A gripping read that left me shocked and on the edge of my seat! Megan Goldin has done it again, this time bringing us through the trials and tribulations behind the true crime podcast world and two interwoven stories, years apart! When a small town’s “golden boy” has been accused of rape, Rachel (the well-known voice behind the famous podcast) immediately starts digging into it for her award-winning show. She realizes quickly that someone is following her and leaving threatening notes as she continues to unravel secrets and make connections between the two cases, one which hits especially close to home. A very poignant read emphasizing the damaging long-term horrors and impacts of sexual assault. The writing was spectacular and gripping, leaving me wanting more with each page!

This was such a gripping book. I loved the use of making a podcast. I loved the dual timelines and the different perspectives. The mystery and twist was gripping and I need to read everything by Megan Goldin asap!

I really enjoyed the plot of this, and I love the introduction of Rachel's character and her podcast. To me, some of the dialogue and the letters from Hannah felt a little oddly stilted and unrealistic. And there were small issues that felt unrealistic, like an intermission at a movie theater, leaving prescription meds somewhere in public so just going back and buying more the next day (I have a feeling it would have taken longer than that to get permission to refill all those prescription meds again the very next day), and a plaque getting put up in less than a week after the information on the plaque has been made public. Though they were small things overall, it took me out of it a little. Really enjoyed the story overall though, and the plot was paced brilliantly.

This was such a gripping book. I loved the use of the podcast. I loved the mystery which kept me guessing. I pride myself in being able to figure out the twists in thrillers, but this book kept me on my toes. I want to read more of Megan Goldin’s books!

I am so sad that it took me so long to get to this one. I absolutely loved it from beginning to end! It was tragic and heartbreaking, but I loved the format of the trial and podcast. I can’t say enough good things about this one.

Megan Goldin is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors with her writing! Rachel Krall is a podcaster covering an unfolding rape trial. Due to the success of Rachel's podcast, Guilty or Not Guilty, Hannah has asked Rachel to investigate the death of her sister Jenny. Jenny and Hannah lived in the same town that the rape took place in. Jenny drowned one night, and Hannah feels Jenny's death was never properly investigated and that her killer is walking free. As Rachel begins digging into Jenny's death, some people in this town don't want that to happen. The town is also rooting for the accused rapist, an all star swimmer.
The story alternates with short bursts from Rachel's podcast, the ,current rape trial, and the events of the night that led to Jenny's death, which all leads to a shocking conclusion and twist I did not see coming. I devoured this book, and I cannot wait to read what comes next in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my advance copy of The Night Before in exchange for my honest review! (Oops, I've had this book for 3 years...I am so, so sorry it took me THIS long to read it, I wish I picked it up sooner!!!!!)

Wow. The Night Before opens up with a bang. Laura is plagued by a murder from her high school years that she is adamant she didn't commit (even though not everyone may truly believe her).

Laura moves from New York City after a sudden breakup into her sister's home, in her hometown. She thought she left everything behind and finds herself back here. Laura decides to jump back into dating and her sister, Rosie, thinks it is a bad idea.

Walker takes us through an alternating timeline, Laura in therapy, Laura on her date, and her sister after her date. There were twists and turns and a shocker I did not see coming. When I stopped and reflected on the book, I smiled. It was just THAT good.

I loved the alternating timelines. We hear from Laura in realtime on her date (which was in the past) and then immediately get thrown into the present with Rosie and what is going on there. This kept me hooked and kept me up past my bedtime!!!

4 stars.  SOLID read, great thriller. I never saw one specific part of the book coming...it was a total shock. I love how the book ended and everything came into place. My heart broke a little for Laura, but in the end, I am happy with how things turned out for her!

Megan Goldin returns following The Escape Room with THE NIGHT SWIM, (Rachel Krall #1) featuring Rachel Krall, a former newspaper reporter whose true-crime podcast Guilty or Not Guilty has turned into an overnight sensation.

Set in Neapolis, North Carolina (a small fictional mall coastal beach town), where everyone knows everyone. Rachel will be attending a criminal trial, the subject of the third season of Guilty or Not Guilty, after two successful seasons.

The town is less than perfect, with a dark past.

The plot centers on a rape trial currently unfolding. THE NIGHT SWIM alternates between two narratives—with another case from 25 years before and whether the two possible crimes might be linked.

Currently Rape Trial Case: Champion swimmer Scott Blair will be tried for the rape and sexual battery of Kelly Moore, (also the granddaughter of the police chief), who attends the high school he graduated from the year before. Prosecutor Mitchell Alkins and rock-star defense attorney Dale Quinn agree that the two teenagers had sex on the night in question, but they don't agree whether it was consensual.

Rachel plans to follow the trail on her podcast and puts her listeners in the jury box. Rachel finds the objectivity she's promised her listeners increasingly compromised by her sympathy for Kelly.

She also gets pulled into another case from twenty-five years ago. There is more back story before the trial with notes from Hannah, whose older sister, Jenny, was raped, beaten, and drowned back in 1992.

Hannah Stills was nine-years-old and her sister, Jenny, was the sixteen-year-old sister. She never told anyone what happened that night, but now twenty-five years later, she is ready to spill.

She is confident her sister's killer has not been punished or identified and will be present in the courtroom. Hannah is ready to reopen old wounds to discuss her sister's last night. She says Rachel is the only person that can help her.

What do these two assaults a generation apart have to do with one another? Will Rachel have another winning podcast season and help Hannah get the justice she deserves for her sister?

There are four women at the center of the story.

~Rachel: Podcaster Guilty or Not Guilty. At NC for the trail (Kelly) and Rachel begins to look into the death of Jenny Stills, who allegedly drowned while on a night swim.

~Kelly: Current rape trial. A teen accuses the town's golden boy of raping her. People in the town are angry because they question whether it was rape. She could be destroying the swimmer's life.

~Hannah: Jenny's sister. She was left as a child with memories of what happened that summer and wants Rachel to help her investigate her sister's death.

~Jenny: Jenny was a teenager whose death was attributed to drowning, and never really investigated.

There are many parallels between the cases, and they keep repeating themselves. As women go to trial, they are shunned and made to think it is their fault and not victims when sexually assaulted, as we see often today.

In Kelly's case, she has more support from a prominent family. Jenny, who everyone said had a bad reputation, did not have the same perks or opportunities for justice.

Can you escape your past?

With heart-pounding suspense and gut-wrenching emotions, the author tackles highly-charged topics of sexual assault with confidence, compassion, and sensitivity.

Your heart will go out to Jenny/Hannah, and Goldin casts light on small-town politics and how bias can affect how people view rape victims and their alleged assailants. She also showcases how difficult it is to relive the experience on the stand and be in the spotlight of a high-profile trial. A sensitive exploration of women's silence in the face of trauma and sexual violence.

THE NIGHT SWIM is superb! Part thriller, psychological, murder mystery, lyrical, and courtroom drama. Goldin blends everything seamlessly focusing on how rape culture and small-town politics never really change even as history passes.

I loved Rachel and her attitude and how she went beyond to help a woman find justice for her sister. Thought-provoking, with well-developed characters—makes this a highly recommended read.

I hope we see more of Rachel in the future! YES! She is back in Dark Corners(Rachel Krall #2), Coming Aug 8, 2023. So excited to receive an ARC! #covercrush

A special thank you to #StMartinsPress and #NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: Aug 4, 2020
My MG Reviews:
Stay Awake
The Night Swim
The Escape Room
#AuthorElevatorSeries Interview
The Girl In Kellers Way

DNF @ 55%

I received the audiobook of The Night Swim for review and was so frustrated by the narrator that I decided to switch to the written copy instead to see if I would enjoy it more. I made it further this time than the first, but the story itself is dark, depressing, upsetting in places. When it’s none of those things, it’s just boring. I ended up abandoning this one as well.

Another one that sat too long in my TBR pile.

Captivating from the first moment, once I actually started to read it, I couldn't stop. Given how popular podcasts have become, this plot is perfect. It's a riveting story that you won't want to put down until you found out who did it.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5152043757

I wanted to love this one based on all the rave reviews, but it was so much heavier than I was anticipating - I’m not sure what I expected! While it definitely had the mystery element, it was not a thriller. Please make sure you have a good sense of what this one’s about for potential triggers before diving in! I did enjoy it overall, but it wasn’t quite what I was expecting.

This was not an easy read as it deals with rape, reputations, and influence. There are two mysteries to follow that are twenty five years apart and come together through the producer of a crime podcast, Rachel Krall.

Rachel's current crime podcast involves a small town and the rape of a high school student. While covering this trial, Rachel starts receiving mysterious letters from a sister seeking justice. These two mysteries will begin to evolve, connect, and shock.

The courtroom scenes were my favorite part of the book. All the drama, calling witnesses and intense moments.

The author does a great job weaving the two mysteries together. Thought provoking and emotional story.

Thanks to NG and the publisher for my review copy.

Major trigger warnings for abuse and sexual assault. I’m not usually impacted by these topics, but I struggled to read parts of this book. Even though parts of the book were difficult to read due to the content, it was well written and will bring up a lot of emotions.

Rachel hosts a true crime podcast and she has a different approach for this season. She is going to attend a rape trial in a small town and give listeners the option to “be the jury”. The victim is a female minor known as “K”. However, since it is a small town residents all know who she is. The defendant is the town’s up and coming star athlete who is projected to go to the Olympics for swimming. While in town for the podcast, a woman reaches out to Rachel about her sister’s death which was ruled an accidental drowning, but she maintains it was a homicide covered up. Rachel discovers parallels between the two cases which causes even more tension in the small town.

Just didn't enjoy it as much as I thought. From the description, it should have been my style, but it was not.

Review published on Goodreads, 28 August 2020:

At first glance, THE NIGHT SWIM is the kind of thriller I love. Small town. Big secrets. Moody, broody beach setting. Compelling-sounding mystery. Check, check, check, and check! I did like the setting and the twin mysteries at the book's core did keep me interested. The characters in this one weren't my favorite, though. None of them were all that likable, Rachel included. There's nothing really repellant about her (except that she exploits other people's tragedies for ratings), but I also didn't feel very connected to her. Little is revealed about her personal life, including why she spends all her time working on a podcast about true crime. In fact, I sort of wondered why she was a character in the story at all. It would have made more sense if Jenny was the one telling the story. At any rate, I felt a bit of a disconnect there. Add in choppy writing, a predictable storyline with no real surprises, and a novel that really doesn't offer anything new and different, and I wasn't as impressed with this one as I wanted to be. I was invested enough in the story to read it quickly. I didn't hate it; I just didn't love it. I would give it 3 1/2 stars if I could.

Rachel Krall is a success. Her true crime podcast has had two successful seasons and set a falsely convicted man free from the murder charge he was serving time for. Now she is about to start season three and feels a great deal of pressure to make this season even more successful. Success breeds imitators and since her success, several other true crime podcasts have sprung up.

Rachel's location for this season is a small North Carolina town. There hasn't been a murder but rather a rape. The trial that is about to occur has torn the town apart. The victim is a sixteen year old girl, the granddaughter of the former police chief. The defendant is the town's golden boy, a guy from a wealthy family who is also a record-setting swimmer, bound for the Olympics before he was accused of rape.

But there are other stories in this town. Rachel starts to get letters left on her car or at restaurants where she is eating. The letter writer says her name is Hannah Stills and that her sister, Jenny, was raped and killed in the town twenty-five years ago. Jenny's death was identified as an accidental drowning but Hannah knows that isn't the truth. But Jenny wasn't from a wealthy family and her death was swept under the rug. Hannah is sure that the only chance of justice Jenny has is for Rachel to investigate the death and discover who killed Jenny.

Rachel gets caught up in both cases. The rape trial brings up repressed memories for her of the times that she was groped or worse in her own life. The death of Jenny is a mystery and as she looks into it, many of the town's most influential citizens seem to play a part in the long ago scandal. Can Rachel's podcast help to solve the cases?

Megan Goldin was a journalist for many years before she wrote this mystery. Part of her inspiration was the true crime podcast, Serial, which investigated the murder for which Adnan Syned has been imprisoned. That podcast was immensely successful and has resulted in the case being looked at again and further appeals of the sentence brought to court. Goldin's journalist experience is seen in the pacing of the novel with the two stories balanced and just enough told of each at a time to keep the tension going. This book is recommended for mystery readers.

I was very intrigued by the plot of this book. Podccasts are so popular right now, especially true crime podcasts, and this book definitely seemed like a fictionalized version of Serial. At the center of the story, Rachel is the host of this super-successful podcast and travels to the town of Neapolis to cover a controversial rape trial as it unfolds. It definitely had a pulled-straight-from-the-headlines feel.

I wanted to like this more than I did. My struggle is that it wasn’t as propulsive as I wanted it to be and I struggled to stay interested in the dueling POV/crimes that Rachel finds herself investigating. Surprisingly, I did really enjoy the courtroom bits. Usually I am not a fan of inside the courtroom action, but the way Goldin describes the intricacies of the performance on both sides and how that effects the outcome of the trial apart from the evidence, was really interesting and well-done.

Ultimately, though it did fall flat in a few spots for me, it was still a worthwhile read, and definitely something I would recommend to regular thriller readers.

The story was good, but the subject matter was s bit overwhelming. The book was centered around it and I thought I was going to read something more as well. Bit it was the central part. I didn't like that, so it lost a star just for that. But, overall it was a just ok read for me.

Rachel Krall is a former reporter and now hosts a true crime podcast "Guilty or Not Guilty", where she lays out facts and asks the listeners to be the judge. While travelling to her next case to investigate, she finds a note on the dashboard of her car asking for help. The writer of the note believes her sister was murdered 25 years ago and wants Rachel's help to identify the killer(s). Rachel is apprehensive about helping at first, so Hannah keeps leaving more and more letters asking for Rachel to help, and soon Rachel is pulled in to the story and investigates. This is not a easy thriller where you don't feel anything. You feel gut punched by the stories that come out about the rich people in town. I hope this could have a series based on Rachel, but I really think that this is important read and I am a big fan of Megan Goldin's work.

This is the third Megan Goldin book that I have read and I'm very happy to have been given the opportunity to read this book. I was hooked from the start and am sorry that it took me so long to read this book. Ms Goldin does a good job of weaving together two stories that have similar characteristics and involve same characters. She wraps them up in unexpected ways. Hannah tells her story through letters she leaves to Rachel in unexpected places. In her letters she tells Rachel the story of her murdered sister. She wants her help to catch the responsible party. Rachelwho runs a successful podcast is attending a trial for a rape case that will have her chasing down clues to Hannah and her sisters past. Warning there are graphic recountings of rape, abuse and murder which may trigger some readers. The story is beautifully narrated through the podcast, current court proceedings and letters and memories of a young girl who's sister was a victim that was never given justice.

***Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with a free copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own and freely given.***