A common story (boy rapes teen girl and then blames victim) told well. A popular crime podcaster comes to a small coastal town to report on the trial. While there, another case comes to light, so the book is really two stories side by side, one present the other decades old. The book is certainly topical with the #metoo movement currently taking place. I liked the alternating chapters the author used, I thought the podcast chapters well done. And I was surprised with the surprise and believable ending. My only complaint is I thought it could have moved a bit faster than it did. I devoured the author's prior book, The Escape Room. Of the two, I liked that one better. I will definitely read further books by Ms. Goldin.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with this advance copy to read and review.

Megan Goldin is two for two in incorporating current trends into her novels. Rachel Krall is a popular host of a true crime podcast in town for the rape trial of the local swim star. Rachel also finds herself looking into a decades old death of another young girl.

When you discover a new author, you worry a little if the second book will be as great as the first. I found Goldin's second novel to be as thrilling and engrossing as her first, Escape Room. I'm now a dedicated fan.

Story is about Rachel, a woman who operates a successful podcast series and her experience following a rape trial in small town anywhere America (popular boy rapes and community blames victim). My major complaint with the book was the jump between the events in one chapter and then the podcast transcript in subsequent chapter - I am not a fan of this disjointed writing and didn't need the replay via podcast.
Otherwise, thought the book was well written and the various character stories were woven together to strengthen the reader experience. We all wish for the bad guys to get their due and I was cheering for Rachel and the assault victims. to be vindicated. I like the author's writing style more than the story, so 4 stars. But will definitely read more from Megan Goldin.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, NetGalley and Ms Goldin for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Goldin has done it again! I was impressed by her previous book , The Escape Room, and was unsure if she could meet that standard. My final decision was Heck yes! This was a mystery of a drowned girl, who died years ago. Now in our modern age of the Podcast, our MC "investigator" Rachel Krall is dragged back in time to assist in solving the question of whether Jenny's death was a murder or an accident.

Superb mystery! I found Goldin did a great job in moving back and forth from the present day podcast rape case to the past drowning murder mystery. This book had my attention from the beginning and kept it until the very end. It is a talent to move through time without getting the listener lost in details , but this book did a great job and kept the suspense at it's peak!
Recommended for all fans of Thrillers, Mysteries and Crime stories. Move this one to the top of your to-read list, it does not disappoint.

The Escape Room was a good book, but The Night Swim was a great book! Kept me guessing up until the very end. A must read....

This story has several layers going on throughout. One, in particular, was pretty scary. It was the kind of thing that makes the hairs on the back of your neck go up and makes you look around to see if someone's following you. An awful lot of nastiness and just plain evil went on in this story. I had to know how it would turn out. Who did these things? Why? Did anyone know who didn't speak up?

I like books where the farther you read, the faster you have to read. You just have to know. Even though it's "just" a story, it seems real enough that it could have happened.

The ruined lives, the partial destruction of others-- why could these characters have treated their fellow men and women in such an ugly manner?

I liked this a lot. It kept it moving. Tale as old as time but I enjoyed the characters.

Free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

For me this started really slow but did pick up later. It has a few twists and turns, and while parts of the story are unique and well done by the author, it just wasn't compelling enough to be a truly memorable or page turning books for me. I'd seek out others from the author since I liked her perspective.

Rachel, a successful podcast star, is heading to a small beach town to cover a controversial rape trial. Little does she know that she will have another mystery on her hands. Hannah is looking for help to solve her older sisters 25 year old mysterious death. With clues from Hannah, Rachel starts digging into a death that some people wanted to keep buried. Will justice be served in both cases? You will be put in the jury box.

This is the first book I've ever read by Megan Goldin and I really enjoyed it! I thought it was a well rounded book. All the characters had a purpose, which I really like. I also liked that there was no loose ends. By the end of the book, all the questions I had were answered. This is a quick read. I finished this book in under 10 hours

Wow I loved this book. It was so creepy and the setting just felt DARK! I was invested and so glad I requested this. The themes were tough and slightly taboo but I had to keep going.

First of all, thank you to Ms. Goldin, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to recieve an ARC of The Night Swim. As an avid reader of mystery/thriller novels, I was very impressed with the plot and writing style of this one. Goldin takes the common, almost cliche plot line of an unsolved murder/cold case and presents it with a very fresh take. Posing the protagonist as a popular podcast host and using the very salient narrative of a rising athlete turned alleged rapist, Goldin gives this genre a breath of fresh air, moving away from the typical "sleuthing detective" aspects of this genre. Its a very 21st century storyline, not to mention the exploration of topics surrounding rape in the 21st century, like consent, revictimization, and equal accountability. These points are what I believe make this novel stand out amongst others in its class. Besides those, I also found that the novel was a real page turner and maintained suspense throughout, which is of course what I would hope for in a mystery/thriller. All in all, I would reccomend this novel to anyone who's looking for a great page turner to read, especially if looking for something refreshing and written with today's culture and events in mind. Thanks again for the opportunity to read this ARC and provide my feedback!

This book puts a whammy on you and you will be pondering it for quite some time! I am actually surprised this is a debut writer she weaves a hauntingly captivating tale of betrayal, pain and dark secrets. This is a very emotional read and the story has so many things happening as these two cases intertwine.

The MC Rachel, a pod-caster covering a high profile rape trial in a small town. Also receives requests to investigate the death of another girl from 20 years before. this book is so suspenseful as story of both young women unfold.

I highly recommend you read this book, it drew me in from the very first chapter and I could not put it down. This was a very gripping book.

This book spans some very difficult topics and discusses sexual assault/rape/violence and death. If you find any of these to be difficult subjects, I do not recommend this book for you.

I received this book from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an honest review.

In The Night Swim, Rachel Krall, true crime podcaster, arrives in a small town to follow the rape trial of an accused local swim hero. Little envelopes and emails began to show up, drawing Rachel into a murder of a local girl from twenty-five years ago. Rachel investigates the new case while reporting on the rape. The town clearly discriminates against young girls and hides its secrets well. Fast paced and hard to put down, The Night Swim grabs you by the seat of your pants as your heart cries out for the victims in between its pages. The ending will flip your lid with its twists and turns. A thrilling good suspense novel that will have me adding this author to my must read shelf. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from Netgalley.

This was not terrible but it was far from good or memorable.
The writing is not bad but the plot is really weak. It relies basically in people never telling things, not for any particular reason, just because they were never asked. And also in one character creating suspense by hiding till the last moment, also just because.

The trial never feels real or tense enough and the reporter is so distracted it's a wonder she can put episodes together. Also, those were pretty short podcast episodes... Oh, and why would people just tell her things when they didn't even know her a moment ago? That's not how things work in real life.

And finally, the revelation. It feels like the author just went for shock, not caring that much about plausibility. It all feels far fetched.

So, all in all, it's not the worst book I've read this year but it's one that I'll soon forget.

I"d like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me and ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

The Night Swim is the latest book by Megan Goldin (Escape Room). In The Night Swim Ms Goldin managed to give the reader two stories in one book and each would be difficult to put down on it's own. Fair warning, this is a can't put down story. Megan Goldin is now on my list of must read authors. I want to thank Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for an early copy to review.

Wow! It takes a lot for me to give a thriller 5 stars because I am usually let down by this genre but I found this one sucked me in right away with the story line, the characters and the pace. Every chapter gave a piece of the puzzle that was perfectly placed as the story played out.

The story introduced the main character Rachel, a true crime podcaster on her third season of her highly rated and popular podcast, covering a rape trial in a small beach town. We then met the second main character of the novel, Hannah, who needed Rachel’s help to uncover her sister’s 25 year old murder case that had been covered up and written off as an accident. The two plot lines played so well together and were interwoven to create a truly engaging mystery/thriller. I never was bored with this book and couldn’t put it down! I can’t wait to read more from this author. Thank you Netgalley for the Sneak peek!

Fabulous read! Deep mystery as well as a novel in the different aspects of rape. Whether victim, Taoist or witness. I read this in one day & if I hadn’t had other things to do, I’d have easily read it in one sitting. FIVE STARS

Wow! While this started a tiny bit slow for me, the stage(s) all had to be set and were quite intriguing. I got caught in that snare, getting deeper into the events all leading up to the pending rape trial. Rachel, a true crime podcast host, coincidentally gets mail addressed to her, begging her to investigate a suspicious suicide from a quarter of a century ago. The sender claimed it was murder, and it happened in the exact same small east coast town she was traveling to. What are the odds, right?
Rachel had a gut feeling, so was trying to dig up information on both cases. Not easy! Small towns tend to close up and take care of their own, well that, maybe along with some greased palms, and prominent families.
Very well written with freakishly good twists and information coming from left fields, this follows the trial of Scott Blair, aged 18, accused of raping K., aged 16, the prior year. The narration is very blunt about the court systems and though fiction, it actually runs parallel to some true crimes. Believable! The cold case she was digging into also realistic, gruesome, and so tragic, for so many.
I can't say which one was more interesting, they both had the holy hell factors. In the end, no one really wins. Both made my heart break, and not just for the victims.
A great read, but rather unsettling for me, there are finalities to each.
I received an ARC thru Netgalley and this is my honest opinions given voluntarily

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an egalley in exchange for an honest review.

Fantastic! This one had me riveted from the beginning.

When true-crime podcaster Rachel Krall arrives in Neapolis, North Carolina to cover the upcoming tape trial to be featured on her program, she is also intrigued by notes left by someone who wants her to investigate a young girl's death from years ago. As the story flips between the past and the present, Rachel learns that there are so many in the town that wishes all of it would just go away.

Just as I was with The Escape Room, I quickly became swept away into another Megan Goldin suspense novel. I know this is a bold statement but I believe I enjoyed it even more than its predecessor. It's her characters with all their flaws and on the case of Rachel, the dogged determination that kept me on the edge of my seat.


No doubt this will be one of the hottest reads of the summer.



Goodreads review published 02/05/20
Expected publication date 04/08/20

Twisty, ripped from the headlines, hard to put down! There is more to this book than meets the eye.

I love mystery/suspense novels that provide social commentary in addition to a good story, and Goldin's The Night Swim does just that. Rachel Krall hosts the podcast Guilty or Not Guilty, and the 3rd season brings her to the small town of Neapolis to cover a rape trial. Olympic swimming hopeful Scott Blair has been accused of raping K., a 16-year-old girl, but that's not the only mystery in this small town. The mysterious Hannah keeps pleading with Rachel to investigate the death of her sister Jenny, who drowned in Neapolis almost 25 years prior.

The two timelines really worked here - I was surprised how well they connected at the end. There were a few good twists - enough to keep me interested but not so many as to be unrealistic. Rachel's voice as an advocate for women was a strong point as well; despite having to stay objective on her podcast, she clearly articulates the tragedy of rape for its victims.

Rape is a tricky topic for a novel, but Goldin handles it in a measured way. This story is more about how rape affects a victim and how it is prosecuted in the legal system rather than the violence itself. It's still hard to read to at times, especially seeing the re-victimization of K. at the trial.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing an ARC in exchange for a honest review.