Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Megan Goldin for the complimentary advance readers’ edition of THE NIGHT SWIM for an honest review.

Publication Date: 8/4/2020
Rating: 4.5 / 5
I really enjoyed Megan Goldin’s THE ESCAPE ROOM last year, so I was thrilled to receive an ARC of her newest book! THE NIGHT SWIM follows investigative reporter Rachel as she embarks on a new season of her hit podcast Guilty or Not Guilty. This season she is following a case as it unfolds in court. At the defense table is the sea town’s golden boy swimmer and Olympic hopeful Scott Blair, accused of raping a teen girl.

As Rachel comes into town she begins to receive letters from someone named Hannah, a woman who is reaching out for help in solving the death of her sister Jenny twenty five years ago in the same town. Though the common belief is that Jenny drowned in a tragic accident, Hannah’s letters and Rachel’s own investigation begin to tell a different tale.

I thought that THE NIGHT SWIM was fantastic! I will caution you that it is a slow burn, but that burn is really well done! The book is laid out with three different components. From Rachel’s perspective we get to see her observations of the town and the different players in the rape trial as she interviews them. Interspersed with that, we get chapters of Hannah’s letters explaining Jenny’s story. Due to Hannah’s struggle with her own memories and the traumatic loss of her older sister, she is only doling out portions of the story to Rachel at a time. Both of these perspectives have their own mysteries to uncover as the book goes on.

The third perspective get also comes from Rachel, but it is written as her podcast narrative. For each of her episodes, we get her thoughts on why she chose this case for her season and her thoughts about how the trial is unfolding. These chapters were especially powerful as there is a strong message coming through about the trauma inflicted on women. This trauma doesn’t end when the rape is over, but it continues through evidence collection and rehashing every moment over and over again. Though this is of course a fictional account, I think this is a much needed discourse! That it is wrapped into an engaging and gripping thriller is fantastic!

This is not always an easy read and there is for sure a strong trigger warning when it comes to rape and sexual assault, but it was a very powerful read in a way I did not expect and I highly recommend you check out THE NIGHT SWIM when it is released 8/4/2020!

This is a fantastic thriller set in a small town where a local teenager "golden boy" is on trial for rape. Told from three different points of view, one being a podcast transcript, this story grabbed me from the start and kept my focused on the mystery. Rachel runs a famous true crime podcast and has decided to be present in the courtroom for a trial. She receives information about the death and potential murder of Hannah's sister 25 years prior. The mystery about both is well done ,as is the court case. This story dealt with some pretty heavy topics and brought to light some of the issues regarding both physical assault and the truth. Excellent thriller. I will be looking for more by this author. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

THE NIGHT SWIM
BY MEGAN GOLDIN

This was more of a mystery that is being marketed as a psychological thriller or thriller and read more like a slow mystery. I like and enjoy books with a slow burn but this one was rather lack luster and got to be bogged down towards the middle and was not able to pick up the momentum. Rachael Krall used to be a journalist and as the book begins she is kicking off her most explosive season yet with her third podcast series in Neopolis which is a seaside town where everybody used to know everybody else's business a generation ago. She is there to record a podcast about an upcoming rape trial where the town's golden boy is accused of raping a 16 year old girl named Kelly Moore. Kelly is a traumatized victim of the town's hopeful Olympic swimming competitor who we all know is presumed innocent unless twelve member's of the jury say otherwise.

While Rachel is famous for her voice from them getting known over the sound waves she becomes quite freaked out when she returns to her car after eating breakfast at a truck stop diner. There is a letter left under her windshield wipers left by Hannah who is begging for her help to solve her sister Jenny's murder 25 years ago. At the time of Jenny's death the police ruled it as an accidental drowning. Hannah is certain Jenny was murdered.

My favorite part's of this novel were the courtroom scenes about the rape trial. I am currently watching an episode every night on Netflix called, "Unbelievable." It is about a girl who reports she was raped by which their wasn't any forensic evidence. The detectives don't believe her and she withdraws her statement and says she wasn't raped for which they charge her for filling out a false police report. I am guessing she really was raped by her actions but she tells her foster mother's that she wasn't raped. Meanwhile in three other counties it has happened by the same description by the girl who gets one year probation for filling out a false police report. She also gets a $500.00 fine.

It is really sad to see what women are put through when they do report being a victim of rape. This story has trigger warnings for those who have gone through this ordeal or have loved ones or friends that have. It is not easy on the victim so I understand why anybody who has had to go through it has a piece of them stolen forever that they can never get back. This book in my opinion tried to do too many things at the same time and even though I wanted Jenny to get justice it took some of the emotion off of the rape trial while trying to solve a cold case simultaneously.

Thank you to Net Galley, Megan Goldin and St. Martin's Press Publishing for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Publication Date: August 4, 2020

#TheNightSwim #MeganGoldin #StMartin'sPublishing #NetGalley

I loved her previous book The Escape Room, so I knew I was in for a treat with this one. And was I ever right! It was fantastic! It was a little disturbing due to some subject matter but that does not generally put me off. Great writing, great characters and I felt I was really invested in the story. I loved it!

Wow. I don’t k ow what else to say. I immediately was interested in this book when it brought up true crime podcasts. I LOVE them. I felt as if I was hearing it as a podcast. And the secondary story made it even better. You may find it a controversial book and decide not to read, but for those of you who do I hope you enjoy it as much as me.

A podcaster covering a trial is also contacted about a similar crime from years ago. Rachel has been covering hot topic trials for her true crime podcast that has brought her notoriety. This time she has come to a small town along the Atlantic Ocean covering the trial of a possible Olympian swimmer accused of raping a teen girl. The trial has already polarized the small town. The first day of the trial, Rachel is contacted by someone named Hannah, who is sending her notes about her sister's story by leaving them places Rachel has been. Rachel didn't know Hannah had ever tried to contact her before, and starts getting pulled into the story of her sister's death, which is a strange echo of the one she is covering now. By helping Hannah solve her sister's murder, will she be put in danger? This is a thought provoking story about rape cases that is smart and hard hitting.

3.5 Stars. This book is an interesting premise. It’s like Serial covering the Brock Turner trial. Part of the book is 3rd person narrative, part is podcast script, part is fan letters from someone with a family mystery of their own from the 90s. The MC is interesting and tough and realistic (as I’ve been a crime reporter). However, there were parts that killed and I was honestly more interested in the 90s case than the present day case. I think someone who reads a lot of true crime and thrillers may not be super surprised at some of the twists.

Lots of dark subject matter here (rape, influence, crime) but well-written and well-paced enough that it doesn't seem gratuitous. I did not think it was a "thriller" and wish any book that had any mystery or crime element to it wasn't immediately packaged as a thriller. Words have meaning and I think all publishers are doing is setting up an expectation that the books, through no fault of their own, cannot meet.

This dual mystery was addicting and unputdownable! The crime podcast was a nice touch. I was perplexed and invested in the mystery. I loved the strong female lead. The many twists were well executed and timed perfectly. The author wonderfully expresses the small town mentality and it comes through loud and clear on the pages. These were intriguing mysteries and fans of crime podcasts will enjoy the behind the scenes look. My thanks to the publisher for the advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read. It was a fast paced and gripping and honestly harrowing novel. I will say a big trigger warning is rape in this book so if your at all triggered by that you might want to skip this book.
I love when thriller books combine with podcasts, they just work so well together and it did in this book.
It was an intense thriller about 2 different cases of rape 25 years apart and I loved how we got 2 timelines and 2 cases pretty much.
This book also talks about women and how horrifying rape is and how many people don't believe them and how many times guilty men walk away. It's horrible and it needs to stop.
I would highly recommend this book!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Night Swim - Megan Goldin (Pub Date August 4, 2020) ⁣
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Thank you @stmartinspress & @netgalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.⁣
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Rachel Krall is a household name podcaster known for her season that helped clear an innocent mans name from a previously closed case. Rachel is now visiting the small town of Neopolis to cover a controversial rape trial that has the town divided, straight from the jury box. While there, Hannah reaches out to her to try to get her to help find out what happened to her sister Jenny, who died in a “swimming accident” 25 years earlier. As Rachel begins to investigate, she uncovers some striking similarities between the two cases. ⁣
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The Night Swim is an extremely emotional read with very heavy content (trigger warning: rape, sexual assault). This story is absolutely heart wrenching and I’m sure I will carry it with me for a very long time. I love how Goldin intertwines the two mysteries from passed and present. I also enjoyed how she switches between the courtroom, the podcast and Hannah’s letters. ⁣
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The characters all came alive in this story, even though we don’t get to know all of them very well I was fully invested in their outcomes. I truly didn’t want to put it down until I reached the end and picked it up every spare moment I had! This book is extremely well written and I am looking forward to finally digging into her previous novel, The Escape Room ASAP! ⁣
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#thenightswim #megangoldin #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #whattoreadnext #netgalley #bookreview #stmartinspress #avidreader #bookish #summerreadinglist #bookaholic #booklover #booksonbooks #readersofinstagram

This book is definitely a much different read than the author's first book. With that said, I really enjoyed it! The book was told from both Rachel and Hannah's perspective as well as thru podcast episodes. The characters were well developed and I just kept flipping the pages trying to find out how the two stories would come together. I would classify this book more as a legal/crime mystery as opposed to a thriller, which usually aren't something I normally read, but I found myself unable to put it down and drawn into the mystery. I could easily see this being adapted to a movie.

**Thanks to the publisher for providing my advanced copy.

This book is compulsively readable. I started it after a hike and it disrupted my plans for a nap AND an early bedtime. It's really interesting to see how the development of the country's true crime media obsession is being integrated into thrillers now. The central character of The Night Swim is a former investigative journalist turned podcaster, a la Serial, who decided to do season three of her wildly popular show following an ongoing rape trial in a small town on the North Carolina coast. There's a lot that goes on, with the trial giving major Stanford vibes (the alleged rapist is an Olympic hopeful-level swimmer) and multiple unfolding mysteries. One thread is the current rape trial, told through Rachel's eyes on the action and her podcast, but there's also death of a 16 year old girl that happened 25 years previously that had been declared an accident... her sister isn't sure and keeps contacting Rachel to try and get to the bottom of what really happened that night. Despite everything going on, it was easy to keep track of the stories and the pacing was pretty much perfect. For me it didn't have a bunch of big twists, but I'm totally okay with that. I'm looking forward to reading what Goldin writes next (her last novel The Escape Room is also a delight)!

I enjoyed this book, but it was a heavy read. It’s probably not a book I would read again. I was a little disappointed that it ended up being more of a crime fiction/mystery story than the thriller it was marketed as. I found myself more interested in Jenny’s story than Kelly’s story in the present.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced ebook copy.

Fascinating whodunit book.

It keeps you guessing and you become cautious as well as the character. This is my first book from Megan Golding and hope is not the last. I've always enjoyed mystery/suspense reads, and this one is my new favorite to my recent reads.

Rachel runs a true crime podcast that is in its third season and covering a rape trial in a small coastal town. The story intertwines with a brutal assault thirty odd years prior involving a young girl and her sister. This was intelligently put together with a few twists and turns. Although some parts are difficult to get through, this reader thinks it’s important to represent reality in fiction.

I gave this book 4.5/5 stars. The only reason why I did not rate this book as a 5 is because I was able to predict one of the killers in the beginning of the book. However, that did not take away from how much I loved this book. I will have to warn those that read this book that it does include heavy topics such as rape, sexual assault, and abuse.

The plot of the book is centered around Rachel Krall, a well know crime podcast person. Rachel travels to a small town in North Carolina to cover a rape/sexual abuse case going to trial. As she begins researching the case and trial that is about to being, she soon begins to take on a 25 year old drowning case. Hannah, the sister of the drowning victim urges Rachel to assist her in discovering what really happened to Hannah's sister 25 years ago as she suspects murder. As Rachel follows the trial, she is pulled in to the other case that happened in the past.

I especially loved how each chapter of the book flips back and forth between the 2 cases. Each chapter has me on edge as it gave just a little bit and kept me intrigued to find out what happens next. As the plot thickens and unfolds, the historic case is told bit by bit to bring you a jaw dropping discovery of what happened 25 years ago to Hannahs sister. All the while, the current case is also revealed.

This books takes you on a ride through a trial case as well as a detective type case to discover what happed in the past as well as what happened in the future.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St Martins Press for this advanced readers Copy!

The Night Swim is a fast-paced thriller following a true-crime podcast host, Rachel, as she investigates a case involving rape in a small town. She begins receiving mysterious notes on her car, which is odd in itself because people may recognize her voice, but not her face. The notes lead Rachel to look into a twenty five year old mystery involving a drowned girl. Are the cases connected? What is this small town hiding? If you're looking for a riveting thriller that will keep you glued to your seat, look no further. This is one not to be missed!

Podcasts. It has been a long time since I enjoyed one. This story centers around a podcast reporter, who investigates current issues and a past mystery. It is disturbing on many levels as it deals with abuse, rape and the emotional results. This was not a quick read, I found myself putting the book down with disgust, then picking it back up because the story draws you back, but it is a hard read. Add this to your TBR list, it is sad, emotional and will make you angry at the privilege, abuse and the trial by social media.

Wow! This was a gripping read. I truly couldn’t put it down. This book covers a hard topic. A triggering topic, rape. It’s told through multiple points of view , Hannah and Rachel. One present and one from the past. Brilliantly written and an amazing read.