Now this book may be hard to read for some people. The contents deal with murder and rape. I didn’t know if I could read it. But since I really enjoyed Megan’s last book I gave it a try. After a few pages I was hooked and had to see what happened next. Rachel has a podcast that she does on court cases. It deals with how the judicial system works. You feel part investigator part jury. It’s a tough book to read but it’s done well.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The podcast element and the two timelines set 25 years apart made for a very interesting plot. I enjoyed it.
The ending had me guessing and I was hooked from page one.

There is a huge warning for rape so if your at all sensitive to that subject please be cautious before reading.

This book tells two different stories that become intertwined. The first POV is told from the perspective of Rachel, who has a successful True Crime Podcast. Rachel’s podcast details real cases and she investigates them and was actually able to get someone who was wrongfully accused released from prison. She is looking for a case for her new season and comes across one in Neapolis involving the sexual assault of a girl named Kelly by a future Olympic swimmer, Scott. The story details the trial of Scott from Rachel’s POV as she attends the court room each day.
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However, while in town Rachel receives an anonymous letter asking her to help a woman named Hannah to discover what happened to her sister. Jenny. Jenny was found dead 25 years ago and her death was ruled a drowning but Hannah is convinced Jenny was murdered and believes Rachel can help her prove it.
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I have to say I was super excited when I got this ARC thanks to @stmartinspress in exchange for an honest review. I read the Escape Room last year and it was one of my favourite books and so when this came out I just had to read it. As most of you know I am a huge thriller fan as well this had some legal drama which I also really love. The story was really engaging and I loved the writing style of this one. I really had no clue how things were going to end. Trigger warnings for sexual assault, violence towards children and women. I would recommend this one to all thriller fans.

Thank you Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review this amazingly suspenseful book. I couldn't put it down and stayed up too late reading. Rachel is a true crime podcaster who comes to the town on Neapolis to cover a sensational he said/she said rape trial. On her way to cover the trial Rachel finds a note left on her car. The note begs for help in finding the murderer of the note-writer's sister. This murder happened 25 years ago. As Rachel covers the rape trial, she is drug deeper into the story of Hannah and her sister's murder and how the two crimes are connected.

A thought provoking crime themed mystery. Rachel has a successful crime podcast and her latest installment focuses on a controversial rape trial involving he said she said. What entails is raw, emotional and intertwined with events from 25 years ago.
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So excited to come across a 5 star read. It’s been awhile!

The best thing about this book is its relevance. It combines the current intrigue of popular true crime podcasts like 'Serial' and recent emotionally difficult court cases like 'People vs. Turner.' I have a feeling this story is going resonate with many readers because of that.

I will admit I found the second half of the book (when the trial begins) to be more interesting, but that's just a personal preference - which lead me to find Hannah's chapters very boring because they deal with a cold case that happened 25 years prior. Yes, both crimes are somewhat related, but I found myself more drawn to Rachel's chapters dealing with the trial.

Overall, I thought the writing was engaging and the story satisfying. I will definitely be picking up more books by MG in the future!

Fantastic book! Brought my love of books and true crime podcasts together! At times the content was hard to read and broke my heart.

First off, I’d give a strong trigger warning for anyone who is a survivor of sexual assault or rape and may still be experiencing trauma from it. Goldin tackles this topic with an unflinching look at how our legal system and society handles survivors who come forward with accusations. But she does handle the issue with an incredible amount of sensitivity for the millions of men and women who are survivors.

This story follows the courtroom drama around a present-day sexual assault case in which a teenage girl accuses a small town’s star athlete of allegedly raping her. Rachel Krall, the main character, focuses on this case for the third season of her successful true crime podcast, and she uses it to explore the wildly different reactions that people have when an individual is accused of a sex crime and the difficulty of proving such a crime in a court of law. While Rachel covers this case for her podcast, she is led to investigate what happened to Jenny, another teenage girl in the town who was found dead twenty-five years ago.

From the book jacket: “The past and present start to collide as Rachel uncovers startling connections between the two cases that will change the course of the trial and the lives of everyone involved.”

This book is part courtroom drama and part mystery/thriller. Goldin did her research around sexual assault cases, including how rape kits work and what tactics the prosecution and defense use in the courtroom. I would say that her approach to the story is more cerebral, rather than emotional. There is a journalist’s curiosity within the writing (Goldin worked as a foreign correspondent for the ABC and Reuters), which makes for an interesting look into the legal machinations around a sex crime. But as a reader, I wanted to feel more emotionally connected to the characters. Even the main character, Rachel, served mainly as an investigative journalist rather than a fully formed character with flaws, needs and a compelling personal journey. Still, the unfolding of each of the parallel stories is smartly crafted and paced beautifully. And both stories lead to a gripping -- and what could be termed ‘crowd-pleasing’ -- end.

Beyond a love of research, Goldin shows real range as an author: I appreciate the difference in subject matter and tone between Goldin’s last book, The Escape Room, which centered around Wall Street greed, and The Night Swim, which revolved around around sexual assault in rural America.

I’d describe this as more of a crime thriller rather than a psychological thriller, and I’d highly recommend it for anyone who likes courtroom dramas or mysteries!

Thank you #netgalley and @stmartinspress for the ARC of #thenightswim!

The beginning of The Night Swim didn't appeal to me at all and I struggled through the first couple of chapters. However, once the trial picked up, I found that I couldn't put the novel down!

The Night Swim is very different from The Escape Room. It covers 2 rapes, 20 years apart, and with each of the plots I had no idea how the story was going to go. The only part that I didn't like was the podcast aspect. I felt that it didn't add much to the story and the written transcript of the podcast wasn't very interesting.

Can't wait to read more future novels from Megan Goldin!

Thank you to Netgallery and St. Martins Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Well written story that is gripping and sad... the twists will have you surprised and the whole story will stay with you for a while, mulling over things.

Thank you to the publisher and author for the ARC.

WOAH! I immediately need to read everything Megan Goldin has ever written.

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin follows the true crime podcaster, Rachel Krall, as she is about to begin covering her next story for the third season of her famous podcast. Rachel decides to focus her next case on a rape trial beginning in the small town of Neapolis. Once she arrives in the small town, Rachel starts receiving letters from a woman named Hannah who wants Rachel's help to solve her sisters murder from 25 years ago. The 25 year old murder of Hannah's sister soon intertwines with the current events involving the rape trial Rachel is covering.

This book was hard and challenging to read but at the same time very rewarding. I loved whenever there were chapters that were simply Rachel's podcast. I could not put this book down and would highly recommend this to people who want to try venturing into the mystery/thriller genre.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book held my attention from beginning to end. A mystery that combined small town interrelationships that went ‘way back’ and were simple on the surface and complicated below the surface, along with an energetic podcaster who came to town to cover one trial and then became involved in solving a death/murder that Took place in the town years before. It’s a fascinating series of intrigues melded together in a great read

I was a big fan of Megan Goldin's novel Escape Room, so was very excited to read The Night Swim. This book is less of a twisty and page-turning thriller, but was written with as much care and thought. The Night Swim follows a podcaster, Rachel, who is covering the rape trial of a young man from a prominent family in a small seaside town. On her way to town, she receives a disarming note from a woman who insists that Rachel can help solve her sister's possible murder that took place in this very town years ago. Rachel immediately hops on the trail and starts asking the people she meets if they remember the case, and quickly realizes that it's been swept under the rug, but why?

As hard as it was to read about the experience of being a rape victim as well as being victimized by your whole community, Goldin once again delivers a satisfying ending and does a great job shining light on the many layers of trauma that a rape survivor and their family can go through, and the difference that one voice can make.

One of the best thrillers I’ve read this year.

Crime podcaster on a mission to give her listeners an inside view of a high profile case about sexual assault, during her investigation a mystery person peeked her interest, intertwining two cases in a page turning story combining past to present.

I was so invested I finished the book in two day’s, with twist and turns in every direction.

I really loved The Escape Room by Megan Goldin, so I was very excited to get my hands on The Night Swim.

This one was hard for me to get into. The whole book was really heavy and such a slow burn for me. Although, I think the author’s writing was phenomenal and I truly enjoyed the podcast aspect of this story. There was definitely suspense built throughout the book, but I think I just set my thriller expectations too high based on her previous novel. Overall, this was just an emotional read for me.

The Night Swim was an intense read about two cases involving the rape of young girls during separate time periods. I found myself wondering how the events were related and questioning every adult in the present day who could have been connected with the events from the past. I had theories that proved to be correct probably because after reading so many thrillers I do not trust any characters even those who you would least expect. It was clear that there were cover ups and secrets being hidden to protect certain individuals especially those coming from affluent families. I enjoyed the investigative style of this book and how Rachel interviewed several people in the small town to gather more evidence and clues as to what happened. While it was interesting to hear everyone's opinions, I wasn't surprised by the family members defending their own and failure to see any wrongdoing on the part of their loved ones. The book picked up once the trial started and the courtroom scenes took place. Ultimately, I've read a lot of similar books and don't know if I will find it memorable.

Rachel is an influential podcaster in the true crime genre. Have you noticed that true crime is just exploding in popularity lately?! For her third season, she's trying something new - covering a "hot" case; a rape trial in a small seaside town. On her way to her hotel before the trial begins, she finds a letter on her car. Hannah is an adult writing to Rachel about her childhood in the same seaside town...a childhood that bares a strange resemblance to the current rape trial.

The wealthy boys versus the "fragile" girl is a tale as old as time, and yet author Megan Goldin has managed to make it fresh - and heartbreaking. The story is told mostly in the present, with the letters from Hannah telling her story from 25 years ago. Single point of view, which I really appreciate - and rare in the mystery/thriller genre.

I read this in a quick two days because I genuinely wanted some justice done and some answers for Hannah, who waited a quarter century to find out what really happened to her beloved sister. I recommend!

Rachel is in the small town of Neapolis to cover a rape trial for her popular true-crime podcast. However, she quickly learns that the rape case isn't the only unresolved crime in the seaside town when she begins to receive notes about the death of a young woman that occurred more than two decades ago. According to official reports, Jenny Stills drowned when she went swimming alone at night-but Rachel is determined to discover the truth of what happened that night and that truth will change the residents of the community forever.

"The Night Swim" is a fast-paced, can't'put-it-down crime novel. It is a perfect beach-read. The author definitely has a talent for weaving a story that is suspenseful and thrilling, but also realistic and emotional. The characters are believable and make the reader hope that goodness will prevail. I hope that this book is the beginning of a series centered around Rachel. I would love to read more about her! This is my first book by Megan Goldin, but it will not be my last!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read an advanced digital copy of this entertaining book.

So good that I finished this in a day and a half! I loved how the two plot lines in the story intertwined, and the format of the chapters allowed the book to be fast-paced, which I liked. I would definitely recommend it!

Megan Goldin's thrillers are perfect for my female patrons who prefer their reads on the less gruesome side. The sexual abuse storyline doesn't go over the edge but still conveys the horror. I liked the podcast angle too.