This was such a clever story, told in two points of view, by Catherine Sterling and her mother Ruth. Catherine thinks she knows her mother so well, as it's just been the two of them for so long. But now Catherine is ready to leave home and begin a career and Ruth will do anything she can to keep her close.

I really enjoyed the insight into Ruth's past and the way the author revealed tiny pieces of the puzzle, as to why Ruth has not told Catherine anything about her family. But Catherine is determined to get to the bottom of those secrets and neither one are really prepared for the dangers they face.

While this one was a slow burn in parts, it was thoroughly enjoyable and there were definitely twists that I never saw coming. The writing really drew me in and the author ratcheted up the suspense towards the end.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and Orion Publishing for this gifted review copy.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This was such a great read! I’ve read all the title where this author teams up with Greer Hendricks and wasn’t sure how or if id enjoy the solo book. But it was great.

The story was completely convincing, and really different to any book I’ve read before.

Catherine Sterling lives with her mum, Ruth. Catherine has only ever know Ruth, so when Ruth gets unwell Catherine drops every plan so she can be there for her mum. Whilst doing what needs to be done, Catherine again questions her mum about her father and where she came from. Ruth doesn’t want to delve in to the past, and with good reason.

I feel the basis of this book is a mother who would do anything to protect her child. Even if it means bending rules. It also shines a light on how little we know our parents before their children came along, and how bad or good their lives pre kids had been.

We read from both Catherine’s and Ruth’s perspectives which was great, as we get to see how Ruth grew up and why she made the decisions she did. The writing was on point, and was a real page turner. One of the best, original stories I’ve read so far this year.

Ruth has recently been losing things more often and daughter, Catherine, is worried that this is dementia, especially when Ruth throws a revelation in to the works. Catherine who works in a specialist home for those with dementia knows exactly what this entails. Suddenly Catherine has a reason to question everything. What is the truth?

This book went in a completely different direction to what I expected. The first quarter I wasn’t sure if I was reading a thriller or more of a family drama. It does start to go in a more unexpected direction from there on and the pacing begins to pick up. Although I found the story quite slow, I did find parts engaging and thought provoking. Both the character’s perspective are written well, however I found the overall story quite predicable and there were no massive surprises. Although this was a bit slow going for me at this time I can see plenty of others really enjoying this book and I would be interested to see what the author writes next. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley.

Gone tonight is a very tense story about a mother and daughter, and the many secrets they keep from each other! I enjoyed reading this though I really felt like 90% of the problems could have been avoided, if they just communicated!!!!!

Interesting tale of mother and daughter dynamic.
Rather a slow burner for me and i did feel some parts dragged on for no good reason.
My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.
A good four star read.

Wow, what a book! This is definitely one of my favourites this year.
I’m a huge fan of Sarah Pekkanen, but this might be my favourite.
It’s beautifully written and manages to evoke an array of emotions.
It’s a dark book with plenty of twists, but is also touching. The ending was phenomenal.
I loved it!

The plot made it seem fast paced but it was a slow book and I struggled to stick with it. The characters were rather flat and I quickly became very uninterested.

This was my first read by this author and I split my time reading and listening with a preference of audio. The first half was really good but I felt the second half slipped a bit. It might have related to the consistent back and forth of chapter-by-character sequences along with a homestretch story that seemed slightly far fetched and only mildly climatic. Great epilogue! For the audiobook, the narrator was good but not great.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity in exchange for an honest review.

I throughly enjoyed this book.

I've read books the author has co written with Greet Hendricks and always enjoyed them, so knew this was a book I had to read!

Loved the characters the twists and turns and the way mother and daughter get to know one another and acknowledge their secrets ans darkness.

Great read

A thrilling and at times heart wrenching story of a mother protecting her daughter from the world.

I love the pace of this book, not too slow, not too fast, just enough drama to keep you on the edge of your seat in ever chapter. Perfection!

Ruth and Catherine are very interesting characters than make you want to learn more and more about them. I hope this becomes a series?!

I read this as an ARC via NetGalley and found no issues, other than I finished it too quickly!

5/5

This is my first Sarah Pekkanen book.
This is a story about a mother and daughter and the secrets lying between them that is tempting to explode.
First this is a slow burn book. For me when it comes to thrillers I like them fast paced and engaging. The first act of the book was good and each chapters were ending with me opening my mouth in shock/awe wanting to know more. By the time I got to Act 2, I admittedly was struggling a bit. It did start to pick up towards the end and I enjoyed the conclusion.
Sarah is definitely a gifted writer and she does know how to evoke emotions from her words (I found myself chocking up at a particular scene or two) . I just felt it could’ve been shorter by 70-80 pages as some scenes/chapters did nothing to contribute to the story and just felt long winded.
If you enjoy a slow burn with good literacy then this book is definitely for you. I give Gone Tonight a solid 3.5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and especially to Orion Publishing Group for the appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

3.5

Catherine Sterling is growing increasingly concerned about her mother Ruth, as she’s lost her keys, some money and some of her words. At a doctor‘s appointment, Ruth drops a bombshell that rocks Catherine’s world. Despite being estranged from her family from the age of 16, Ruth has received news of her mothers death, aged 50, from early onset Alzheimer’s. As Catherine currently works in the memory wing of a facility for those with dementia, she knows all too well what the realities are. The story is told in alternating points of view by the mother and daughter and where we start in this novel is not where we end up.

The beginning of this novel is extremely slow, and I find it hard to connect with either character, although Ruth’s is a much more interesting perspective than Catherine’s. Eventually, the storyline tracks in a different direction and it gets much more engrossing although I never warm to Catherine, who just keeps picking and picking at things! The dynamics between the two of them are fascinating and it becomes clear how huge burden Ruth is carrying. There are some good twists when the pace picks up, but nothing that is revealed especially blows my socks off. There are some things that are just too much of a stretch, especially Ruth at sixteen.

Overall, because this is pretty much the same throughout as the two bat things backwards and forwards , I find it hard to rate this higher than a three. However, it is an easy read and parts of it are very entertaining. Other readers rate this much higher than I have so I accept I’m on outlier island here!!

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Orion Publishing Group for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

A riveting page turning thriller which will keep you up all night! My first one by this author will not be my last.

Absolutely compelling

Ruth and her 24-year-old daughter Catherine are inseparable. It has always been just the two of them, moving from city to city every few years. Now Catherine wants to move out, which alarms Ruth, who is determined to keep her grip on her daughter – but why?

The tighter Ruth holds on to her daughter, the more she questions her mother’s reason. As Catherine keeps digging deeper, she realizes that she doesn’t know who her mother really is, and finds out that the Truth behind her mother’s meticulously-constructed world is dangerous...

“Gone Tonight” unfolds from the alternating perspectives of Catherine and Ruth – the reader gets to know them and learns what each of them knows, what they keep from each other...

This riveting, original, and psychologically dark Story is filled with deeply buried secrets and shocking deception. And, as the tension boosts towards the end, it gets truly heart pounding.

This slow burn, clever, powerful and addictive thriller captivated me from the first page to the last!

Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen. A beautiful tale of the strength of the mother's love and the lengths she'd go to to protect her daughter. i read this book in less then five hours; urterly captivated. Contains strong mature themes but theyre infrequent and integral to the plot line, and really connected with me personally. I'd absolutely reccomend this book for anyone looking for something with high stakes suspense, strong family connections and murder mystery style writing!
#GoneTonight #NetGalley

What a phenomenal book!! I'm thinking one of the best books I've read this year thus far. Love all the lies and deceit going on. And the search to find the truth. Big bang at the end that I wasn't expecting.
Got better and better the more you got into the story.
A definite book you need on your shelf this year!!

Gone tonight was a very gripping thriller I was hooked from first page until the very last. I loved the writing style which helps build the shocks that come.

This was about an interesting mother and daughter dynamic what would you do if your only daughter is starting to question everything. Very interesting thriller about family secrets and what a mother would do to protect them. The story is told through both women with flashbacks of the past which adds to the tense atmosphere. Highly recommend this to everyone very intriguing thriller which had me racing to the end to find out what other secrets were hidden.

Another amazing read by this fantastic author. I loved reading about both women and the timeline back and forth. Nothing is predictable, nothing is as it seems. What looks like a strong mother daughter relationship is not ways what it seems. I love Sarah’s writing she has such a way with words that draws you in from beginning to end. Highly recommend!

I always knew I was going to enjoy this book otherwise I wouldn’t have requested it BUT I honestly didn’t think I was going to enjoy it as much as I did. Gone Tonight grabbed my whole attention and I didn’t want to do anything until I had finished it. I was fully invested in the characters, the storyline and where everything was heading. I even shed a tear towards the end which I never normally would with a thriller. I loved it.

This was a great story and nothing like I've ever read before. Interesting daughter and mother dynamic look in to their relationship. Dark and intricately woven story. Highly recommended xx