The Night Before by Wendy Walker #bookreview #thriller

Title: The Night Before

Author: Wendy Walker

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Publication Date: May 14, 2019

Page Count: 320

My rating: 4 1/2 stars

About the book:

First dates can be murder.

Riveting and compulsive, national bestselling author Wendy Walker’s The Night Before “takes you to deep, dark places few thrillers dare to go” as two sisters uncover long-buried secrets when an internet date spirals out of control.

Laura Lochner has never been lucky in love. She falls too hard and too fast, always choosing the wrong men. Devastated by the end of her last relationship, she fled her Wall Street job and New York City apartment for her sister’s home in the Connecticut suburb where they both grew up. Though still haunted by the tragedy that’s defined her entire life, Laura is determined to take one more chance on love with a man she’s met on an Internet dating site.

Rosie Ferro has spent most of her life worrying about her troubled sister. Fearless but fragile, Laura has always walked an emotional tightrope, and Rosie has always been there to catch her. Laura’s return, under mysterious circumstances, has cast a shadow over Rosie’s peaceful life with her husband and young son – a shadow that grows darker as Laura leaves the house for her blind date.

When Laura does not return home the following morning, Rosie fears the worst. She’s not responding to calls or texts, and she’s left no information about the man she planned to meet. As Rosie begins a desperate search to find her sister, she is not just worried about what this man might have done to Laura. She’s worried about what Laura may have done to him…

Having read Wendy Walker’s previous books I have been looking forward  to The Night Before and thankfully was not disappointed at all. This one is told mainly from the points of view of Laura and her sister Rosie with Rosie’s coming from the now and Laura’s looking back into what happened.

Laura Lochner had been living in New York and working at a job on Wall Street when she gets her heart broken. Not being able to handle losing the man she thought was the “one” Laura packs up and heads back to her home town of Connecticut to stay with her sister and her husband.

Six weeks later with no sign of wanting to head back to NY Laura tells her sister she has a date with a man she met on the internet. Rosie can’t seem to  talk Laura out of the da te so she loans Laura her car and hopes for the best. Unfortunately Rosie wakes up to finding out her sister never returned.

The Night Before may sound like other thrillers out there but I actually found this one  to be rather creative in a few ways. First thing  that seemed a bit different was following the ladies  basically a day apart, we weren’t jumping years back or even months but the split was still distinctive and entertaining. Then boy was I surprised where Rosie’s thoughts headed, a new twist for sure making this one very compelling and hard to put down leaving me to rate this one at 4 1/2 stars.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online: 

Goodreads  /   Amazon

About the author:

WENDY WALKER has worked as an attorney specializing in family law. Her novels include Emma in the Night and All is Not Forgotten. She lives in Connecticut, where she is at work on her next novel.