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This is the second book I've read by Megan Goldin but first in the Rachel Krall series; fortunately, it can easily be read as a stand-alone. And I'll be going back to read the first book since I enjoyed this one so much!
Rachel Krall is an investigative reporter and true crime podcaster who previously helped set an innocent man free, making her popular with every "I'm innocent" convict. When Terry Bailey, a Florida inmate convicted of breaking and entering but suspected of killing six women, asks a young "van life" social media influencer who visits him in prison to 'bring him Rachel Krall' shortly before she is abducted, the FBI arrange for Rachel to fly to Daytona to meet with Bailey to try to find out what he knows. The visit is a bust and the FBI try to pack Rachel on a plane home, but she stays, determined to help find the missing woman even if it may put Rachel in danger herself. I was immediately immersed in this book, drawn to the story and the characters. Goldin is becoming one of my "must read" authors, with her original and compelling plots, and interesting and likeable characters.

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I loved the Night Swim so i was so excited to jump into her new book in this "series".

For 70% of this story i thought this will be a 5 star book but the last 30% took a drastic turn,i already figured out the big plot twist and the ending felt very rushed even though we got all are questions answered I still missed the Podcast aspect that we got in the first book, but over all i really did enjoy the story.

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“The scariest monster is the one that hides in plain sight.”

How are the disappearance of a social media influencer, a newly released prisoner and a podcaster all related? This book will take you on the ride and keep you guessing!


As book 2 to The Night Swim (don’t worry you don’t need to read that one first), I was worried because the first book had weighty courtroom details including rape and more. It was intense and a lot for me to read emotionally. I did not feel that with this one, phew! It definitely did not have as many triggers, in my opinion.

“Always know what you’re walking into. Dark corners can be danger points.”

I’ll admit, Rachel was not the smartest at times. She seemed to have no fear and ran into really stupid situations, alone I might add, all for the sake of her podcast. Ok I get it, you’re making a living, but this is a serial killer, so, really? I felt like I was watching a horror movie yelling at the dumb blonde character to not open that door. Sigh. So I suspended the belief for a lot of her antics and didn’t dwell on them. Because of that, I feel I enjoyed the book more. There were twists and turns and multiple stories going on at once that all crashed together at the end. I was entertained, I enjoyed it and I’ll be reading this author again!

Thank you to @St.Martin’sPress for the copy!

The book releases August 8, 2023.

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I LOVED this one!! I was so happy when I got the ARC for it because it also motivated me to read The Night Swim which had been on my shelf for years, and I really ended up loving both! Overall, I liked this story a lot more than The Night Swim. I thought the case was unique and had a lot twists that I didn't see coming at all. I did end up listening to The Night Swim on audio, and ended up loving that because of the podcast element, and I do think that the formatting in this one was a little hard to follow since it didn't really have any sign of when a point of view changed or when it was a podcast episode, but that also may have been just because it was such an early copy of the ARC. Overall I really enjoyed this and it solidified why I like Megan Goldin so much!

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Dark Corners by Megan Goldin is the second Rachel Krall book. This story picks up after the events of Night Swim (2020). Terence Bailey is about to be released from prison for breaking and entering. He has been a suspect in the abduction and murders of at least six women. In the six years he’s been in prison, he has only gotten one visitor. Maddison Logan is a young social media influencer who goes missing hours after visiting Bailey. Is her disappearance connected to Bailey? The FBI investigation hits a wall, Special Agent Joe Martinez seeks out Rachel’s help. Hoping for a break, Rachel reluctantly agrees. Going undercover as an influencer, Rachel attends BuzzCon where she discovers rivalries that might have turned deadly. When a link between a victim and Bailey raises a chilling possibility: did he have an accomplice? An accomplice who is hiding in plain sight?
I thoroughly enjoyed Ms Goldin’s Night Swim and Stay Awake, I looked forward to reading Dark Corners. I like Rachel as she doesn’t scare easily and has a strong sense for justice, she is able to get information that some cops couldn’t get. Overall, I enjoyed Dark Corners and I look forward to more of Rachel’s adventures. However, it was a bit overwhelming with the sheer number of chapters and the switching between Rachel, Joe, the past and the killer. I was able to figure out some of the twists and the final “battle” with the killer was very fast. Despite all this, Dark Corners was fast paced and I was able to finish it in a few days. Readers do not need to read Night Swim to follow the story of Dark Corners, however, it is a story I highly recommend. If you enjoy crime suspense, I recommend Dark Corners.

Dark Corners is available in hardcover, eBook, and audiobook

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2.5
This book started off hopeful as far as the thriller direction it was going…but by the mid-point it stared to taper off and then ended very mediocre for me.

We get to be with Rachel Krall again, the reporter/crime podcaster from The Night Swim. She is requested to fly down and meet with an inmate that has been accused of multiple murders that is soon to be released. She then gets wrapped into this mystery.

1. I have to say, the whole mystery aspect of it was pretty far fetched and did not make sense to me. Too many dead bodies thrown into the mix as if more dead bodies would make the book better?

2. Rachel Krall 2.0 did not feel like the same character from The Night Swim. Seemed to be using her coat tails.

3. Implausible.

4. I really don’t like it when I feel like I’m a better detective in a book when it comes to being more realistic or smarter than the detectives. There were some stupid mistakes made here that annoyed me.

5. Also, all the dead bodies. Dead bodies do not equal more suspense.

All of this said, it kept my attention as I expected and hoped for more. I read this on vacation and I think it was a good spot to read it.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the e-copy of this book.

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Dark Corners is in my top 5 for thrillers this year! I really enjoyed this read! I recently read The Night Swim, so the main character Rachel Krall is fresh and she’s such a likeable character! I would highly recommend this book! I love a thriller that gives me bread crumbs the entire book. I really like when the main character is trying to solve the mystery!

Rachel Krall gets a mysterious call from FBI Agent Joe Martinez asking her to come down to Daytona Beach, FL. She’s a true crime podcaster and believe he wants her help. What she doesn’t expect is to be questioned. Terence Bailey is about to get out from prison. He hasn’t had a visitor in 6 years then a woman named Madison visits him and he tells her to bring him Rachel Krall then Madison goes missing. Joe Martinez wants to know why she was summoned and what she has to do with this case. The stakes are high. The local police believe that Terence is responsible for a string of working girls turning up dead and or missing prior to his prison stint. Rachel uncovers so many secrets when she attends BuzzCon a week conference that is for influencer, which Madison attended on the first day then went missing. Why did Terence Bailey want her to come to the prison? Can she help the FBI or just get into the way?

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Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press & Megan Goldin for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

I DEVOURED this book! Megan Goldin has quickly become one of my favorite authors and as I expected, this one did not disappoint! I loved the multiple POV's, the short chapters that end on a bit of a cliffhanger so it keeps you turning the pages because you have to know what happens, I loved the "special report/podcast" chapters..I feel like podcast plots are a bit overdone now but I love how Megan Goldin does hers. I loved all the twists & turns that this book took and I could not put this one down. This is a continuation of The Night Swim with Rachel Krall as the main character, but I didn't feel like you had to read that one first before reading this one. It was nice to know the characters and what happened with that case, but this one can definitely be read as a stand alone!

I'm so sad its over but I highly recommend reading this one if you're into True Crime, Multiple POV's, Serial Killers, Podcasts & lots of twists and turns!

5 star read for me!

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🎙️DARK CORNERS by Megan Goldin🎙️

📆PUB DATE: Out Now
➡️Swipe for synopsis
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Format: E-book
Read if you like:
2️⃣Multi-POV
🎙️True crime podcasts
📖Crime novels

I enjoyed this book so much more than I was expecting! Dark Corners is a follow up to Night Swim by Megan Goldin, but you do not need to read Night Swim first. These books were so different and I recommend this one more.

Rachel Krall, famous host of a true crime podcast, finds herself embroiled in another case but this time, she is more connected to the case than she knows. I couldn’t stop reading this and needed to know the ending the entire time. Luckily, the chapters were short which made it really easy to keep reading. Part of this book takes place at an influencer conference which was really interesting if somewhat annoying. Although I really enjoyed this book, there were some decisions made by Rachel that were so maddening because you would think a true crime podcaster would know better!

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy of Dark Corners!

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A solid thriller, Dark Corners not only creates suspense but also comments on the influencer aspect of social media. Rachel Krall is a crime reporter turned acclaimed podcaster when the FBI contact her about a missing social media star. Rachel soon proves she is a better investigator than the FBI but also puts herself in danger.

This was an entertaining read and I enjoyed the insight into the social media scene. There is a bit of a twist and overall a good read. I will continue to read more from Megan Goldin and hope she continues to write about Rachel.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this digital ARC.

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After reading the Night Swim I was so excited to hear there would be a second book in the Rachel Krall series. In this book we see Rachel get pulled into a new case, a new mystery that needs of be solved. The set up of this book is different from her previous one, instead of seeing the main character set up the newest season of her podcast, she is immersed in the case and jumps head first into the case.

I enjoyed this book up until the ending, the first part of the book was a slow burn, taking its time building up the case and the situation, introducing new suspects and characters. The issue I had with the book it is that it solved the mystery in the last 3 chapters, it is slowly building up to this point and then it felt like the author ran out of time and then just hurriedly solved the case for us in the last couple of chapters. I felt there needed to be more time spent in the ending of this book, every other sentence tried to answer a question of mine, instead of paying that attention to detail that the first 95% of the book had.

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This is my first Megan Golden book and it will not be the last. I really enjoyed this, despite not being a big thriller reader I think I’m going to read the other Rachel Krall book. Her character was amazing!

This book really kept me engaged. The multiple POVs and shorter chapters really helped move the story along and even with a lot going on with the book, I never got confused.

Rachel was a very tenacious character and I loved that she was a podcaster. It was very fun going inside the social media conference and seeing how the influencers are behind the scenes.

But mostly, this was just a well-thought out book with twist and turns that actually surprised me. Totally reading this author again.

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I absolutely loved the book. It grabbed my attention from the first page. The story increased with tension as the story progressed. Unpredictable plot and twist.

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I loved the first book in this series, the Night Swim, and was so excited to receive the arc of the second. I was not disappointed! This is a gem of a series with amazing, complex characters. The plot has lots of layers and intricacies but is not too complicated. The protagonist podcaster Rachel is a highly intelligent badass and I can’t wait for Goldin to write the next in this series! Perfect for fans of Joanna Schauffhausen and Allen Eskens.

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Bravo…Another outstanding book by Megan Goldin! Dark Corners is the second book in the Rachel Krall series (the first book is The Night Swim), but this book can be read as a standalone. After reading and enjoying the last two books by the author I was super excited to read her newest effort. Dark Corners is a riveting, unsettling, twisty psychological thriller. A huge thank you to St. Martin’s Press, the author and NetGalley for the advanced electronic copy of the book.

True crime podcaster Rachel Krall is back in action once again after she gets a grudging phone call from the FBI wanting her help on an investigation. Rachel finds herself searching for a popular social media influencer, Maddison Logan. She vanished after she visited Terence Bailey.

Terence Bailey has been in prison for breaking and entering, but is a possible suspect in the murders of six women and he is about to be set free. Rachel goes on a deep dive into the world of social media influence. She goes undercover trying to find out what happened to Maddison. But is this popular influencer the person who everybody thinks she is? With her fake social media account created Rachel steps into the world of influencers where there is ferocious jealousy and vicious rivalry. And soon she will discover what really creeps around in those dark corners of the internet.

Dark Corners is an electrifying, immensely captivating, suspenseful thriller. A book definitely not to be missed. I highly recommend it.

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Rachel Krall is fresh off the success of her podcast's coverage of a hotly debated rape trial in Neapolis, North Carolina when she receives a call from the FBI asking that she fly to Florida to meet with an inmate suspected of being a serial killer. Terence Bailey was arrested for breaking and entering after the police failed to find the evidence to make a case for murder. He's served more than three times his original sentence after catching an assault charge while on the inside. In six years he's only had one visitor, uber popular travel influencer Maddison Logan. The police are unable to find any connection between the two, and the only usable audio they have from the visit is Bailey's demand that Maddison find Rachel Krall and bring her to him. When Maddison disappears from her trailer in the aftermath of their visit, the FBI reluctantly calls Rachel in to see if she can convince Bailey to talk. Rachel quickly finds herself sucked into a world of influencer intrigue where no one is as they seem and the only thing more cutthroat than the release of a potential serial killer is the influencers themselves.

I was so thrilled by the return of Rachel Krall, and enjoyed the format of this novel compared to the first. It read in a completely new and exciting way. I appreciated the intrigue of the mystery at the heart of the novel, and can't wait to see where the relationships that begin in this novel will go in the next installment. "Dark Corners" manages to obliterate the idea of a series' sophomore slump and will have readers riveted from the very first page.

"Dark Corners" is perfect for fans of Riley Sager, Shari Lapena, and Stacey Willingham. It would make the perfect late summer book club book. It will spark conversation, both about the crime at the heart of the novel and the consumer culture built around the influencer model. I'd recommend it for anyone who religiously follows a true crime podcast, everyone whose favorite character on Criminal Minds is Aaron Hotchner, and for anyone who wants to feel vindicated by their innate distrust of ride share drivers. Special thanks to NetGalley and to St. Martin's Press for providing an Advanced Reader's Copy of "Dark Corners" in exchange for an unbiased review! I'll be counting down the days until Rachel's next adventure!!

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Once again, Megan Krall finds herself at the center of solving a crime thanks to her podcast. This time she’s a person of interest after influencer Maddison Logan goes missing after visiting suspected serial killer Terrence Bailey in prison two days before he is scheduled to be released. The real twist? Megan’s name came up in Terrence and Maddison’s conversation and the FBI wants to know why. Once they call Megan in, there’s no stopping her from trying to find out more about what is happening, even when they ask her to stop. But will she be able to get answers before something happens to her too?

While I didn’t adore this one as much as I did The Night Swim, I did fly through it in a day and really enjoyed it. Once I was in it, I couldn’t stop - I needed to know what was happening - from the smelly Uber driver, to the convicted serial killer about to be free, to the wild world of the influencer convention, there were so many layers to this story that held me engaged from start to finish. Although Megan is not always likable, and some of the twists were predictable, the exciting storylines made up for it. I was able to switch between audiobook and physical book and both options were great!

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the advance copies.

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An interesting look at the influencer scene mixed with a true crime podcast. This was a solid mystery that kept me engaged throughout.



I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

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4.5 stars - Dark Corners is the second in the Rachel Krall series and it had me hooked from the very beginning!!
I remember loving the podcast aspect of the first book and it still made for great reading in this one! The way the book moves from reality to podcast is so good and I thought it was very smart the way things are revealed. The twist ,for some reason, I did not see coming and it really got me! I was completely entertained and could not stop reading until the very end! I was halfway through this book and started recommending it to my friends! I may even like it better than the first one. Some might say Rachel places herself in bad situations but then what kind of book would we be reading? When I think of Thrillers, I think of fast paced, heart beating nonstop action haha! I want a crazy, bonkers somewhat unbelievable story that has me racing to the very end and this book delivered!! Megan Goldin has become an auto buy author I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all of her books.

Thank you to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for an arc in exchange for a very honest review.

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Was surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. Rachel Krall is a true crime podcaster who is well known for having helped free an innocent man. Now she gets lots of requests from inmates to look into their cases as well. But this time around it's the FBI who call her in, asking for her help. A popular social media influencer has gone missing after meeting with an inmate who is set to be released soon and while he couldn't have been responsible for her going missing since he's in jail, he may be connected. Not long after the meeting a body is found, again it's possibly connected to the inmate Rachel has only recently talked to and so she decides to get involved and see if she can help discover what is really going on. Tight/intense story with great characters. This one kept me reading late into the night. Turns out this is the second book in a series so I intend to read the first book soon, though you don't need to have read it to enjoy this one. Thanks so much to St. Martin's Press for the eARC.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dark-corners-megan-goldin/1142234097?ean=9781250280695&bvnotificationId=780f4c92-3631-11ee-9587-0efa3d55d50b&bvmessageType=REVIEW_APPROVED&bvrecipientDomain=gmail.com#review/254943864

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