Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book in exchange of an honest review.

I was blown away by this book. I didn't even know what I was getting into but it certainly wasn't that - this book DELIVERED.

Everything about this book was so raw and as much as I loved it and flew through it I still needed a serious break when I finished it. It takes a lot out of you mentally and honestly, good. It should do that. It talks about rape in a blunt, gritty approach and packs a punch with each chapter. This felt real. Everything about this made me feel so drained and upset and the message it sent was heavily impactful. Also, a lot of this strongly felt familiar with the real rape case of Brock Turner.

The book opens with trigger warnings which was so refreshing and something I hope I can see more of soon. I'm going to give this book to everyone to read and I can't wait. More people need to read this. I can't recommend it enough.

Also I'd LOVE a series out of these!!! Which is saying a lot because I usually steer clear of series.

All the stars.

Megan Goldin gave us a "heckuva page turner" with last year's debut novel, The Escape Room. (my review) I quite enjoyed it and was eager to read her newest book, The Night Swim.

Rachel Krall is the voice and the brains behind the Guilty Or Not Guilty podcast. (Okay, hooked already - I love crime podcasts.) Her popularity has surged since the show managed to get a man's sentence overturned. Rachel thinks she's found her case for season three. A small town's golden boy, an athlete destined for greatness, has been accused of rape. (Uh huh - seen that one in the papers haven't we?) Rachel stops into town to have a look around. When she comes back to her car, there's a note under her windshield wiper, begging her to take a look at the past - the death of a young woman twenty five years ago. Murder or accident? But, Rachel keeps a very low personal profile - who knows she is here?

Oh, so many ways this story could go! And the plot is unpredictable - even better. I truly appreciate not being able to figure things out ahead of time.

Goldin has a background in reporting and I think The Night Swim benefited greatly from that skill set. The investigation was believable and well written. I felt like the reader was right alongside Rachel as she put the pieces together. Rachel was a strong lead character, one I liked and was behind all the way.

In addition to loving podcasts, I also enjoy novels written with epistolary elements. Goldin gave me both with podcast transcripts being included. Courtroom scenes were part of the book as well - I always enjoy a legal battle.

Gentle readers, there are trigger situations in this book. I thought Goldin handled them with the seriousness and respect they deserved.

Another great read from Goldin - I'll be watching for her next!

[CW: rape, murder, & sexual assault.]

Last week I ventured back into the world of the thriller with Megan Goldin’s The Night Swim. I was immediately hooked by this engrossing & emotion-provoking story that revolves around a violence we’ve unfortunately seen or heard parts of play out all too often before.

Rachel Krall, the host of the Serial-like podcast Guilty or Not Guilty, ventures to Neapolis to cover the trial of alleged rapist Scott Blair & to research & recount the sequence of events the night of the alleged rape of K.

While she’s there, Rachel is contacted by a stranger named Hannah, who begs her to investigate the murder of her sister Jenny at 16. The town says Jenny drowned & 25 years later, in the present-day, she’s still gossiped about & slandered for supposedly being promiscuous. Hannah has part of Jenny’s story to tell—her memories from that long ago summer when she was only 9—& it’s horrifying.

Rachel’s busy with her podcast, with giving her listeners the opportunity to decide if Scott is guilty of having raped K. But she’s caught up in Jenny’s story too, with what really happened to her.

The Night Swim is a powerful, disturbing story of the ongoing sexual violence done toward women & as Rachel expresses to her listeners, the further pain they experience being forced to offer “proof” that violence was done to them.

It’s also about victim-shaming; the narrators reveal how men & women frequently jump on a malicious gossip band-wagon & how it’s not uncommon for communal judgment toward perceived sexual acts &/or assumed lapses in judgment to often be primarily directed toward females.

In terms of the mystery I was genuinely surprised by a big reveal, but I did question Rachel’s reporting methodology on at least a couple of occasions. The fine storytelling held my interest as did the way Goldin plays with genre, using letters & podcast transcripts to further pull the reader in.

While the book & the stories of the girls & women told in it are often dark, there are gestures made toward hope too. But it’s a kind of hope that’s still touched by the reality of being a woman living in the world described above.


​

4⭐️. Thanks to St. Martin’s Press & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

I loved this book! The way the author moved around between the perspectives of the different characters kept the plot very interesting. Parts were definitely hard to read because of the detailed abuse and rapes so that wasn't always fun. I thought the book was well thought out and I didn't guess who the rapist/murderer was at all. 4 stars!

This bok tells the story of a reporter as she’s working on the third season of her podcast. This true crime podcast (with some serious Serial vibes) is on its third season, and she decided to make it about a ongoing rape trial.

By exploring this trial, the author discusses things such as rape, rape culture and the way these cases are tried in court. These discussions were, in my view, beautifully executed and got the point across clearly.

You see, even though this is a work of fiction, it clearly mirrors real life in a heart breaking way. I found that I had to take breaks at times because of how soul crushing some things were. However, I also couldn’t bring myself to put this book down because of how badly I needed to know how it would end. This made the discussions all the more real, all the more emotional, and all the more necessary.

This book made my heart race and sink – it made me feel all the things a good book makes you feel. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and you won’t either.

Rating: 5 stars

Absolutely incredible read. I heard this was good, but I had no idea. I will definitely have to put Megan Goldin on my list of must read authors.

I loved this book. The concept was great, I loved that it was a podcaster potentially helping to solve crimes and she was ended up maybe needing to do it in real life while covering a controversial trial. The trial hit close to real life but played it out in a very understandable way pitting all sides against each other. Left me on my toes until the very end. The only edit I’m probably too late for is that college athletes can’t have sponsorships but that may have been adjusted!

In the end, I am a little surprised that I gave this book a 4 star rating. This book was a crime drama took me the first half before I could start getting into it at all. However, once it finally pulled me I had a very hard time putting it down! This was why it was hard to give it less than a 4 star. I'll be honest and say that if I had purchased this book and did not plan to do a review, I very likely never would have gotten far enough in to discover the jewel within. However, when I read a book that the publishers thru netgalley are willing to give me the privilege to read simply for an honest review, I try to finish completely regardless of my thoughts along the way. I like to give them an honest chance.

This book truly turned out to have some wonderful plot twists and turns, and I loved the details of all of the players within. I did not expect the ending at all, and this was wonderful! I'm honestly not sure I will seek more from this author simply because I tend to like books that pull me in within the first couple of chapters. I don't like to work so hard to find the draw.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from St Martin's Press through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rachel Krall’s true crime podcast has had an exceptionally successful first 2 seasons. Now, for her third season, Rachel wants to bring it. She’s decided to report on a rape trial as it’s happening. The case is controversial. He’s a local hero, a college student, and a competitive swimmer so good he may make it to the Olympics. She’s just in high school, with no witnesses. It’s her word against his, and his family has enough money to hire one of the top defense attorneys and a team of expert witnesses.

Rachel came to this small town to cover it all.

But on the drive, Rachel was surprised to find a handwritten letter on her windshield. A podcast listener named Hannah begs her to look into her sister Jenny’s death, which she categorizes as a murder. Rachel is nervous and feels like she’s being stalked, but she is also drawn in by Hannah’s story. Jenny’s death had happened in the same small town where the rape trial is taking place, so Rachel decides to do a little digging in her free time.

As the trial starts and the testimony starts to unfold, Rachel reports on the intricacies of an accusation of rape, taking her listeners through what happened that night raising important questions of what a woman goes through when she accuses a man of sexual assault. Having to recount intimate details over and over in front of strangers. The rape kit, where her body is treated as a crime scene. The sneers and threats from those who don’t believe her. The wounds to her body, her mind, her spirit. Rachel’s sympathies seem to lie with the accuser and how painful a situation the trial is for her, but she also reports on the accused’s point of view. She tries to leave the judgments to the jury, and to her listeners.

In the moments she’s not reporting on the trial, she is looking into Jenny’s death. What she finds is a brick wall of secrets, missing records, and misdirection. However, not one to be distracted from what she wants to know, Rachel keeps digging, willing to expose the town’s darkest secrets to find the truth. But in her quest to find the truth, just how far will those who seek to keep the past buried go to stop her?

The Night Swim is the latest from Megan Goldin, who brought us last year’s The Escape Room (side note: loved it!). This complex look at the justice system, at the voyeuristic nature of true crime reporting, at the complicated relationship that accusers have with the law, and at the brutal impact of reporting sexual abuse evokes a strong and bittersweet reaction to the truths it contains. The writing is strong, the characters interesting, and the story inviting. But it does deal with difficult topics with an honesty that can be painful.

I really enjoyed reading The Night Swim. I recommend it, but it’s not for everyone. Golding goes into detail on sexual assaults, the reporting process, and the trial. Anyone dealing with wounds from a similar experience may be triggered by the honesty in this book. But for those who love a good true crime podcast, who enjoy a good thriller, or who want to read an exceptional novel, then The Night Swim needs to be on your TBR, or on your bookshelf or e-reader. It’s that good.

Egalleys for The Night Swim were provided by St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley, with many thanks.

This book was definitely worth the time to read. It handled a sensitive subject of rape pretty expertly and sensitively. You'll need to rest up when you finish this as it is emotionally exhausting.

Slow burner, maybe a bit too slow for my taste, but still a well written mystery. Intrigued me enough to go check out some of her other work 😊

The Night Swim, by Megan Goldin, is a compelling, emotional crime thriller that pulled me in from the first paragraph. Generally, I try to avoid spoilers at all costs, but I do want to warn prospective readers that this novel involves rape. Having said that, Goldin tells the story of two teens from one town, assaulted decades apart. Although the plot careens at breakneck pace, Goldin seamlessly weaves both stories together. She also manages to expose issues of misogyny, reputation, corruption, and the inadequacy of the justice system through the ingenious use of a podcaster to investigate, narrate and comment on the two stories. This novel is a masterfully well-written roller coaster that will likely wreak havoc with your emotions. It will also give you a lot to think about.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Night Swim is from the author of my absolute favorite book last year, The Escape Room and Goldin once again does not disappoint!

Rachel Krall is a true-crime podcaster whose next season’s episodes will be broadcast from a small town where everybody knows everybody. It is a rape case and Rachel will be in court and reporting to her fans on the daily testimony.

The accused is a college boy who is a talented swimmer, perhaps heading to the Olympics. The accuser is a high school girl he saw at a party and decided to have sex with in an alleged contest he was having with his roommate as to who could sleep with the most girls in a month. He insists the sex was consensual. She says she repeatedly told him to stop.

But along with the trial, which has the town divided, Rachel is getting notes from a woman named Heather who insists she wrote to Rachel to try and get her to investigate the death of her sister Jenny twenty-five years earlier in the same town. Her sister was found dead in the water. The medical examiner ruled it a suicide. Heather insists it was murder because her sister was a strong swimmer. It never added up and Heather and her mother could never get any answers.

Heather claims there was some kind of cover-up and knowing Rachel was going to be in town for the rape trial pleads with her to look into what happened to her sister Jenny years ago when she went for that night swim. Through letters to Rachel, scared to meet her in person, Heather chronicles her and Jenny’s last summer together before Jenny’s shocking untimely death and perhaps what actually may have happened.

As Rachel begins to ask questions about Jenny’s death, what she discovers is that no one wants to talk about her. Jenny, whose family was poor, was not looked well upon by her high school classmates. Also, at the time of her death there was a horrific car accident which had taken the lives of two of their classmates. Most were focused on that tragedy. But curiously there seems to be no paper trail of this young girl’s death. Why?

Questions also arise in the rape trial. Something does not feel right to Rachel, but she can’t quite put her finger on what’s bothering her. Then the accuser breaks down on the witness stand and may be unable to complete her testimony. If she does not get back on the stand, there is a good chance the charges will be dropped for lack of evidence.

Goldin hits it out of the park with another chilling psychological thriller, an unbelievably startling ending in which the story lines both explode! The fluidity of the writing and the telling of each account makes you not want to get to the end, but curiosity as to the conclusion will keep you up at night until you know all the answers.

I can’t wait for her next book!

Thank you #NetGalley #St.Martin’sPress #MeganGoldin #TheNightSwim for the advanced copy.

Wow! What a book! The Night Swim by Megan Goldin was an excellent story that was chock full of intrigue, drama, mystery, and thrills. I absolutely LOVED it!!

Rachel Krall has a very popular true crime podcast. She's about to start a new season and will be covering a rape trial in a small town. Suddenly, she's finding notes popping up all over the place - notes asking her to investigate a young woman's death from twenty-five years ago in the same small town she'll be working from. What's Rachel to do? Ignore the notes or take them seriously. Hmm...she decides to start asking questions about both cases and she soon finds herself uncovering truths that link both cases. Say what? Yep, history has a way of fitting into the present and this time round it most definitely is.

Goldin has written a terrific story that explores the topics of rape, crime, history, and truth. She's created unforgettable characters and an unputdownable story. Her writing is strong, engaging, and top notch. You can't help but get pulled right into these characters' lives and their stories. Such a great book!

In this novel, Rachel is a true crime podcast host who goes to the small town of Neapolis, North Carolina to cover a trial about the alleged rape of a 16 year old girl. While there, she starts receiving notes from Hannah, who asks Rachel to look into the death of Hannah's sister Jenny 25 years before, which was ruled an accidental death by drowning but which Hannah believes was murder. The book alternates between Rachel's perspective, transcripts of Rachel's fictional podcasts covering the trial, and the letters Hannah writes about what happened that summer 25 years ago when Jenny was 16 and Hannah was 9 years old. So the book is a combination of two mysteries combined with a bit of a legal thriller. Interestingly, I am not a fan of podcasts or of true crime, yet this is at least the 3rd novel I've read with a podcast as part of the book, and I have to say it is a structure that works well for fiction. This was definitely a page turner, plus a sad commentary on rape investigations and trials and the way they traumatize the victim all over again. There were a few things about the book that were maybe a little too simple or coincidental, but it was a great read - even better than Megan Goldin's first book, "The Escape Room."

Megan Goldin has proven that she can write both tense, twisty thrillers AND character-driven mysteries. The Night Swim is an emotional, sometimes disturbing, courtroom drama within a well-crafted story. Goldin wove the two cases together through a well-known true crime podcaster who came to town to cover the present-day trial of an accused rapist. While in town, she starts receiving letters begging for help in getting justice for another girl who was assaulted 25 years prior and mysteriously drowned in the same town. This case nags at her and she finds herself drawn into the mystery, where many people in town don't want to revisit. Throughout the book, Goldin slowly lays out the two cases through letters, podcast transcripts, courtroom testimonies, and personal interviews so that you feel as if you are right there with the characters. The tension builds as she makes connections and reveals old secrets. As an avid podcast listener, I was intrigued by the way Goldin used a podcast to connect the two mysteries and thought it was very well done. I was riveted by the timely content and gripping plotline, although some parts were tough to read. She handles it with care, but if this type of thing is triggering for you, I would not recommend reading it. Bottom line, it isn't an easy read, but it's well-written.

The author created an emotional unsettling psychological thriller that kept me turning pages far into the night. The theme is rape and Megan Goldin handled it expertly bringing into the novel, the emotional and legal consequences of this crime to both to the survivors and also the perpetrators.

She blended a 25 year old rape story initiated by the victim's sister but never solved, and a present day rape trial with a popular, wealthy, athlete accused young man. The rapes were graphic, as were the ER nurse's explanation of the procedure for the victim who reports the incident- bringing to light the necessity of treating the victim with honesty and respect when she has been assaulted. Reading this section struck me with the reasons many women don't report the assault, why they don't follow through, and why so few cases get to court....and it is heartbreaking.

The central figure in the story, Rachel Krall, was a journalist, covering the trial for her podcast Guilty...not guilty. Her producer who was not in the area, fielded the responses from the public and honestly conveyed the positive and negative feedback to the podcast - and it was not pretty. Unfortunately, there are still people who believe that the female was "asking for it." (or "dressing for it", or "acting like she wanted it"). This book brought both sides into the story and was unbiased in including it.

I liked the way she made Rachel approachable, and noncontroversial throughout the book. I had a feeling about the perp from 25 yrs ago, which was unfortunately true but the author wove the stories together well and he kind of got what he deserved, and will have to live with it forever. The climatic ending was well paced, although it did bring in some elements that were glossed over in the book, it was appropriate.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and St Martin Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A well-paced novel of suspense. I read Megan Goldin's The Escape Room in 2019, and enjoyed her skill for building tension and crafting complex relationships between characters. While The Escape Room focuses on a group of coworkers who have worked together intimately for several years and looks back at the incidents in their past that have led them to that elevator, The Night Swim centers on Rachel, a a woman arriving in a North Carolina town for the first time to begin a podcast series, and Jenny, a woman she has never met, returning to her hometown for the first time in over twenty years. Goldin's talent for writing tense relationships is on display here too—now in a much different way, through Jenny's letters and Rachel's reception of them. The Escape Room was a 3-star read for me—good, but not great. The Night Swim is a big step up, thanks, I think, to its smaller cast of characters and the richly drawn seaside setting.
Thank you to the author and St. Martin's Press to read to this The Night Swim before its release.

2.5/5 So this is a town that produces men who gang rape girls but don't face consequences? Cool, cool. No Thanks! Yes there's a mystery woven throughout with the past and present but there's nothing I hate more than presenting a story of crimes being committed but having zero follow through of consequences. I want to hear sentencing. Hannah received no justice for her sister's rape and murder. I guess there's a resolution of Hannah knowing the definitive version of what happened but I feel so sad for the victims.

4.5 stars.

This was a really good mystery/thriller - and I honestly wasn’t expecting it to be as well-written as it was. Goldin drew inspiration from a real-life sexual assault case (as we all know, the Brock Turner case) to create a great fictional story that was raw, emotional, and intense. It’s a story that strongly resonates with readers in today’s climate, amidst movements like that of #MeToo. Goldin handles the sensitive case matter with the utmost respect and the way she tells the story (via the podcast chapters, especially) is very engaging.
I also really enjoyed how this book is about more than just one story, but two related ones - both dealing with the same sort of sensitive subject matter, just decades apart. The way Goldin seamlessly wove the two stories together - the Stills sisters’ & Kelly Moore’s - was fantastic.
Writing a respectable book about sensitive topics such as rape and sexual assault is not an easy feat, but Goldin did a great job. I look forward to reading more of her work in the future!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press & NetGalley for a copy of the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.