This was a WOW book from start to finish! I really looked forward to reading it because I had read THE ESCAPE ROOM and loved it. In her latest novel, Megan Goldin did an even better job of drawing me into the swirling waters of her plot and trapping me there. I loved every minute that I spent with Rachel, Hannah, Jenny and K. Rachel is a podcaster, in town to cover the rape trial of swimming champion Scott Blair. She is an investigative reporter who knows how to do her research and to track down witnesses. In the middle of her podcast that is a do or die for her career, she is contacted by a girl named Hannah who wants her to look into the death of her sister Jenny, a young teen who supposedly drowned twenty-five years ago. Rachel is interested in the rape trial, but she is totally absorbed by the tragic death of Jenny. I enjoyed the pacing of the plot, the different points of view and especially the transcripts of the podcasts. Everything was very realistically and sometimes graphically displayed. There were twists that were expected and then some that were total surprises, which made me rate the book even higher. If I could give it more than five stars, I definitely would! Fans of psychological drama and suspense will love this book!
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

Recently. I feel like there have been more and more fiction books about podcasts (i.e., Are you Sleeping). I really enjoy that type of plot and if you do as well, than this is going to be a super enjoyable book for you.

I immediately found my groove with this book. It happened on page 5, which is very, very fast for me. I feel like if a book can hook me between pages 1-10 than it has done an excellent job. The telltale sign of an incredible book is whether it's a pageturner. Suffice to say, this book was certainly a pageturner. I was hooked and couldn't stop reading all the way through. I also thought the characters were relatable. The plot arc was done timely.

I couldn't have asked for a better psychological thriller. I can't wait to talk to my customers about this whenever the COVID pandemic ends! This book promises to be a fast sell!

This is my first book of this authors. And I absolutely loved it! I loved the format! True crime podcasts are my favorite and I loved how it was woven in! Never saw the ending coming! Highly recommend this one!!

With true crime podcasts being "all the rage" now, I was intrigued by the storyline of this book. This book had two mystery storylines that were well blended together into the one book and I enjoyed the author's writing. This book does have some topics than can be considered trigger warnings for some people, rape being the main one in this book. But I loved the story! I found it hard to put down. I always wanted to know what happened next and what really happened with the two different mysteries that we read about. This was a great book!

Having had a chance to previously read an ARC of Goldin's <b> The Escape Room </b>, I was <i>thrilled</i> to get my hands on an ARC of <b>The Night Swim</b>.

This is the story of two different rapes, told 25 years a part, in the same small town. Podcast host Rachel Krall finds herself in the town, to give her listeners an unabashed front row seat in the courtroom as the drama unfolds during the trail. Alongside the trial, she's also getting notes and messages from a former town resident, begging her to look back into the mysterious death and rape of a young woman from 25 years ago.

The story is gripping and one that is both relevant to the interests of today's readers - old and young. Once again, I found myself spellbound by the fast paced plot that Goldin weaves and could not get through this book fast enough. Five Stars again, Ms. Goldin!

Rachel Krull, controversial host of the Guilty or Not Guilty podcast, “the podcast that puts you in the jury box”. For season 3, she wants to go bigger and better for her audience so she heads to Neapolis, a small coastal town to cover the trial of Scott Blair, a former Olympic swimmer accused of rape and is a part of the wealthiest family in town.

While in town, she is pursued by Hannah, a woman who desperately needs Rachel’s help in uncovering the truth about her sister Jenny’s death, which occurred 25 years ago.

If there was a genre for the “Me Too Movement”, this book would fit perfectly. I feel that some of the things that I didn’t like the book were the reasons it was so good. I finished the 2nd half of the book in one setting because it kept getting better and better.

It was a bit difficult in the beginning for me to keep track of the circumstances of Jenny’s deaths (from Hannah’s perspective), along with the Scott vs. K rape trial. There were several people from both perspectives that I had to keep up with, and keep separate. However, everything came together, unexpectedly and surprisingly in the end.

I didn’t like how Hannah came across as stalker-ish and forceful in seeking help from Rachael; but, it was different so it worked.

I really liked we could see the history of wrong-doings, powerful and prestigous people getting away with their crimes and other injustices in the town.

I felt like the portions from the podcast were a bit preachy and slightly one-sided. However, they were very real, blunt and thought provoking about how the world tends to view rape and the victims of rape. A crucial, plaguing statement that stuck out to me was “To tell you the truth, I don’t get how we can almost unanimously agree that murder is wrong, yet when it comes to rape some people still see shades of gray”.

I really didn’t like how things played out in the end, withholding key evidence and testimony because the “right” question wasn’t asked.

Ultimately, this book was gripping, emotional and prevalent. I felt as though I was in the courtroom witnessing the interactions and hearing the testimonies for myself. I highly recommend this, but be warned there are some unsettling rape, violence details/scenes.

Rating 4.5/5

4.5*
Thank you so much to Netgalley!! I LOVED this story. Unique and vividly intense!! The story telling was superb! Highly recommend The Night Swim, and I cant wait to read more by this author.

Fans of Serial and true crime podcasts will dive right into The Night Swim. Rachel, a podcast host recording her third season, is swept into a 25-year-old mystery that occurred in the same town where she's reporting on a rape trial. Multiple suspenseful storylines and a likable main character make this an engaging read.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending me an ARC of The Night Swim in exchange for an honest review.

I greatly enjoyed last year’s [book: The Escape Room]. It was an unserious romp of a thriller, predictable but entertaining. When I read the plot of The Night Swim—essentially Sarah Koenig from the Serial podcast covering the Brock Turner rape trial, but with the added twist of also investigating a maybe murder from 25 years ago—I mistakenly expected another twisty fun ride.

However, this book is relentlessly serious. The plot line from the past is difficult to read, as the abuse heaped upon teenager Jenny Stills is simply brutal and monstrous. The plot line from the present is a small improvement, as teenager Kelly Moore at least gets to see her alleged rapist tried for the crime, but the emotional toll on her is not much better. And the message of the book could be read as emphasizing that there’s not much hope for rape victims to get justice through the court system unless they’re lucky enough to somehow have a witness who can break the he said, she said dynamic.

It’s not a bad book by any means. The writing is solid, and the shifting presentations—Rachel’s first-person narrative, Hannah’s letters to Rachel, and Rachel’s podcast episodes—keep the story moving. Just go in with eyes wide open that you’ll likely be a bit sadder and/or madder at the end of this book than you were when you started. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

If you are a fan of true crime podcasts, this book is for you! Megan Goldin's new book The Night Swim takes the reader through two mysteries in one. Rachel's new season of her podcast is about a rape trial in a small town. While she's there for the trial, she ends up trying to solve an older case. Will the two cases end up having a connection? This book was an extremely engaging read, and I thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

After loving The Escape Room last year I was very excited to dive into Megan Goldin’s second book! And I don’t think it disappointed.

The two things I wasn’t a big fan of were Rachel’s seemingly random interest in the letters that very much started off as stalker-esque, and the fact that it took me until about halfway to be really hooked into the story.

Aside from those details, I raced to the end to try to figure out what was going on here. I think the book brings light to some very dark, hard topics and Goldin has an ability to make you deeply feel for her well-written characters. Since we know that child abuse and rape is not just in fiction novels but ever-present in the world, I think she did a great job writing her story around it in a way that helps the reader truly understand.

I enjoyed reading this (somewhat) in sync with my
permanent book buddy Scarlet. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s for the ARC.

Wow! First of all I love listening to Podcasts especially crime ones. This book has the podcast about a rape trial in a small town. Then there is a 25 year death of a young girl classified as a drowning. This book was excellent going between present day, the past, and then you hear what’s on the podcast. 5/5 Stars!!

This is a difficult subject to write about and to read about. A lot of different feelings come to the surface here - helplessness, frustration, heartbreak. The writing was great. Everything felt real and believable and it makes me wonder how often stuff like this actually happens. The podcast was a nice touch, I really enjoyed that aspect. A very solid book. I look forward to reading more from this author.

A thriller that mixes murder, rape, investigation, trial, journalism. The characters are very well portrayed, the main character is endearing and the plot very well tied up. We've got here all the ingredients to nourish and maintain the mystery throughout the book..
I will definitely recommend that book to my students, because it deals with issues, that are part of their teenage lives.
Thank you Megan Goldin, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book. I am very grateful.

'This is Rachel Krall on Guilty or Not Guilty, the podcast that puts YOU in the jury box.'

Two rapes, decades apart...yet somehow disturbingly connected.

The Night Swim is an addictive, yet powerfully heartbreaking and timely story. The chapters were short and engrossing--some told as podcasts, others as letters, and some were simply Rachel's personal observations. It was all so beautifully written, it was a book I simply hated to put down. Megan Goldin is rapidly becoming a must-read author, as I also thoroughly enjoyed her previous novel, The Escape Room.

This one will stay with me for a long, long time.

Recommended to one and all.
Available in the United States on August 4th.

**Many thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

A true crime podcast is the catalyst for success that Rachel has been looking for. The premise of the show is to put the listener in the jury box. The podcast is wildly popular., but Rachel guards her privacy and is startled to get a personal note at a random rest area along an interstate highway.

I don't like to write this sort of thing "out loud," but I didn't like this one.

The Night Swim is billed as a mystery/thriller, but the bulk of it was courtroom drama. And I hate to say it, a pretty dry one. Had it not been for my feelings of obligation to review a book that had been given to me for such purposes, I would not have read past the first couple of chapters. Even still, I skimmed portions of it, including most of the podcast chapters early on.

Here's why:

For a book with such an emotional pull, I felt no sympathy for any of the characters. I'm supposed to feel for Kelly, but she's not really a character, just a plot point. Jenny too. I loved that poor girl, deeply wanted justice for her, but what happened to her--we're beyond the realm of rape. We're into systematic, sadistic torture. And she really felt glossed over to me, with the exception of her sister trying to find out the truth. And rather than feeling sympathy for Jenny, I'm more angry that everyone let this happen to her. We're talking the 90's here, not some archaic time.

You end up hating everyone in this book. Is that its purpose? There are certainly shades of the Stanford Rape Trial here--is the real intent of the book to force you to think about rape in a visceral way? Because I hated all the men in this book. They're either perpetrators or they failed the victims in every way imaginable.

But the women aren't painted any better. They are either willing accomplices (and my God, who scrawls the word "slut" on the tombstone of a girl who's been tortured and killed?) or they are portrayed as weak, accommodating victims (I won't get into everything so as not to spoil some of the plot elements, but Rachel's insistence that all women everywhere live in fear at all times and we've all been at some point, at some level, sexually assaulted, really grated on me). And Heather's letters came off really strange.

All right, so I really hate being so critical of this book. I did enjoy the writing itself--Goldin is strong there, and I did enjoy Escape Room, but this one fell flat for me. I will, however, seek out her other books.

So to recommend or not? You know, I would recommend any book unless it's just trash (and those are out there). The Night Swim is not bad, it just didn't resonate with me. Reading is such a subjective, personal thing. And plenty of people loved this one already. So I'll chalk this one up to not being up my alley.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing this copy in exchange for a review.

This book started slow but by about halfway through, I couldn't put it down. The author handled a difficult subject with a lot of delicacy. I found myself wanting to know more about each of the cases Rachel was investigating, and I appreciated how they converged. By the end of the book I felt very sad, but it was in a way that shows just how powerful of a novel this was.

Just can’t get into this one.. calling it quits at 25 percent. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for review.

This is one of those well-written novels that is not enjoyable to read. Even if you haven’t lived through it, you definitely have friends and acquaintances and family members who have. Not just the rape but the not being believed by cops and members of the community. Slut shamed because the girl was obviously asking for it. Therefore, you spend the whole book being pissed off that, thirty years after Thelma and Louise came out, nothing has changed except the style of jeans and the way we wear our hair.

Rachel is on her third season of a true crime podcast. Her first two seasons she dealt with cold cases, but this season she’s covering a rape trial live. Rachel wonders why everyone agrees that murder is bad but somehow when it comes to rape, suddenly there are sides to take.

The alleged rape is between a wealthy young man with potential as an Olympic swimmer and a sixteen-year-old girl who is the granddaughter of the former police chief of town. When Rachel gets to town before the trial starts, she gets letters on her car and in her hotel room about a murder that happened years earlier. So, we the readers are turning pages to find out how the current case turns out and also whether Rachel can dig up clues that Jenny, years earlier, didn’t drown like all the records say, but was murdered as her younger sister, who keeps writing letters and emails rather than meeting with Rachel in person, contends.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to review this novel, which RELEASES AUGUST 4, 2020.