This was my first book by Sarah Pekkenan and it certainly won't be my last. This story gripped me from the very first page and refused to let me go! Would definitely recommend!

I have enjoyed other books by Sarah Pekkanen co-written with Greer Hendricks. I tore through this books in three days. It has a slow pace to begin with but picks up quickly. Alternating POV between mother and daughter make you want to keep reading. Very original to have a daughter spying on her mother, thrillers usually have wives spying on husbands.
I wouldn't call it a thriller but definitely a suspenseful and exciting page-turner.
Ruth comes across as a bit too paranoid. Though ultimately proved right, we never learn why.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC! I really enjoyed this one!

This is a thriller novel following Ruth and her daughter Catherine. Catherine has never questioned why it’s just the two of them or why Ruth will never speak about her family or her past. Ruth however quickly spirals when she learns that Catherine is planning on moving to away to pursue her dream career. Ruth will do anything to protect Catherine at all costs but how can Catherine trust her when everything she thought she knew about her mother is a lie?

I’m going to admit it took me a bit to get into this but in hindsight this actually suited the story really well and the pacing overall turned out to be perfect. I really enjoyed the dual perspectives of Ruth and Catherine because as a reader I was able to get inside their heads and see what motivated them and their thought processes before making wild decisions which was important for a plot like this in my opinion. Ruth is telling her story as Catherine puts clues together and works things out herself which had me on the edge of my seat and unable to put the book down once it kicked off.

A problem I sometimes have with these kind of thrillers, where a main character knows nothing (and so nor do you) is that information comes to slowly and the book becomes frustrating to read rather than interesting but there were so many reveals throughout this one that I didn’t have that problem. I was entertained the whole way through. Ruth’s story actually broke my heart and the ending actually had me in tears. I felt sometimes that Catherine was a bit hard on her and acted a little immature for her age. She sometimes read like a sixteen year old rather than a twenty four year old and that bothered me a bit.

This novel is ultimately about the lengths a mother will go to to protect her child, the stakes are high and there are some triggering topics discussed so please check trigger warnings. If you want a twisty thriller that keeps you guessing up until the last page then this is for you! It was released on 3rd August so you can read it now!

My hugest thanks to Becca at @orionbooks for sending me this beautiful book.

I’ve only ever read books by this author that have been with Greer Hendricks. However, I have loved each one that I have read. Gone Tonight has been no exception. I loved this from beginning to end.

Catherine and Ruth are mother and daughter who have an unusually close relationship. However, Catherine may not know her mother as well as she initially thinks. Ruth is a woman with many secrets and Catherine delving into them could mean trouble.

This is tense and filled with moments that keep the reader hooked. The tension is throughout this as you read. The dynamics between Ruth and Catherine are interesting and been an element I have found fascinating throughout.

This is an easy read, with many entertaining elements. I have been pulled in and unwilling to put this one down. This is a book I have devoured.

I will definitely be looking up more books by Sarah P and cannot wait to see what is coming next. This has been a great read. I have no hesitation in recommending this book.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The story unfolds in three compelling acts, each carefully crafting a web of suspense and mystery that questions the darkness that can reside within a person and explores the depths a mother will go to protect her child.

At the heart of the tale lies Catherine and her mother Ruth, whose relationship is truly extraordinary but also dysfunctional, bordering on overwhelming and obsessive.
They are each other's entire world, but that closeness can sometimes feel suffocating… as you know a relationship could.

Overall, this book is really good! Once I started, I simply couldn't put it down.

The level of intrigue and suspense is off the charts, and I wholeheartedly, extremely and highly recommend it to all thriller enthusiasts.

It's a gripping journey filled with surprises and jaw-dropping moments, guaranteed to leave you breathless and hungry for more.

Although a bit bit of slow burner, it is well worth sticking with this book. Beautifully written and truly a masterpiece.

⭐️ Gone Tonight - Sarah Pekkanen ⭐️
#bookreview

📕 What would make a teenage girl vanish into the night and live a life on the run for two decades? GONE TONIGHT is an up-all-night mother-daughter thriller that asks the reader how well do we really know those closest to us? For readers who enjoy Lisa Jewell, Samantha Downing and Shari Lapena.

🤩 I’m a huge fan of Sarah Pekkanen after reading The Golden Couple she co-wrote with Greer Hendricks. So was super excited to see she had a new solo book out - and boy, has she hit it out of the park with Gone Tonight.

Centring around single mum Ruth and her daughter Catherine, Pekkanen takes us on a chilling journey of what lengths a mother will go to, to protect her child.

Ruth and Catherine have always been close as its been just the two of them for all of Catherines life, possibly even bordering on co-dependency. But when Catherine accepts a new position at The John Hoskins Hospital in Baltimore, ready to start her own life, she notices a steady decline in her mothers health.

Catherine makes the difficult decision to cancel her plans and stays to help her mum. Told in alternating points of view between the two, Catherine realises that there is more to her mums story than meets the eye …

Chock full of tension and twisty secrets, I read this in one sitting. Brilliant, suspenseful, emotional and utterly entertaining. Can’t wait to see what SP comes out with next.

4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Many thanks to @orionbooks and @netgalley for an advanced reading copy 💌

❓ What book or new release are you looking forward to this month?

#gonetonight #netgalley #bookrecommendation #bookblogger #newrelease #lilyreads

I've really enjoyed the novels Sarah Pekkanen has written with Greer Hendricks and so was looking forward to Gone Tonight.
It's told from the dual perspectives of Ruth and her 24 year old daughter Catherine. Ruth works as a waitress and after a life of frequent moves and financial insecurity Catherine is ready to leave home and start her career. When she realises that her mother will go to any lengths to stop her moving away she begins to look into their family history- was Ruth really disowned by her family when Catherine was born?
This is an excellent thriller that is extremely well paced and the dual perspective really draws the reader into both characters points of view and I found both Ruth and Catherine to be sympathetic characters. I like the way the author reveals Catherine's past gradually and this kept me reading. A great ending too !
Recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

I've read a few books by Sarah Pekkanen and I've enjoyed everyone, including Gone Tonight. She keeps you feeling tense throughout the book!

A great read ! Told from the POV of Ruth (the mother) and Catherine (the daughter) which highlighted the emotional bonds between mother and daughter and the ends a mother will go to protect a child.it started a little slow but then the twists and turns started and I was hooked ! Recommend!

Gone Tonight was a wild ride and I loved every minute of it!
Thank you @netgalley and @orionpublishing for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Synopsis
To 24 year old Catherine Sterling it's always been just her and her mom Ruth.
They've moved from city to city, from one tiny appartement to the next, numerous times throughout her life.
There are no other relatives in their lives and they don't have any close friends. While Ruth's waitressing jobs have kept them afloat, Catherine is set to move out to pursue a career out of state, away from her mother.

Ruth Sterling has always been tight lipped about her past. The less her daughter knows about her, the better. It will keep them safe and Ruth will do absolutely anything to protect her daughter. The thing is, the tight grip she holds on her daughter is driving Catherine away from her.
When Catherine starts digging in her mother's past, piece by piece, a horrible truth comes to light.
One that has devastating consequences...

This was such a captivating psychological thriller! It has a very complex mother - daughter relationship at it's core and a dual POV with flashbacks. Full of suspense,
highly recommend!

Thank you Netgalley for my ARC of this book.
First time reading from this author but this didn't disappoint, I really enjoyed this from the start
Highly recommended

Wow. That was my first thought after the book ended. I have been a huge Sarah Pekkanen fan as her books have quite a bit of twists and turns and Gone Tonight is no different. This is a captivating thriller that I found difficult to put down. This has to be on my list of top reads and thrillers this year.

The story is told in multiple perspectives and timelines. Nothing is what it seems, or rather no one is. The ending itself makes you question what you know of the lead characters. It's quite fast paced and manages to keep you at the edge of your seat.

The book is a thriller with family and relationships at the core. But it also focuses on people and how they can surprise you at times for the sake of survival. Definitely recommend this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Orion Publishing group for this e-arc in exchange of my unbiased review.

This a decent enough book. Its a slow burner, but once it does start to burn, it burns fierce. When I first started to read, I struggled to connect with the characters and the storyline. I felt it was far too much family drama and not enough thriller. However, I persevered and it picked up a fairly gradual pace and I was drawn in once again.
Its well written and is told in alternating chapters by the two main characters - Ruth and Catherine Sterling. A mother and daughter.
Overall its an enjoyable read, but by no stretch of the imagination would I call it an out and out thriller, and I'm sorry to say not one of my favourite reads. However, having said that, I would consider reading other titles by this particular author

Gone Tonight is one of those books that I had not heard of, then all of a sudden, everyone was talking about it. So despite a teetering tbr tower, I knew I had to read this book, and I’m so pleased I did.

The story is centred on Ruth and Catherine. A mother and daughter, working hard to make ends meet, happy in their closely entwined lives.
All Ruth and Catherine have are each other, there is such an intensity to their mother/daughter relationship. Catherine starts to see that there is so much more to her mother than she knew, things her mother has buried. Does she actually know her mother at all?

This will be an emotional read for some readers, for differing reasons.
My feelings towards the characters ebbed and flowed constantly.
There was a particular theme of the story which really connected with me; my heart went out to both characters. Then there was a complete narrative shift. As a result, I was furious with one of the characters, until yet again, my feelings changed.

There is a reason why Ruth has kept her early life, her first existence, away from her daughter. Some of those experiences are heart-breaking and horrendous in equal measure. Just reading some of them made me feel extremely uncomfortable.

The book has a slow burning tension, but at the same time, still has a pacy feel to it. As the book progresses, the tension rises, and the pressure on Ruth and Catherine increases. My stress built alongside theirs, while the author kept me in suspense.

As the story ends, the author leaves the reader with a question in their minds, with regards to one of the characters. We are left with our own thoughts, to draw our own conclusions.

This is my first read by Sarah Pekkanen, and it certainly won’t be my last. I’m very grateful to my fellow reviewers for bringing my attention to Gone Tonight. It’s a 5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️ highly recommended read.

Oh my goodness! This book was absolutely fantastic! I couldn't put it down it was that gripping! Honestly did not predict it.

Is it love, overprotectiveness, or manipulation?

For some parents it is very difficult to let go of their children but how far will they go to keep them by their side?
Sometimes they tell themselves it is to protect the child, but is that really the truth or are they doing it for their own selfish reasons?

In this book, we meet Ruth and  Catherine.
It seems like Ruth had a very tragic life and is estranged from her family. Because of things that happened in her past, she has not told Catherine anything about her family or Catherine's dad. In her mind this is her way of protecting Catherine, but is she protecting Catherine or is she protecting herself?
Soon we start to see a darker side to Ruth, a  more manipulative side, and the story takes a sinister turn.

Then the truth starts unfolding and you start asking yourself if you can blame Ruth for her actions because sometimes people are broken because of circumstances.

An excellent and at times thought-provoking read!

Thank you to Netgalley and Orion Publishing group for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

This book is. Drama rather than the thriller I was expecting. I’m not keen on dementia stories so straight away it lost a lot of my interest. It’s completely character led but as I only enjoyed Ruth’s take on things I needed more action.

It's not every day a book leaves me bawling, but this is one of the best thrillers I've read in awhile.

I was gripped from the start and there was not a dull moment. The plot was fast-paced and highly engaging, while the characters and dual timelines had me super invested. I thought I knew where things were going but boy, was I wrong!

I love mother-daughter stories and this was so incredibly written with so much heart and nuance. I could feel both women's motivations, love and conflicting emotions about each other so deeply. There was an extra element/subject being explored that I didn't see coming but thoroughly enjoyed.

The book is split into 3 parts, each brimming with tension and ending with a punch. I didn't want to put it down and every time I had to, I found myself wishing I could get back to it. The ending/last 2 chapters are just pure perfection.

A compelling, well-crafted and emotional page-turner overall!

Sarah Pekkanen has written an intriguing and suspenseful thriller without Greer Hendricks, I must admit I was not sure initially whether I wanted to read it, but as I discovered, I had nothing to worry about. With the requisite unreliable narrators, this takes some time to get into its stride, with a mother and daughter relationship at the heart of the mystery. 24 year old Catherine Sterling is under the illusion that she knows her mother, and she might be forgiven for thinking this, the two have an unusually close relationship. Ruth Sterling is a hard working and unassuming woman, moving on to the next place after a while, her daughter is everything to her. There is nothing she will not do to protect her, and she cannot see them living separately, but a frightened Ruth is in for a shock.

In most circumstances it is normal for a child to want to move on and be independent, and Catherine is no different, she has plans to escape what can on occasion feel like an oppressive relationship. She has graduated as a nurse with a specialism in geriatrics, she is going to go to Baltimore to take up a new position and begin a new life. However, Catherine becomes aware that'her mother could be experiencing elements of Alzheimer's with her worrying forgetfulness, an apparently inherited condition. A haunted Ruth is a woman with secrets in her past, and Catherine begins to delve into them, not understanding that this will put her and Ruth in danger.

The is a tense and twisted multilayered mystery which many readers are likely to enjoy, with a fascinating mother-daughter relationship at its centre that begins to shift and develop into a different direction. Recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.