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Happy Tuesday, all! Today I am super excited to share my review of another book I group read last fall, and we unanimously endorsed, The Night Before by Wendy Walker! Publishing today by St. Martin’s Press!

My Thoughts:

The Night Before is one of most original thrillers I’ve read, bar none. 

Rosie and Laura are sisters and total opposites in their personalities and ways of life. While Rosie has lived the expected life marrying her childhood sweetheart and having a child, Laura is single and has had a lifelong difficulty with anger. It was said as a child that she had fists for hands. 

Laura experienced a trauma in her teen years that explains some of why her path has been a diversion from Rosie’s. But why does her life continue to tumble and fall apart every time she meets a new man?

Laura is staying with Rosie and her family when she goes on a blind date and does not return home. Rosie immediately starts looking for her, but knowing her sister’s past, she is desperate to find her. She questions whether her sister could have harmed the man she met on the date, or was Laura hurt this time. As the pieces of that puzzle are shown, it kept me guessing back and forth about Laura’s innocence or guilt. 

Another original aspect of this story is the timelines. The story is told in the present day by Rosie as she searches for Laura, the night before (when Laura was on the date) by Laura herself, and in brief entries of conversations Laura had with her therapist in the past. 

The Night Before had me riveted, glued to my book, confused by my own thoughts about Laura’s culpability (which I loved!), and questioning just how I felt about Laura and of what she is capable. I felt intense empathy for her knowing the trauma and life experiences she’s had. 

Wendy Walker did an exceptional job conveying how two sisters growing up in the same household can have vastly different experiences shaping their entire lives. The Night Before receives my highest recommendation, and I predict it will be a top thriller for 2019!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the complimentary copy. All opinions are my own. 

Synopsis:

The night before…and the nightmare after.

Rosie and Laura are as different as two sisters can be. One is stable and has the perfect family. The other struggles to break free from her troubled past. When Laura disappears after going on a blind date, Rosie takes matters into her own hands.

But as Rosie begins to search for her sister, her greatest fears come to the surface. Could Laura be more of a danger than the stranger she meets or is the night before her last night alive?

Told in dual timelines—the night before and the day after—The Night Before is a riveting thriller about family loyalty, obsession, and what happens when the desire for love spins out of control.

Have you read The Night Before, or is it on your TBR? Do you have any favorite suspense reads? Happy Reading! ~ Jenni THR

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