3.5, rounded up.

This is the second in a series, but it's perfectly readable on its own. I did read the first book back when it was being released, you can even find my review of it, but I didn't remember enough of the story, so for a moment when they gave us the background for Rachel, the podcaster who investigates crimes, for a moment I though they were talking about the first story and that I remembered even less of it. Turns out it wasn't, they did mention it a couple of paragraphs later, but very superficially, in a way that your only spoiler is that Rachel is still alive. So, not only can you understand it all without the feeling of missing out, but you won't get any important information to stop you from reading the other one later, in the "wrong" order.

And that is possible because Rachel will investigate the crime, she'll expose the story on her podcast, but she isn't the main story. Personally, I don't mind it when the character doing the investigation is a part of the plot—and I think Rachel in this second book gets more tangled in it than I remember her doing it in the first—, but I've read people say they prefer when they get less involved. That's probably for the best when you don't want to get involved with the whole series, and just read the books you want to pick, so this is a good choice (although as I said, Rachel ends up getting deeper into things for this second). There's not plot spilling from the first or into the third one that will make you need force you to keep following.

As for the story itself... I think the police is a mess in this one. We're talking about the FBI, and there's a lot that Rachel uncovers that they don't but they should have. Unfortunately, it's not because the police are doing a lousy job because the writer said they are (in some parts they are on purpose though), and that hurt a little my suspended belief. To be honest, I'm not sure why they needed Rachel, they just needed people doing their jobs.

Another flaw, I think, is a part that was maybe supposed to be a red herring, but it takes so much of the book, it made me feel frustrated. I was wondering if maybe there wasn't something bigger behind it, for the book to give it so much focus, and then there wasn't and that was it. I apologize if only by saying this it is easier to know what I mean, and I'll refrain from saying more not to spoil anyone.

That aside, it's a fun read. I mean, it's still heavy, some parts made me sad—I do remember having the same feeling during the first book, though the story there was heavier—, but it kept me intrigued, I couldn't wait to know what was going to happen, even more than finding out what had happened. This is not so much a whodunnit.

I spent so much of this review talking about how you don't need to keep following the series, and yet, here I am, looking forward for book number 3.


Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

I enjoy Megan Goldin's writing and liked the various characters and points of view.

Unfortunately, the story lacked the twists and surprises that I normally look forward to in a suspense thriller. While the premise was solid, I found that the events in the latter half of the story were easy to anticipate.

Rachel Krall is back and the podcaster is helping the FBI find missing influencer, Maddison Logan. She was last seen visiting Terrence Bailey who is in prison for breaking and entering, though police suspect he is a murderer. Rachel goes undercover at BuzzCon, a popular influencer conference, to learn about Maddison and finds rivalries can be deadly. Does Maddison’s disappearance have to do with influencers or the prisoner that is about to be released? Rachel finds herself directly in the crosshairs as she tries to put the pieces together.

I was so happy that Rachel Krall was getting another book as I absolutely loved The Night Swim. Told from multiple viewpoints this book goes deep into the lives and deaths of social media influencers and the killers who walk amongst us. This book kept me guessing as to all the connections of characters and wrapped up nicely at the end. This book can be a standalone as you don’t have to have read the first Rachel Krall book to dive right into this one. This is a perfect summer read!

Wow, wow, wow! Dark Corners was the perfect sequel to The Night Swim. I listened to the audiobook version of this book, and let me tell you, it didn't disappoint. The narrators did a fantastic job in the story-telling. I couldn't stop listening! Perfection is exactly what we've come to expect from Megan Goldin and we got it. 5 huge stars!

Rachel Krall is back! I do love a podcast mixed in with an intriguing mystery. And this one is intriguing! Megan Goldin weaves together a complicated trail with many leads and details to keep track of. I appreciate this as it makes my brain work overtime trying to figure out who did what. At times I thought I had the plot figured out and then a new lead would be found and I was left guessing again. There are a couple characters in this book that made my skin crawl and I do like it when a book brings out such emotion in me.

I look forward to reading more from Rachel and hope to see a third book in this series. The collaboration between Rachel and the FBI would be awesome to see again as I liked Joe and think they make a good partnership.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

When our intrepid podcast host accepts an invitation from the FBI to visit a prison in Florida, events kick off that both risk her life and offer the opportunity to provide answers.

I enjoyed the first book featuring Rachel, so I jumped at the chance to read this one. The action starts almost immediately, and as the reader, I just hung on for the adventure. There are quite a few tangentially related crimes happening, but I could not stop until I reached the end of the story. (I tandem read/ listened at the beginning and when my eyes were tired just kept listening straight through to the end.) The audio was excellent as well. I loved the Daytona Beach setting, and the side characters and the author kept me guessing for most of the plot.

Thank you @netgalley @stmartinspress and @macmillan.audio for my #eARC and #ALC

Dark Corners is a thrilling book that captivates readers with its engaging writing, well-developed characters, brisk pacing, and the addition of the podcast element. While the book had its strengths, it falls short in certain areas, leaving the overall reading experience somewhat lacking.

One of the standout aspects of Dark Corners is the author's writing style, she draws the reader into the story. It flows smoothly and creates an immersive atmosphere that adds tension and suspense.
The characters, particularly Rachel Krall, the podcast host and investigative journalist, are one of the book’s strong suits. Rachel’s determination and tenacity shine through. Megan Goldin skillfully explores Rachel’s personal growth, making her relatable and compelling.

The pacing in this novel is commendable. The author keeps the story moving and intersperses chapters with podcast excerpts which provide unique insights and enhances the suspense. The alternating perspectives and the tension-building structure help to maintain the reader’s engagement, ensuring that the story never loses momentum.

However, Dark Corners does have its shortcomings. The central mystery fails to fully engage the reader, leaving them somewhat disconnected from the unfolding events. The lack of investment in the mystery impacts the book, preventing it from reaching its full potential.

Additionally, the portrayal of influencers in this book can be seen as overly negative. While exploring the darker side of influencer culture can be compelling, this book tends to generalize and portray all influencers as bad people, lacking nuance and depth.

Lastly, some of the plot conflicts could have been resolved if certain characters had more open communication and shared information. This lack of communication becomes frustrating at times and feels contrived, impeding the story’s progression and believability.

In conclusion, Dark Corners is still worth the read. Although it may not capture the same magic as the first book in this series, The Night Swim.

Another enjoyable, compulsively-readable installment of the Rachel Krall series! I loved Night Swim, so I was excited to read this one. Fortunately, the story does not require the reader to remember much about Night Swim or even have read it at all. Rachel Krall hosts a popular true crime podcast which focuses on bringing justice to victims of brutal crimes, whether it be finding the perpetrator or freeing those wrongly convicted.

In this story, she is tasked with helping the FBI help track down what may have happened to a famous social media influencer who has gone missing. The story is told in multiple perspectives, which makes it a little confusing to follow at first, but I was quickly sucked in to the story. The chapters are short and often leave on a mini cliffhanger until that character's next chapter. I listened to the audiobook, which is phenomenally read by multiple narrators. A very enjoyable mystery, perfect for the summer!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing this ebook/audiobook ARC. All thoughts are my own.

Dark Corners is the second book in a series, following The Night Swim. I actually hadn't read the Night Swim, and always find it interesting to hop into a series in progress. The author did a great job of giving me enough backstory to understand the main character, Rachel, and her motivations. This book took her down a lot of different paths, both personally and professionally, and kept moving the entire time. There wasn't any sort of massive twist or reveal, but I enjoyed that since I was able to just go on the journey along with Rachel and see how things turned out, instead of trying to guess what would happen next. I also enjoyed the setting, with Rachel being out of her element on a "working vacation." This book was a quick and enjoyable read, and I would recommend it to someone who likes modern mysteries and thrillers.

Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for the chance to read and review this title early!

Dark Corners is the second book following Rachel Krall, a true crime podcaster that has historically helped innocent people that have been accused of crimes. She is back at it again, only this case is brought to her in a strange way. She gets called by the FBI to come to Florida, where they want her to meet with an inmate who is about to be released after serving a six year sentence. The inmate has been serving his sentence without one single visitor the whole time, but days before he’s set to be released he gets a visit from a famous influencer, police audio and video show that the two talked about one thing: Rachel. One problem, she doesn’t know who these people are or what they would want with her.

The police also want to know the answer to that question, but more than that they want to keep a serial killer off of the streets. Before the inmate was taken to prison, he was suspected of murdering quite a few women, only the police don’t have any actual evidence. Right after the influencer visits with the inmate, she too disappears and there is no way that the inmate could have done it….he’s been locked up. The police need Rachel’s help to get to the bottom of this case, and take a dangerous man off of the streets once and for all.

Let me start out by saying that I LOVED the first book. The story gripped me in right away, the court room drama was phenomenal and it was one of my favorite reads last year. So to say that I had my hopes up, would be an understatement I was beyond excited to hear from one of my favorite characters again. However, I was disappointed. The set up is intriguing and it grips you from the start, the chapters and short and therefore it reads very quickly. However, I felt like the storyline was lackluster, and I have read similar thrillers. What I will say is that the podcast element of this on audio is a 10/10 they really nailed that part. However, I would have liked to see even more of the podcast element in here. Overall, this book was just okay for me.

Another winner from Megan Goldin featuring podcast extraordinaire, Rachel Kroll. Rachel first appeared in Goldin's prior thriller, The Night Swim, however, Dark Corners can be read completely standalone as well. Sucked into the world of influencers and what the reality behind the truth they portray on social media actually is, While not quite as heart pounding as Stay Awake was for me last year, I truly enjoyed Dark Corners.

Thank you to St. Martins Press for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

This second-in-series thriller featuring true-crime podcaster Rachel Krall grabbed me from the first chapter, and I read the book in two days. The main character, Rachel, is nuanced and believable, and the other characters, notably FBI agent Joe Martinez, victim Maddison Logan, and villain Thomas McCoy, all leap off the page as the story rachets up the suspense. Some great scenes include the discovery of abducted influencer Maddison's rattlesnake-filled camper van, Rachel's prison interview of suspected serial killer Terence Bailey, and the interaction between Rachel and the self-involved influencers at a swish luxury resort.
Time is of the essence as Rachel and Joe race to solve the mystery of Maddison's disappearance and the murder of several young women in the Daytona area over the last few years. The various threads of the plot weave together satisfyingly by the story's end,. The device of alternating Rachel's point of view with Thomas McCoy's during the story's action and Rachel's podcast from a later timeline afterwards effectively increases the tension as the novel races to its climax. I can't wait to read more Rachel Krall adventures in the future!

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬: (4.5 ⭐️)
Good thing I’m always nice to my Uber drivers!

I loved it! I did read the first book (Night Swim) but I don’t think you need to in order to understand and keep up with the story BUT our popular podcaster, Rachel is back!

The influencer life is a subplot and it is intertwined really well, it doesn’t take away from the twists and main plot!

I was engrossed with the audio from start to finish and loved the podcast interviews with Rachel — the narration was STUNNING!

Megan Goldin is the queen of unseen twists. Any book I have read by the author has surprised me with the resolution in the third act.

Overall it was a good read, albeit a bit long in the middle. I feel like the book would have been just as good without all of the BuzzCon storyline and still would have made sense.

3.5

I was hoping for a little more for this sequel to The Night Swim, but it really was a completely different type of book.

I loved the first book and I especially loved the podcast part of that book. Dark Corners really is lacking the podcast aspect. Unlike The Night Swim, which focused on a case already at trial, Dark Corners is focusing on a current case, which kind of prevents Rachel from doing a podcast. There seem to be "notes" chapters sprinkled in here and there that add a little to the story, but nothing like the first one.

There wasn't anything special about this book. If I didn't know it was a sequel to a novel, it seemed like an ordinary thriller. It kept my attention, but it was a disappointment for a sequel.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. Dark Corners is out August 8th.

This is the sequel to The Night Swim, although you can read both books as standalones.

Rachel, a true crime podcaster, is the main character in both books. She flies to Daytona Beach, FL, to assist in an investigation of an accused killer. She soon realizes that “𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.”

This book had many different characters that at first seemed unconnected. I enjoyed trying to figure out what was going on. Clues were given bit by bit here and there which kept me invested and wanting to keep reading. Eventually all the clues came together at the end, and it was explosive!!

I hope there will be more books added to this series in the future! I love Rachel’s character and her persistence in making sure justice is served. Well done! 👏🏻

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the ARC of Dark Corners in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the eARC of Dark Corners! All opinions in this book are my own.

It seems to be a theme this summer that I keep reading thrillers I don't realize are actually sequels. Luckily, it wasn't necessary to read The Night Swim before Dark Corners and I don't believe there are any spoilers for the first book.

I had so much fun reading this dark thriller. You are given all the clues and people pretty early on in the book so I was determined to figure out how everything fit together as I was reading. Despite all of this, I was still surprised by how it all came together at the end.

I'm really excited to go back and read The Night Swim now! I hope there are more Rachel Krall books in the future!

Rachel Krall, our favorite true-crime podcaster is back!

Once again, the FBI reaches out for her assistance. They’ve asked her to meet with Terence Bailey. Mr Bailey is an inmate in a Florida prison who’s the #1 suspect in a string of unsolved murders. On the verge of being released, the FBI is desperate for help to keep him behind bars. They’ve run out of options and hoping Rachel can get him talking.

A brilliant plan that went totally sideways. Now The FBI wants Rachel out of Florida stat! Not only did she get no answers, but now she has a target on her back and Terrance is about to come after her! (Thank-you, F.B.I.!)

Rachel is a great MC. Smart and strong, she likes to do things her way. But I always have a problem when our “average citizen” does the work of the police. (Maybe that's just me)😉

This was a great follow-up to book one, Night Swim. Hoping this series will continue.
I enjoyed both the digital and audio versions and recommend the audio!

Thank you to NetGalley, St Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio.

🚐🚐🚐🚐 / 5

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I’m so glad I picked this one as my BOTM because I knew I was going to enjoy it—and now I need to get a physical copy of The Night Swim! I loved that this was made into a series because I really enjoy Rachel as the narrator. I also again loved the addition of the podcast—or a special report in this case. There were a lot of storylines and characters to keep up with in this one, but I think the author made it pretty easy to stick with the story. We met a more aggressive Rachel in this book, which was a bit shocking, but I think it was warranted since she often deals with cops whom don’t always take her seriously. It seemed like there’s no way any of the characters or plot lines were connected, but somehow everything does. This one was a wild ride with so many twists and turns that I thoroughly enjoyed!

Podcaster Rachel Krall is back with a new season.
🐊
Terence Bailey is a few days away from being released from prison in Florida when infamous podcaster Rachel Krall gets a call from the FBI to hightail it down south. When popular social media influencer Maddison Logan visited Terence in prison, it was Rachel’s name that came up in their conversation. Now Maddison is missing and time is running out before Terence gets released. This causes Rachel to go undercover at BuzzCon, a social media convention, in the hopes of getting a lead on where Maddison might be. This puts Rachel right in the killer’s crosshairs.
🎙️
I really loved @megangoldinauthor Night Swim so I had to grab this book as soon as @librofm dropped the ALC. I listened to Night Swim on audiobook and knew this would be the same level of amazing quality, narration and sound effects as that one. I was not disappointed! Be sure to grab this adult thriller when it releases August 8!

CW: serial killer, death, murder, strangulation, hospitalization, kidnapping, drugging, heart attack, stalking


I liked it, but not as much as Night Swim. I wanted a full season 4 podcast and didn’t get that here. I did like the romance and hope there are more books with Rachel.