Gone Tonight

Sarah Pekkanen

Psychological Thriller

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.

-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings.

My Opinion

(4 / 5) How far would you go to protect the person you love most in the world? Ruth Sterling knows the answer to this almost on a daily basis. Little does her daughter Catherine know, that Ruth is not the person she has made herself out to be.

Told from both perspectives, we learn Ruth and Catherine are on their own in this world. Friends and family are not available or possible when they are moving around so often. When Catherine decides to move away after getting her degree, her mom is suddenly diagnosed with memory loss. Catherine starts researching her mom’s past because things are just not adding up. From here she is led on a path of surprises she never imagined. At the same time, Ruth is slowly writing down her history for Catherine. Having both sides of the story really brought it to life and I enjoyed putting the pieces together.

My favorite part was the end! Catherine surprised me and I liked that bit of question that is left about her. It was a steady-paced book that kept me entertained. I recommend this for psychological thriller lovers!

AUDIO REVIEW: Kate Mara as the narrator was great for me. I went back and forth between the book and audio but I loved that the audio kept my attention fully. I never was confused by her voices and loved the emphasis she put in the intense moments.

General content summary: little language, Alzheimer’s/memory loss (throughout book), teen bullying (emotional), alcohol (previous parent alcoholic, some underage), anti-anxiety meds, child physical abuse from parent (some details), m/f kisses, losing virginity (no details), sexual harassment and abuse (teacher to student, details), violence (baseball bat), death by injuries of being beaten with hard object (no details), a man was previously beaten to death (no details), intimacy (no details), gun threat, stabbing (blood), physical violence (few details, choking, stabbing, death), sexual abuse (previous, self harm). 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the gifted copies and MacMillan Audio for the ALC!

The book releases August 1, 2023.

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