Megan Goldin has done it again for me. I recently read The Night Swim and absolutely loved it so I was so excited about getting this! As expected, it was everything I wanted it to be. I have to admit, I was a little skeptical of the social media influencer aspect as the book was starting out but in true Goldin fashion, I ended up loving it. I love how she takes different characters, plots, twists, and truly keeps you guessing to the very end. Rachel Krall is a superhero and could this be a new favorite series? 5 stars.

Megan Goldin is quickly becoming one of my favorite thriller authors! After loving The Night Swim, I was so excited to see this novel picks back up with Rachel Krall investigating a new case in Florida with the FBI. The beginning of this novel was so strong, with Rachel flying to a federal prison to try and help the FBI get information prior to the release of a serial killer from prison.

Part of the case involves investigating the disappearance of Maddison Logan, an influencer whose disappearance seems linked to the original case. Rachel Krall takes on the investigation for the next season of her podcast, and much of her research involves infiltrating an influencer event Buzzcon.

This was honestly a pretty scary novel, but it was so suspenseful and definitely kept me at the edge of my seat! I thought the influencer angle seemed fun but then got a little stale by the end of the book, which is why I'm knocking off one star!

Unfortunately the author is not consistent and this book continues the downhill track that she was on in the first book in this series when Night Swim fell apart in the end. That book had great pacing and a tight focus that really held your attention, again until the end, but this book is a mess throughout with the changing narration. We have podcaster Rachel, FBI agent Joe and unfortunately the creepy character. Far too much page time is given to the creep and the attraction between Rachel and Joe. It all detracts from moving the story or holding your interest. I hated Escape Room but really loved Stay Awake so unfortunately this author is really hit or miss for me. Unfortunately she continued her very strong hatred for police in this book which is just frustrating and of course gets in the way of telling the story. There is a little political pushing and not enough crafting an actual story worth reading. If you liked Night Swim this one is nowhere near as concise or gripping. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I loved the Night Swim and was really excited for Rachel Krall #2. It didn’t have quite the same impact as the Night Swim, but I still really liked this book. Once I got into it I devoured it and couldn’t stop. One thing that felt unnecessary to me was the romance between Rachel and Joe. It felt rushed and I didn’t feel the chemistry between them so it felt forced. I loved how all the pieces came together so well at the end. Overall 4.5 stars from me.

Loved reading this book, it was a great follow up to the night swim. I enjoyed how detailed the authors writing was, and the many different angles it provided. It created a good puzzle to solve, which is something I enjoy in mysteries.

A very readable mystery with good, if not fast, pacing.

Megan Goldin pulls from all things current and trendy, a podcast, influencers, a possible serial killer and slowly, layer by layer reveals what's real and what is all just perception.

I can see this being done really well on audio as the story is spliced with snippets of podcast.

This book was a little slow moving for me and didn’t make me want to keep reading. It also felt unfinished. When I got to the end, it seemed like there was a page missing. The book ended suddenly and it didn’t feel like it was a good spot to end.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: August 8, 2023
True crime podcaster Rachel Krall, featured in Megan Goldin’s novel, “The Night Swim” returns to help the police find a missing woman, and jail a suspected murderer for life.
Terrence Bailey was arrested for breaking and entering and is about to be released after serving his sentence. The only problem is the police believe he is responsible for the murders of young women throughout the Florida area but, without concrete evidence, they can’t keep Bailey behind bars. The FBI discover that the last person to visit with Bailey was a mega influencer by the name of Maddison Logan, who has now gone missing. Stuck as to how the two knew each other and what exactly happened to Maddison, the FBI decide to call in Rachel, who has been praised for her popular podcast that helps free inmates who have been charged with crimes they didn’t commit, after Bailey requests her personally. Rachel inserts herself in the vapid, vicious, dog-eat-dog world of influencing in order to find out what happened to Maddison, and to help discover what role, if any, Terrence played.
I am one of the very few people who did not read, “The Night Swim” (I just didn’t get around to it) so Rachel is a new character for me, and I have no background to compare her newest novel, “Dark Corners”, to. That being said, I was able to follow “Corners” easy enough, and can say, with confidence, that it is not necessary to read Goldin’s other Krall novel in order to keep up.
The story is told from multiple POV’s; Rachel’s, Joe (the FBI investigator)’s and Thomas (who is involved in the crime). There are also sections of the novel that are part of Rachel’s podcast on the subject (although it took me awhile to figure out that’s what that was, as they aren’t labeled as such and only the different font gave me an indication of what I was reading). Goldin brings the overrated world of social media influencing to the forefront, so make sure you can handle the self-assured, overly confident, vain narcissists, as there are many (especially when Rachel attends “BuzzCon”, a convention for social media influencers).
Goldin manages to string all the plot points together in a relatively believable and digestible ending. There are a few twists, and although they aren’t completely unpredictable, I still found them enjoyable. I saw the romance between Rachel and Joe coming from a kilometre away, but it definitely explained how Rachel was able to completely infiltrate a police investigation as a civilian.
I will definitely make “The Night Swim” my priority now, to see what I missed out on. I was grateful for the chance to read Goldin’s new novel and I’ll keep my eye out for anything else she releases!

Dark Corners

You know, after reading “The Night Swim” by Megan Goldin I remember thinking to myself how a series centered around the main character, investigative podcaster Rachel Krall would be an excellent idea. Imagine my excitement when I found out that Golding’s book “Dark Corners” features none other than the indomitable Rachel Krall!

In this novel Rachel finds herself in Daytona,Beach Florida investigating the disappearance of up and coming travel blogger/ content creator Maddison Logan. As Rachel goes undercover at an influencers’ conference and starts making enquires it isn’t long before she’s put on the radar of a dangerous serial killer. She must race to solve the mystery behind Maddison’s disappearance before she becomes his next victim.

Run of the mill. Predictable. Boring. In my opinion those are “no nos” when it comes to any type of suspense. “Dark Corners” is none of those things and I wholeheartedly applaud Megan Goldin for it.

As I was reading this novel I came across quite a few dark corners myself. Meaning I literally had no idea what was going on or where Ms. Goldin was leading me. I mentioned previously in this review that I do not like predictable suspense novels. I’ve read so many that a lot of times I have been able to figure out pretty significant plot points, which spoils the reading experience for me. As far as “Dark Corners” is concerned, Goldin holds her cards close to her chest and strategically lays out the red herrings in order to keep me in a perpetual state of confusion. Once she finally throws all of her cards down onto the table, I came away with the opinion that this is a well-crafted suspense novel that provides no room for error.

A new addition to the Rachel Krall series is Special Agent Joe Martinez who happens to play her love interest. In this book he officially investigates the case of the disappearance of Maddison Logan. He and Rachel butt heads constantly because she inserts herself into the case despite Joe’s arguments against it. Despite this, however, they cannot deny the chemistry between them. I really hope that he is a permanent addition to this series. Aside from the great romantic chemistry they do make a fine team investigative wise.

Aside from the plot what I find very interesting about “Dark Corners “ is the subject matter. In the book Rachel Krall investigates the disappearance of travel blogger/content creator Maddison Logan. In order to remain anonymous she uses her inactive handle @RunninggirlRach to infiltrate the BuzzCon conference where Maddison happened to be in attendance before she vanished. As
Rachel begins making her inquiries she gets an up close and personal glimpse into the influencer culture. Goldin’s fictional content creators are uncannily similar to real life influencers like Emma Chamberlain The earnestness displayed by them to build their brand and gain the elusive status of icon is painfully obvious. I just hope that unlike some of the influencers found in this book, the young Miss Chamberlain is not sacrificing her integrity in order to maintain her VIP status.

I liked “Dark Corners” even better than “The Night Swim”. This gives me hope that I will find her next one in the series even more. I’m looking forward to the reading experience!

Thank you Netgalley for this advance reading copy in exchange for my honest review!

What in the world?! I absolutely loved Night Swim and was so excited to read this but it was just all over the place. Rachel’s character was aggressive and not very likable the entire book. The plot got super far fetched and unbelievable at the end.

Pub date: 8/8/23
Genre: thriller
Quick summary: True crime podcaster Rachel Krall goes undercover as an influencer to find the truth behind a girl's disappearance - but she'll find herself in the path of a serial killer.

THE NIGHT SWIM (book 1 featuring Rachel) is one of my all-time fave thrillers. I also enjoyed this book, but TNS is still my fave. I liked following Rachel's investigation, and I was very invested in unraveling the mystery! It's a dark, fast read, and if you enjoy books about influencer culture and/or serial killers, you'll probably like this one! I'm excited to continue to follow Rachel's adventures.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the pace of this book, and the podcast and social media influencers angle. It was a page turner and kept me guessing until almost the end. I enjoyed how the mystery unfolded and would love to read more Rachel Krall stories in the future. Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s press for the e-arc.

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

Podcaster Rachel Krall has been called to Florida by the FBI to interview a convicted killer in a high-security prison, hoping to get information on missing influencer Maddison Logan. If you read Night Swim, you've met Rachel Krall, but the format of this book is different. This one lacks the dual timeline and the podcast episodes. It's kind of nice that it has the same main character (start of a series, perhaps?), but isn't formulaic.
While Rachel investigates Maddison's disappearance, she stumbles into the bizarre dystopian world of social media influencers. It's like "high school on steroids." This is an exciting thriller with plenty of twists and turns, and a bit of romance (completely clean, love scenes are behind closed doors).

I recently read “The Night Swim” and was so excited to be accepted to read “Dark Corners”. I was instantly hooked on the sequel. I felt the chapters and story line moved at a quick pace to keep me wanting more. I made the mistake of telling myself I would read a few chapters before bed and ended up staying up way later than I anticipated to finish the book. I’m hoping there are more Rachel Krall books in the future!

This book will have you from he very first page and please just keep going. This book was great and the story kept me on my toes. I highly recommend

What a great follow up to The Night Swim. This is one to definitely add to your 2023 TBR list. Megan Goldin is back with Rachel Krall in Dark Corners (and no, you don’t have to read the first book for Dark Corners to make sense), and this one might have been my favorite Rachel Krall novel yet.

Dark Corners really did everything right as a mystery/thriller book to me. The characters are believable and likable. The book picks up right away, so I was instantly drawn into the story. The quick, short chapters make it feel so easy to fly through the book. I was invested in the story all the way through and happily was not disappointed with the ending which can really make or break a book for me.

This book is unique in that it delves a bit into the influencer lifestyle and touches more on Rachel’s podcasting. This book still has the mystery/thriller feel with the changing points of view, little twists throughout, and an ending I didn’t see coming. The influencer portions just made this book feel refreshingly unique.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Megan Goldin, and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advanced reader’s copy.

My thanks to Net Galley and St Martin's Press for this excellent read!

Rachel Krall is a famous pod caster who is brought down to Florida to assist Agent Joe Martinez to talk to a prisoner, Terence Bradley. Why you may ask? Well Maddie Logan, an influencer has gone missing and she has a connection to Rachel, that Rachel is unaware of. This leads Rachel to BuzzCon. A giant convention of influences. Story is also told from the perspective of the serial killer.

I really enjoyed this. It kept you guessing with lots of twist. I figured out one particular plot point with Rachel, but got a nice surprising twist at the end.

My only complaint, I wanted more with the arc of Rachel and Joe. All in all great read!

Thank you NetGallery!
I was so excited to read this book but it felt so different from the first book. Maybe it was because I listened to the first book and read the second book. I could not keep track of the characters, even though the author used full names most of the time, then she would switch between the full name and last name. I had such a hard time figuring out what was happening 70% of the time. Maybe when the book is released I will try the audiobook.

Thank you NetGalley and St.Martin’s Press for the advanced readers copy of Dark Corners by Megan Goldin. I really enjoyed this book and the characters. This was a well developed story. Rachel Krall is a podcaster who is asked to come to Daytona, Florida by the FBI to talk to a prisoner. Rachel has no idea why this inmate wants to talk to her and the FBI is not giving out any information. So Rachel’s starts her own investigation. This is book 2 of the Rachel Krall series. Looking forward to a book 3!

If you love the night swim then you will love this book. It does not disappoint. This book keeps you engaged and wondering what happens next.