As much as I don’t like the trend of books involving true crime podcasts (because, imo, replicating the "feel" is difficult to pull off, and as scaffolding for a plot it has to have more than wisps to hang on, but despite my worries, The Night Swim pulled off the p9dcast angle quite well, and is a great thriller! Definitely worth checking out.

I loved "The Night Swim" so much! As a huge fan of true crime podcasts (I probably listen to 20-30 regularly), I thought the premise of this thriller was brilliant. It's about Rachel, the host of a popular true crime podcast, who travels to a small town called Neapolis to cover a rape trial for the next season of the show. The victim, who has become the town pariah, is a high school girl who was a virgin. The accused rapist, a nationally-recognized swimmer hoping to quality for the next Olympic games (there are definite shades of convicted rapist Brock Turner here), claims the act was consensual. The town is very split on whether a crime was even committed.

Meanwhile, Rachel is receiving strange messages from a fan of her show begging Rachel to look into the death of her sister Jenny years earlier in Neapolis. Jenny's death was ruled an accidental drowning without so much as an investigation, but Hannah believes her sister was murdered and says Rachel is the only person who can help her reveal the truth.

The story highlights the secrets and lies in a small town, while also showing the trauma rape victims must go through to report the crime, get a rape kit done at a hospital, and then go to trial to answer private and embarrassing questions in front of strangers in an attempt to get justice. It's a courtroom drama, a coming-of-age story, and it involves rehashing and reckoning with the past.

Author Megan Goldin did a masterful job of weaving together multiple stories, viewpoints, and a surprise ending I didn't see coming at all. I enjoyed it even more than her last novel, "The Escape Room." I highly recommend this book.

Riveting. If I could only describe this book in one word, that would be it. From beginning to end. And I'll be thinking about this book for a long time. 

Rachel Krall is a true-crime podcast host covering a controversial rape trial that has divided the small town and she also finds herself drawn to an old crime that took place there years ago.

Mostly recognized for her voice, she finds it disturbing when she finds a note addressed to her on her car windshield.

And that's all I can say because I don't want to spoil anything.

ARC provided by St. Martin's Press via NetGalley

Although I wouldn’t categorize Megan Goldin’s 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐦 as your typical thriller, I still very much enjoyed it and found it to be such an emotional, yet important read that shed light on rape culture, the objectification of sexual assault survivors, and the worth of a seaside small town’s reputation.

Rachel Krall is a successful podcaster who typically covers unsolved murder cases, but deciding to take her new season of Guilty or Not Guilty to the next level, she ends up in North Carolina to participate in a rape trial that is tearing the town apart, as an Olympic swimmer is accused of raping the chief of police’s daughter. If that wasn’t enough, Rachel starts receiving strange notes from a girl named Hannah, who is desperate for Rachel’s help to investigate her sister’s murder that took place some 25 years earlier.

Part slow burn mystery, part courtroom drama, The Night Swim compels the reader to question society’s complicity, as well as the justice system’s when it comes to believing survivors in favor of a man’s career and notoriety. Needless to say, this one comes with various trigger warnings, so take that into consideration before diving in.

PUB DAY is August 4th. Thank you @stmartinspress for providing me with this arc!

RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I was reached out to being a part of the Blog Tour for this book. I have attached the link to my Blog Tour Stop. I have a very lengthy excerpt featured, that I think will give many readers a good feel for what the book will be like! Thank you St. Martin's Press!

The night swim starts off with Hannah telling about the night her sister, Jenny, died 25 years ago. Then we switch to Rachel as she’s preparing to cover a rape trial for her podcast, Guilty or Not Guilty. Hannah has sent Rachel a letter asking for her help solving what she believes is her sister’s murder. We then have chapters following Rachel, Hannah’s letters to Rachel, and the podcast. I loved this setup, and found myself equally invested in all three parts and both cases.

While the story itself was great, the podcast was probably my favorite part. The commentary on rape culture really resonated with me. The themes of this book deal heavily with rape, so I would only recommend it to people that are comfortable reading about rape and sexual assault.

I did guess some of the reveals along the way, but nothing was obvious and I found myself questioning my predictions. The only negative aspect of this book was that I found the bullying of a certain character a bit over the top and unbelievable.

I would love it if this book became a series following Rachel and new seasons of her podcast, Guilty or Not Guilty.
4.5 stars rounded up for Goodreads

*I received this arc in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press.*

This is such a powerful book! 4.5 stars
I loved The Escape Room and so I was hesitant about this new one because I didn't think it could be as good, but I was happily wrong.
Besides being an engrossing psychological thriller with some surprising twists, this novel highlights the glaring inequities with rape culture. Rapes are the only crime where the victim is put on trial, and where the victim is blamed more often than not. It is something I had never really thought too much about before, but it is astounding when you take the time to think about it.
The only slight issues I had were that in the end, I couldn't figure out why Hannah went to all of the work to hide herself, and I didn't get a clear answer as to how she was able to find Rachel so many places and stay out of sight. Also, Rachel's armchair detective work borders on a bit too convenient at times, some things she uncovers should have been discovered by the investigators. Other than those small details, this is a fantastic book, and they don't detract from the overall story.
I listened to much of this one as an audio book and the narrators did an excellent job embodying the main characters. Since the tale focuses on episodes of a podcast, the narrative naturally lends itself quite well to an audio book format. I must say though, that at regular speed the speech is incredibly slow, so I had to speed up the audio to 1.75x in order for my mind not to wander. Listeners might want to play around with the speed to find one that works for them.
If you're looking for a compelling suspense novel, then look no further and place this one on your list now.

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW: The Night Swim was written by Megan Goldin, and is set to be released by St. Martin’s Press on August 4th, 2020. Goldin is the bestselling author of The Escape Room, so this isn’t her first foray into the mystery/thriller world. The book’s tagline reads, “a true crime podcast host covering a controversial trial finds herself drawn deep into a small town’s dark past and a brutal crime that took place there years before.”

PLOT RUNDOWN/BASICS: Rachel Krall is the host of the very successful podcast Guilty or Not Guilty, where she examines one specific true crime case each season. In her first two seasons, Rachel has helped put guilty people behind bars, and even released innocent ones who were wrongly convicted.

In a bid to keep her popularity and ward off the many copycat podcasts who are repeating her successful formula, she decides to go inside a rape trial for her third season. It’s a somewhat controversial decision, but she’s determined to put her listeners “in the jury box,” so to speak, so that they feel like they have a stake in the outcome of the trial. This requires traveling to a small town on the east coast, where a local boy and champion swimmer has been accused of raping a 16-year-old. Determined to provide an impartial overview, Rachel schedules meetings with all of the parties involved and documents each day at trial for her listeners.

However, immediately upon her arrival, she is flooded with mysterious letters from a woman named Hannah who is determined to have Rachel tell her own story. Hannah writes about her sister Jenny, who she says was murdered 25 years earlier in the same small town. Rachel tries not to get involved but finds herself drawn to Hannah’s story; soon she’s trying to keep up with a grueling trial-and-recording schedule, while also digging into Jenny’s mysterious death from decades prior.

As the trial unfolds and the locals become familiar faces, Rachel begins to see connections between both Jenny’s story and Kelly’s case. Who among the older residents can she trust, and why - 25 years later - are people compelled to either continue keeping secrets, or lying to keep them from coming out? And what will it cost them all to find out the truth?

MY THOUGHTS: This was my first work by Goldin, but - and keep this in mind as you read my honest opinions below - I will definitely read her future books. The topics covered in this novel - rape, podcast culture, the justice system - are very timely and reflect too many true-to-life cases to count. Goldin does a good job allowing Rachel to reflect on what this idea of rape culture, and victimology, does to both the accused and the accusers, and her incredibly detailed reflections on why rape victims do not report their crimes are hauntingly realistic. I’ll reflect more on that at the end of my thoughts here...but now, for my brutally honest take on this book.

I actually thought this was a debut by Goldin (having not read any of her previous works, and also clearly having overlooked the blurb about her previous novels). Why, you may ask? Well, to be fair, the book felt like a first draft in need of a good polish and editing. For one, the initial dialogue between Rachel and her producer Pete was a bit cringe-y, and I say this lovingly as a wannabe writer who has the hardest time crafting realistic dialogue. It seemed stilted and as if it were set up just to info-dump, while not actually sounding like how ANYONE would really talk. (For example: “It was bound to happen,” sighed Pete. “You are a household name.” And: “I could ask the cops to look into it. See what they can find out,” Pete offered. “My contact in the FBI said we shouldn’t hesitate to file a complaint after the death threats you got last year. I still have his card with his direct number,” he added.)

Secondly, I didn’t feel like all of the scenes were necessarily realistic. I, for one, am from a small town, and I don’t think anyone would ever erupt into a heated (yet very generalized “guilty/not guilty”) argument about a local trial in the grocery store lines, with the clerk taking part as well...but that’s just my experience. It’s also not terribly likely that years after one young girl’s death, someone would still have graffitied “whore” on her tombstone, especially when the boys who raped her repeatedly were all dead or had suffered tremendous medical consequences. The waiter at the local hotel also probably wouldn’t point out that you look like you’re there for a murder trial because “you don’t have a vacation vibe,” and also simultaneously say that the town is small (“Everyone knows the boy involved. Some personally and some by reputation. And this town is small enough that people can pretty much guess who the girl is”) and then, four sentences later, say the exact opposite unironically (“I don’t think it’s true that everyone knows everyone here. Maybe once. Neapolis isn’t a small town anymore.”)

WHAT I LIKED: Now, with THAT out of the way...I truly enjoyed the way the book was structured (and that has NOTHING to do with the fact that I myself have written an entire outline for a mystery book with podcast episodes included as part of the plotline). I didn’t particularly connect much with the main character of Rachel, likely because we know literally nothing about her except what she does in regards to researching this case, and her podcast musings. However, I felt like the podcast “episode” chapters gave us the most insight into her thoughts as a character, and thus gave Goldin (as the author) a place to air her deepest thoughts on rape culture and how the victim is always the one who pays the price for the crime that happened to them - regardless of whether or not the perpetrator is caught, convicted, and serves time. (Hearing the details of what happens when a rape kit is taken in the hospital was incredibly horrifying, and I could easily understand why so many women wouldn’t bother to go through this after an assault.)

The reality is that these types of situations - both Jenny’s and Kelly’s - do happen every single day, and often the perpetrators go on to live seemingly normal lives (as per Jenny’s murderer in the novel) and/or aren’t even convicted (see: real-life Brock Turner, who was actually witnessed and stopped mid-crime yet was spared jail time to “preserve his future”). In fact, as we’ve learned in the Me, Too movement, half of these people don’t even think about themselves as rapists, thanks to toxic cultural norms. If you’ve seen the pictures on social media showing protest signs that read, “How come every woman knows someone who’s been raped, but no man knows a rapist?”, you’ll know what Goldin (and I) am referring to.

Goldin makes some very valid points about how the system victimizes rape victims continuously even after the crime is long past. In one of her episodes, Rachel opines, “One of the questions I keep asking myself is whether it’s worth it. When a person goes through a terrible trauma, her mind is conditioned to forget what happened. Memory loss from trauma is a protective mechanism. It helps us stay sane. In this case, a sixteen-year-old girl is being asked to recount, in front of a large group of strangers, in public, every single traumatic, horrific moment of that night on the beach so that maybe, just maybe, her alleged rapist will be punished for what he did to her.” She goes on to say, “The trauma of testifying is one of the main reasons why so many rape victims opt not to testify and why so many rapes are never prosecuted.”

As Rachel says in her podcast episode, and Goldin is saying overall with this book, our society is more than willing to discuss grisly murders in great detail - but rape, not so much. True crime is a booming industry right now, and there are thousands upon thousands of social media groups dedicated to discussing Bundy and Gacy and Keyes, and dissecting their every preference and action. But we feel uncomfortable even using the word “rape,” and - like some of the characters in this novel - many people want to say it’s a gray area in a world of black and white. Goldin wrote this novel to show the importance of recognizing the trauma that rape victims go through, and to point out that we should be just as horrified by every sexual assault and sex crime that occurs as we are by murder and carnage. As she says in the novel, rape victims are still alive to relive the assault and the trauma every day - and they deserve our care and respect for what they’re going through.

I received an early copy from Netgalley. I truly enjoyed this book. The format was intriguing, one chapter is about a reporter attending a trial and the next chapter is the reporters pod cast transcript of the trial. Very imaginative use of a current different media. A great quick read for a few summer afternoons or nights!

I don't think I'll be forgetting this book any time soon. "Haunting," is one word for it. "Piercing" is another.

Cultural relevancy: ★★★★★
Villain(s)/Reveal(s): ★★★★★
Atmosphere: ★★★★★

The Night Swim comes out on August 4, 2020.

The Night Swim is a novel that feels sharply of its time—and that's not a good thing for our modern world. In my opinion, this book shouldn't have to exist. But I'm glad that Megan Goldin decided to tell it, because it's poignant, important, and aches with past and present bruises.

Rachel Krall is now a household name. After starting her extremely successful cold-case crime podcast, Rachel has become something of an amateur detective, jury, and public figure all in one. Now in her third season of her podcast, Rachel decides to go into uncharted territory: covering a current, ongoing court case.

A small town is in the midst of a rape trial.

Immediately, your expectations can supply some of the details as—and I hope you can feel the angry in my words through the screen—this is not a unique injustice in our society.

A golden boy, a pillar of the Neapolis community, destined for a shot at the Olympic swim team when he graduates, perfect in every way according to the world and his parents and society—he's been charged with rape and assault. How could such a nice boy have done this? The town cries for this boy who's been "wronged."

The girl, of course, is living in a different kind of hell and hasn't been looked on as fondly by the town. Her family is hounded by the press, her name becomes synonymous with "asking for it," and her trial has been hijacked in the court of public opinion by her predator.

Rachel Krall is here to find out the truth behind this current rape trial. But what Rachel doesn't expect to find is a series of letters addressed to her, begging her to look into the "accidental" death of a teenage girl 25 years ago in the same small town. The town slut, the town's shining example of a girl gone wrong. That girl's fate was also determined by the court of public opinion, and her death was pushed under the rug.

With pulse-pounding suspense, lingering coastal atmosphere, and a social commentary as sharp as glass, The Night Swim is a great mystery/thriller. I hope its place in the canon does its subject matter justice, and I hope it sparks more conversations. As a woman, it made me rage and ache and want to not have daughters. As a reader, it made me appreciate Goldin's talent for the written word, and her bravery for tackling a topic that, as her own protagonist states, is somehow not a black and white issue.

If we can all agree that murder is wrong, indefinitely, irrefutably—why is rape somehow different? Like Rachel Krall's podcast concludes with, it's time for you, the audience, to decide for yourself who is right, and who is wrong.

Thank you to St Martin's Press via NetGalley for an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars

This is a tough book to rate. On one hand, it is an almost perfect suspense thriller - not super creepy, twists and turns, amazing plot. On the other hand, the subject matter is often difficult to read. There were times I had to stop reading and my stomach was churning the entire time. It was close to a perfect book for me and I highly recommend it.

Trigger warnings: rape, descriptive sexual assault, violence, murder

Rachel is the host of a super popular podcast that puts listeners in the jury box. As an investigative journalist, Rachel highlights past cases where justice wasn't found and rights that wrong. In her third season, Rachel decides to dive into the current trail against a superstar swimmer accused of raping a 16 year old girl. As Rachel travels to the town to cover the trial, she receives correspondence from Hannah asking Rachel to investigate the mysterious death of her older sister 25 years ago. Two instances of violence against two girls, 25 years apart. Are they connected? Rachel is going to find out.

It's hard to say I enjoyed this one because the content and subject material is really horrific. But the way that Goldin set up the story is really cool: Rachel POV, Hannah letters, and Rachel's podcast really made the story move quickly. I was surprised that I felt ok with the resolution - it isn't a thriller in the vain of all these new thrillers that have to have a million twists. I saw some things a mile away but it was ok because all I wanted was justice. I ended this book hoping for more as well: Rachel's podcast Season 4 gets teased and now I want a sequel. Overall, this is a must read.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

Caution to sensitive readers: THE NIGHT SWIM is both emotionally compelling and emotionally dangerous. Compelling, because you can't stop reading; dangerous, because the topics are rape and murder, and indeed the combination of the two atrocities.


In today's climate, discussion of rape is nearly as common as the event itself. But the revelatory movements unfortunately haven't halted the crimes. Nor has it halted the horrible viewpoint of Victim Blaming.

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin is an interesting, slow burn, podcast-type mystery featuring two tragic and heartbreaking rape cases, decades apart, in a small town.

We follow a past and present rape cases simultaneously via the current court room trial, as well as through Rachel Krall’s true crime podcast. Rachel is sympathetic, sharp, fair and wildly popular as a host and investigator, and the case in the courtroom is intriguing, showcasing the inner workings of a trial of this nature. The topic is heavy and fairly graphic, as can be expected, but it’s treated with gravity and respect.

This story is not a thriller, but it’s still a captivating piece of crime fiction with a somber tone and intelligent, moving delivery. There is a clear and powerful moral and cultural message, and though it’s sobering and rather melancholy it is nonetheless,
necessary.

For those who enjoy investigative crime fiction, or podcast type stories, especially those with a domineering social message, this is a book you won’t want to miss. Despite its tragic topic, it’s a potent and absorbing story.

"To tell you the truth, I don't get how we can almost unanimously agree that murder is wrong, yet when it comes to rape some people still see shades of gray."- Rachel Krall, Guilty or Not Guilty Podcast.
Rachel Krall is the host of popular crime podcast "Guilty or Not Guilty," and is in Neapolis covering a high profile rape case. (Think Brock Turner.) While in Neapolis covering the rape trial, Rachel receives a series of mysterious letters from someone named Hannah pertaining to the long ago death of Jenny, Hannah's older sister. Hannah pleads with Rachel to assist her in finding out the truth about Jenny's death as it comes up on the 25th anniversary.
While Rachel is poking around researching for the rape case, she begins looking into Hannah's claims that Jenny's drowning was not an accident. While she's working on both cases, she discovers a dark secret from the past that's still affecting the town of Neapolis, and exactly how far people will go to cover a secret.
The Night Swim is told in two timelines: Hannah's memories of the summer her sister died, and the current rape trial. Both intersect in horrible ways.
They both show that victim shaming has always been around. No one noticed that Jenny was hurting except her little sister, but people were quick to tell anyone who'd listen that Jenny was a "little slut who ran around."
And when it came to Kelly saying that Scott Blair raped her, well, she was just in awe of his fame and when he wasn't as serious as she was, she cried rape. Or maybe she regretted it after and cried rape. Either way, Scott Blair was a hero and an Olympic hopeful, there's no way he could have raped her. *insert eye rolls so hard they detach*
Yes, they even pull out the old "why should he be punished for the rest of his life over one bad choice," which I have a lot of feelings about. They can best be described with a wet fart noise.
Megan Goldin's handling of the trial and the horrible victim shaming attitudes of people when it comes to rape cases were well done. The use of podcast transcripts to cover most of the trial was perfect, as it cut out the "boring parts" and got straight to the parts of the trial that the people want to know about.
I personally love true crime podcasts, and how they provide a look into how the investigations work, and details that wouldn't find their way into certain true crime books or shows, little stories about the family or the victim, opinions from the podcaster, opinions from people involved in the investigation, details about the area. I almost wish "Guilty or Not Guilty" was a real podcast, because the transcripts of it made me want to hear more cases through Rachel Krall's journalistic investigations.
I also loved how the parts from the past were told the was a 9 year old would have understood, yet also included adult Hannah being about to fill in the blanks that she hadn't understood at the time. She knew then that her sister was hurting and it was because of those boys. She knows now why she was hurting because of those boys.
I knew that the trial would end and the truth about Jenny's death would come out, but Jenny's story ended in a way I didn't expect. I know I always say that predictable doesn't bother me, but when it's not as predictable, it really is better.
It feels weird to enjoy a book with such a dark story, but I flew through this one to find out what happened and would definitely recommend it to others. And like I said, I'd love to hear more of Rachel Krall's podcasts. I don't know if Goldin plans to continue with Rachel Krall or not, but I'd certainly read more if she does.
4/5 stars
*I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my review.

Rachel Krall runs the true crime podcast Guilty Or Not Guilty. Every season she chooses a new case to focus on, and this season she is covering the rape trial that is going on in the small town of Neopolis, NC. The accused is the town's golden boy, a champion swimmer who was destined for the Olympics. On her way to Neopolis to cover the trial, Rachel finds a note on her windshield from a fan of the podcast, begging her to look into her sister's murder in that same small town twenty-five years prior. At first Rachel is inclined to brush it off, but then her curiosity gets the better of her, and she begins investigating it in her spare time. She discovers disturbing evidence that links that crime to the trial that she is there for.
This story starts out being told in alternating chapters between the two cases, and I have to admit to feeling like I was getting whiplash trying to change gears from one case to the other. Once the two cases started merging, it was much better. This book had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. It was one of those books where when one chapter ends, you convince yourself to read just one more chapter, because you need to find out more. It was so good. I loved the ending with the bird, too. When you read it, you will know what I am talking about. Trust me....you want to read it.

Okayyyy, this was a great slow burn mystery that true crime fans will appreciate. The book has a couple different storylines going on; one revolves around a podcast host who is reporting on a rape trial slightly resembling that of Chanel Miller and Brock Turner. The other aspect or the book is based on past events and the unsolved death of a sixteen year old girl.

The story alternates between the perspectives of Rachel, a successful true crime podcast host, and Hannah, the sister of a teenaged murder victim. Hannah pursues Rachel to see if she will help solve the mystery of her older sister’s death and bring justice. Rachel reminded me of an adult Pippa from A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, so if you loved that book, you may want to check this one out.

As Rachel investigates the case she has been focusing on, Hannah’s insistence that Rachel help her solve the past escalates as she stalks Rachel and continues to send somewhat sinister notes pleading for assistance.

The story continues with the two storylines and all comes together cleverly. Once I began this, I wanted to keep reading and became completely invested in what would happen. I liked that the author challenges the terrible way that people in society often place blame on sexual assault victims and remove it from the criminal. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys crime mysteries and court room dramas.
I give this a 3.5/5 stars rounded up to 4 for this review

CW - sexual abuse, sexual assault

I loved Goldin’s The Escape Rook so I knowingly went into The Night Swim with a little expectations and I was not disappointed in any way.. Goldin’s signature writing style is firm, twisted, makes you think and leaves you wanting more.

The Night Swim is a dual POV story 70% Rachel Krall and 30% Hannah Stills. Rachel is a host of a true crime podcast - Guilty or not Guilty that puts the listeners on the jury and Hannah is a small town girl who is convinced that her older sister Jenny Stills was murdered and is desperate to find the truth. Hannah contacts Rachel through a series of mails and requests Rachel to shine light on Jenny’s murder. Rachel takes up the challenge as she’s already in town to cover the rape trial of a local sensation Scott Blair for the 3rd season of her podcast.

The plot might seem easy and simple, but the story is twisted, suspenseful and truly did make me wonder what really happened?! Goldin’s writing is like an icing on a cake, she captures the emotions of the characters, the thoughts of a gossipy small town, “laughs” & “talks” a rape victim has to tolerate and intertwines all these into a investigative-ish thriller with some courtroom drama.

“So why Is that when women are attacked, the onus is on them? “If only she hadn’t walked home alone”, “if only she hadn’t cut through the park”, “if only she’d taken a cab”. When it comes to rape, it seems to me “if only” is used all the time. Never about the man. Nobody ever”.

This was certainly an impactful story that will stay with me and makes me view things differently. After all no one can completely understand what the other person has endured.. especially a rape victim!

Thank you Netgalley, St.Martin’s press & Megan Goldin for the ARC. This review is my own and is not influenced in any way!!

First off, let me start with a warning. This is not an ideal story for victims of rape or sexual assault to read. It's full of triggers and not for the faint of heart. With that said, I thought this was a great story and I liked how it brings rape culture into the light and how we as a society view it unjustly. It's an emotional story shown through dual POV, one through Rachel who is a podcast journalist covering a rape trial, and the other through Hannah who seeks Rachel's help in discovering what really happened to her sister 25 years ago. I'm not a high fan of multiple POVs that switch back and forth like this one does. But I feel that Megan Golding does an amazing job blending the two seamlessly.


Go Into This One Knowing: Rape and Sexual Assault

Rachel Krall has established herself with her podcast Guilty or Not Guilty. Now in Season Three, she will cover a trial for the first time. In a small coastal North Carolina town, college student Scott Blair, a nationally ranked champion swimmer and Olympic hopeful, has been accused of rape by a 16 year old girl. And as Rachel is learning from anonymous letters, 25 years ago in this same small town, another young girl was raped and later found dead. That time there was no trial. Everyone said Jenny Stills had drowned on a night swim.

Rachel covers the trial for the podcast, interviewing all the key participants. At the same time, Jenny Stills’ story is told in the letters left for Rachel. These letters are written by Hannah, Jenny’s sister, who was nine years old when her sister died. Her memories are those of a child and therefore even more tragic. Rachel begins to see disturbing parallels between the two cases. These are both tragic stories.

This powerful book deals with rape, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and power. It also deals with the treatment of women. Rachel remembers the rape of a young women she knew and the many “looks”, crude language and touches that she and all women receive. All the characters in this book have been beautiful crafted. Rachel and Hannah are the main narrators but we see the how the parents of the alleged rapist, witnesses and the victim herself have been crushed by their children’s actions. The small town with gossipy neighbors and long held secrets is a powerful setting for this story. The Night Swim asks as many questions as it answers and leaves you thinking. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Megan Goldin for this ARC.

Clear your schedule, pack your favorite snacks and drinks, and find a pool or beach because The Night Swim is going to pull you in immediately. I read this book in less than 24 hours, and it helped me get out of reading rut. I haven’t read The Escape Room but it’s already in my TBR pile. If you are a fan of true crime podcast and quick reads, this is the book for you.
Thank you to Megan Goldin, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.