A multiple narrator book, switching between narrators between chapters using diary entries as a way to look back at the past. Both characters have secrets, and what starts out as a seemingly tight relationship, they are both not what they seem to each other. It starts a little slow, but I feel that was necessary to set the scene and build the character profiles. The story took turns I never expected and I thought it was clever how the author changed my allegiance between the characters from chapter to chapter. It kept my attention and I read it quite quickly because I was intrigued to find out what would happen next. 4/5 stars. Would recommend.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and the author for an ARC of this book. All options are my own.

This is a story that again asks the question, how far will a mother go to protect her child? Ruth Sterling is willing to fake she has dementia, Something is not ringing true though with her daughter Catherine, who works in the memory wing at Sunrise with patients who have dementia. For the first time she is doubting her mother, and this makes her begin to doubt everything her mother has told her about her past, Catherine decides to to dig Into her mother’s past determined to know what her mother is hiding. The two woman have always been close, neither needing many outsiders.
The story has many layers and is told by both Ruth and Catherine in alternating chapters, both telling their story.
There is a lot of suspense, dark buried secrets, Ruth has been in hiding for 25 years, several different identities, numerous waitressing jobs, different apartments, always putting her daughter first She had a rough childhood, is determined to provide better for Catherine. Her high school boyfriend is in prison for murder, and Ruth was present that fateful night. Ruth regularly visits the library to use the internet to check up on his parole status, she is always looking over her shoulder.
Catherine’s digging puts them both in danger.
This is a clever cat and mouse tale, twists and suspense throughout, its cleverly written and the characters become so real.
Have read a number of books by this very talented established author and once again I was not disappointed, by this gripping, intense 5 star read !
Thanks to Net Galley and Orion Publishing Group for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.

I have really enjoyed Sarah Pekkanen's writing in the past. Gone Tonight is very well written, and is as engaging and complex as I expect her work to be. Unfortunately, in this case, it worked against my enjoyment. I found the topic of dementia and memory loss too depressing to really get into the story. I eventually DNF'd not because the book or author had done anything wrong but I found myself dreading picking it up again every time I put it down, just because Alzheimer's is a real bummer to read about.

I received this arc for free from netgalley.

Gone Tonight is a standalone domestic thriller exploring the extent to which mothers and daughters will go to extremes to protect each other and the impact this all-consuming dedication can have. Twenty-four-year-old nurse Catherine Sterling has built her professional career primarily looking after Alzheimer's patients through the years and is getting ready to move away from her hometown and to settle down alone in the Baltimore suburbs with a new job opportunity she is excited about seizing. But long before that fateful day arrives Catherine discovers that her mother may be suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer's herself having exhibited many classic symptoms of the debilitating disease for the past four months.

The genetic nature of dementia and the fact that her maternal grandmother passed away not too long ago due in no small part to complications from the disease, as well as the multiple scenarios Catherine has witnessed while living with her mother where Ruth has struggled with language, forgotten the correct words and become increasingly confused and subsequently distressed when recent events are discussed forces her to halt her plans. However, knowing that diagnosis will give her mother the best chance to stop herself from deteriorating further and better access to useful treatments, Catherine tries to coax her into getting some scans carried out, however, Ruth is unusually combative about it and this major reluctance to seek medical care makes Catherine suspicious.

There is something that just doesn't add up, so she begins to dig for information about herself, Ruth and any family. Believing Ruth is feigning forgetfulness to ensure she stays with her, Catherine discovers more and more evidence that Ruth is not who she claims to be - she has utilised 3 different names, worked in 12 different jobs and lived in 9 different apartments. And that's just for starters. As Catherine uncovers more shocking clues, she realises she has been living with a stranger for years. And she might just be in more danger than she can deal with.

This is one of the most intense, terrifying yet compulsive family-orientated thrillers I have read in a while, and I enjoyed the very odd relationship between mother and daughter which was obsessive, disturbing and downright unhealthy from the get-go. There is plenty of palpable tension in the suspense-laden build-up to several well-executed and explosive twists, but behind the cat-and-mouse game that runs throughout are harrowing themes of child abuse and abject poverty. Deception and buried secrets are unearthed with every turn of the page and skilful plotting and pacing keep you reading well into the night. A captivating, emotionally wild ride with a fallible mother-daughter duo who will not easily be forgotten.

EXCERPT: CATHERINE - My mother walks through our tiny living room, her eyes sweeping over our old blue couch and coffee table, before she briefly disappears int the galley kitchen.
'I just had them in my hand.' Her voice is tinged with something darker than frustration as she begins another lap.
I should jump up from the couch and help her look for her keys so she isn't late for her shift at the diner.
But I don't want her to notice I've begun to tremble.
'Check your purse again?' I suggest.
She frowns and reaches into her shoulder bag.
My mother is organized. Methodical. Detail oriented. Her purse isn't a jumble of crumpled receipts and loose change. Sunglasses in a case, small bills facing the same way in her wallet, cherry Chapstick and hand lotion zipped into her makeup bag - it's containers within a container.
She shakes her head and walks to the raincoat hanging on a hook by the front door, searching through its pockets.
Maybe her father is absentminded. Perhaps her cousins grew distracted when they approached middle age. It could be something our relatives tease each other about when they gather for holidays.
I don't know. I've never met them.

ABOUT 'GONE TONIGHT': 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.

No one can know Ruth's history. There is a reason why Ruth kept them moving every few years, and why she was ready--in a moment's notice--to be gone in the night.

But danger is closing in. Is it coming from the outside, from Ruth's past? Is Ruth reaching a breaking point? Or is the danger coming from the darkness that may live in Catherine, herself?

MY THOUGHTS: At the end, I had chills running up and down my spine!

The two main characters in Gone Tonight are chameleons, changing constantly to present to others only what they want them to know, including each other. Now, this is a mother and daughter, so you would think that they have few secrets from each other, right? WRONG! This mother has so many secrets from her daughter it made my head spin. BUT it's not a one-way street. Sweet, compliant Catherine is perhaps not quite so sweet and compliant as she seems. She has a devious streak. One she carefully keeps hidden from her mother. Until . . . .

The start to this book is deceptively slow, but it soon took a turn I wasn't expecting and got a whole lot more interesting. I can't say that, once I got to know them, I particularly liked any of these characters. Ruth, Catherine's mother, is manipulative, but she has good reason to be. I initially felt sorry for Catherine, but gradually my feelings toward her changed too. And as I said, by the time I turned the last page, I had chills running up and down my spine.

A riveting book that I read in just a little over twenty-four hours.

Gone Tonight is due for publication 03 August 2023.

⭐⭐⭐.7

#GoneTonight #NetGalley

I: @sarahpekkanen @orionbooks

X: @sarahpekkanen @orionbooks

#contemporaryfiction #crime #familydrama #mystery #thriller

THE AUTHOR: When I'm not writing or spending time with my three kids, I'm a passionate advocate for rescue animals. I serve as Ambassador of RRSA India, a shelter and sanctuary for abused and injured street dogs and other animals in Anand, India. And I work with rescue horses weekly, doing everything from mucking stalls to cleaning hooves.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Orion Publishing Group for a digital ARC of Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen for review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own personal opinions.

As a fan of the books written by Sarah Pekkanen along with Greer Hendricks, I was very excited to read her first standalone novel. And this one is a winner!

Our characters are two strong women: a mother and daughter, who have a complicated enmeshed relationship with each other. And when one of them gets sick, secrets from the past threaten both their relationship and their lives.

I loved the pacing and the characters! It hooked me from the start. Our characters though not perfect, were complicated and I particularly loved Ruth!

I learned new things from the book and got emotional at times. While you may see the twists coming, I loved reading the book and had fun with it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Orion for the e-copy!

Gone Tonight is a dark and twisted thriller. Despite its slow start, the story held me to the end. The debate over genetic flaws threaded through the narrative was more interesting than the thrilling elements.

Gone Tonight is an enjoyable, twisty novel about a mother and daughter keeping secrets from each other. Ruth Sterling has run from her past for the last twenty-five years. Around that time, she had a daughter, Catherine. Ruth has been a devoted, but seemingly codependent mother. Ruth is only in her early 40s and has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease. Though she was headed to Johns Hopkins for graduate school, Catherine feels compelled to stay home with her mother. From there, we learn more and more about Ruth's past. The story is riveting, though I did see some of the reveals coming. I enjoyed Kate Mara's audiobook narration, but it would have been easier to follow if there were two narrators for the dual viewpoints.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for providing this ebook / audiobook ARC. All thoughts are my own.

A mother and daughter that don’t know each other as well as they thought they did, the truths they have kept hidden threaten to destroy everything they have fought to protect. This thriller is different as you find out the mystery quite early on in the story with some twists to follow. It’s a slow burn start and an edge of your seat finish.

Catherine and Ruth, it has been them against the world for the longest time. A bond which goes beyond a mother daughter relationship, until the day that Catherine decides to spread her wings and leave. But what is Ruth keeping secret, and why will she do anything to keep her daughter from leaving?
We follow this story through very different perspectives, through present and past. With short chapters, we explore both Ruth and Catherine's POVs, as they confide all their secrets to us. I also really enjoyed delving into the past in Ruth's diary, trying to fit all the pieces together, as Ruth's carefully constructed world starts crumbling and the deception starts.
Ruth thinks she knows her daughter, and her daughter would never question her past. But getting to know the past as a reader was slow going, it was definitely a slow burner, but one i read really fast in one sitting.
It was my first book by Sarah and I did really enjoy it, and grew a little emotional at the end. It was a very interesting, unique storyline that you don't see often. Very satisfying to finally see the whole picture at the end with brilliant storytelling.
But even though it was a thrilling ride I could only give a 4 star, through all the excitement I could not appreciate these two characters, they were so unlikeable. Also i don't think it had that nail biting edge, before i reached 50% i already knew how the storyline was going to go as it was predictable, but still a fun read. I would still recommend this to fans of thrillers as it's still a page turner and an enjoyable quick read.

This might work for others. I found myself loosing interest in the plot and I didn't really care for the characters.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book, despite a slow start. The main character, Ruth, has a secret that she's determined to protect, especially for the sake of her daughter, Catherine. What I really enjoyed about the book was the way it used diary entries from the past to tell the story. It made the narrative come alive. I also liked how the chapters switched between Ruth and Catherine's perspectives, giving us insight into both sides of the story. While I expected more thrilling moments, the book leaned more towards mystery. The plot revelation happened a bit too quickly, and I wish there had been more to it. However, overall, it was an enjoyable read that kept me engaged until the end.

Thank you Netgalley and Orion Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Ruth Sterling has been running since she was sixteen. She’s moved many times and held multiple jobs, all while trying to bring up her daughter Catherine and keep her safe.

Catherine is now 24, a qualified nurse with a job lined up at John Hopkins in Baltimore, but Ruth especially dreads the though of her moving there, and will do her utmost to keep her close. Catherine thinks she knows her mother’s – how her parents and her boyfriend disowned when she was pregnant at sixteen and she’ had to make her own way in the world. Now that’s she’s planning on leaving home, she wants to know about her mother and her family, but the more she looks, the more her mother’s story unravels and she wonders if anything about her is true.

This slow boiler of a psychological suspense is narrated by both Ruth and Catherine. Up until now they’ve been very close, perhaps unhealthily so, even having a tracking app for each other on their phones, but as Catherine begins to question Ruth’s backstory, they begin to keep things from each other. Ruth comes across as a not a very likeable character, a controlling and smothering mother, but as she writes about her past in a journal she is keeping, we learn about what really happened to her and her real fears of what will happen if they are found.

Overall, I found the pace a little slow and the switching of narrative between Catherine and Ruth somewhat repetitive. Some of the plot devices were also a little unlikely and too convenient, particularly towards the end of the book when a lot happens quickly. However, the writing is strong enough to compel me read to the almost inevitable, but nevertheless gripping, conclusion. There were also times when I wondered that the lengths Ruth took to stay under the radar and keep Catherine close were too extreme, but the epilogue does make the reason clear in one final twist. Where the novel does excel is in the depiction of the two women and of the strong bond between a mother and child and the dynamics at play when that child wants to loosen those bonds and explore the world beyond.

This wasn't what I was expecting. I was expecting a thriller but a lot of this read more like a drama or general fiction. The characters are well written and fleshed out and I liked the multiple povs and flashbacks. This isn't a book with much of a forward moving plot.... its completely character based and not a lot actually happens for the majority of the book. It's just explaining the past and why the characters are the way they are. It did feel very real, like these were real people and it was a realistic scenario they found themselves in but as a thriller, it might disappoint

I loved how this book made me root for and feel sorry for bury the main characters throughout. Each new chapter with each narrator made me fall back into thinking they were in the right side and the other character needed to listen or let go.
I liked the flashback chapters as well - they were full of information rather than being character building.
A great book!

I don’t know how to tell the book without spoilers so I’ll focus on the writing and characters. The writing style is excellent and kept me wanting the read. This is book that will keep you thinking about if after you close the last page. I loved the storyline and really enjoyed this book!

I’ve had mixed success with this author before and I would say this book is another 3 star. I enjoyed the alternating POV and the chapters are short and easy to get through. I saw the twist in Act 1 pretty early on and whilst I don’t necessarily have to be completely surprised by a thriller to enjoy it, it does some what take away the thrill. I felt like the ending was a little flat although I did enjoy the epilogue.

Thanks to netgalley for providing an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

You always know what you rate going to get with a Sarah Pekkanen book, a twisty tale, with plenty of surprising and a lot of depth to the characters. Gone Tonight is an incredibly enjoyable read that draws you in from the very beginning.

Ruth is the only family that Catherine has ever known. The live together and are each others best friends. But now Catherine has a new job and is ready to start a new life away from her mother, and Ruth will do anything to stop her from leaving.

To say anything more about the story would be entering spoiler territory. I loved that we had chapter from each of the women’s points and view, as well as back in time to see why Ruth behaves the way she does. We slowly get to put all the pieces together and it had me wanting to just keep reading.

Thanks to Orion Publishing Group and NetGalley for my advanced copy to read. Published on August 4th.

I enjoyed the dual POV between Catherine and her mother Ruth, I really liked the mother daughter dynamic.

I found the book quite slow and hard at times to push through but it is worth a read, as the writer is very talented in setting the scene.

Gone Tonight had a promising potential with its captivating synopsis of a complex mother-daughter relationship marred by deception. Unfortunately, the novel falls short of its intriguing premise, resulting in a lackluster and tedious reading experience.

The biggest flaw for me was the pacing. For the majority of the narrative, little happens, leaving me craving substance and meaningful developments.The absence of compelling twists further contributes to the overall sense of boredom that pervades the story.

Additionally, the book suffers from an unrealistic portrayal of events and characters. The actions and motivations of the characters often defy logic, making it challenging to suspend disbelief and immerse oneself in the story. The lack of authenticity undermines the emotional connection that should be established between the reader and the characters, leaving me feeling distant and unengaged.
Descriptions are sparse, making it difficult to visualize the settings or empathize with the characters' experiences.

Regrettably, this book failed to deliver on multiple fronts for me. It's an example of a promising concept that ultimately falls flat.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.