A thrilling read!

I’m a big fan of Sarah Pekkanen's books and I was really looking forward to reading “Gone Tonight”. I was very excited to have a copy of both the ebook and audiobook to review.

Twenty-four-year-old, Catherine Sterling is very worried about her mother, Ruth. Ruth has started forgetting things. Catherine tries to tell herself that everyone forgets things now and then. But it’s been happening more and more frequently. So Catherine and Ruth are going to see a neurologist. Catherine is sure the neurologist will reassure them that everything is okay. He’ll have an easy fix.

Catherine knows almost nothing about her mother's past. She doesn’t know where she grew up or went to school. She hasn’t seen any photos of other family and doesn’t even know the names of her mother’s parents.

It never bothered her before...

What Catherine doesn’t know is her mother isn’t just keeping secrets about her past. And what her mother doesn’t know is Catherine is also keeping secrets.

What will happen once these buried secrets come to light?

I was riveted by this page turning and exhilarating domestic suspense!

I really couldn’t put it down. I flew through the novel especially since I had both the ebook and audiobook. Both were fantastic. The audiobook was wonderfully narrated by Kate Mara.

The story is told from Catherine and Ruth’s point of view. The addition of diary entries from Ruth’s teenage years added an extra layer to the plot. The story was loaded with suspense, emotion, twist, turns, and terrific characters.

This was a truly unique and exciting read.

I honestly can’t wait to read more from Sarah Pekkanen.

I'd like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel. All opinions are my own.

I was provided a free advanced copy of this book from @netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
This was a roller coaster of a ride! You start in one place, realize you're actually going a different direction part way through, and end up somewhere you never expected! But isn't that what makes a good suspense book?
Ruth and Catherine are a tight mother daughter duo. But it's time for Catherine to finally spread her wings and start a new career in a new city. The only problem is Ruth hasn't been completely honest with her daughter, and she will do anything to protect her daughter, even from threats she doesn't know about.
This one had me guessing the whole way. The story is told in alternating perspectives between the two women and as the reader you will change your opinion about them multiple times as truths are revealed! It was an intense read and definitely kept my attention the whole time!
I enjoyed it as an audiobook as well. I thought the narrator did a good job of alternating the characters so I knew whose story we were following at the time.
It is set to be published 1 August, so put it on your TBR and check it out then!
#ARC #GoneTonight

Multiple POV's and timeline made Gone Tonight a quick read because I just had to know how everything was going to unfold between the mother and daughter characters.

I do think the audiobook would have highly benefited from having a dual narration to help distinguish between the two voices; I had to go back quite a bit to figure out what character I was listening to.

This is my first book by this author as a SOLO book. And it will not be my last.

Catherine and Ruth have essentially lived life on the run because of something that happened when Ruth was a teenager and she had to flee. But Catherine has no idea that they are living life on the run. Only that they move frequently for sometimes no apparent reason.
But when Ruth is diagnosed with a medical condition that might stop Catherine from moving away from her mother to pursue her dream career she starts looking into her mother's past. Can she figure out her mom's past, what will she do when she figures out all the lies and deceit she has never know about?

This was a great book and I am thankful for Netgally allowing my an ARC audiobook copy of this book.

I could listen to Kate Mara all day long. My only 'complaint' would be that there was not much to distinguish Ruth's Chapters from Catherine's as there did not seem to be much in the way of vocal change in the narration.

But Overall I loved this, lots of twists and turns as the book unfolds as Catherine learns the real pieces to her and her mother's life.

Really enjoyed this twisty domestic thriller! The alternating timelines and POVs kept the story moving quickly while also taking a deep dive into our characters.

If you’re a fan of books by Sally Hepworth I think you’ll really enjoy this one as well. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my early copy!

I've enjoyed Sarah Pekkanen's other books, and this one was another suspenseful bomb. It starts out as an emotional story, but when the suspense hits, the story draws you in and keeps you guessing. The alternating point of views from mother to daughter are seemless and easy to follow. This book contains several edge of your seat, jaw-dropping moments. It's a thrilling original story that's sure to be a hit!

I’m a huge fan of Sarah Pekkanen‘s books and was thrilled when I received an ARC Audiobook! Gone Tonight is a slow burn thriller with multiple (Mother/Daughter) POVs. Daughter thinks she knows her mother. Mother thinks she knows her daughter. They both learn a lot about each other (some good, some bad). It’s a book of buried secrets, betrayal, and closure. I love a good mother/daughter drama and this book definitely has that! The book held my attention offering lots of twists and turns. Nearing the end, I thought I knew it all and was left hoping for a more eventful ending. Then came the epilogue and there was another twist! Well done!

Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for an audio copy of Gone Tonight in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 Stars for the narrator and 4.5 stars for the story.
This was a great suspenseful thriller and I enjoyed reading the 2 POV's from the 2 characters but the audio narration was very disappointing. When I listened to this audiobook there was no difference in the voice and tone of the two characters. although it didn't take long to know who was who, I thought the narrator could have improved the audiobook 100% by changing her voice and expression.
I also had the ebook ARC also so midway through I read instead of listened to the rest of the story.

Thank you Netgalley for ALC and ARC of this book.

This is sincerely one of the better stories I've read in a long time. The characters were relatable and memorable, the author employed alternating perspectives which enriched the telling, and it was hard to guess the truth. I think the editing could have been better as a couple times there was unnecessary repetition of information, but overall, this was compelling, intriguing, and super enjoyable.

This book had a lot of potential but fell flat for me. The epilogue did perhaps shed a little light, but too little, way too late.

I loved this book! I felt both empathy and anger towards the mother, sympathy for the daughter, and throughout, I couldn’t stop wanting to find out what happened next.

I was very excited to get this book! I have never read anything by Pekkanen, but I do have several of her books on my TBR. I was also excited about the narrator, Kate Mara, who is a fantastic actress and had high hopes for the narration of this story.

This suspense book is written in 2 POVs going from mother to daughter in the active quest of figuring out where they are going. So let us start with Ruth. Ruth is the mother who had her daughter at a young age, on her own, she is showing signs of very early onset Alzheimer's but she has quite a few secrets. During her perspective we see a lot of manipulation on her part to "protect" her daughter and conceal her past. Ruth begins a journal to her daughter describing her abusive child hood and her most traumatic moments. These moments are what she is running from and trying to protect her daughter from.

Then we have Catherine, a 24-year-old who just graduated nursing school and is ready to venture out into her real life. Except as soon as this happens, her mom starts showing signs of Alzheimer's. The more Catherine tries to dig into her mom's past the more she discovers her mom isn't who she thinks she is.

This story is pretty good at keeping you wanting to read more. You want to uncover all that Ruth is and you wind up understanding why she did what she did. She lived a very hard life raising a young girl on her own. However, you also sympathize with Catherine who has spent her whole life believing in something that was not true. The twists in this story were pretty good and the whole climax was pretty intense, but kind of also a slight let down. The ending was pretty eye opening and would be curious to see how Catherine turns out.

As for the narration, I was disappointed honestly. It felt flat there was no difference in any of the voices, no real emotion from the narrator. No real differentiation from each of the POVs. It was just a story being read to you. Most audio narrators really help get you into the stories, changing up voices, giving that emotional feeling when someone is scared, etc. This was just boring, and really took away from the story. Outside of that the story was really fun to read you had that sense of the walls closing in and this world Ruth built slowly crumbling apart.

If you like a suspenseful book with great narration, Gone Tonight is a must read/listen. The POV switches between Ruth (mother) and her 24 year old daughter Katherine. The two have a codependent relationship especially since they only have each other. Katherine thinks it’s because her grandparents disowned their daughter after she became pregnant at 16 but Ruth tells a different tale. Katherine slowly begins to realize that her mother has been lying to her her entire life but why….

Loved the dynamics of the characters in this book. The story flowed naturally and was a nice balance between the two main characters. It was awesome to read about the places close to my home in Maryland- Towson, Federal Hill, Baltimore, John’s Hopkins!! The book kept me guessing and wanted to read (listen) to it faster and faster. The concepts covered in this book seemed new and fresh compared to other suspense novels I’ve recently read.

I would love to thank NetGalley for allowing me to have an audio book version of Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen, and this review is all my own. This book was crazy. Very suspenseful as it went on, leading you to wonder what is going to happen next and what is the truth of what happened to Coach. The mother daughter duo perspectives show you what is going on and how the trust is slowly coming undone. The mother is doing everything she can for her daughter and has so many plans, the daughter trying to learn about her mother's past and how things are not as they seem. Throughout the novel you can see why the mother does what she does but you also could not help but feel for the daughter as she wants to break free. So if you love thrillers that are suspenseful and no gore you will love this book for sure.

4.5🌟
Ruth would do anything to protect her daughter, Catherine. But then Catherine starts to question her mothers past and begins to search for the truth.
Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen is a great suspenseful thriller with a great twisty ending.
Thank you NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed Gone Tonight in an audiobook format, narrated by Kate Mara, and she did an excellent job. I became a Sarah Pekkanen fan while reading The Wife Between Us, and Gone Tonight did not disappoint! This one kept me guessing until the very end. Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with an ARC audiobook to review.

Gone Tonight is told from the voices of Catherine Sterling and her mother Ruth along with flashbacks from Ruth’s troubled youth.
Catherine is a twenty-four year old nurse and ready to start her new job and begin her life In Baltimore. Upon learning her mother Ruth has Alzheimer’s, Catherine’s plans for her future abruptly change.. She must now immediately stop everything and care for her mother.
Her mother explains there there is a history of Alzheimer’s in the family. Catherine’s grandmother struggled with the disease until her death.

Catherine’s mother has told her little of her past and this disease prompts her to research her past, longing to know who she is, other than Ruth’s only child. She has concerns that her mother is deliberately keeping things from her. Could her mother be protecting from something dangerous about her past?

Well, she’s got that right because Ruth has bern running and looking over her shoulder since she was sixteen years old. That’s why they are constantly moving and never are allowed to get close to anyone.

The book is tense, twisty, jaw dropping and you won’t want to put it down.
I loved the author’s style here with the alternating chapters as Ruth and Catherine tell the story. Just when you get to a really tense point from Ruth’s life the chapter ends as Catherine tells her side of things. I couldn’t wait to read more and more.

I highly recommend this one for mystery/thriller readers

I very much wanted to love this psychological thriller, but it fell a little short for me. I was initially drawn to the audiobook because Kate Mara is the narrator. Unfortunately I found her a little flat and not a very compelling narrator. There were some interesting plot twists and think I probably would have enjoyed reading it more than listening.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my review copy.

Ruth Sterling loses her way home from the pharmacy one day, there's a day she can't find her keys, and then she calls ice cubes "water squares"....leading to a diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer's.

Her daughter Catherine, a geriatrics expert about to begin working as a nurse at John Hopkins is quick to question her mothers's actions when things slowly don't add up.

Told dually from Ruth and Catherine in the present's perspective along with journal entries of Ruth writing down her past, GONE TONIGHT is structured into three acts with twists that will leave the reader speechless...

I like to go into my books blind lately; so I didn't know a lot of plot details other than a couple author blurbs- I read the first 30-35% of this book yesterday and I said, yes it's really good; but it isn't a thriller, it doesn't read like "a Sarah Pekkanen book" but then my friends....she flips the switch. And it is full of raging suspense and that kind of creepy scratching the back of your neck wonder about what's going to happen to your lead characters...

GONE TONIGHT is a true exploration of the highs and lows of a mother daughter relationship and the length that one will go to keep their family safe.

It's got everything you're looking for in a great late summer read and when it hits shelves August 1st, I see this one being all over bookstagram!

The audiobook performed by Kate Mara was absolutely riveting and added such an extra layer to the story; she is a phenomenal talent as an actress, and I would definitely seek out more audiobooks narrated by her.