⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

𝙍𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙡 𝙆𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙙𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙈𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙣 𝙂𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣’𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙎𝙬𝙞𝙢, 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙥𝙤𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧.

I honestly was not expecting to love this book more than The Night Swim or Stay Awake, but I had the time of my life reading this one. I did a combo of the ebook and audio, and I would 100% recommend the audio because of the podcast experience.

Rachel Krall has gained my interest because of the first book and I enjoyed her character even more in this one. This book can definitely be read as a standalone as it follows a different crime story.

I was so excited when I received an early copy of this book from NetGalley… and even more excited when I got the audio too. I really loved this book, it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. It was thrilling, engaging, and full of so much suspense.

I also loved the influencer lifestyle of the book. It kept me entertained from the very beginning and I actually really enjoyed the ending. There was an unexpected romantic subplot, I don’t think some will enjoy it, but I personally didn’t mind it.

I honestly really enjoyed this book, I would highly recommend the audiobook over anything else. The story itself was so interesting and I’m surprised by how much I loved it. I read it all in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down. Megan Goldin is soon going to be a favorite author of mine!

Thank you so much NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC and Macmillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review!

We are back with true crime podcaster, Rachel Krall who we met in the night swim. This time its a case involving a bunch of influencers.

Influencer Maddison Logan met with an inmate in Florida, and then disappears. It is revealed that Rachel's name was discussed in their meeting, and FBI needs to talk with Rachel. They bring her in thinking she is discussing, when actually they interrogate her.

The said inmate, Terence Bailey, is serving time for breaking and entering, but remains a murder suspect. They think he has something to do with Logan's disappearance.

Rachel meets with Bailey and he doesn't give her much, but ends their meeting by saying “The scariest monster is the one that hides in plain sight.”

FBI feels that is a threat to Rachel and want her to go home. But she is going to do some of her own investigating. She attends an influencer conference at a nearby resort while undercover. She gets a lot of info the detectives haven't been able to tap into. Can she help them solve the case? Or will be be another victim.

There's also a little romance between Rachel and one of the FBI agents.

I had both the ebook and audio and felt the audio was fantastic, especially with the podcast sections.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for both an ARC and ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for an ALC of this book. I should have known I wasn’t going to like this book. I DNF’d the first book in the series and every other book I’ve read by this author was just ok.

I felt like there was too much going on in this book. It could have just been a woman, Rachel, doing a podcast on a missing influencer Madison. And then bring in some people who knew Madison. But all this stuff about getting involved with the police investigation and the police having Rachel go in and speak with a guy who they believe is a serial killer two days before he gets out. She’s become famous due to her first serial killer podcast but just some things that done add up.

I was excited for some more Rachel Krall in Megan Goldin's latest Dark Corners. True crime podcast superstar Rachel is back, this time invited to Florida by the FBI to speak with prison inmate Terrence Bailey, who the police have long believed has been involved in a string of murders of young women in the area. Bailey, who is due to be released in days, had recently been visited by social media influencer, Maddison Logan, who went missing shortly after visiting Bailey in prison. Rachel sticks around to do her own digging around, which involves deep diving into the dark world of social media influencers, and combing through the murders of the women. Her interest in Bailey and these unsolved cases puts her directly in the crosshairs. This story had so many twists and turns, and kept me guessing right until the dramatic conclusion!

What I liked: The audiobook checked one of my holy grail boxes for me: multiple narrators. It was also fun to listen to episodes from Rachel's podcast, which broke the narration up nicely although I would have loved more podcast episodes like we saw in Goldin's previous novel Night Swim.

What I didn't care for: Rachel seemed to have had a major personality change between the two stories, and being as I read Night Swim just before diving into Dark Corners as a refresher, the contrast was stark! She seemed to have a lot of attitude and anger in this latest story, which at times didn't feel necessary for the storyline to be effective.

The audio performance was spot on, and I recommend this listen to anyone looking for a twisty psychological thriller with the element of social media influencers tossed in!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this ARC. I received this audiobook for free in exchange for an honest review.

The voices are on the audiobook are great! However, I did not feel like the story was as good. Dark Corners picks up after The Night Swim, which follows Rachel Krall, a true crime podcaster who tries to go deeper into cases that may have been overlooked. I felt this book was repetitive, slow and didn't have a solid payoff at the end. It was predictable. had a lot of moving parts that I didn't feel like were needed, like the body oder (used wayyy to much throughout the book) & the comments made about influencers. All in all this book is forgettable, and not close to the same level as The Night Swim.

DARK CORNERS
Megan Goldin

One famous podcaster, one missing social media influencer with a multicast narration…

It must mean RACHEL KRALL IS BACK!

I was so excited to read this follow-up to THE NIGHT SWIM featuring Rachel Krall. DARK CORNERS is one of my most anticipated thrillers of the year and it did not disappoint.

In DARK CORNERS we meet up with Rachel shortly after THE NIGHT SWIM, which was a national sensation. She is asked to help with the missing person's case of Maddison Logan, an influencer. Rachel is to go undercover acting as an influencer to get inside information as to the whereabouts of Maddison.

Rachel is one of my favorite fictional characters. She is a badass and it’s so much fun to follow her and root for her. I loved the plot of DARK CORNERS immediately. It has all the buzzwords I’m currently looking for. Podcasts are hot, social media is hotter.

When you combine those elements with Goldin’s fast-paced, bigger than life, writing you get a thrilling reading experience. I can’t wait for the next installment.

Thanks to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, and St Martin’s Press for the advanced copies!

DARK CORNERS…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a review of an Advanced Readers Copy of Dark Corners by Megan Goldin! Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review! Out August 8th!

About: True crime podcast host Rachel Krall gets a call from the FBI, asking for help locating a missing social media influencer in connection with a prisoner that the influencer recently visited. The influencer is Maddison Logan and is in town for a conference for influencers. Rachel agrees to help and goes undercover at the conference to meet Maddison’s peers and dig into her past. Most importantly, the FBI asks Rachel to visit a prisoner that Maddison visited named Terence Bailey, right before she disappeared. After Rachel visits Bailey, she’s under the impression that she may be in potential danger, as he is possibly a suspect for a ring of suspicious deaths that no one definitively can link him to. As Rachel digs further, she decides to stay in town to figure out where Maddison has gone, which slowly puts her in real danger as she uncovers Maddison’s past.

My Thoughts: Just like The Night Swim, this audiobook was great! The chapters went back and forth between Rachel, her podcast, and a couple other POVs. The sound effects for the true crime podcast were great, making it seem like you were listening to a real podcast.

I’d highly recommend listening to this book as the audiobook version! I’d also recommend The Night Swim as an audiobook too, and I look forward to more of this authors books!

📚 I read this book as the July pick with @honeydukesbookclub !! 🤗

You will like this book if you like:
🎙️ True Crime Podcasts
🎙️ Social media influencer stories
🎙️ Strong female characters
🎙️ Unsolved mysteries

This would be a fun book club pick! I did have a hard time suspending my disbelief in the early part of this book- the FBI flying in a podcaster to solve a crime, plus some of the evidentiary issues with the guy behind bars, and the inexplicably rude and initially unlikeable main character Rachel who keeps doing risky stuff. Glad I kept going though because this turned out to be a quick and entertaining mystery with some great twists. The audio version was fun with the incorporation of segments of Rachel’s true crime podcast in this novel that feels like a true crime podcast itself. The downside of listening was that it was hard to keep track of the various murder victims the FBI is investigating- there were a lot of them and it bogged down for me in the middle. Overall I enjoyed this mystery and would read more of the Rachel Krall books.

Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for the advance copy of this book! All opinions are my own.

DARK CORNERS BOOK REVIEW

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The second book in the series, following The Night Swim, we are back in the world of crime podcaster Rachel Krall. This book had me totally hooked in the first quarter with Rachel’s podcast, the social media influencer plot, and the serial killer on the prowl. The pacing slowed down a bit for me after that then picked back up right at the end and with some twists!

Pick this one up if you’re looking for:
🔎Police procedural
🎙️Crime podcaster
🔪Serial killer
📱Social media influencers
🌴Florida setting

I really like Rachel’s character and her investigative instincts are amazing- I hope that this series continues so we can get more of her story!

Dark Corners by Megan Goldin

This is the second in a series about true crime podcaster Rachel Krall. I really enjoyed the Night Swim and will definitely continue reading these books if there are more coming! This one is about a missing influencer named Madison who is somehow connected to a potential serial killer who is set to be released form prison in a matter of days.

Although I found some of this one far fetched (is the FBI really allowed to disclose that much detail of a case with a reporter?) and some big coincidences that seemed unrealistic, overall I was still sucked in to the story. I was surprised with the ending and found it to be unique and interesting. The narrators were captivating and helped with the pace of the story. I was definitely on the edge of my seat in some moments!

Thank you to @macmillan.audio for the audiobook and @stmartinspress for the ebook! This one is out on August 8th!

Dark Corners by Megan Goldin

I enjoyed this one! It was entertaining and kept my attention throughout, which is what I mostly ask for.

True crime podcaster Rachel gets involved with an FBI case when an influencer goes missing and the dark sides of social media are exposed. There are moving parts of an incarcerated inmate that reaches his release date, a huge influencer event with endless people that will do just about anything to increase their likes/followers, and bodies showing up.

It was a quick read with enough going on that I never felt bored or slow-moving. I also tend to like some plots with some wild influencers 😂 would detectives really just bring in a podcaster and tell her everything and have her help with the case? Probably not. So you have to suspend belief a bit, but it was still enjoyable.

Thank you, Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for a copy of this e-audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars rounded up

The narrators did a great job. I liked how there was a multicast to make it easier to follow along with the characters.

I read The Night Swim by Megan Golding a couple of years ago and loved it. I was super excited to get my hands on an early copy of Dark Corners. I loved this book even more! The chapters were short and concise. It made the flow of the book perfect. I like how chapters jumped from different perspectives and storylines. I think there was the perfect amount of suspense leading up to the end where some readers may have guessed it, but others might take longer to get the twist. The only complaint I have was that the podcast aspect felt glanced over. There were about 5 chapters where she was filming the podcast. I would have loved that incorporated more. Overall, I enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to any mystery fans.

I was so excited that I was able to listen to this on audio and got an advanced copy. Let me tell you, this was such a good audio book. It reads so well. The narrators are amazing and honestly it doesn’t feel like a book you’re listening too.

The suspense and thrill was also great. The build up was perfect and I could not stop listening. I listened to this in a day and a half.

I loved this more than the night swim—it felt smoother and written better.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

✨ARC Book Review: Dark Corners✨

Publication Date: August 8th, 2023
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

“Dark corners can be dangerous points…”

Y’all, I really liked The Night Swim, but I loved this book! Twists and turns all the way though! My favorite part about the writing was how the reader broke the fourth wall and knew who the killer was the whole time…it was the characters who didn’t know!

Dark Corners begins when Terrance Bailey receives a visitor in prison days before his release. This visitor is famous social media influencer, Maddison Logan. Why is she there in the first place? Well, no one gets a chance to ask her before she suddenly goes missing! That’s what the lovely Rachel Krall is brought on the case. She flies to Daytona Beach to meet with Terrence as well to get to the bottom of this crime. Little does she know, her investigation will lead her to not just one, but many missing people and buried bodies. How are they all connected?

The book focuses on the crime, and has a murder mystery/true crime podcast vibe, with a little hint of romance between Rachel and Detective Martinez. My husband and sister love true crime podcasts, and after reading this book, I am probably going to become a fan as well!

Thank you @netgalley for an advanced copy of this book. I read and listened to this book and highly recommend the audiobook. The narrators are truly fantastic!

#arc #arcreads #arcreviews #darkcorners #botm #julyreads #bookstgram #books #2023reads #bookrecs #readingchallenge #readinggoals #goodreadschallenge #booksofinstagram #alwaysreading #buddyread #bookclub #bookstagramchallenges #bookstagramer #instabooks #netgalley #netgalleyreviews

I have enjoyed all of Goldin’s books and this one was up there for me. I love books that feature true crime podcasts and I thought this incorporated that aspect very well. Six women are dead and the one suspect believed to be behind their murders is about to be released from prison for breaking and entering. The FBI reaches out to ask for Rachel Krall’s help when influencer Maddison Logan goes missing shortly after visiting suspect Terence Bailey in prison. This was suspenseful, gripping, and I loved the fast pace that held steady from beginning to end.

Technically the second book in the Rachel Krall series, this can easily be read as a standalone. January LaVoy is one of the narrators in the audiobook so you know it was fantastic, and André Santana and Samantha Desz did a wonderful job also. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this one and it needs to be on your list when released on 8/8.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ALC to review.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC. I was excited to get this book because I read Night Swim by this author and really enjoyed that book. Another bonus for me was that fact that this book had the same main character as the previous book. This book was filled with so many twists and turns that kept me guessing throughout the entire book. I was pleasantly surprised with the premise of social media influencers and learning about how much they do to keep up their images. The plot of this story seems to be well thought out and it delivers but in my opinion it was missing something. I was looking for more, searching for more answers. However, I enjoyed it and will continue to follow this author and read additional material.

Rachel krall is back! I loved the night swim so I was super excited that we were getting more from podcaster Rachel krall! I thought after finishing the night swim for the first time I could see it being a series but now I can officially say it!

What I enjoy about these books is the podcast elements (& specifically on audio!!) the way the audiobook gives multiple narrators for the podcast and music! I reread the night swim just in case but I can say this can completely stand on its own. I also enjoyed getting more of Rachel. In the night swim, the book is focused on all the other characters and not specifically on her. This book gives some more background on her and grows her as a character. The twist at the end wow I didn’t see it coming (specifically the people in trying to be vague here!!) Megan got me there!!

As for things that didn’t work, I didn’t think it was necessary to give Rachel a love interest. And maybe that’s unfair to say but I honestly didn’t feel any connection to them as a couple. I also felt like we just forgot about Patrick (her producer) it played more of a role in the first book and the beginning of this one but then by the end I feel like he completely was forgotten. I also preferred the podcast in the first book vs the “special report” in this one. I hope if the series continues that it will go back to the full series podcast format!

Overall, I’m not disappointed in this sequel. I do prefer the night swim but I’m happy this is a series now and I hope it continues bc they are very fun books with a podcast twist!

Thank you @stmartinspress @macmillanaudio for a copy of this book. I am so glad to have Rachel, a true crime podcaster, back with another story. This time Rachel is recruited by the FBI to help with a case of a missing influencer after she meets with a prisoner about to be released. Like Night Swim, the story is part what is happening and what Rachel shares in her podcast. I enjoyed the audio which included music intro to her podcast. The story was paced well with lots of subplots which I enjoyed.

Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio for an advance copy!

The audio was absolutely fantastic!

This book had 3 different point of views and each were very distinguished. You had the present day, Thomas McCoy and the podcast. Each would rotate in quick short chapters (which also made this book very bingeable) that just kept you wanting more.

I had regret not doing the audio for the first book in the series as I had heard the podcast part really brought to life the text. And it definitely did for this one! I love how we got to listen as if it was her actual podcast with the different narrators chiming in as if it was a conversation.

If you enjoy a podcast element in thrillers, a bad-a$$ podcast host, influencer tie in and a down to the wire chase - give this. read! Perfect for a day at the pool!

4.75

Social media. A tantalizing monster of real and virtual life. What happens when this monster becomes more than a torment to our psyche? It becomes murderous. This book follows a podcaster as she assists in an investigation. Written in a book and podcast format, the reader takes a deep dive into the ideals of our social media world and influencers. I was intrigued by all the twists and turns plus the very real social media aspect. The narrator delivered a solid performance and I’m sure I would not want to indulge in this book any other way!

Thank you NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and author Megan Goldin for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.