Cover Image: The Night Swim

The Night Swim

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Member Reviews

Another one that sat too long in my TBR pile.

Captivating from the first moment, once I actually started to read it, I couldn't stop. Given how popular podcasts have become, this plot is perfect. It's a riveting story that you won't want to put down until you found out who did it.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5152043757

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I wanted to love this one based on all the rave reviews, but it was so much heavier than I was anticipating - I’m not sure what I expected! While it definitely had the mystery element, it was not a thriller. Please make sure you have a good sense of what this one’s about for potential triggers before diving in! I did enjoy it overall, but it wasn’t quite what I was expecting.

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This was not an easy read as it deals with rape, reputations, and influence. There are two mysteries to follow that are twenty five years apart and come together through the producer of a crime podcast, Rachel Krall.

Rachel's current crime podcast involves a small town and the rape of a high school student. While covering this trial, Rachel starts receiving mysterious letters from a sister seeking justice. These two mysteries will begin to evolve, connect, and shock.

The courtroom scenes were my favorite part of the book. All the drama, calling witnesses and intense moments.

The author does a great job weaving the two mysteries together. Thought provoking and emotional story.

Thanks to NG and the publisher for my review copy.

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Major trigger warnings for abuse and sexual assault. I’m not usually impacted by these topics, but I struggled to read parts of this book. Even though parts of the book were difficult to read due to the content, it was well written and will bring up a lot of emotions.

Rachel hosts a true crime podcast and she has a different approach for this season. She is going to attend a rape trial in a small town and give listeners the option to “be the jury”. The victim is a female minor known as “K”. However, since it is a small town residents all know who she is. The defendant is the town’s up and coming star athlete who is projected to go to the Olympics for swimming. While in town for the podcast, a woman reaches out to Rachel about her sister’s death which was ruled an accidental drowning, but she maintains it was a homicide covered up. Rachel discovers parallels between the two cases which causes even more tension in the small town.

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Just didn't enjoy it as much as I thought. From the description, it should have been my style, but it was not.

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Review published on Goodreads, 28 August 2020:

At first glance, THE NIGHT SWIM is the kind of thriller I love. Small town. Big secrets. Moody, broody beach setting. Compelling-sounding mystery. Check, check, check, and check! I did like the setting and the twin mysteries at the book's core did keep me interested. The characters in this one weren't my favorite, though. None of them were all that likable, Rachel included. There's nothing really repellant about her (except that she exploits other people's tragedies for ratings), but I also didn't feel very connected to her. Little is revealed about her personal life, including why she spends all her time working on a podcast about true crime. In fact, I sort of wondered why she was a character in the story at all. It would have made more sense if Jenny was the one telling the story. At any rate, I felt a bit of a disconnect there. Add in choppy writing, a predictable storyline with no real surprises, and a novel that really doesn't offer anything new and different, and I wasn't as impressed with this one as I wanted to be. I was invested enough in the story to read it quickly. I didn't hate it; I just didn't love it. I would give it 3 1/2 stars if I could.

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Rachel Krall is a success. Her true crime podcast has had two successful seasons and set a falsely convicted man free from the murder charge he was serving time for. Now she is about to start season three and feels a great deal of pressure to make this season even more successful. Success breeds imitators and since her success, several other true crime podcasts have sprung up.

Rachel's location for this season is a small North Carolina town. There hasn't been a murder but rather a rape. The trial that is about to occur has torn the town apart. The victim is a sixteen year old girl, the granddaughter of the former police chief. The defendant is the town's golden boy, a guy from a wealthy family who is also a record-setting swimmer, bound for the Olympics before he was accused of rape.

But there are other stories in this town. Rachel starts to get letters left on her car or at restaurants where she is eating. The letter writer says her name is Hannah Stills and that her sister, Jenny, was raped and killed in the town twenty-five years ago. Jenny's death was identified as an accidental drowning but Hannah knows that isn't the truth. But Jenny wasn't from a wealthy family and her death was swept under the rug. Hannah is sure that the only chance of justice Jenny has is for Rachel to investigate the death and discover who killed Jenny.

Rachel gets caught up in both cases. The rape trial brings up repressed memories for her of the times that she was groped or worse in her own life. The death of Jenny is a mystery and as she looks into it, many of the town's most influential citizens seem to play a part in the long ago scandal. Can Rachel's podcast help to solve the cases?

Megan Goldin was a journalist for many years before she wrote this mystery. Part of her inspiration was the true crime podcast, Serial, which investigated the murder for which Adnan Syned has been imprisoned. That podcast was immensely successful and has resulted in the case being looked at again and further appeals of the sentence brought to court. Goldin's journalist experience is seen in the pacing of the novel with the two stories balanced and just enough told of each at a time to keep the tension going. This book is recommended for mystery readers.

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I was very intrigued by the plot of this book. Podccasts are so popular right now, especially true crime podcasts, and this book definitely seemed like a fictionalized version of Serial. At the center of the story, Rachel is the host of this super-successful podcast and travels to the town of Neapolis to cover a controversial rape trial as it unfolds. It definitely had a pulled-straight-from-the-headlines feel.

I wanted to like this more than I did. My struggle is that it wasn’t as propulsive as I wanted it to be and I struggled to stay interested in the dueling POV/crimes that Rachel finds herself investigating. Surprisingly, I did really enjoy the courtroom bits. Usually I am not a fan of inside the courtroom action, but the way Goldin describes the intricacies of the performance on both sides and how that effects the outcome of the trial apart from the evidence, was really interesting and well-done.

Ultimately, though it did fall flat in a few spots for me, it was still a worthwhile read, and definitely something I would recommend to regular thriller readers.

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The story was good, but the subject matter was s bit overwhelming. The book was centered around it and I thought I was going to read something more as well. Bit it was the central part. I didn't like that, so it lost a star just for that. But, overall it was a just ok read for me.

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Rachel Krall is a former reporter and now hosts a true crime podcast "Guilty or Not Guilty", where she lays out facts and asks the listeners to be the judge. While travelling to her next case to investigate, she finds a note on the dashboard of her car asking for help. The writer of the note believes her sister was murdered 25 years ago and wants Rachel's help to identify the killer(s). Rachel is apprehensive about helping at first, so Hannah keeps leaving more and more letters asking for Rachel to help, and soon Rachel is pulled in to the story and investigates. This is not a easy thriller where you don't feel anything. You feel gut punched by the stories that come out about the rich people in town. I hope this could have a series based on Rachel, but I really think that this is important read and I am a big fan of Megan Goldin's work.

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This is the third Megan Goldin book that I have read and I'm very happy to have been given the opportunity to read this book. I was hooked from the start and am sorry that it took me so long to read this book. Ms Goldin does a good job of weaving together two stories that have similar characteristics and involve same characters. She wraps them up in unexpected ways. Hannah tells her story through letters she leaves to Rachel in unexpected places. In her letters she tells Rachel the story of her murdered sister. She wants her help to catch the responsible party. Rachelwho runs a successful podcast is attending a trial for a rape case that will have her chasing down clues to Hannah and her sisters past. Warning there are graphic recountings of rape, abuse and murder which may trigger some readers. The story is beautifully narrated through the podcast, current court proceedings and letters and memories of a young girl who's sister was a victim that was never given justice.

***Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with a free copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own and freely given.***

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Thank you for this review copy.

I don’t know the last book I read that had rape as a plot point and with that in mind I don’t know why I requested this ARC. As a mystery it was ok, just not the right book for me maybe. I liked the idea of the podcast behind the scenes, but I also found the language was way over the top for the characters.

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Following on from the success of her two previous podcasts Rachel Krall decides to cover the rape trial of a young woman in her hometown of Neopolis. Scott Blair, star swimmer and the towns golden boy is on trial for the crime. Shortly after arriving Rachel receives the first note from Hannah asking her to investigate the death of her sister Jenny 25 years ago. Officially ruled as a drowning Hannah is convinced that her sister was murdered.
Effortlessly flicking between the past and present and from both Rachel and Hannah’s point of view this book kept me hooked from the very first page. Full of edgy plot twists, fantastically written characters and nail biting tension this book cannot be missed!

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I absolutely LOVED this book. Megan Goldin had me guessing until the very end. This was the first book I've read by Goldin and it did not disappoint. Goldin creates an engaging mystery that is unputdownable. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves thrillers and I can't wait until her next book.

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This book gave me the chills at times. It was thrilling and full of twists, and I wasn't sure what would be coming next.

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As someone who loves true crime podcasts and loves when books feature a journalism or podcast element to an investigation or mystery, I knew I had to have Megan Goldin’s novel The Night Swim the moment I read the description. Frankly, I would have read anything Megan Goldin published next after how much I loved her previous book The Escape Room.

I think I might be not a traditional reader in that the more I am enjoying a book—particularly a thriller or mystery—the longer I want to take to read it so I can mull it over as I go. This was one I didn’t want to end! Where others say they couldn’t put this down and they devoured it in a day, I’m the type of reader who likes to spread the enjoyment out and I spent a whole week on The Night Swim. This is the highest compliment—I did not want it to end!

While The Escape Room read more like a psychological thriller, The Night Swim is more of an investigative mystery delving into rape culture and the nature of crimes that are difficult to prosecute. Full of depth, The Night Swim blends important, timely topics with a whip smart mystery and suspense that rachets up as the story unfolds until the very final page.

Podcaster Rachel Krall has found her niche podcasting about true crime cases. Coming off of a season that skyrocketed her into fame, Rachel is ready to turn from reopening an old case and proving a man’s innocence to something a bit more current. In the small town of Neapolis, a rape trial involving the town’s golden boy and the granddaughter of the chief of police is creating a community divided. Recent high school graduate and star swimmer Scott Blair is accused of raping high school student Kelly Moore. As is common in these sorts of cases, the prosecution and defense agree that sexual activity occurred between the two on the night in question, but they are in disagreement about whether it was consensual.

The town of Neapolis, North Carolina reminded me a bit of late 90s teen shows like Dawson’s Creek, meaning I loved the setting. Small towns are always full of secrets waiting to come out since everyone knows each other. I also liked how it was set around a harbor of sorts. The whole setting felt like it’s own character.

When Rachel arrives in Neapolis with the intent of covering the rape trial and putting her listeners in the jury box, she finds herself engaged in another cold case after a mysterious letter appears on her windshield. Rachel is surprised she’d be recognized, since podcasting is an audio medium. Someone is clearly following her. Soon the letters lead Rachel to a woman who wants Rachel to look into what happened to her sister two decades earlier. The cold case involves another rape and a drowning, bringing themes from Rachel’s current investigation to mind. The woman is convinced it was a murder, but the record closed the case as an accidental drowning.

As Rachel looks into both cases, some troubling connections emerge. The mystery itself is captivating and the story is crisp and well-defined. I didn’t feel there were any slow points or extra plot points that felt extraneous—Megan Goldin keeps her plots tight! At times it can be quite emotional, which is part of why this book is so captivating. I found it brave of Megan Goldin to dig into rape culture, which is a difficult subject to tackle.

An exceptional thriller!

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As a true crime podcaster, Rachel us used to telling a story but not being a part of one. Notes left on her vehicle cause alarm. The local coverage if a Olympic hopeful of rape also colors the story.

A few slow.points.bu5 overall a good story.

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Loved this one! The alternating timelines kept things exciting and I enjoyed the podcast aspect. The mood was unnerving and exciting. Everything I love in a good thriller.

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I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a decent book. It had a pretty good storyline that flowed well and didn’t drag. Some of it tied up a little too neatly to be too believable, but I still enjoyed the book. A quick read.

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Hands down one of the best books I have read this year. I am floored, rendered speechless. I totally underestimated just how much I would love this book. Yes, it was that good. 5 STARS!! Thank you for the complimentary read! I hope to have it in my kindle library for a re-read next year.

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