Book Review: "The Night Before" by Wendy Walker
“The Night Before” by Wendy Walker
Synopsis: 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…-MacMillan
Rating (out of 5): 3.25
Trigger Warnings: violence, murder, family secrets
Review: So we know that Momo rarely writes rave reviews, and yesterday was a departure for me. Unfortunately I couldn’t continue the streak today, and I have to confess I found this pretty lukewarm. I liked the mental picture the cover blurb painted and so was excited to give this a try, but I didn’t love this one.
One plot device did really enjoy was that the book plays out on two separate timelines. We follow Rosie through a few days as she searches out her sister, and Laura’s timeline goes much more slowly, progressing through the date from which she didn’t return. This definitely propels the book effectively forward. Even though I found the book flawed and more than a bit improbable, I wanted to know what was going to happen to Laura.
The dark secret in Laura’s past is told in her words to her date, and while it was absolutely a traumatizing and horrific occurrence, it seemed unlikely. While it does help us develop some suspicion about both Laura and her date’s intentions, when we finally learn the complete truth of what happened that night, it ends up feeling underwhelming.
In the end, the perpetrator of all the crimes in the book escalates the action in a cliched way (I’m sorry, mystery reviews are hard without spoilers!). While I stayed with the book through the end, I was not pleased with the conclusion. I found it hard to connect with any of the characters on more than a surface level, and therefore couldn’t become too invested in their fate beyond my interest in figuring out the mystery.
I know I complain about this a lot, but this book is full of white people, and I’m legit getting sick of the lack of diversity I’m seeing in my reading. Certainly it’s partially my fault for choosing books as I do, but I really hope authors make an effort to write more non-hetero, non-white characters.
TL;DR: This is definitely a quick read, and it entertained me through several commutes home. It’s a bit disjointed and heavy-handed, and falls apart a bit near the end. Also, so many white people.
If you liked this, try these:
“The Dead Lie Down” by Sophie Hannah
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