I enjoyed this book. I love that it delved in to the dangers of trying to be an influencer and overall dangers if social media. The suspense was great. Some parts were slow but the end was hard to put down for sure. Thank you so much for this ARC!

I really enjoyed reading Dark Corners from start to finish. I was very engaged in the book. It had a lot of twists and turns and kept me on my toes.

Love how Rachel was so determined to find out what happened to Madison, even though she knew she was in danger. She didn't care.

Let's not talk about the ending! I was not expecting that twist at the end—who was really Maddison, and how did Bailey help Maddison that awful night.

I really enjoyed seeing the relationship between Rachel and Joe develop through the story. They made a great team. I hope to see more from them in the future.

I totally recommend this book.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the ARC of this great book!

Dark Corners kept me on my toes and will keep you connecting the dots until the end! Rachel Krall is such a badass female lead and we need more of her!

I will say that I did not get the chance to read the first introduction to Ms. Krall, but I didn’t need it since Megan Goldin does such a great job giving us details on the characters. (But I’m definitely going to back track and read The Night Swim, okay?)

I devoured this novel from beginning to end. I loved how it jumped right in to Rachel being called to essentially help the FBI with very little information. I felt like I was watching an episode of The First 48 and the clock was ticking down towards Terence Bailey’s release from prison and Maddison Logan’s chances of being found alive.

Dark Corners had me intrigued from start to finish & if you enjoy thrillers/mysteries, then it will likely hold you captive as well!

I really enjoyed this newest mystery/thriller featuring Rachel. This time she's lured by the FBI into a case that puts her directly in danger. A certain FBI agent wants to keep her safe even if he was the one to drag her into this.

This influencer aspect of this book was interesting. The behind-the-scenes of this world were really cutthroat and I'm sure some of those things really happen.

I enjoyed this book from cover to cover and those last few chapters kept me on the edge of my seat.

Terence Bailey is set to be released from prison in a few days. Initially, arrested for breaking and entering, but local authorities have always suspected him in the murder of six women. Bailey gets a surprise visit from Maddison Logan, a young and popular social media influencer. Hours later, she disappears and police fear she's been kidnapped or worse.

Seeking answers FBI reluctantly contacts Rachel for help in finding Maddison. Maddison only seems to exist on social media, there are no family or friends to contact and the people she does interact with are casual acquaintances. Using an old Instagram account Rachel goes undercover at Buzzcon, a popular influencer conference, where she discovers a world of fierce rivalry.

The FBI must also consider the possibility that Bailey had an accomplice on the outside, further placing Rachel in danger. The monster could be hiding in plain sight as Rachel faces the very real dangers that lurk in the dark.

Thank you so much to the author, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC to review.

When true crime podcaster Rachel Krall was awakened from a deep sleep by the FBI to come to hop on a plane to Florida, she didn’t really know what to expect. She had just gotten home after spending time in North Carolina, at the rape trial of a champion swimmer. She was exhausted, but it was the FBI asking for her help. She packed a small bag and got dressed for when the FBI agent knocked on her door to take her to the airport, where they had a commercial flight waiting on her before it could take off.

It wasn’t until later that day, when she’d had time to wake up and think about what she had done that she had seen just how the FBI, notably agent Joseph Martinez, has set her up to make her agreeable to all his requests. And then he asks for the big one. There is a prisoner in the Central Florida Correctional Facility who is a very dangerous man. And Special Agent Martinez wants Rachel to talk to him.

Terence Bailey was set to be a free man in just days. He had served six years in prison, two for the breaking and entering charge he was convicted for originally, and then another four for a fight that he had gotten into in jail. But his time was almost up. In those six years, he had never had a visitor, until the previous day. A content creator, a travel influencer Named Maddison Logan, had lied to get in to see him. The microphone that was supposed to record their conversation was malfunctioning, so the FBI didn’t know what they’d said. But at one point Terence had used a small pencil to write a note on the table for only Maddison to read. However, there was a camera that caught the note also. After leaving the prison, Maddison had disappeared.

“Bring Rachel Krall to me. Do whatever it takes to find her. It’s time . . . “

When Agent Martinez shows Rachel the note, she has no idea what it could mean. After her podcast Guilty or Not Guilty had become a surprise hit, she’d been contacted by many people convicted or suspected of crimes. They all wanted her to take on their cases, to show that they are innocent. But she’d never heard from Terence Bailey before. And anyone searching for Maddison Logan couldn’t find anything other than her carefully curated #vanlife Influencer posts. The FBI was running out of time to find Maddison, and they had very little to go on. So they had found Rachel and brought her down to Florida to talk to a prisoner, a potentially dangerous killer.

Rachel could be putting her life in danger by doing this. In fact, when she did talk to Terence, he warned her, telling her, “The scariest monster is the one that hides in plain sight.” And when the dead body of a young woman turned up in the woods nearby, the FBI and Rachel fear the worst for Maddison. But what they find is far more complicated, far more depraved than what they originally thought.

Dark Corners is the deliciously creepy thriller from Megan Goldin, whose book Night Swim first brought us the character of Rachel Krall and introduced us to her podcast. And like that novel, this one is masterfully written, with layers of secrets and truths that are uncovered slowly and carefully by the podcaster’s insatiable curiosity and her skillful reporting.

Be careful with this book. It’s not one to be pulled out for a quick break or to distract you as you have to stand in line for a few minutes. If you’re anything like me, as soon as you start in on chapter one, you’ll need hours to immerse yourself in the story, in the words, in the chills and surprises that make their way through the lives of these characters and bring together all the breadcrumbs of the different stories into one cohesive whole, so the truth can come out at last. Dark Corners is breathtaking, and I for one will be waiting impatiently for the next season of the podcast, to see what story Rachel can piece together next.

Egalleys for Dark Corners were provided by St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley, with many thanks.

I was surprised that this took place right after the first book since it's been three years but I didn't mind. What I was mostly worried about was how the mystery would go about in this one. I did like the connection of having multiple cases happening at once where there's a smaller case that the reader is trying to solve alongside Rachel while the main case the book follows we know who the murderer is (even if the other characters didn't). I also really like the addition of all new characters other than Rachel; it felt both separate but part of the same world.

I wasn't the biggest fan of the critique of influencers only being self-centered throughout and there was a weird aspect near the end where Rachel and another character are talking about how they are so used to this line of work that they don't see the victims as real people with an impact anymore, but I'm pretty sure the reasoning behind Rachel being a popular true crime podcaster (other than her bedtime voice) is cause she focuses more on the victims and their stories.

Throughout the book I noticed important facts about the case would be brought up multiple times. Like a character would tell another character about what they've learned and it would do the typical '_ told _ about everything they learned' but then would make a point to purposely reiterate one detail which got real annoying real fast. I guess that makes sense since most readers don't binge the majority of the book in one day so it wouldn't be noticeable and would be so they'd have details they'd probably forgotten, but it still personally bothered me.

I may have complained a lot in this book but it was mostly nitpicky stuff. Overall I really enjoyed the book, the return of Rachel, and the writing (most of the time) and I honestly would love it if there were two more books with air and fire aesthetic covers (the green foliage doesn't even really match this book since it mostly takes place near the ocean but whatever).

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a wild ride!!!! Right off the bat I was fully engaged into the storyline and loved the premise! Gimme a serial killer plot any day!!!!

I really enjoyed Rachel - she was quite the badass and very much a level headed fmc!!!

i did think the “bread crumbs” that were provided to us by the multiple povs were *slightly* predictable - but I still thoroughly enjoyed reading this!

I always enjoy books that are centered around social media - so the fact that this one had an influencer subplot was so so so much fun!

I did find the romantic aspect of this story unnecessary…to me, it added “fluff” to the story

This was definitely a solid read - it lacked an OMG jaw dropping ending but I still recommend it!

SIMONE SAYS READ THIS IF YOU LIKE

multiple povs
serial killer plots
podcast format
badass mc’s

thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review

what is your favorite social media platform?
I’m team IG!

I just finished Dark Corners by Megan Goldin and here are my musings.

The FBI needs help. Flying Rachel. A true crime podcaster who has been known to solve crimes and free innocent men to speak to an inmate. An inmate that gets no visitors until a young influencer shows up, they talk and then she leaves. Hours later the influencer disappears but on the CCTV of the exchange between Maddison and Terence Bailey shows he has written something on the table. Rachel's name. It’s the only lead they have.

Maddison is an anomaly. She lives in her van in a nomadic lifestyle with no friends or family. Why did she visit Terrance? A man in prison for breaking and entering and who the police believe is a serial killer. To find out more Rachel goes undercover at Buzzcon, A social media influencer mecca. The longer she is there, the more she realizes something shading is happening in the world of backstabbing influencers.

When the police discover a dead body with a tattoo of a snake eating its tail, it is the same tattoo Terrance has…. It brings the FBI to a chilling realization. Terrance has an accomplice and Terrance is just about to be released from jail and Rachel is now in the crosshairs.

I know this is book 2 of the Rachel Krull series but it worked as a standalone really well. Megan knocked this book out of the park. I could not put my kindle down until I was done. I found the storyline fantastic! A glimpse into the world of influencers and how cut throat it is really rounded out the storyline for me. The story was really quite clever. The story of missing teens, dead prostitutes and a man who does ride sharing for a living. It's fantastic how it all fits together.

Rachel is brilliant and I loved reading about her. The sparks between her and the FBI agent…. (fanning myself). I needed a bit more of that! That is my only complaint but the book was so close to perfect!

Everything pieced together like a beautiful jigsaw puzzle and I was guessing right up to the very end! My heart was racing so hard I could barely stand it! I was so sad when it was over but I am excited for the next installment.

5 stars! Best book for me of the year!

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for my gifted copy!

I always enjoy Megan Goldin's books and Dark Corners was no exception. It was a solid mystery with a couple of good twists. I hope she continues to write more with Rachel Krall. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

Podcaster, Rachel Krall is drawn into another case in an unusual way. Rachel is asked by the FBI to come to Florida. Once there they begin to question her as her name had come up during an investigation.

Social media influencer, Maddison, went missing shortly after meeting with Terrance at the prison. He was charged with breaking and entering and will be released soon. The investigators think Terry is also responsible for several murders, but don't have proof.

This one grabbed me right from the start. I love that! Rachel is an interesting character who just wants justice. The story is told by Rachel, a ride share driver and another man from long ago.

Even though I knew who the culprit was, (or thought I did) I couldn't read fast enough to find out how it all ended.

Another great one from Goldin!

Thanks to netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the arc.

This just wasn't what I was expecting at all when I picked this book up. I absolutely loved "The Night Swim" and was so excited to read the second book, but it fell flat. The book just felt like a very dry police procedural that had almost no stakes. I can't even really explain why I didn't love it, other than that it was just so cut and dry, focused more on Rachel and her love life than the actual story, and just felt like almost nothing happened. The mystery wasn't even that intriguing and the whole "missing girl influencer" thing has been done before a million times at this point. It just didn't feel original and it didn't tug at any heart strings like I was expecting. I just needed a lot more from this book and it's a major disappointment.

I'm basically not going to remember this book past tomorrow.

Megan Goldin does it again!! This was such a great book. I was hooked early on and honestly didn't want to stop reading this. I have loved all the other books by this author and this one was for sure a winner. I kept thinking I knew how it would play out and then boom another twist!!

Huge thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the chance to read and review Dark Corners. Ms. Goldin did an amazing job, once again, on a thriller suspense book. This book kept me highly interested throughout the entire book and even had my jaw dropping a few times. Highly recommend!

I really enjoyed this brand new thriller!

I loved Night Swim by this author & was excited to see where podcaster Rachel Krall’s next case would take her.

Dark Corners is a bit different than your typical who-dun-it because we know one character is rotten very early on. The mystery really is what happened to influencer Maddison Logan & who is really involved?

This book did dive in to the world of social media influencing-so if that’s not your jam you may not enjoy the book as much as I did. Personally, I liked diving in to the chaotic sometimes, back-stabbing, world of content creation.

The story has tons of sub-plot-including romance! Although, I was left a little unsatisfied with the abrupt ending on the final page of the book. Though I do have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of Rachel Krall.

Dark Corners is very different from Night Swim, but well worth the read!

Thank you to @stmartinspress & @netgalley for the ARC of this new thriller.

Thank you to Netgalley for both the audio and digital copy of this book. I had enjoyed Megan Goldin's previous Rachel Krall book, so looked forward to this one. It didn't disappoint. This book is dark, and at every turn it kept me guessing and wondering more and more what had happened to the missing influencer, Maddison Logan, and what an imprisoned Terrence Bailey had to do with it.
I really enjoyed this one, perhaps some of the additional influencer story line could have been left out, it didn't really have much to do with the main story. The back story of both Terry and Maddison made this book so intriguing.
I like Rachel's character, she's got spunk and she's not afraid of the dark places she investigates for her podcast. There is a bit of a romance, and it was fun, but also not a big part of the story.
The audio narration was very well done by Andre'Santa, January LaVoy, and Samantha Desz. LaVoy's voice is so smooth and comfortable!
Thank you again to St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio. I look forward to more books from Megan Golden!

Dark Corners by Megan Goldin is a crime thriller. Rachel is a crime podcaster and unknowingly gets involved in a case. Rachel has to work with the FBI to figure out if a person behind the bars who will be released soon is a serial killer and if an upcoming influencer is involved in the crimes.

I have not read the first book of the series, so I read this particular book as a stand-alone. Since I was not comparing the previous book to this one, I quite enjoyed it. It's been quite a while since I have not read any crime thriller, and this fits the genre perfectly. Some of the plot initially was a little confusing to me, but all the plotlines are tied up very nicely at the end and make complete sense. The world of social media influencers and the idea of perfectionism has been tackled by the author extremely well. I enjoyed this story a lot.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press for this book. All opinions are my own.

CW: Any warnings will be a spoiler, so a general warning that this book is a crime thriller and has a lot of elements of this genre.

The Serial Killer and the Social Media Influencer

The FBI has a suspected serial killer in prison, but they can’t continue to hold him because they only have evidence of him breaking and entering. They contact Rachael Krall because she was mentioned by both the suspect and social media influencer, Maddison Logan, who has subsequently disappeared. They’re hoping Rachael can help them get information from the suspect, Terence Bailey, that will help them find Maddison before it’s too late, and get some item that will help them keep Terence behind bars.

Rachael doesn’t know either Terence of Maddison, but when the FBI calls, she flies to northern Florida to assist in the investigation. At the end of the interview with Terence, he warns her that killers are often hide behind a normal facade. She doesn’t understand the connection to Maddison until she opens a voice message and finds that Maddison contacted her to see if she could help find her friend. With the veiled threat from Terence, the FBI wants her to fly home where she’ll be safe, but now she’s interested in the case and decides to stay and investigate.

This is the second Rachael Krall mystery, and she is even more determined than in the Night Swim, the first book. This book is rather different from the previous book. The book is told from Rachael’s point of view, but she’s not writing podcasts. She’s investigating. I liked seeing her in action and interacting with the FBI agent, Joe Martinez. Sparks fly, but there is also a deep attraction. If you enjoyed Night Swim, this is a good addition to the series.

Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for this review copy.

Rachel is summoned to Florida by the FBI. Meeting in a correctional facility outside Daytona Beach, she is told that her name came up when a well-known influencer visited an inmate. Shortly after, the influencer disappears, and the police and FBI believe the inmate is somehow responsible. Rachel is soon undercover at Buzzcon, an influencer conference, and learns how cutthroat influencers can be. With their suspect released within 72 hours and the body count increasing, Rachel and the FBI must join forces to track down a killer’s possible accomplice. Will Rachel be able to crack the case? Or will she end up a victim?

I am a big fan of Megan Goldin and try to read any of her books that come out. She is one of the few authors that are on my auto-approve list. No matter what book, I will get it and fan girl over it (no shame here!)

Dark Corners main storyline centered around Rachel, the FBI investigation into Maddison’s disappearance, and Terry’s supposed involvement. It was a well-written, twisty plotline that had me guessing and double-guessing everything. And when I mean everything, I mean everything.

A few secondary storylines help flesh out the book’s storyline. The main secondary storylines are Buzzcon, the bodies being found (past and present), and the rideshare driver. Each secondary story is vital to the main storyline, so if you start wondering why the author chose to include it, stop wondering and keep reading. Trust me, everything is brought together and explained at the end of the book.

I liked Rachel. She was just as sharp and on top of things as in the first book. I didn’t agree with her going undercover, not with everything pointing at her being on the killer’s radar. But, I did like the look into the influencers’ lives. What I liked the most about Rachel was that she was human and didn’t catch on to things. That made the end of the book believable to me.

The mystery angle of Dark Corners was well written, and I did believe what the author initially wanted me to think for a while. There was a twist to the mystery angle that took me by surprise.

There was a brief romance angle in Dark Corners that I was a little meh about. I could have done without it. It added no context to the book besides setting up the scene where Rachel was rescued.

The author did have the killer have a fascinating medical disorder. Until this book, I had never heard about it. I did some research after I finished the book.

The end of Dark Corners was interesting. I liked how the author wrapped up the storylines and explained everything. I did wonder if there is going to be a book 3. I hope there is!!

I would recommend Dark Corners to anyone over 21. There is violence, language, and sexual situations.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Megan Goldin for allowing me to read and review Dark Corners. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

Dark Corners
By Megan Goldin

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this early copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Sooooo, Dark Corners started out slow for me. It did get better about half way through as I started trying to piece together who did what, but it just wasn’t one of those thrillers that I couldn’t put down.

Rachel Krall is a true crime podcaster and she gets a call from the FBI to help them find a missing social media influencer named Maddison. At the FBI’s request, Rachel meets with Terence, a prisoner who the FBI believes is somehow connected to Maddison’s disappearance as well as a string of women who have been murdered. After meeting with Terence, the FBI is worried that he has become obsessed with Rachel, which is a problem since he is due to be released in just a few days.

The second half of this book definitely held my attention, and there was a plot twist that I didn’t see coming. PUB Day for Dark Corners was yesterday (8/8), so check it out if it sounds like something you would like.

💬what are you currently reading?

3.5 stars
You don't need to read The Night Swim to enjoy Dark Corners - the twists are waiting and can be read as a standalone.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for my eARC for review!
Podcaster Rachel Krall is back, and even more famous since her coverage of the sexual assault case depicted in The Night Swim.
Rachel is asked by the FBI to meet with inmate Terrance Bailey, as her name came up during his meeting with visitor Maddison Logan. Maddison is an influencer and went missing after visiting the prison, and Rachel appears to be the next target.
I've seen some mixed reviews on this one, yet personally I enjoyed it, though not quite as much as The Night Swim. There's a lot going on, from missing persons and murder investigations, a uniquely creepy rideshare driver, BuzzCom event for content creators, and Terrence Bailey's release back into society.
Recommended!
Released on Aug. 8.