened. I had the same issue with Nanny Needed by the same author, so if you liked that book, you would like this one as well!

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Ballantine for the arc.

What did I just read? For one I really love locked room thrillers and this was perfect. I had theories on what was going to happen and I’ve never been so happy to be wrong. I really loved this!

Secrets, lies and accusations abound in this book. The Chilsom's eldest daughter has been dead for ten years. She was killed and her boyfriend was sent to prison for her murder. But what her family thought they knew happened that night would be wrong. Very wrong and this is what makes this book a psychological thriller. Thank you Netgalley and Publisher, Random House Ballantine Batman for an arc of this book. This review is my honest opinion.

Full of the usual locked room mystery cliches, One Night has a lot of the usual tropes of the mystery genre. It does have a lot going for it. It starts strong. Georgina Cross has a strong narrative voice that immediately hooks you in, even if the middle of the story struggles a little, you're still going to find yourself wanting to know whodunnit. Even if there was a downed tree preventing them all from leaving.

It's a great first outing and I can't wait to see what else we get from her.

Thank you for the galley!.

I had no idea what to expect when I started One Night. It was the first from Georgina Cross for me. Maybe 4 chapters in, I had my guess as to who was orchestrating everything. I was right.

That said, I was still able to enjoy the story, and Cross managed to throw a decent twist in at the end!

One Night is a locked-door story. A family is mourning and looking for answers years after their daughters death. The eldest of 3, Meghan was popular and (apparently) a master manipulator. Her high school boyfriend went to jail for 10 years for her murder, but he maintains his innocence. The family all receives anonymous invites to a remote home, and OF COURSE there’s a big storm and OF COURSE they lose power and cell service and OF COURSE a tree blocks the road.

All those cliches aside, it was an enjoyable story. I think I’ve just read too many similar plot lines!

One Night would be a tamer option for fans of Ruth Ware’s One by One and the Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series!

“One Night” is a good mystery about a grieving family trying to find the truth about who killed their oldest daughter 10 years prior. With dual timelines uncovering the truth, the story unfolds perfectly. I enjoyed the book but found it a bit boring and slightly predictable at points. Still a good read but not a big page turner.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in advance of publication.

3.5 stars

This is a fast-paced mystery/thriller that kept me engaged and curious, and the payoff was worth the journey.

The Chisolms are comprised of two ex-spouses, a current wife/stepmom, and three daughters, the oldest of whom was murdered about a decade ago. All of these folks - along with the deceased's alleged killer (who has just completed his related sentence) and a weird guy called Uncle Geoff who isn't really anyone's uncle - show up to a beautiful vacation home on the Oregon coast so they can be mysteriously terrorized together (and by each other). It's not the kind of trip anyone wants to be on, but it is fun to read about from the outside.

All kinds of disturbing "clues" begin to appear, and the characters start to put some of the pieces together. What's most interesting for readers is that we get to see into many of their heads both in the present moment and 10 years ago when the central event that binds them occurred. There's a bit of a locked door vibe happening thanks to some inclement weather, and this becomes more sinister as the whole group starts to wonder if they know the truth at all or have been misled intentionally by others or unintentionally by their own emotions and desires.

The reveals at the end are pretty solid, so readers who come in annoyed that they have solved the case in the first chapter (looks side to side, slowly raises hand) need not worry. There's nothing WAY out there happening, but there are some nice twists.

This is my first book by this author, and while it's not necessarily in the group of absolute standout thrillers or mysteries I've read this year, it's a solid and worthwhile read. I'm very interested in the audio and how all of these characters are handled in that format!

A family who suffered the loss of their daughter Meghan 10 years earlier all receive an invitation to meet at a beach house. No one knows who it’s from, but they all have their suspicions. We hear from various points of view, including Sam, the younger daughter, Alice, the middle daughter, and Maureen, the mother. There’s also Paul, their dad, with his new wife Rebecca, and a close family friend, Geoff. The attendees are shocked when they learn that the organizer had invited Cal, the man who was sentenced for Meghan's murder..
A horrible storm has kicked up, and they’re unable to leave. Power flickers on and off, and the night lasts years long for each of them. Due to the storm, Cal has been knocked unconscious and his health is declining with each hour. Maureen wants to smother him. Sam wants to save him to hear what he has to say. Everyone has conflicting feelings about the unconscious man dying on the floor.
Clues are found, and fingers are pointed. No one can escape until the storm abates. Everyone has hidden feelings towards someone else, and the forced closeness is making them talk. So what happened to Meghan? Who’s behind this slow torture the family has found themselves in?
This is a quick-paced, continually guessing game of a plot that kept me wondering until the final pages.
Thanks to Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine, Bantam for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date is August 1, 2023.

One Night has a very interesting premise--the family of a teenage girl murdered ten years ago is mysteriously summoned to a beautiful and isolated house on the Oregon coast to learn what really happened on the night of her murder. Although the victim's ex-boyfriend was convicted of her murder, it's not clear whether he really was the murderer, as everyone is keeping secrets about that night. The book goes back and forth in time, sharing the perspective of the different characters, to finally arrive at the truth.

I enjoyed this book! The characters were well-drawn, if not particularly likeable, and the author did a good job of doling out the answers about what really happened. And there were lots of exciting twists and turns along the way!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first by the author. I really enjoyed all the different point of views. Faces with the decision I am not sure what I would do. I also didn’t expect the killer to be who it was.

Thank you to PRHAudio for the complimentary audiobook and Bantan and Thriller Book Lovers for the ARC!

Meghan’s family is promised answers as to what happened when she was murdered ten years ago. Each family member receives a letter inviting them to a cliffside home in Oregon. They know that Meghan’s boyfriend, Cal, was just released from prison. He served ten years for killing her, but maintained his innocence. The family thinks Cal has invited them on this night, but he is found unconscious in his car, slammed into a light pole near the house. Is Cal really the killer or has someone elses invited them, and if so what is their motive?

This was a fast-paced, locked room thriller. Told over the course of this one night, readers see what really happened to Meghan through flashbacks of the night of her death. The atmosphere also played a huge part in the story; everyone together in this one house, not knowing who invited them there or what their intentions were, a storm raging outside, and tension between the family and Cal. Then there’s the fact that if Cal wakes up, what will he tell them? This story had me on the edge of my seat and while I had some suspicions I did not guess the the twist and how it was going to play out.
When I saw Brittany Presley was narrating, I had to grab the audio too, as she is one of my favorites! He and Kirby Heyborne perfectly brought the characters to life.

“One Night” releases August 1, 2023! This review be shared to my instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly.

3.5 stars

After reading this book, I came to one conclusion, the Chishoms family has issues!!
On the surface, other than suffering grief from the loss of their daughter Meghan ten years ago, they seem fairly normal. But all the things the family has kept hidden from others come to light one night when they are brought together with the promise that they will find out what really happened to Meg.

Told from multiple POVs, we learn about Meg's death and how her ex-boyfriend, Cal, was charged with the crime. But was he actually innocent? The more I learned about each family member, the less I trusted them. And I had to wonder, did one of the family members invite them to this house or was there a third party involved who knew the truth?

With all the POVs, the direction of the story was a bit all over the place at times - shifting from the storm that has trapped them, to past events that changed family dynamics, to what to do with Cal, who is bleeding out in their house from a random accident.

The most interesting part of the story takes place in the last 10% or so when two POVs share what really happened ten years ago. I had my suspicions about both characters but never would have guessed what they did and why.

Although I think this book could have been edited to eliminate the disjointed parts, the mystery was intriguing and kept me engaged. Overall, a good read if you are a fan of this genre.

“One Night” is the newest thriller by Georgia Cross. Ten years after their daughter is murderer, a family gets a note telling them to meet at an isolated house on the coast of Oregon if they want to know the truth of what really happened the night of the murder. The whole family is expecting Cal (the ex-boyfriend sent to prison for the murder) to show up, but he is found unconscious near the house. Should the family let him die? Or will they help try to keep him alive so that he’s able to regain consciousness and share the real story of how Meghan was killed?

This is the first book by Georgina Cross that I’ve read but I would happily go back and read her other stories. I enjoyed the pacing of this book a lot. I loved the remote setting this story definitely had a ‘locked room’ feel to it because of the storm.

As always thank you to NetGalley and Bantam for the DRC of this novel! “One Night” will be published on August 1st, 2023

I loved a locked room kind of mystery. I was skeptical about the premise but I couldn’t resist giving it a try. And what a joy it was. Tense, good amount of backstory and character building, lots of clues but also a few misdirects.

I got the sense of where it was going from the past memories. But I enjoyed the suspense watching it all unfold and getting to see if I was correct.

Thank you for the ARC of One Night. Loved the premise and the suspense of who wrote the letters and brought them all to the house. I did feel like the ending was a bit chaotic. But what a great twist at the end!