The Night Before
A Today Show and New York Post Summer Reads Selection!
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. Ferociously smart. --AJ FinnRiveting. --Riley Sager
Addictive. --Liv Constantine
Wonderfully tense. --Aimee Molloy
Irresistible. --Mary Kubica
Impossible to put down. --Megan Miranda First dates can be murder. 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...
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Community Reviews
The relationship between two sisters with long-buried secrets always provides a compelling basis for a psychological thriller. And The Night Before is no exception..
Laura Lochner has come home. She's on the run from a broken heart (again) and has abandoned her Wall Street job and New York City apartment, hiding out in the home of her sister, Rosie, who never left the small Connecticut town in which they grew up. Laura's life has been defined by a tragedy that occurred in her youth, and opened her up to suspicion and gossip. She has never dealt with that reality. Rather, she has been involved in a series of relationships with the wrong men. Of course, Laura has not been forthcoming with Rosie about the details.
Rosie understands her sister and has always been her protector. So of course, she allows her to take up residence in the home Rosie shares with her husband, Joe, and son. Because Laura has not been completely candid about the reasons she gave up her life in New York City, Rosie is left to surmise and attempt to understand this latest chapter in her sister's troubled life.
But Rosie is supportive when Laura announces that she has a date with a man she met on an internet dating site. Rosie helps her gt ready and loans Laura her car so that she can meet the man for a drink, with Laura's assurances that she will behave responsibly.
So Rosie is understandably upset the next morning when she discovers that Laura next came home the previous night. Worse, Laura is not responding to calls or texts, and Rosie has no idea how to reach the man Laura was scheduled to meet. Rosie saw his photo on the dating website, but has no way of knowing whether that picture was genuine or if he provided Laura with his real name. All Rosie knows is that her sister is missing, Rosie's vehicle has been abandoned, and the only person who might be able to help is their mutual childhood friend, Gabe, who lives next door in his boyhood home. Gabe performs IT forensics -- sometimes tracking down cheating spouses -- and offers assistance tracking calls to and from Laura's telephone, as well as the telephone's whereabouts.
Author Wendy Walker relates the story of the desperate search for Laura through alternating narratives. She relates the details of Laura's sessions with a New York City psychologist, commencing four months earlier, along with Laura's present-day first-person account and a third-person present-day narrative told from Rosie's perspective. The result is extremely effective. Walker reveals details about Laura's life that she disclosed to Dr. Brody as readers go along with Laura on her blind date. The focus then switches to the frantic search for her undertaken by Rosie, Joe, and Gabe. Walker switches the story's focus as deftly-times intervals, compelling the story forward and keeping readers intrigued. Along the way she expands upon Laura's history and why she has always been the dysfunctional sister, Rosie's resentments about that and fear not that Laura has been harmed but that, perhaps, she has done something untoward to her date, and grants readers an unfettered look at Laura's feelings -- her self-recriminations, lack of confidence, and awareness of how her sister regards her.
Walker deftly keeps the pace moving, providing clues to Laura's whereabouts, some of which are valid and some that prove disappointing. The suspense builds to the point that Walker reveals what happened to Laura and her location, but the focus then switches to the desperate attempts to get to her in time. Walker includes a subplot involving Rosie's jealousy about the relationship Laura and Joe share which is ultimately resolved with the revelation of family secrets that impact all of them.
The Night Before is a creative, tautly-constructed contemporary thriller and exploration of a troubled sibling relationship. It's a smart, crisp mystery that proves first dates can be murder.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
Laura Lochner has come home. She's on the run from a broken heart (again) and has abandoned her Wall Street job and New York City apartment, hiding out in the home of her sister, Rosie, who never left the small Connecticut town in which they grew up. Laura's life has been defined by a tragedy that occurred in her youth, and opened her up to suspicion and gossip. She has never dealt with that reality. Rather, she has been involved in a series of relationships with the wrong men. Of course, Laura has not been forthcoming with Rosie about the details.
Rosie understands her sister and has always been her protector. So of course, she allows her to take up residence in the home Rosie shares with her husband, Joe, and son. Because Laura has not been completely candid about the reasons she gave up her life in New York City, Rosie is left to surmise and attempt to understand this latest chapter in her sister's troubled life.
But Rosie is supportive when Laura announces that she has a date with a man she met on an internet dating site. Rosie helps her gt ready and loans Laura her car so that she can meet the man for a drink, with Laura's assurances that she will behave responsibly.
So Rosie is understandably upset the next morning when she discovers that Laura next came home the previous night. Worse, Laura is not responding to calls or texts, and Rosie has no idea how to reach the man Laura was scheduled to meet. Rosie saw his photo on the dating website, but has no way of knowing whether that picture was genuine or if he provided Laura with his real name. All Rosie knows is that her sister is missing, Rosie's vehicle has been abandoned, and the only person who might be able to help is their mutual childhood friend, Gabe, who lives next door in his boyhood home. Gabe performs IT forensics -- sometimes tracking down cheating spouses -- and offers assistance tracking calls to and from Laura's telephone, as well as the telephone's whereabouts.
Author Wendy Walker relates the story of the desperate search for Laura through alternating narratives. She relates the details of Laura's sessions with a New York City psychologist, commencing four months earlier, along with Laura's present-day first-person account and a third-person present-day narrative told from Rosie's perspective. The result is extremely effective. Walker reveals details about Laura's life that she disclosed to Dr. Brody as readers go along with Laura on her blind date. The focus then switches to the frantic search for her undertaken by Rosie, Joe, and Gabe. Walker switches the story's focus as deftly-times intervals, compelling the story forward and keeping readers intrigued. Along the way she expands upon Laura's history and why she has always been the dysfunctional sister, Rosie's resentments about that and fear not that Laura has been harmed but that, perhaps, she has done something untoward to her date, and grants readers an unfettered look at Laura's feelings -- her self-recriminations, lack of confidence, and awareness of how her sister regards her.
Walker deftly keeps the pace moving, providing clues to Laura's whereabouts, some of which are valid and some that prove disappointing. The suspense builds to the point that Walker reveals what happened to Laura and her location, but the focus then switches to the desperate attempts to get to her in time. Walker includes a subplot involving Rosie's jealousy about the relationship Laura and Joe share which is ultimately resolved with the revelation of family secrets that impact all of them.
The Night Before is a creative, tautly-constructed contemporary thriller and exploration of a troubled sibling relationship. It's a smart, crisp mystery that proves first dates can be murder.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
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