***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of NIGHT SWIM by Megan Goldin in exchange for my honest review.***

True crime blogger Rachel is covering the case of an Olympic hopeful accused of raping a sixteen-year-old when a note from a woman, identifying herself as Hannah begs the journalist to investigate her sister’s murder from twenty-five years ago. When Rachel looks into the new case, she discovers the drowning was considered accidental. The more she investigates, the more the current and past case overlap in the small town.

NIGHT SWIM is my first Megan Goldin book, and it won’t be my last. I loved how she set chapters from Rachel’s third person POV, the podcasts and Hannah’s letters. From the blurb, I expected NIGHT SWIM to be a thriller, but the story was more mystery lacking the pace and tension of the thriller genre. Readers expecting an edge of your seat thriller might be disappointed. NIGHT SWIM was so good, I didn’t care about the slow start and pace. The resolutions were unexpected and satisfying, though the wrap up felt like a period rather than exclamation point at the end of a sentence.

NIGHT SWIM will make you glad you didn’t grow up in a small town with all the secrets, lies and corruption in the book. A worthy mystery.

Megan Goldin has hit it out of the park again. Rachel Krall, famous podcaster heads to small town, Neapolis to attend a trial regarding the rape of a 16 year old girl. What Rachel doesn't count on is another case begging for her attention.

Told in alternate perspectives of Rachel and Hannah. The book had me sucked in from the start.

Thank you Netgalley, and St. Martin's press for my advanced copy.

The Night Swim is the kind of book that grabs you straight from page one and doesn't let go until the final page; you're oblivious to everything else and realize a number of hours later the world continued spinning without you in it. It's the very definition of unputdownable.

This was a truly PHENOMENAL book. I read it all in about four hours. Each chapter was a cliff hanger and there were over 35 chapters. Truly an incredible book. I will go buy Megan's other book right now. Don't read any other reviews, just read this fantastic book. The best courtroom trial book I have ever read, and I have read quite a few. Well done. Buy it when it comes out!!!

I am so thankful I requested this book on Netgalley. Even though I figured out the ending long before it happened, this story had me glued to my seat and I read it in day!

Podcaster Rachel Krall is in the town f Neopolis for the start of a rape trial concerning the fair haired Olympic hopeful hero of the town and a sixteen year old girl. A classic he said/she said, the town is divided on the guilt or innocence of the boy. Rachel has decided that the new season of her podcast Guilt or Not Guilty will encompass this trial. What she doesn’t know is that a similar rape occurred decades ago that ended in a young girl being murdered. While Rachel sits in court everyday listening to the trial and doing her podcast at night, she is drawn into the decades old death by someone who says she is the sister of the girl who died.

What Megan Goldin has done is weave a tale of two girls, both of whose lives changed forever in the sleepy little town.

This book is told in third person revolving character between Rachel, and Hannah, the sister of the long dead girl. The stories intertwine together in a fascinating glimpse of how once a reputation is tarnished, it is tarnished forever. Even though she has been dead for years, Hannah’s sister Jenny is still viewed by the townspeople in a way that didn’t depict her as the girl she was.
I hate spoilers so I’ll leave it there, but just know, this book will make you think about how people perceive you and how powerless you are against rumors and innuendo.

This book will also force you to examine your views rape, what constitutes it – legally, and morally – and how our views can change in an instant.

5 well deserved stars to what I know will be a much talked about book of 2020. Thanks, Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the sneak peak

Rachel Kralls” voice has become well known after her podcast, Guilty or Not Guilty, helped free an innocent man during its first season and solved a cold case murder during the second. With increasing competition from copycat podcasts, she decides to do something a little different and follow an ongoing case, involving a rape, attending the trial, making daily summaries and allowing the audience to be the jury.
Rachel stops at a diner on her way and is disturbed to find a note left on windshield. Although she receives thousands of emails, and her voice is well known, she works to remain unknown and it is discomforting that she was recognized. The note is from a person who identifies themself as Hannah and she has tried to contact Rachel previously about her sister Jenny who was killed in the city Neapolis where she is going to attend the rape trial. As Hannah reveals more about her story, she is drawn into looking for answers.
The case which has drawn her to this small town is already causing division between those who have a “ blame the victim” mentality and those who support Scott Blair the town golden boy. Can Hannah uncover the truth behind now only the current case but what happened 25 years ago?
The author draws you into this story and your heart aches for what rape victims are subjected to, not only by their attacker but by the system that is supposed to help get justice. I appreciate that the author was not trying to push one viewpoint over another which made stark descriptions of the victims anguish even more effective.
This is storytelling at its best, I could not put this down.

The Night Swim by author Megan Goldin is a thrill of a mystery book! The setting of a podcast is awesome and the characters are developed well! Would absolutely recommend this book!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book!!! It's about a podcaster Rachel who takes on a case where a 19 year old swimmer is accused of raping a 16 year old girl after a party. There's also a backstory where in the same town 25 years earlier, 16 year old Jenny Stills died and her sister wants Rachel to help her find out the truth about what happened to her.

True crime podcasts are hugely popular these days and Rachel Krall is a very well known podcaster searching for answers to unsolved crimes. She finds a plea for help in a note left on her windshield, which leaves Rachel shaken. People might know her voice, but few would know her on sight. And this won’t be the first note she finds. With season three of her podcast on the line, Rachel begins to look into the case of a popular and well loved local swim star who has been accused of raping a high school girl, who just happens to be the town police chief’s granddaughter. While she tries to untangle the complex and explosive case, Rachel keeps getting notes from someone who wants to know what happened to her sister, Jenny, 25 years before. The official cause of death was accidental drowning, but the note writer knows she was murdered and there may be a connection between Rachel’s current podcast and the truth about what happened to Jenny all those years ago. Readers may make the connection before Rachel does, but this is still an exciting and timely read