Thank you to St. Martin Press for the ARC and ALC.

Dark Corners by Megan Goldin was on my 2023 most anticipated list and I'm so happy I was able to read and review this copy. The Night Swim was a 5 star read for me and to know that we will continue with more with Rachel Krall and the Guilty or Not Guilty Podcast was amazing news.

I am giving Dark Corners 4 stars. I loved that we got to continue with Rachel and her podcast as we got to learn about cases along with her. The audiobook is amazing and I highly recommend reading and listening if possible because of the full produced podcast with sound effects. I also appreciated that you don't have to read The Night Swim first in order to read this.

The reason why this wasn't a 5 star read for me is because although I loved getting back into the podcast, like a new season, I found this book to lack the "podcast" affect for me. The audiobook was full produced however it didn't have the same punch as the Night Swim. Also, I learned that the "influencer" parts were not something I personally cared for but some might.

I do hope Megan Goldin will continue to write for Rachel Krall because I do find her stories very interest and hard to put down.

This was a great read!

A huge thank you to NetGalley, St Martins Press and Macmillan Audio for my advanced copies of Dark Corners.

I was gifted the ebook and then later the audio version of this book by the publisher which I was not expecting.

I loved the audio for this.
Dark Corners is narrated by André Santana, January LaVoy and Samantha Desz. They did a phenomenal job. January Lavoy is one of my favorite voice actors so I was so excited to see her on this project.
This audio was very well produced and felt unique.

I also really loved the mystery. It was well written and Megan Goldin just continues to impress me. I've read 3 of her books so far and they've all been a solid 4 stars ✨

Overall- Highly Recommend . I look forward to reading more by this author.

This book took me a while to get into but once it picked up I couldn't put it down. I liked Rachel's truecrime podcast and I was invested in figuring out what happened to Maddison. I felt like the ending was a bit rushed and I was still left with the question as to why the stinky killer was killing those girls. But overall I enjoyed this book.

Dark Corners is well written. Crazy life of influencers, serial killers, FBI protocols and a podcast ‘wannabe detective’ all come into play. Megan Goldin’s descriptive writing and masterful use of literary devices make her novel a pleasure to read, despite some of the content being a little disheartening and/or gruesome at times.
I highly recommend Dark Corners.
Thank You to NetGalley, St Martin’s Press, and Megan Goldin for the opportunity to enjoy this ARC.

Dark Corners by Megan Goldin
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Dark Corners is a follow-up to the popular Rachel Krall thriller " The night swim" ( which I highly enjoyed as well ) however, this book can be read as a standalone as it touches all the bases needed without much explanation needing from its predecessor.

" ᴬˡʷᵃʸˢ ᵏⁿᵒʷ ʷʰᵃᵗ ʸᵒᵘ'ʳᵉ ʷᵃˡᵏⁱⁿᵍ ⁱⁿᵗᵒ, ᴰᵃʳᵏ ᶜᵒʳⁿᵉʳˢ ᶜᵃⁿ ᵇᵉ ᵈᵃⁿᵍᵉʳ ᵖᵒⁱⁿᵗˢ"

Thank you to @netgalley & @stmartinspress for sending me an #earlycopy #arc #giftedcopy

I really enjoyed this book. The start seemed very slow. Almost DNF slow. But the little pieces were just enough to keep me reading. It does eventually pick up. It's not overly fast-paced but it's interesting- and I'm not sure I could have seen the twist coming if it had called me first and told me when to pick it up from the airport 🤣

Overall this book was very enjoyable and I can't wait to add my #botm copy to my shelf!

Book review ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Thanks to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the ARC

Dark Corners
Author: Megan Goldin @megangoldinauthor
Genre: Mystery/thriller
Read on e-book
Pub date: 8/8/23

Book description:
Terence Bailey is about to be released from prison for breaking and entering, though investigators have long suspected him in the murders of six women. As his release date approaches, Bailey gets a surprise visit from Maddison Logan, a hot, young influencer with a huge social media following. Hours later, Maddison disappears, and police suspect she’s been kidnapped―or worse. Is Maddison’s disappearance connected to her visit to Bailey? And why was she visiting him in the first place?

When they hit a wall in the investigation, the FBI reluctantly asks for Rachel Krall’s help in finding the missing influencer. Maddison seems to only exist on social media; she has no family, no friends, and other than in her posts, most people have never seen her. Who is she, really? Using a fake Instagram account, Rachel goes undercover to BuzzCon, a popular influencer conference, where she discovers a world of fierce rivalry that may have turned lethal.

When police find the body of a woman with a tattoo of a snake eating its tail―identical to a tattoo Rachel had seen on Bailey’s hand―the FBI must consider a chilling possibility: Bailey has an accomplice on the outside and a dangerous obsession with influencers, including Rachel Krall herself. Suddenly the target of a monster hiding in plain sight, Rachel is forced to confront the very real dangers that lurk in the dark corners of the internet.

My review:
This was my first Megan Goldin book and wow, what a ride!!! This book was wonderful in many ways. It kept me engaged from beginning to end. Some parts were a bit slow but I always wanted to know what happened so I kept on reading. Also, I guessed in advance some of the twists by the end of the book.

I give this book a 4 1/2 stars
🌟🌟🌟🌟💫

Did you read a Megan Goldin book yet?

Did you read Dark Corners? What did you think about it?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CuPLDrTLhFm/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Rachel Krall is back! And I'm so here for it.

In the latest crime thriller by Goldin, we get a semi-sequel to The Night Swim. You don't have to read the first one to read her latest book, Dark Corners. There's no spoilers per se just vague references, but honestly if you haven't read The Night Swim yet, you really should. It's a great book and you won't be disappointed if you do pick it up.

With Dark Corners, we get a solid crime thriller. I think Goldin is teeing these books up perfectly to make a great detective series, but with a little twist since Rachel is a podcaster. Maybe a little Joe & Rachel crime solving team. I think Rachel is a strong main character and I really hope we get more in this universe in the future.

The pacing was good for this book. We get some nice twists and well thought out red herrings to throw us off the case. I think anyone who picks this book up, especially if you loved The Night Swim, will not be disappointed.

**Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion. I am posting this review to my Goodreads account immediately and will post it to my Amazon & Instagram accounts upon publication.

Dark Corners is the second installment of the Rachel Krall series. I loved the first book, and this one was as good as the first. I had access to both the Kindle and audiobook versions, and listening to the audiobook enhanced my enjoyment of the book. André Santana, January LaVoy, and Samantha Desz all did an excellent job narrating the book. It was easy to visualize what was happening, and I loved the extra details of the music and the dramatics for the podcast chapters.

This book setup was a little different than Night Swim. Rachel was the only person narrating, and the podcast chapters were more constructed as diction for future episodes than actual episodes of her Guilty Or Not Guilty podcast. I felt it was still easy to get hooked immediately, and I loved involving influencers and social media in the story. The story was fast-paced, and we felt we had enough suspense while our questions were answered. Also, Rachel Krall is still a badass in this book! She is fierce, but she also comes across as a very likable and trustworthy person. It was easy to love her strong and independent self as she was as determined to find answers in this book. I was disappointed that we did not get more of Agent Martinez, but I hope for more Rachel Krall books! This can be read as a standalone or part of the series, but a book that should be on your summer reading list!

Thank you to NetGallery and St. Martin Press, and Macmillian Audio for giving me a copy of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. I really liked this one and I am a fan of Megan Goldin's writing. Rachel is a podcaster who covers true crime and she has been contacted by the FBI to try and assist them with a missing person. The story line of how Rachel's initial meeting with an inmate in prison and the connection to the missing girl was a good one. I thought this story was going in a totally different direction and then it all started to come together. I enjoyed the writing and I liked the characters as well. This was a good ready. Enjoy!!

Talk about a pageturner! I couldn't stop reading this! I was drawn into the story and pleased to read another book with podcast host/journalist Rachel. I like how this author writes true crime thrillers, but focuses on the victims more than her fictional serial killers.

I could have done without the romance bits, but I suppose they were relevant to the story. The MC flip flopping from "fuck the police I'm not helping them and lying for them" to a total undercover source was amusing, if a little annoying because like, where are her principals?!

If you like fast paced thrillers with action, multiple POV and the story told in a few different ways (podcast scripts) you'll enjoy this murder mystery! If you like reading about Influencer culture you'll also like this. It's a creepy good time!

Having been on the fence about The Night Swim hit but enjoying other books from this author I wasn’t sure how this was going to land for me. I will say I enjoyed it more than The Night Swim, but less than the books by this author that are not connected with this series.

I’m going with 3.5 rounded up because it had its moments. There were definitely times that I was incredibly invested in the story but there were also times when I found myself rolling my eyes and waiting for it to end. It was back and forth for me on where it would land on my personal scale of enjoyability - which fits perfect with how I felt about the first book in the series.

The timing of this book didn’t make sense to me. It was apparently a few weeks after the events in The Night Swim, but Rachel felt like a completely different and more evolved character. It felt more like this could have taken place years later. The whole influencer culture and characters were too over the top and just not believable. We all know that social media is fake and curated, but these people were just horrible.

I enjoyed the mystery and was eager to see how everything came together. I enjoyed the POV from the bad guy too and thought it added a fun element.

This is my least favorite book I’ve read from this author and I had really high hopes after The Night Swim was so well done.

Loved this book! Megan Goldin is easily becoming one of my favorites. Dark Corners was filled with suspense and surprises, had me up into the early morning hours unable to put the book down. I didn't read the Rachel Krall book one, Night Swim, but had no problem getting into this new story. I loved the podcast aspect of this and also the social influencer culture of it was really exciting and different. Definitely a must read summer thriller!

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

🎧Song Pairing: Smelly Cat - Phoebe Buffay (if you read this you’ll understand)

💭What I thought would happen:

I didn’t see the best reviews so I wasn’t as gung-ho to jump into this one

📖What actually happens:

We are back with Rachael and her crime podcast. She has been brought in to question a convict who’s just about to be released but the police are doing everything to keep him locked up. When a famous influencer goes missing, Rachael is determined to crack the case and possibly find answers to several other missing girls possibly connected to the convict in question.

🗯Thoughts:

I don’t love the character of Rachael, I don’t hate her either. I just don’t find her appealing, she seems about as cuddly as a cactus. I don’t know why people divulge so much information to her.

This was a fine thriller. Nothing great, nothing awful. Just a-Friggin-ok. Honestly I just feel like any thriller, high quality or not is enjoyable in the summer time. Anyone else agree?

I don’t have much else to say. I hope everyone who is excited about this book gets pleasure from it!

Thrilled I had the chance to read this advance copy of Dark Corners! I stayed up way too late trying to finish, even though I had figured out the real killer well before the end. I just wanted to see how the author would reveal everything. I love how the podcast format ties everything together, but I really found the influencer culture piece interesting. It made Rachel's story very relevant! For whatever reason, Terrence seemed much older in my mind, but he is early 20s? Big fan of Megan Goldin!

Love, love, double love this continuation of Rachel Krall and her story. I first enjoyed the podcaster in the night swim, which had some very triggering parts to it. This book is definitely a standalone and picks up right after the last case.

This tale has serial killers and social media, influencers and a lot of miss direction. I didn’t know how it was going to wrap up at all and I love that in a story.

I liked this more than I expected to. It kept me interested and was one of the better thrillers I've read in a while. For some reason, I was not picturing Terrance as young as he was. I liked the way things wrapped up but the very end was super abrupt.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy in exchange of an honest review.

3.5 stars

Terrence Bailey has spent years of his life in prison for a somewhat minor offense, but even though suspected of killing six women, he is soon to be released. He asks for Maddison Logn, an influencer, to visit him before his release and she acquiesces. After visiting Terrence, Maddison mysteriously disappeared.

So the story begins. Calling in Rachel Krall, another influencer, becomes an undercover agent i as she joins and attends BuzzCom, a place where other influencers has joined. Rachel joins a world where it is a fully well world of rivalry and dog eat dog environment.

Meanwhile, police find the body of a woman with a coiled snake eating its tail, which leads them back to Terrence Bailey who they feel must have a co murderer on the outside.

Rachel becomes embroiled in the drama, immersing herself into danger and the fact that the murderer (s) might just go after her.

This was an interesting story, coming after the author's Night Swim (which I really liked) The world that influences has created in one of competitiveness and vying for the "likes".

Thank you to Megan Goldin, Macmillan Audio, and Net Galley for a copy of both the kindle and audio copy of this story.

Dark Corners was an incredible read that kept me guessing until the very end. Five stars for sure!!

Dark Corners is the return of Rachel Krall, the investigative podcaster from Night Swim. Night Swim is one of my most recommended thrillers, and I was happy to see that this book has a lot of the same elements: short chapters that make it hard to put down, alternating between different POVs and the podcast, and a mystery to puzzle over. While the POV stays mostly with Rachel, there are also chapters from the perspective of Joe Martinez (FBI), and Thomas McCoy (rideshare driver). The ARC of this book that I received didn't have any indication that certain chapters were the podcast, except for a different font. I also received the audio version, which played theme music and started those chapters with "A Rachel Krall Special Report," which I thought was perfect. The elements of this book that didn't work for me were mostly just about Rachel herself. Rachel, who investigates crimes against women and knows that the world is dangerous, takes a lot of unnecessary risks in this book and is often acting directly against FBI directives. I also can't write about this book without talking about the BuzzCon social media influencers conference. I'm sure that this sort of thing exists but what a group of self absorbed, vapid people! Yuck.

The bottom line is that I enjoyed this book and I'm glad to have not seen the last of Rachel Krall. I hope to see more books about Rachel and her podcast from Megan Goldin, following this same addictive format.