I loved The Night Swim so I was a bit nervous this second book to feature investigative podcaster Rachel Krall wouldn’t be able to meet my expectations. However, I am thrilled to report that I ended up loving Dark Corners!

I loved how the POVs alternated between the serial killer, Rachel, and the FBI agent working the case. The book includes everything I need in a thriller: surprise twists, page-turning suspense, a realistically terrifying bad guy, and a protagonist worth rooting for. While reading, I couldn’t imagine how all the storylines connected but at the end everything was woven together seamlessly. Because of the podcast elements, I highly recommend the audio version!

I read Dark Corners in 2 days as it was one of those books you simply can't put down. Dark Corners is book 2 in the Rachel Krall series and I loved it! I hope that Megan Golden will be continuing this series as it is just getting better and better with each book! The FBI contacts Rachel because an Instagram Influencer has gone missing. Maddison Logan, the influencer, had wanted to get in touch with Rachel before she disappeared. Maddison had gone to visit a presumed serial killer that was in prison for breaking and entering. The police didn't have enough to convict him of the murders of prostiutes even though he was suspected. Just after Maddison visited Terence Bailey, she disappeared. Maddison had been in town attending BuzzCon, a conference, for social media influencers. She was huge on social media but the FBI can't find out anything real about Maddison. No family, no friends, it's like she made up her name and persona.

Rachel helps the FBI and finds out way more than they do by attending BuzzCon using an old Instagram account called runningrach. She doesn't want anyone to know that she's the Rachel Krall with the famous podcast that has blown up since her last case. As Rachel enters the world of social media influencers she quickly finds out that it's a cutthroat way to make a living and most will do anything to gain more followers. Will Rachel be found out as a fake? Will she be safe in Daytona Beach at the conference? When she visits Terence Bailey for the FBI to get information on Maddison will he give up any information? Will Rachel make out better than Maddison did after her visit to Bailey?

As more bodies are found with the same tattoo of a snake eating its own tail, will Rachel and the FBI be able to figure out who's doing it before Rachel or someone else disappears? This is a fantastic book that I rate 5 stars and give my highest recommendation! Dark Corners is available on August 8 so don't wait to get it! I hope that Megan Golden is working on Rachel Krall Book 3 because when you finish this one you'll want to read the next one soon! I'd like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of Dark Corners in exchange for a fair review.

Investigators have suspected Terence Bailey of multiple murders, but could only arrest him of breaking and entering. Just when he's about to be released, he gets a visit from a popular social media influencer. Then she disappears. Rachel Krall runs a true crime podcast and has so far avoided the influencer conference Buzzcon. But when she's brought in to interview Terence, she decides to attend to help with the investigation. Terence seems to have an accomplice that's obsessed with influences... and she might be next.
I thought this book had plenty of suspense, the characters are solidly described, Rachel is just as fascinating as I found her in Night Swim. There are lots of twists to the story to keep the reader engaged. This is the second book in the series but can be read as a standalone although Night Swim was really good and I recommend reading it!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Having loved Goldin’s first book, NIGHT SWIM, and the introduction of podcaster Rachel Krall, I was excited to read DARK CORNERS, the second Rachel Krall book. The book was off and running as Rachel is called by FBI Detective Joe Martinez for help in solving a missing social influencer and a suspected serial killer. The first fifteen percent of the book was good but then the more I read I found the plot moving slowly, so many characters to try to remember, and too much about social influencers that I had to go back and take some notes. I did enjoy the last fifteen percent as the story wrapped up with a fairly satisfying ending. I do hope to see Joe Martinez as a regular in the next Rachel Kroll book. My thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. The opinions in this review are my own. 3.5 stars raised to 4 stars.

Dark Corners by Megan Goldin is an entertaining mystery/thriller. It is the second entry in her Rachel Krall series, this time featuring the true crime podcaster searching for a social influencer who has disappeared.
The missing woman, Maddison Logan, has recently visited Terence Bailey, a convict on the cusp of his release from a Florida prison. He is suspected of murdering several women, but the authorities have not gathered enough proof to keep him incarcerated. When he hands the influencer, Maddison, a note saying “Bring Rachel Krall to me,” the FBI reluctantly asks Rachel to get involved with their investigation.
The chapters are arranged in alternating POVs of Rachel Krall; Thomas McCoy, an oddball rideshare driver; and excerpts from episodes of Rachel’s podcasts about the case. These multiple viewpoints are skillfully interwoven and move the plot forward dynamically, enhancing the dramatic tension. The segments set at a social influencers’ convention are meant to portray their world as vapid and self-centered, but were certainly interesting. There are enough red herrings and twists to make this a good mystery and unique case, and it held my interest up to the surprising conclusion of the investigation.
Rachel’s character is more confident and written as a stronger voice for women in this book—as she observes, “Killers receive so much oxygen in the media. It’s time to a voice to the victim.”
Agent Joe Martinez of the FBI is a welcome addition to the cast of characters and provides a bit of romance for Rachel.
I recommend Dark Corners to readers who like a well-plotted, contemporary crime novel and investigative procedural. While I was fortunate enough to read the digital ARC and listen to the audiobook advance file, I found the audiobook version particularly enjoyable, with excellent narration by Samantha Desz, January Lavoy and Andre Santana. The sound effects and music also really enhanced the story, especially the podcast excerpts.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the advanced copies. All opinions are my own.

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

Megan Goldin is back with book 2 in the Rachel Krall series. I know people loved The Night Swim, but it wasn’t a favorite of mine because I was a little confused with the podcast aspect. With Dark Corners, I decided to read along with the audiobook, and I enjoyed it much more.

My favorite part of this book was the influencer conference that Rachel attends under cover. Working with the FBI, she’s trying to figure out what happened to a missing influencer, Maddison Logan, who was abducted while recording a video for her social media. Rachel meets with a prison inmate who was accused of murdering some teenage girls, and now she’s trying to find his connection to Maddison.

If I had just read the eARC, I would have been really confused about what parts were Rachel’s podcast. The chapters aren’t labeled and the font wasn’t different so I can see this taking away from the story. It’s clear with the audiobook so I highly recommend listening to this one. I enjoyed the multiple narrators for this one, André Santana, January LaVoy, and Samantha Desz, and felt they did a great job bringing the story to life.

I found the mystery intriguing and didn’t put the ending together which is always a plus for me. There were some issues with the writing (constant use of both first and last names for example), but overall I was entertained by this book.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for advanced copies in exchange for my honest review.

Dark Corners by Megan Goldin
In this mystery thriller, the FBI enlists the help of true-crime podcaster Rachel Krall, to help solve the potential disappearance of an influencer. Instagram-famous Maddison has not been seen since she visited Terrance Bailey in jail. Terrance was thought to have been connected with several other missing women.

I wasn’t going to read this one as it is the second in a series and I hadn’t read the first. When I started it I was immediately disappointed as I felt I was missing critical information about Rachel and the FBI agent. However, this passed as I became more interested and engaged with the story.

There is a good amount of pressure and pace, twists and turns in this story. There were some niggly things for me though.
-There was this unusual podcaster good and righteous vs influencer bad and frivolous theme going on.
-The romance seemed to have developed out of nowhere and did not add to the story at all.

That said I enjoyed the book, it can be read as a stand-alone story.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for an opportunity to read this ARC!
IG review to be posted soon.

Dark Corners by Megan Goldin
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Genre: mystery thriller
Format: ebook
Length: 352 pages


✨Read this if you enjoy: ✨
🔪Twists and Turns
📱Social Media
🎙️True Crime

I read The Night Swim back in 2021 and I could not put it down. So naturally when I saw that Dark Corners was going to be a continuation I knew that I had to pick it up.

Thank you to Netgalley, St Martins Press and Megan Golden for an e-arc of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts about the book.

Dark Corners is about Terence Bailey, a man who is set to release from prison in a couple days. The last and only person to visit Terence in prison has gone missing. Rachel Krall finds herself in the middle of the investigation but she discovers quickly that no one in this town is exactly who they seem.

I really enjoyed this book, even though it was a very different tone from The Night Swim. This book isn’t quite so dark. I loved unravelling the mystery, some parts I was able to piece together and others definitely surprised me. I really liked Joe and I hope he’ll appear in another book with Rachel.

Megan Goldin just proves again why she is an auto buy author for me. I always have the best time reading her books.

I've been a Megan Goldin fan since her first book, and I'm so glad she brought back Rachel Krall for this book! I really loved that this one took so many different threads and wove together a connected, fascinating story. A significant amount of action takes place in the last 20% of the book. That's not to say that the rest is slow- the entire book is generally well plotted and paced, but definitely be prepared to read that last bit in one sitting. Rachel Krall is a great character, and I'm hoping this isn't the end of her stories.

WHILE I ENJOYED THIS ONE INITIALLY MORE THAN THE NIGHT SWIM THE CONTINUOUS CRINGE DIALOGUE BETWEEN RACHEL AND JOE GRATED ON MY LAST NERVE AND THE WHOLE THING STARTED TO FEEL CLICHE.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy all opinions are my own.

Did not finish @ 46%. Wasn’t engaged by any of the characters or the central mystery, and I thought the content creator angle was done without much depth or complexity.

SYNOPSIS:
- Shortly after meeting with Terence Bailey, an inmate in a Florida prison, Maddison Logan, a popular #vanlife influencer, disappears. In the meeting, Rachel Krall’s name came up, so the FBI flies Rachel to Florida.
- Rachel is a popular true-crime podcaster, and she has made a name for herself in the podcasting world.
- Terence Bailey will be released in a few days. He is a suspected serial killer, but there’s no evidence to tie him to any of the killings. He went to jail when he was twenty-one years old, and now, he’s twenty-seven years old.

MY THOUGHTS
- I hadn’t read book 1 (Night Swim) before, but I didn’t feel like I was missing anything. It was good as a stand-alone book.
- I read this one in less than 24 hours, and I found myself thinking about it in the moments I put the book down.
- Really enjoyed the character development. Rachel is a capable, strong-willed, smart character.
- Multiple POVs, including Rachel’s, one scary dude, & a podcast transcript.
- Loved the ending and the many twists throughout that kept me in suspense
- I liked the romantic aspect in the book, but felt the chemistry between the characters.
- Excellent writing. Complex plot, but well-plotted and easy to follow.
- Short chapters, which I love.
- The commentary on influencers throughout was timely, observant, and interesting.


TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️4.5 stars rounded to 5, as I finished in less than 24 hours. Solid thriller with a well-written, capable woman as the MC.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. It will be published on August 8, 2023.

True crime podcaster Rachel Krall is back and I am SO HAPPY about it!

After reading Night Swim in 2020 I was really hoping it wouldn't be a one off but haven't really thought much about it since, and then after reading Stay Awake (which I didn't love), I was anxiously awaiting Goldins next book to see if it was a hit for me like Escape Room and Night Swim were, or not.

5 star hit.

When true Crime podcaster Rachel Krall is called upon by the FBI as the only lead in a missing persons case, she is convinced to pay a visit to prisoner Terrance Bailey - arrested for B&E, but suspected of killing many women 6 years prior. The weird visit causes a chain of events that leads her to the middle of Buzzcon, a conference for influencers that was being attended by the missing girl, Maddison, that she's looking for. Did the fierce competitiveness of Buzzcon turn lethal? Is it Terrance pulling strings from within the prison to make Maddison disappear? We shall see.

There's so many wins for this book. The plot is easy to follow but still complex enough, the characters extremely likeable, and the multiple POVs (podcast transcript after the fact, Rachel herself, and anonymous man who gives off baaaad vibes) make the storytelling so interesting.

I'm looking forward to Rachel Krall #3 (especially if Joe Martinez makes an appearance!!)

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC, and for giving me the chance to read and review it honestly.

In this second book in the series, Rachel Krall, who is a true crime podcaster, is asked by FBI Special Agent Joe Martinez to fly down to Daytona Beach, FL, to help with a case. A man named Terence Bailey is about to be released from prison after serving time for breaking and entering and they want Krall to interview him. A detail in the crime he committed set off alarm bells that he could possibly be a serial killer the FBI has been looking for but there's no real proof.

And now it seems a social media influencer named Maddison Logan has gone missing after visiting him the day before. He is seen on the video recording of the visit scribbling a note to Logan, asking her to contact Rachel Krall. Why?? Rachel gets no answers from Bailey but his parting warning is: 'The scariest monster is the one that hides in plain sight.'

BuzzCon, a popular social media influencers convention, is being held in Daytona Beach and Rachel decides to infiltrate it to see if she can find any answers. No one really cares that Maddison is missing--it just means there is less competition for the big prize. They are all so vacuous, narcissist and self-indulgent, it's pretty sickening.

Meanwhile, there's a chemistry developing between Rachel and Joe Martinez that is hot, hot, hot. He's worried that her life might be in danger and regrets having asked her to involve herself in the case.

The story is filled with action and tension and bodies piling up. We see a killer at work behind the scenes. Is he Bailey's partner? Some of the details of the crimes he has committed are filled in with excerpts from the podcast Rachel will someday do. My one quibble is that I'm not sure that the FBI would involve a member of the public in a case like this, but it sure made for an exciting story.

I received an arc from the author and publisher via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own. Can't wait to see what happens next in the series!

Wow! I have been totally absorbed into this book. I feel as though I have slipped into the pages of this book and lived for the day. I missed the first Rachel Krall book, but I will be going back to read it now. This was suspense filled, mysterious and was a multi-layered mystery which you solve as you peel back each layer one by one until the thrilling ending.

Terrence Bailey is about to be released from prison. Local authorities are not happy about his release because they feel certain he is responsible for the death of at least six women, but they do not have the evidence to back up their suspicions. When he is visited by a social media influencer, Maddison Logan, the puzzle grows even more puzzling as they try to figure out why she visited Terrence. When Maddison disappears hours after her prison visit, the FBI is in a panic. Reluctantly they call the famous crime podcaster, Rachel Krall. Under very mysterious instructions, they ask her to visit Terrence. Rachel gets pulled into this mystery after her visit. Maddison is an influencer on social media only. She does not exist in the real world. Rachel goes undercover to a social media influencer convention, Buzzcon, to investigate this mystery further. This is whole different world where rivalry runs rampant and everyone wants to be #1. This part of the story was very interesting.

Rachel Krall is not your average female character. She is a fearless woman with a sharp mind and her observation skills are off the charts. The deception is deep and the mystery is brilliant. Megan Goldin does a superb job of lining everything up and tying it up with a nice, neat bow with an ending that will blow your mind. I am still reeling from this story. I could not put this book down. The menace lurking just below the surface will give you chills even as you try to figure out how it all works out. Mystery readers and lovers of serial killer thrillers will inhale this book.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Megan Goldin's latest book could easily be ripped from today's headlines. It really brought out the downsides of being a social media influencer. Despite the contemporary nature of this story, I couldn't help but be reminded of the character Norman Bates from Psycho. I enjoyed the way that the author presented alternating perspectives. Hopefully, she will continue to write more books featuring Rachel Krall. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy to read and review.

I finished this book in one day. Started it with my morning cappuccino and finished it by dinner. I could not put this book down. The Night Swim had me hooked on Rachel Krall and her podcast to help prove someone was incorrectly charged with murder. This breaks into the crazy world of influencers and how one could be the victim of a serial killer. I liked the pacing of this story, I loved the flow and the build to the finale. It was a great read. I am looking forward to more Rachel Krall books.

True crime podcaster Rachel Krall is summoned to Florida by the FBI. A prisoner is due to be released in a few days and he requested a visitor he had to contact her, but no one knows why as Rachel has never heard of him. Also, the prison visitor has been abducted by an unknown person. The prisoner is suspected by local police of having committed multiple murders so the FBI hopes Rachel can help them prove it. Rachel helps, but what she finds leads to so much more.

A very popular social media influencer, Maddison Logan, has gone missing. The FBI has run out of leads, so they fly in Rachel Krall to speak to a suspected serial killer, Terence Bailey, who was visited by Maddison right before she disappeared. Rachel infiltrates Buzz Con, a popular social media influencer conference, where she discovers some fierce rivalry amongst influencers. Could this rivalry have turned deadly? Rachel is determined to find out.

I really enjoyed The Night Swim, so I was excited to read another book featuring Rachel Krall. However, I was a little disappointed in how Rachel appears in this book. Rachel comes across as an arrogant know-it-all here. I also found it to be a little heavy on social media influencers. I know that is something that is big right now so many may find it more interesting than I did. Overall, it was a decent story so I give it 3/5 stars.

I switched off listening to the audiobook and reading the story. I found myself much more interested in the audiobook version. January LaVoy and the rest of the full cast really pulled me into the story. I especially enjoyed the podcast parts of the audiobook version.

I was so excited to see that there would be a Book Two for Rachel Krall in Night Swim.

This time she is on a mission to find the missing influencer Maddison. She finds herself on a risky investigation on her own.

I was never fully invested in the storyline and the whole missing influencer has been popping it's head a lot in books lately. This isn't something that I've been invested in and we see SO much of this like overboard.

I also thought the police procedural aspects were also pretty fake. Just stuff that there is no way would happen in investigating a missing person.

I think this one fell extremely flat and was disappointed. The first book was amazing and this one just lost all talent in my opinion.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for my arc in exchange for an honest review.

Pub date: 8/8/23
Published to GR: 8/5/23

2.5/5 stars