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.

Masterful storytelling creates an atmosphere of suspense and tension, with twists and turns that leave you guessing until the very end. The well-developed characters are complex and intriguing, adding depth to the thrilling plot. The pacing is relentless, never giving you a moment to catch your breath, making this book an exhilarating and addictive reading experience for all fans of the genre.

Thank you @stmartinspress @macmillanaudio for a copy of this book. This story centers on Catherine and her mother, Ruth who both does not have any ties to anyone. The story is told in both their POV and slowly reveals what happened to Ruth and what led them to where they are. The book has lots of twists and turns which I always enjoy.

Catherine Sterling (aged 24) is about to leave home after graduating from college, to start a new job as a nurse, when she suspects her mother Ruth is suffering from Alzheimer's. Catherine has been working at a Memory Care facility and is only too aware of what this devastating diagnosis can mean. She puts her plans on hold while she tries to sort out care for her mother.

There has only ever been the two of them, and they are very close. They moved a lot over the years, and Catherine becomes aware that she needs to learn about her mother's past before Ruth's memories fade. Once she starts digging, she realizes she has no idea who her Mother really is.

Told from Both Catherine's and Ruth's point of view, some set in the present and some in t eh past, we follow the two women, as Ruth desperately tries to keep her daughter close, and Catherine desperately tries to find the truth before it is too late.

This was a slow burn, and there were some surprising twists along the way. I listened to the audiobook, and while I liked Kata Mara's voice, she didn't distinguish between the two main characters very well. It often took me a little while to determine who's point of view we were listening to, and this was a little distracting. I think it would have been better to read the physical (or kindle) book for this one, rather than listening to it.

However, I did find it an engaging book.

This book is a mix of mystery suspense and family drama. Catherine is devastated to learn that her mother is developing Alzheimer's. She decides to give up a job opportunity that would have her move away to stay with her mother and take care of her. She doesn't know that her mother has more secrets than Catherine could ever imagine.

Ruth never wavered on keeping all her secrets from her daughter but she also never imagined that Catherine would begin to suspect that things are not as they first appear. As Catherine begins to unfold more of her mother's backstory, her distrust of Ruth grows more and more.

For the audio version, Kate Mara narrates and does a tremendous job. She handles both Catherine and Ruth flawlessly. Her pacing is perfect for building the suspense and feeling the confusion and suspicion that Catherine does throughout the book. I really enjoyed listening to this one and found myself pausing in what I was doing to focus on what was happening next in the story.

Mother-daughter relationships have their own challenges but what Ruth and Catherine need to overcome is far more complex than most. The way the story unfolds between Catherine and Ruth each having their own points of view from one chapter to the next worked really well in this book. I wavered between which person I trusted more and sided with. I felt for both women as more of the truth came out and was captivated by the story enough to want to know what would happen in the end. This smartly written story has fully formed characters and a good suspense plot. This can act as a great beach read as well as one to cozy up on the couch with during a stormy day. Either way, I highly recommend you pick this one up and get to know what the power of a mother's love might lead you to do.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Sarah Pekkanen and St Martin’s Press for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of GONE TONIGHT, to be published 1 August 2023. This domestic thriller was about two women: mother and daughter, who for 24 years lived on the run, unbeknownst to the daughter. It was presented from their own perspectives and involved some pretty fancy footwork on the part of the mother — to keep a variety of facts hidden from her daughter. But then the past came back to haunt them, with a surprise twist at the end. Well structured storyline and overall a good read. 4/5 Stars. #NetGalley. #SarahPekkanen #St Martin’sPress. #GONETONIGHT

All the ⭐️ for Gone Tonight. This book had me hooked from start to finish. The narrator was amazing!! Can’t wait for more from this author.

I think I may have overdone it with the thrillers!! Oh no! The intense curiosity of Ruth’s daughter, Catherine, and the deception that is orchestrated to keep Ruth’s story from being uncovered, is very well done. However, when I reached the end, my first thought was, “Cool reveal, but my mind isn’t blown.” I think it’s just a “me” issue, though!

I don't generally care for slow burns...and in the realm of thrillers, this book wasn't entirely thrilling. I'm not well versed on the breadth of all genres, but this feels more like general fiction more than a massive mystery.

One of my biggest pet peeves in first person stories is when an author is intentionally vague about information that a character would actively think about as the story unfolds solely because they are wanting to avoid spoilers for the reader. If we're living inside of the character's head, there needs to be a reason why we aren't being told everything beyond doing so to not spoil the story. It's a very lackluster approach to writing that screams a lack of creativity on the part of the writer. It is a complaint that I make often. I don't mind the hiding of bits and pieces because that's just how you tell a story, but it needs to serve a valid purpose other than skipping over it to prevent spoiling the ending for the reader very early on. This author does a fantastic job at coming up with a valid way of hiding information that works for the story that doesn't bring the reader into it at all.

This book is centered around a mother-daughter duo with a close bond and hidden secrets. As we know, secrets have a way of coming out, especially when the person hiding them is becoming increasingly desperate. We are following the story through the first-person perspective of both mother and daughter, where one is trying to unearth the truth and the other is desperately trying to keep them both safe by any means necessary.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book despite not generally being a fan of stories that lack action and take a while to unfold because it was just that well written. Every aspect of the book from the very first chapter was interesting and made me want to know where things were going. The characters were intriguing and complex and made me want to learn what made them tick. I did wonder how much of the middle of the story could have been solved by merely communicating with each other honestly, but I don't think it was a significant enough flaw to take away from my enjoyment of the book.

I am not generally offered books on NetGalley out of the blue, so I'd also like to thank the publisher for reaching out and offering me a book that is relevant to my tastes and my reading style. I have been a near exclusive audiobook listener/reader for the past year, which means this book was most likely offered by someone who took the time to look into my interests and reading preferences rather than them taking a shot in the dark.

I'm so torn on this one. On one hand, it was a really interesting idea, and I love a secret family history undone by an unwitting accomplice. On the other hand, the who "like father like daughter" thing is so overplayed, and the twists along the way were predictable at best.

I listened to the audiobook version, and the reader was pretty bland, almost bordering on monotone. It felt like she was almost reading against her will. It was also impossible to tell the two characters apart if you weren't paying close attention the the chapters because there wasn't any differentiation. Additionally, the audiobook chapters weren't labeled as anything other than the title, which is a huge annoyance and a big pet peeve of mine. It makes it cumbersome to navigate and keep track of where things are.

All in, I struggle to say if I would or wouldn't recommend this one. I think if you're very new to the thriller/domestic suspense genre, you may really enjoy it, but if you've been around the stacks a few times, you'll probably be less wowed over this one.

2.5 stars, rounded up.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book. It's not that I wasn't enjoying the story, but instead it was hitting a little too close to home for me. I did not realize that there was a large portion of the plot dedicated to the main character's mother beginning to lose her memory and likely succumbing to early-onset Alzheimer's. I have been experiencing something similar in my own life with my father, and this book just ended up being more than I could handle. At some point in the future, I would like to try to read it again, but for now, I just can't.

It was okay. Slow build up and then when you got to the main conflict, it was a little disappointing

Boy are you in for a ride with this one!

This thriller follows mother and daughter duo Ruth and Catherine Sterling. Ruth is a waitress at a local diner. Catherine works in the memory care unit at the local nursing home. Catherine is set to move away from home to begin work at Johns Hopkins when her mother is diagnosed with Early Onset Dementia. This puts a stop to Catherine's plans but things start to get a bit fishy. Catherine wants to know more about her family- after all, it's been just her and her mother her entire life. When she starts digging into her mother's past, she soon finds quite a few things that don't add up. Before you know it, Catherine and Ruth are on the run for their lives.

This novel kept me on the edge of my seat. I loved the dual point of view. I loved the unreliability and the fact that you never knew what was going to happen in this crazy, yet believable story. I highly recommend this novel- especially on audio- Kate Mara does a fantastic job!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

An insanely intense mother/daughter thriller!
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
“Gone Tonight” is a mother/daughter thriller that turns insanely intense as Catherine discovers all the secrets her mother has kept throughout her childhood. No daughter knows everything about her mother but how can you hide so much for so long?

This dark and entertaining story is told from alternating viewpoints. Mother and daughter each tell their story, so the reader hears the secrets they are keeping from each other. I love hearing secrets. Especially when I don’t have to keep them to myself!

Ruth Sterling left home and became a single mother at 16 years old. She has a plausible explanation. It was her only choice because of her family’s rigid religious beliefs. Her life hasn’t been easy. Without a high school education, Ruth didn’t have many opportunities. She worked hard as a waitress and put Catherine through nursing school.

It’s finally time for Catherine to leave home and have some freedom. Then a big revelation prevents that from happening. This story is shocking and emotional as we slowly learn how Ruth ended up where she is.

Pekkanen has written another gripping five-star read! The narrator also does a wonderful job.

Sincere thanks to Macmillan Audio and St. Martin’s Press for providing this gifted ARC through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

#GoneTonight #SarahPekkanen #macmillanaudio #stmartinspress #audiobook #womenwriters #giftedARC #justfinished #comingsoon #igbookreels #thriller #ad #honestreview #thrillerfriendsunite #mysteryandthrills #thrillerobsessedbookishclub #suspense #mystery #lovetoread #bookworms #lovebooks #lovetoreadbooks #fortheloveofbooks #booknerd #bookreviewer #booksbooksandmorebooks #instabook #readaholic

Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen is an incredible book that beautifully weaves the story of a relationship between a mother and her daughter. We slowly see the mother's past and how they are both dealing with ramifications from it. There are tense, sad, funny, and scary moments throughout; it's definitely a rollercoaster ride of emotions. Although voiced the exact same, Sarah writes in such a way that makes it easy for readers to tell who we are hearing from. I love how things are casually revealed in a way that is still shocking without being jarring.

Kate Mara is so good that I felt like I was listening to her autobiography. I had to tell myself multiple times that it's a work of fiction 😂

I originally was going to rate Gone Tonight 4-4.5 stars because it seemed like there were loose ends, but everything was clarified in the epilogue in a logical way (not a data dump!). Because of this, it's a solid 5 stars from me.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing me with an ALC.

A loving and functioning mother-daughter relationship is what many hope for. But what happens when that relationship is plagued by secrets that threaten to break mother and daughter apart? Gone Tonight is a fresh and riveting read from start to finish.

Catherine Sterling is a 24 year old woman who has the opportunity to move and work as a geriatric nurse at John Hopkin, but this means having to leave her mother, As Catherine prepares for her move, her mother Ruth Sterling, begins to display signs that Catherine knows all too well due to her current job working in the Memory Wing of a facility where people who experience memory loss, among other diseases, live.

Catherine is compelled to learn more about the family she never knew, now that her mother seems to be declining. Time is of the essence. Or is it?

We join this cat-and-mouse game between mother and daughter in their quest to both uncover and hide truths. Truths that may rip this duo apart.

Thank You to St. Martin Press for the gifted copy through NetGalley.

Available everywhere August 1, 2023!

Mother and daughter have always lived together. Now Ruth is showing symptoms of dementia right at the same time that Katherine is about to move away for a job. Katherine is worried about her mom. Ruth has secrets. And the shocker is something I didn’t see coming! This book switches POV from both main characters.
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC audiobook in exchange for my honest review. I was excited about this book because of the author. I also thought the book sounded interesting. I enjoyed listening to the audiobook but I wish that they had a narrator for each main character’s chapters. It would have helped me keep the MC’s chapters separated. I thought “who is talking now” a lot.
I thought this book was slow until the end of “act 1” then it became more interesting. I liked that this is a book with a theme that I haven’t read before, so it hasn’t been overdone. 3.5 stars

"If there's one thing women do better than disappearing, it's protecting our children."

I've read plenty of books where Sarah Pekkanen teams up with Greer Hendricks, but this was my first time reading her solo. I could see the similarities, but this one seemed darker to me...and i loved it!

We alternate POV's from Ruth (mom) to Catherine (daughter) and speaking for the narration, i wish there were either two narrators or she'd maybe changed her voice some, as it was really hard to distinguish without looking at the chapter title.

This was a slow burn, which I personally really like in thrillers, however the action picked way up at the end. But that last chapter though?! Yes ma'am!

Sarah Pekkanen never disappoints!
Another smart psychological thriller that grabs you from the first page. The premise of this was riveting, and it didn't fall flat along the way. Vivid characters, strong writing and a killer plot! Bravo!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. I found this book a little slow pace. I kept waiting for some big thing to happen and it never did. It was just an ok thriller.