"There is one thing we women do even better than disappearing: We protect our children."

•Synopsis:
From the outside, Ruth seems like any other hardworking, self sufficient single mom. Her daughter, Catherine is her whole world. Moving from place to place has kept anyone from getting too close, It's only been the 2 of them for as long as Catherine can remember. Now
24 & a recent nursing graduate, she's ready to move away and start her career, but her mom cannot let that happen. Ruth's only priority is to protect her daughter at all costs. Catherine has never had any reason to question her mother, but what lies in wait outside the walls Ruth has so carefully built? Is Ruth's past finally catching up to them both?

•My Thoughts:
lam a huge fan of co-authors Sarah Pekkanen & Greer Hendricks, so of course I was excited for this solo story from Sarah Pekkanen! Just as I predicted - |LOVED Gone Tonight. This story was so original, & beautifully written, the very definition of unputdownable. I connected deeply with both Ruth & Catherine's POVs. I think what makes this thriller stand out is that the situations were so believable & realistic. Pekkanen writes a gripping, suspenseful read that will keep you guessing as she reveals the truth one layer at a time.
Definitely one of my new favorite books ever!

I read this while following along to the audiobook. Kate Mara did a fantastic job narrating & bringing this story to life. I can picture her starring in an on screen adaptation perfectly!

Thank-you to Sarah Pekkanen, Netgalley & St Martins Press for the opportunity to read this arc!

Thank you St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.
I very much enjoyed the plot and twists in this audiobook. However, I did not love the narration, it was just ok for me. What kept me listening though, was absolutely the writing. It was tense and quite enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sarah Pekkanen, St. Martin’s Press & MacMillan Audio for both the digital ARC and audio ARC in exchange for an honest review. This review is wholly my own (except for any quotations) and may not be reproduced.

I am an absolute thriller/suspense/mystery fanatic & Sarah Pekkanen is an author that I usually tend to enjoy so I was thrilled to receive an early copy of Gone Tonight.

Synopsis (quoted):

“Catherine Sterling thinks she knows her mother. Ruth Sterling is quiet, hardworking, and lives for her daughter. All her life, it's been just the two of them against the world. But now, Catherine is ready to spread her wings, move from home, and begin a new career. And Ruth Sterling will do anything to prevent that from happening.

Ruth Sterling thinks she knows her daughter. Catherine would never rebel, would never question anything about her mother's past or background. But when Ruth's desperate quest to keep her daughter by her side begins to reveal cracks in Ruth's carefully-constructed world, both mother and daughter begin a dance of deception.”

I REALLY enjoyed this novel! You think you know what’s going on, only to get proven wrong at the next turn and the twists just keep on coming.

While I had the digital ARC, I ended up listening to the audio ARC provided by MacMillan Audio, simply because I prefer audio over digital because I can get through it much more quickly. This was one of four audio ARCs that I started and finished over the weekend.

It was fast-paced and held my attention. I went back and forth on if I was Team Ruth or Team Catherine. Pekkanen did a great job getting you to despise either one in one chapter and then go back to rooting for them 2 chapters later. Who did my loyalty end up sticking with? Well, that’s top secret info that I cannot divulge or else you’d get too much insight to the twists & turns and then the story would be spoiled. You will just have to grab a copy when it releases on August 1st and see which side you end up on.

This was a solid 4 Star read for me and I definitely recommend giving it a read!

Thank you St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Publish date: August 1, 2023

Catherine Sterling works in the memory unit at a long term care home. She recently graduated and plans to move to Baltimore to work at John Hopkins as a nurse with a specialty in geriatrics. Everyday she sees what memory disorders such as Alzheimer’s does to patients and the effects it has on their families. Everything in her life changes when her mother, Ruth, begins to show signs of eat onset Alzheimer’s.

Ruth and Catherine have had a very attached relationship for Catherine’s whole life. Catherine decided to cancel her plans of moving to stay with her mom. She decides to try to find out anything and everything about her mother’s mysterious past while her mother can still remember it.

Catherine begins to uncover things she could have never imagined as lies upon lies become unearthed and Ruth does what she can to try to stop the truth for coming out. The pair quickly find themselves in danger after Catherine’s investigative work collided with what they’ve been running from for 24 years.

Well written, balanced pacing with dual POVs this was an entertaining read sure to make you want to read it one sitting!

Audiobook note: the narrator does not use a different candence, tone, voice when switching between POVs which I didn’t particularly like. I like being able to clearly differentiate between characters and feel like I am in the book.

4/5 stars

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the advanced listening copy!

Catherine Sterling and her mom, Ruth, have done everything just the two of them. They know each other better than they know themselves, at least, they think so. When Catherine wants to branch out beyond life with her mom, Ruth must do everything and anything that she can to keep Catherine under her wing. Consequently, Catherine uncovers a world of deception beneath her mother's loving and calm demeanor that has her pulling and pulling at the delicate threads tying them together.

First off, Kate Mara did a fantastic job narrating this! I love her voice and love her as an actress, so that definitely added a fun layer to this one. I do wish there had been two narrators or more of a distinction between Catherine and Rose's voices. I always find that adds a depth to audiobooks that I appreciate.

Beyond that, however, this was a solid thriller. Dark, atmospheric and instantly intriguing, I was hooked on this one from the beginning. I really wasn't sure where things were going and found myself enjoying the ride. There weren't any really shocking twists in my opinion and parts of the book started to feel a bit redundant, hence 4 instead of 5 stars. The book was pretty suspenseful and definitely did a good job of building up the tension before a final resolution. Overall, I enjoyed this one and will check out more of Sarah Pekkanen's writing!

Ruth and Catherine have always been on their own. They have a strong mother-daughter bond; at least, they think they do. Then, secrets begin to come to light and the carefully constructed veneer begins to slip. Danger awaits just around the corner.

This was an intense psychological thriller. It grabbed my attention from the beginning and kept me wanting to read “just one more chapter.” The story was told from two points of view with chapters alternating between Ruth and Catherine. Part of the intensity was the fact that the reader knew things that the characters didn’t. It made me want to keep going to get past the cliffhangers.

I found the narrator easy to listen to. The only issue was that the narrator used the same voice for both characters. For the most part, that didn’t bother me. However, at times, I had to pause to verify which character was telling the story.

While I enjoyed this book, I found some of the things predictable. I also wasn’t a fan of the way things ended. It felt like the author was trying too hard. Overall, I give this book 3.5 stars, rounded to 4.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #MacMillanAudio for an audio ARC of #GoneTonight by #SarahPekkanen

Gone Tonight was a 5 star read for me!! It was addictive and so mesmerizing. This story is told in short chapters & I couldn’t listen fast enough!!!

I have really enjoyed the writing duo of Sarah Pekkanen & Greer Hendricks since their debut novel in 2018. Such incredible storytellers together and individually!

Gone Tonight is a domestic thriller that’s layered, full of suspenseful twist and turns, an emotional tale of a mother and daughter and ends with an unexpected conclusion!! This one kept me on the edge of my seat and guessing the entire time.

This is most definitely a story of how far will a mother go to protect her child?! And wow! What a ride!! Buckle up your seatbelt because it’s about to go fast and furious from the start to the very end.

Like I said I gave this a 5 star review because I absolutely LOVED this story. However, sadly, I wasn’t a fan of the audiobook. I had to replay some chapters back. The narrator is a newer narrator with this being only their 5th book as a narrator from what I read and I just think it wasn’t the best performance. The reason it didn’t work for me was the narrator was so monotone throughout their performance of voicing the characters that it was hard to distinguish who was who at times. Due to the storyline being told not only from dual timelines it was also told from dual POVs. So again, at times I’d have to re listen to the chapter because one chapter went into the next and I got slightly confused at times because I didn’t realize the switch of chapters because the POVs sounded the same. I think this is a skill set that will happen over time. And for a story like this one, that monotone experience was not the fit for this book.

Hands down still HIGHLY recommend this addicting book, just read it physically & skip the audiobook of this one.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an ALC in exchange for my honest review! The story was amazing!

This is audiobook gold. The narrator even did different voices for the mother and daughter perspective. The story was amazing.
I love the perspective of deathbed confessions.
I really loved the ending.

Gone Tonight was a great story, unfolding the history of a mother and daughter with dark secrets. Once I got into the story, I was hooked.

I will say that the audiobook was more confusing than reading for this one. Kate Mara is amazing, but I found myself confused about if we were in Ruth’s voice or Catherine’s voice or a journal entry. As amazing as Mara is, books like this benefit from two distinct narrators for my ear. Fortunately, I had the book and the audio and the book was engaging enough for me to read and listen to both.

The story builds from a slow burn to pulse-pounding thrills. Great book!

Wow this audiobook was amazing. Having Kate Mara as the narrator was absolutely amazing and made this book even better if possible.

The story itself was so interesting and thrilling. I couldn’t stop listening to this one and binged it within a day.

Gone Tonight centers around single mother Ruth and her daughter Catherine. It has always been just the two of them. They have moved many times over the years, and Catherine chalked this up to the fact that her mother worked low paying jobs and had to go where she could get work. They have been in their current location for a while now and Catherine has built a life. At 24 years old, she is also ready to move away from her mother for the first time ever. Just as she gets ready to embark on her new life, her mother receives devastating news that forces her to change her plans.

As Catherine throws herself into finding out the best way to help her mother, she uncovers something that is so shocking it makes her realize that she doesn't even know the person that she thought she was closest to. Through flashbacks, we get to know Ruth and how she got to where she is today and why it is so important that she keep Catherine close.

This was a slow burn and the premise was good, however, I found the execution to be overly wordy and filled with descriptions of mundane details that did not add to the plot. Everything was described and it bogged the book down for me. Also, without giving away the crux of the book, there were tremendous plot holes--some things that happened, people being in certain places, and certain situations just would not happen.

Overall a decent read. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did not really distinguish between Catherine and Ruth and was kind of flat so I didn't love that.

Thanks in advance to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Wow, I was pleasantly surprised by this book! I have found Sarah Pekkanen's previous books written with Greer Hendricks and found them to be enjoyable but not really memorable, but I think this one will stay with me for a while. I found myself unable to stop listening at times and thinking about it when I wasn't listening! I really enjoyed the twist, especially in the epilogue. The narrator was great as well! Overall I really enjoyed this and am looking forward to reading more of Sarah Pekkanen's work!

#GoneTonight by @sarahpekkanen was my most recently finished read via @netgalley audio-arc.
This post is probably coming off as spooky and the story isn’t spooky, but the morality of the characters is kinda spooky! Ever read something and you’re confused who exactly the #BADGUY is????
A young adult, Catherine, is about to finally start really living her life - getting out of town - out from under her mom - but then her mom starts forgetting things - and Catharine is dedicated to stay and take care of her mom - who’s believed to have come down with early onset Alzheimer’s… well things start to then point that perhaps her mother is Faking her illness and Catherine starts to wonder if her mom is faking so that she doesn’t go living on her own! Things take some twists as time and perspectives shoot back and forth between the present with Catherine’s voice, and the mother (Ruth’s) voice carrying us back in time to the circumstances that make their current bizarre reality.
I have to say, the ending had me thinking less of mom and daughter, but I did feel bad because I know the TRUTH about Ruth, something Catherine might never ever know. And it’s very messed up, this truth.
A very enjoyable thriller that had my skin crawling by the end of it all. And again, questioning: is the #badguy the one Catherine thinks it is?????

Gone Tonight 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Published Date 8/1/2023
WoW! This was a powerful Mother/Daughter story that is original, thrilling, gripping, edge of seat, & riveting.
It kept me hanging on & glued to what would happen next. It was definitely a Page Turner Thriller!
It was a crazy thrill ride with a Mother/Daughter relationship that was heartbreaking with so many buried secrets. It grabbed me from the beginning to the end. Just as I thought I knew what was happening next I got another surprise. This book & story will keep you riveted to the next chapter wanting to know what happens next. Enjoy!!
Thank you Netgallery for giving me the opportunity to read this great book. Thank you also for helping me with some technical difficulties. Your staff is Awesome!

This book had one twist after another. Some of them were ones I saw coming but some really shocked me honestly. The epilogue was a fun addition in my opinion and overall I really enjoyed this!

How well do we really know anyone? How far would you go to protect your family?These are a couple of the questions that Ruth and Catherine Sterling have to answer.

Ruth has been taking care of Caroline on her own….no family to speak of. Ruth has started forgetting things and Caroline is worried that her mom is sick…but is that the worse thing that Ruth is hiding?

Pekkanen did a fantastic job portraying the complexities in this mother/daughter relationship which is crucial to this story.

I really enjoyed having two pov’s as well as flashbacks to help show how everything started.


Audiobook was really good…narrator did a terrific job!

Thank you to NetGalley for this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book turned out to be far different than I first thought. I was shocked by how things twisted in a different direction. The story is far more complex than you’d first think! Excellent narration.

Wow! What a great read! Beautifully written- descriptive writing and masterful use of literary devices. Not a mystery but lots of twists and intrigue as this tale unfolds.
I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook version of Gone Tonight, read by actress Kate Mara. The narration is clear and well paced. Kate Mara’s pleasant voice is very easy to listen to. I highly recommend the audiobook.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advance widget of the audiobook Gone Tonight.

I am sorry to say that this book just wasn't for me. The beginning of the story was such a struggle to get through! I almost DNFed it, twice. Once the story started picking up (more than halfway through) it was decent, but overall I just wasn't into it. I knew that Katherine would have violent tendencies, as her father James is a murderer, so I was not surprised at the ending.

While I like Kata Mara as an actress, her audiobook skills are not up to the standard that I enjoy. She never changed her voice when going from Ruth's chapters to Katherine's chapters, and I could not connect with either of the main female character because of this.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for sending me this audiobook. All opinions expressed here are my own.
#SMPInfluencers

Gone Tonight was an excellent listen. Kate Mara, as the narrator, captured the intensity of this mother-daughter relationship.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the tangled web Sarah Pekkanen weaved in this thriller. It kept me on the edge of my seat and I could not stop listening.

Thank you so much NetGalley, Sarah Pekkanen, and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to enjoy this ALC of Gone Tonight.