I am in two minds with this book, for the majority of it, it BLEW ME AWAY! The style, the very short and teasing chapters, the twists and the turns, the misdirects, I loved it all! So much so that I finished the audiobook almost in a day. There were two things I didn't like, and I am being very careful here but 1 was a revelation about Joe and 2 when Rosie and Gabe were on the phone to Kimmie. That is all I can say on the matter, but these two points annoyed me enough to bring the rating down.

Otherwise, I loved it! I always like books that twist you about, and yes you do have to suspend disbelief and wonder why Laura likes to whine so much, but when you get past that, this is a little gem.

A very dark tale and it was addictive too. I am not sure how I would work through thinking one thing all my life, for it to be entirely false. When Laura didn't over analyse everything, I found her to be endearing and not the monster she has been painted as. But when we flit to Rosie, I loved that we are giving room to doubt, I mean is Laura a monster? It was intense right near the end of the book and the fact the book is mainly focused over a couple of days was great, it really amped up the intensity of trying to discover the truth.

I will definitely pick up a book by Wendy again, bar a few gripes I really did thoroughly enjoy it. I did guess who would be behind it but that was mainly due to the breadcrumb clues we were given and subtle warnings in dialogue. It never bothers me if I do guess it, because I think it's more exciting as you watch everyone around you trying to figure it out, and it adds so much more so to the tension.

I am excited to read something else by Wendy!

I couldn't put this book down! I just had to keep on reading to see what happened to Laura, especially the past she doesn't want to talk about. Will read more by this talented author in future.

I adore Wendy Walker’s writing and loved the characters here. I found myself wanting to constantly jump back into the story!

One of the best things about The Night Before is the quick pacing. This isn't one of those thrillers that takes forever to get started.
I also really enjoyed how the past events were built up little by little to take us up to what was happening in the present. And I enjoyed the good use of an unreliable narrator in this too. Plus, having the narration switch between the two sisters with each chapter.
There were also a good number of twists that I didn't see coming.
This is definitely a solid thriller that I couldn't put down over the course of a lazy weekend.
I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for Wendy Walker's books going forward, as a result of enjoying this one as much as I did.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

‘The Night Before’ is the latest book by Wendy Walker.

Rosie Ferro and Laura Heart are sisters, but as different as it is possible to be. One is lucky in love and has a conventional family: a husband, and a small son. The other has a troubled past she is still struggling to break free from. When Laura disappears after going on a date with a stranger she met online, Rosie, her protector since they were young, springs into action to look for her. But as she slowly uncovers more about the situation, Rosie begins to fear that her sister might have been more of a danger than the man she went out with.

I sat up one night reading this book and literally couldn’t put it down until I reached the final page.

The story is seen through the narrative of sisters Rosie and Laura leading up to and during Laura’s first online date with a man that she has never met before. It’s during this date that Laura disappears and Rosie fears the worst. The story is seen from the perspective of the sisters and their thoughts and situations at this time.

I really liked this book. It flowed at a fast pace and really kept me engaged. Laura is a complex character, we don’t know if she’s a good or bad character as something questionable has happened to her in the past, that makes everyone including herself question her actions and behaviours and for me, this really kept me on my toes whilst reading the book. As well as being seen from both narratives, the story also is written in past and present tense giving the reader an interesting insight into the sisters and their relationships. Rosie is more settled than Laura, married with children, she’s content with life but when Laura disappears, she immediately fears the first and finds herself battling against time to find her.

This story is cleverly written with cunningly planned twists that really take the reader by surprise. With drama, suspense and an unreliable protagonist, ‘The Night Before’ is dramatic thriller that really pulls the reader in.

You can buy ‘The Night Before’ from Amazon and will be availble to buy from good bookshops from 3rd October 2019

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press, and Wendy Walker for the opportunity to read and review this thriller - 5 stars! I literally put off everything I should have been doing today and read this book!

Laura is staying with her sister, Rosie, and her husband, Joe, in Connecticut after a bad breakup that made her leave her job and take refuge with Rosie. With veiled references to a situation that happened when the sisters were teenagers, Laura has lots of emotional baggage when it comes to men. So when she meets a guy on line, leaves for a date with him and then doesn't return home, Rosie is frantic.

The less said the better about this book before you read it - and you need to read it! Told from Laura and Rosie's viewpoints, it was so helpful to have each chapter labeled with the name and date to keep things straight. Highly recommended for a thrill ride of a story!

Thanks to Orion Publishing Group and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
#TheNightBefore #NetGalley

Having read Wendy Walker's previous books, I was salivating at the expectation of sinking my teeth into 'The Night Before'. I was not disappointed. This one has all of the hallmarks of a classic Walker read: impeccable plotting, rich characterisation, and crisp, evocative prose. The blurb for the book offers a tantalising glimpse of what is to come. Indeed, there is nothing straightforward about the seemingly puzzling events of 'The Night Before'. Walker dispenses of anything superfluous to the questioning around the circumstances of the disappearance of one, Laura Heart. Told in dual-narratives - one the eponymous 'night before', one, the night after, we gradually learn more about the characters central to the plot: Laura, her sister Rosie, and the man Laura went on a date with before she disappeared. This is not your stereotypical tale of women as unsuspecting victims of some grotesque, dark vision of violent masculinity, however. Indeed, Walker rips up the rule-book of starkly contrasting binaries of male and female/masculinity and femininity, to deliver a nuanced plot of love, and its closer-than-you-think counterpoint of dark obsession. Fiendishly clever, gripping and salutary, this latest example from Wendy Walker's oeuvre comes highly recommended.

I really liked Wendy Walker’s previous two novels so I have been looking forward to read this new one, but, unfortunately, I can’t say it is one of my favourite. The story is entertaining and suspenseful, but I had some trouble really getting into it. There are a few twists that I didn’t see coming, but also a few things that I figured out right away and I didn’t really like any of the characters. All in all, this is an enjoyable novel, not my favourite by this author, but her brilliant writing style still made it difficult to stop reading and I am looking forward to her next novel.

Really enjoyable read. Good characters and a Good story. Well worth a read. Think others will enjoy.

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Dawn MacPherson O'Toole's review Jun 13, 2019 · edit
liked it

Laura and Rosie are sisters, Laura has moved in with Rosie and her husband, Joe, after the cold break up of a relationship. Laura goes out on a date and doesn’t come home. Rosie is beside herself and determined to find out if Laura is in danger or has she hurt someone

There is a lot of buzz about this book and I found it quite flat. Something was just missing and I feel disappointed with myself as so many of my friends loved it! Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review:

Well, well, well! What an interesting read!! I wasn't too taken with the storyline at first as I just couldn't sink my teeth into the book deep enough to fall under its spell. The thing about 'The Night Before', in my opinion, is that it's a very slow burning novel which increases its levels of suspense ever so slightly with each turn of the page. Do not, under any circumstance, let the fact that the book starts off exceptionally slow whilst also setting the scene in a dot the i's, cross the t's sort of way, put you off. I am so glad that I kept an open mind with Wendy Walker's new book as my goodness, the wait is definitely worth it!

I kept looking at Rosie's surname wondering why I was always hungry every time it caught my eye - I stupidly thought it said Ferrero.....after the chocolate! What a numpty! Anyway, back to the book....

Laura is an intriguing character. She is often treated with kid gloves by her sister, Rosie, as its like Laura cannot be trusted to live life on her own terms. Obviously I had no idea whether that actually was the case or not, as it took a little while for Laura's past to become apparent, but even then, there were quite a few gaps in the story. Don't fret though, those gaps are filled by the end of the book. Now, whether they will be filled in the way that you think they should be, remains to be seen. Did I see it coming? No. I genuinely didn't. It wasn't until I had reached 80% of the book that the puzzle pieces started to fit together, but even then I wasn't sure what to believe knowing just how brilliant Wendy Walker was at leading her readers into a false sense of security.

'The Night Before' is a dual timeline read of the night before, and the night after, whilst also switching between both Laura's and Rosie's lives. It works. It really does. Yes, the thing about different timelines is that they can end up making readers confused, but I found that this book did the complete opposite. Instead of being confused by the to-ing and fro-ing, I felt invigorated by the snippets of new information that were being dropped by the author each time. It was very cleverly done and, unfortunately for me, enabled my mind to switch camps like nobodies business. Whose camp do you think you'll be in? Rosie's? Laura's? Neither?

I was absolutely hooked by Wendy Walker's atmospheric storytelling! At times nothing seemed to make sense, and then all of a sudden, everything made complete sense. 'The Night Before' is a novel which changes its stance, so to speak. You might feel that you know where the book is heading at the beginning, yet before you can say 'omg!', the author changes the direction of the storyline and leaves you wondering what on earth to believe next.

Slow burning it may be, but boring and predictable it definitely is NOT! A psychologically twisted, complex and sinister novel - I can guarantee that, the morning after you will be thinking about 'The Night Before'.

I really enjoyed one of Wendy Walker’s previous novels, All Is Not Forgotten, so I was very pleased to read her latest thriller, The Night Before. It follows Laura, a conflicted and complicated woman who goes on a date with a man she has met online and Laura’s sister’s efforts to find her after Laura doesn’t return home from the date. The timeline is split between Rosie, Laura’s sister who is desperately searching for and trying to protect Laura and the events of ‘The Night Before’ whilst Laura is on her date. This set-up worked well as the tension was slowly heightened bit by bit as we learn more and more about what is actually going on here.

Laura herself is a tricky character to get a read on for most of the book. She clearly has a troubled past and the reader is made aware that it is possible Laura has a violent history and was involved in an incident in her youth. She’s not a very easy character to like because of her brittle and enigmatic nature but she is incredibly fascinating to try and unravel. Rosie is a more conventional and likeable character and her intentions and feelings are much more unambiguous. The relationship between these sisters is one of the best parts of The Night Before. There is a deep loyalty between them in a way that is unique to sisters and was a focal point in a story where is is difficult to ascertain who is lying and who is telling the truth.

Walker’s writing has a sort of sharp harshness to it which I really like mostly because it is something a bit out of the ordinary. It works nicely here although I do think some of the dialogue felt slightly strange and off at times. Despite this, I was gripped by what was going on and I was eager to uncover the truth lying behind Laura’s past and her present. I can’t say I loved The Night Before quite as much as All Is Not Forgotten but I am definitely a fan of the way Walker writes and I am looking forward to reading her future work. Overall, The Night Before is a compelling and twisty thriller and is well worth a read.

Although this book was not entirely my cup of tea, I enjoyed the different voices in the narration. Letting the reader know little by little about past events according to what was happening in the present was clever and brilliantly executed.

What would you do if your sister disappeared?

I mean, it’d be a toss-up between taking all my favourite clothes from her wardrobe and calling the police. But Wendy Walker’s new book is the kind of spine-chillingly good read that makes you rethink everything you know about family (and ESPECIALLY this family).

It’s written from the perspective of the night before, and the days after, Laura Lochner goes missing from her first date in months. Her sister, Rosie, instinctively knows that something is wrong, and starts trying to track her down. Because Laura has a dark past, and Rosie isn’t sure whether Laura needs saving from other people, or from herself…

Good, eh? This book hits the ground running at a hundred miles an hour and doesn’t stop there, as the two stories start unfolding in parallel. What happened that night, and what’s still happening? Drip by drip, we start finding out more about the web of secrets and lies that have sprung up around the Lochner girls’ lives.

The result is pretty mesmerising to watch- kind of like a car crash in slow motion. Laura’s been traumatised ever since her first boyfriend was brutally killed in her teens. Rosie doesn’t know her sister as well as she used to, but is desperately trying to believe the best in her. The dynamic between the two sisters is gorgeous and, above all, believable: proof that you don’t have to like your family, but you’d always do anything for them. The worn patterns of the sisters’ conversation and the old, outdated views they have of each other, is the kind of relationship that only comes from growing up together.

It’s also disturbingly on the nose when it comes to the question of love. What would we do to be loved, and what do we do to those who love us? Walker hits unnervingly close to the mark in a few cases, using her damaged heroine Laura to ask some hard questions about what humans do to each ot

And the tension. I’m pretty sure I gave myself a paper cut from gripping the book so hard. Walker is a master at giving you exactly the right information to drive the plot forward- but also, somehow, leaving you more confused than ever. The nifty combination of present-day, night-before and past experiences, as well as conversations with Laura’s therapist, gradually gain more and more significance the more you read, leaving you desperate for answers and increasingly uneasy. She’s also great at the grand reveal; some whipcrack plot twists left me gasping, though the reveal of who the real baddie is was something I did manage to guess a few chapters beforehand.

Dark as a night in the woods, morally murky, desperately sad and thrillingly written, The Night Before was a treat to read. Though I probably won’t be sleeping for a week.

I loved this book! It starts with Laura and her getting reading for a date but the next chapter you are with her sister Rosie and it's the morning after. You then interchange between the 2 views along with the odd therapy session with Laura from several months before. This is the kind of book I love with secrets coming out and the author giving you the chance to come to your own conclusion only to pull the rug from under your feet as the truth is revealed.

Rosie and Laura are sisters, but are different as can be. Rosie was their parents' golden child, while Laura was the difficult sister. They have grown up in the Connecticut woods, running wild with their close friends Joe and Gabe, in what should have been a happy childhood - but all families have secrets.

Rosie, as the eldest, has always tried to protect fierce little Laura, especially after their father walked out on them as children, but Laura's past is troubled - there is a darkness about her that seems unfathomable, and she has found it difficult to get over the brutal murder of her first boyfriend one night in the woods around their home. No one is really sure what happened that night, including Laura.

In the present, Rosie is happily married to Joe, and they have a young son together. They are content. Gabe still lives nearby, but Laura has moved away - trying to escape her past and find the love that she feels has always been missing from her life.

Laura goes from one doomed relationship to the next. Her latest relationship has broken down and she has left her high-powered Wall Street job and New York apartment to return home to spend some time with Rosie and her family.

One night, Laura goes on a blind date with a man she has met on an on-line dating site, still trying to find the man who will offer her everything she needs. Rosie is concerned that Laura is taking things too fast, after the latest break-up, but tries to be as supportive as she can.

Unfortunately, Laura does not come home from her date. Where is she? Is she safe?
Rosie starts to question Laura's state of mind, as the search for her missing sister gets underway. Should she be worried about Laura, or should she be concerned for the man she was dating instead? What is Laura really capable of?

This is a great, pacy thriller with some excellent twists that I did not see coming at all. This is one of those books that pulls you in and you will not be satisfied until you have read to the very end - it is always good when that end is satisfying too.

The story alternates between the night before the date, mostly from Laura's point of view, and the day after when Laura is found to be missing and the search begins - with snippets of Laura's sessions with her therapist thrown in. I really liked this, as it builds suspense well and slowly reveals the horrifying truth about what happened "the night before" and all those years ago in the woods.

I have read a few psychological thrillers this year, some of which were hyped to the max, but this is actually the best one so far. The story is gripping, the pacing is good, and the twists actually work. Good job, Wendy Walker!

Wow !
What a book!
If you need something to keep you up all night, chewing your fingernails, then this is the one for you.
Much as Rosie panics over her sister, Laura's disappearance, you will be dissecting the plot for clues and hints which are dribbled in slowly, like a measly portion of cream on top of the most perfect cake, when really you want the whole jug to douse it in.
I love cake, and this is what Wendy Walker does with this book, she gives you the cake and adds the cream, bit by bit till the very last page when you close the book , gobsmacked in awe and immediately chekc out her back catalogue. She withholds stuff from you, playing her plotting cards so closely to her chest whilst leaving agonising titbits threaded through the story. It is only at the end that everything falls into place.
Laura has come back to her home town to live with her sister and her husband and son, following a devastating heartbreak. They all grew up together but somehting happened when they were younger, something that led to Laura changing her name. And then she goes out for an online dating meetup and doesn'[t return...
SO MANY QUESTIONS!!
What happened? Why did she change her name? What is being hidden in plain sight here? This could have become frustrating in an another author's hands but you are so invested in finding out what happened to Laura and her date, that the dual narratives of the story-both sister's POV-build up the tension and ratchet up the suspense until the crashing finale.
Thoroughly enjoyed this!

A lovely thriller to get your teeth stuck in.

I was excited to read this after the blurb and I enjoyed it a lot. The story was compelling and it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time.

Laura goes missing after leaving for a date. her sister goes to look for. Who is more worried about Laura, the sister or the man she was supposed to meet for the date?

In this family psychological thriller, tension is built up and this is a great, clever and surprising novel.

I am definitely going to go out and buy her other novels..

The Night Before by Wendy Walker grabbed my attention with it’s twisty blurb. Plus I adore books about sisters and troubled pasts, so I knew it was my kind of book. Boy, was I right!

Thanks to Orion for giving me for giving me a copy of this book for review consideration. As always, no matter what the source of the book, you get my honest, unbiased opinion.

FIRST LINE

Laura: I don’t know if this is a good idea.

MY THOUGHTS ON THE NIGHT BEFORE BY WENDY WALKER

This thriller really ticked a lot of boxes for me. I loved the main character, Laura, and how she over questioned everything. The plot revolves around a woman who goes out on a first date after meeting a man online. And then fails to come home. Her sister, Rosie, immediately gets worried, but the kicker is that even though she is fretting about Laura, she is also worried about the safety of the guy her sister was meeting. I loved that extra little twist, as it kept me guessing as to what went on in the past.

The pace is very snappy, and I read the book in a single day, as I just wanted to understand all the threads. Laura fascinated me with her skills for seeing through everything and everyone. However she doubts so much, that it becomes a curse in her life, as she mistrusts her own analysis.

The story flashes between Laura the night before, Laura a few months ago, and Rosie the next day. All of which kept me hooked, and I enjoyed all points of view equally. I thought just enough information was dropped, to help me form a hunch. But then I was kept guessing and double guessing which I thoroughly appreciated. Ultimately I guessed correctly, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment at all.

WHO SHOULD READ THE NIGHT BEFORE BY WENDY WALKER

I’d recommend this to you if you like fast-paced books with complex characters. Fans of authors such as Liz Nugent, Lucy Dawson and Samantha Downing might also enjoy.