Night Swim by Megan Goldin was some kind of thrill read y'all. The story first focuses on a podcast. Rachel has achieved fame for her true crime podcast where she revisits cases and has exonerated an innocent man. For the first time, she has decided to take on a trial as it happens. She heads to a small town where a sexual assault case has rocked the community. A high school boy known for his swimming prowess is the alleged perpetrator. Rachel takes on the story of this case seeking to help listeners understand how hard it is for survivors to come forward and all the complexities of a case of this nature. While in town, Rachel is contacted via letter about another case in the town that was never solved. 25 years earlier, Jenny Stills drowned. She knew how to swim, and her younger sister Hannah believes there is much more to her story. In addition to covering the case in the courtroom, Rachel takes on this cold case to finally discover what really happened to Jenny. Rachel does deep dives into both stories as she is committed to finding the truth. This was a thriller that kept me reading. As the secrets come to light, and y'all, there are some huge secret reveals, some common threads in the past and present also come to life. This is a heavy and emotional read given the focus, but it's also a pageturner that I quickly devoured because I needed both cases to be resolved. Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this August 2020 release.

I love this book! I thought nothing would match the escape room, but this exceeded my expectations. Please, write more books with this lead character.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

I'm truly not sure what I was expecting with this book, but I certainly wasn't expecting to be so thoroughly heartsick. This is not a negative criticism by any means. The author took a difficult and sensitive subject, rape, and did not hold back any punches. It is simultaneously refreshing and heartbreaking to hear someone call out society's treatment and reaction to sexual assault. There were very clear "ripped from the headlines" parallels in this book. Perhaps what is most disturbing about this read is the fact that these issues are so common. Most importantly the author begs us to analyze an important question. Why is it the responsibility of the victim to relive their trauma in order to seek justice?

I devoured this book. The combination of a podcast, a court case, and 2 incidents; one from the past, one from the present kept me riveted from beginning to end. This book had enough secrets to keep the reader turning the pages, but my favorite parts of the book were the podcast episodes and the actual trial of the athlete accused of sexual assault. This book was told from several points of view and in the past and present; devices I thoroughly enjoy. I don't want to delve into the plot or give too much away. The ending was perhaps a bit too contrived for my taste, however, as stated above, for me it wasn't the reveals that kept me reading this book, this book was so much more than a "mystery". Highly recommend. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC.

I received an ARC of this enthralling book. It follows two events from different periods in time, with many surprises and twists along the way. I couldn't put it down until the very last page!

Rachel Krall, arriving in a small town to cover a rape trial for her podcast, finds a puzzling note on her car. The note pleads for her help in a past crime in the same town, an alleged drowning which the writer believes was a murder. More notes appear as she settles into the trial that has divided the town. Her partner, recovering from an accident, researches and follows leads from his hospital bed as she attends the courtroom procedures, interviews as many individuals as she can reach and writes her script. The actual podcasts are intermittent chapters which move the trial forward as flashbacks flesh out the events of both crimes. Eventually, what the reader suspects, occurs; the two stories weave together. I enjoy Megan Goldin’s style of advancing the storyline through quick chapter changes. I found, however, the podcasts’ content repetitive at times. This is the author’s second work I have read. I am a fan and look forward to a third.

I, like many other people, love true crime podcasts. They make my one-and-a-half-hour commute (yes, you read that right, and yes, it sucks as much as you think it does) bearable. So when I saw that The Night Swim was a mystery/thriller about a true crime podcast host, I requested it immediately. Unfortunately, I think my experience with true crime podcasts made this book less enjoyable, not more.

There were a lot of little inaccuracies that bothered me. Rachel Krall’s podcast episodes are very short and contain far more speculation than fact, and she doesn’t have that natural, conversational way of speaking that podcast listeners enjoy; her words read as very obviously scripted. She’s the only host, which I can only imagine is very boring to listen to and is certainly boring to read (there’s a reason most podcasts have at least two hosts). She records one of her episodes outside, while walking, which I can only imagine would be an audio nightmare. And her podcast is supposedly so universally popular that Rachel is a “household name.” The only podcast hosts I know of who are household names are celebrities who were already famous for something else.

There were even more details that damaged the book’s realism. Everyone Rachel speaks to is conveniently quick to open up and share plot-relevant details that most people wouldn’t give up so easily to a stranger. The wrongly convicted man who was the subject of the first season of Rachel’s podcast is released in short order after she reveals new evidence that exonerates him, which I find hard to believe; the American justice system will do anything in its power to keep people in prison even if it’s obvious that they’re innocent. And Hannah’s notes to Rachel are so riddled with flowery, unnecessary detail that I spent the whole time I was reading them rolling my eyes and thinking, “Who writes like this?”

I fully realize that I am being incredibly nitpicky and that most of these details may not even faze the average reader, but each one took me out of the story and prevented me from immersing myself. A much bigger issue was Rachel herself. I had no sense of her personality, unless you count “true crime podcast host” as a personality trait (I don’t). What little I learned about her was told, not shown. She was flat and lifeless. And I hated Hannah. You want justice for your sister, so you stalk a true crime podcast host who’s just trying to do her job? Even more frustrating, Rachel does exactly what Hannah wants and investigates her sister’s case, and even lets it distract her from her work.

I did like that Megan Goldin seemed to draw from real-life cases to inspire the ones she mentions or focuses on in this book, which added back some of the realism the book lost, although (as far as I know) neither the Jenny Stills case nor the Kelly Moore case were direct copies of any real case, so there was still room for creativity. I liked the trial scenes. I appreciated the commentary on rape and victim blaming that we got from the Kelly case, and I enjoyed slowly discovering the details of the Jenny case. And the ending was decent, though not unexpected.

I have to stress that I really don’t think Goldin is a bad writer, or that this is a bad book. I’m clearly in the minority here. I’m between two and three stars, but because there were so many instances when I wanted to put the book down for good, I have to go with two.

Two crimes, Two Women, Twenty-Five Years Apart

An investigative journalist who hosts a popular crime podcast with an emphasis on re-opening cold cases visits a small east coast vacation town to cover a rape trial. While there, she learns about another woman who was murdered twenty-five years ago.
While driving to the town of Neapolis, Rachel finds a note on her car from a young woman named Hannah who has been desperately trying to contact her via her show. The woman’s sister, Jenny Stills was murdered twenty-five years earlier and the cause was ruled a drowning after her body was pulled out of the ocean. But, there were marks on Jenny that were not conducive to drowning. Hannah knows there is more to her story and so do other long-time residents who have for their own selfish reasons, chosen to remain silent.
As Rachel prepares notes from the trial each day regarding the raping of a sixteen year-old girl by the town’s hero and Olympic hopeful and records her podcast, she is further pursued by Hannah to help solve her sister’s murder. Rachel becomes intrigued with Jenny’s case and as she starts to ask more questions, realizes that the two cases, twenty-five years apart, are related in ways she never would have guessed. Suddenly, getting justice for a dead girl, who never had a voice, becomes paramount.
This is a heartbreaking story of brutal violence and the violation of innocent women. The divisive nature of taking sides after a crime, the power of those with money to chart their own course, and the brutal injustice of marginalized victims who through no fault of their own end up in the wrong place at the wrong time are all prominent themes explored in this psychological thriller.
This is the second book I have read by Goldin. The first, The Escape Room was a sharp thriller with a strong cat and mouse theme. Put both these books on your list.
BRB Rating: Read It.

This book wasn't very unique... I can see where thriller fans will find it enjoyable, but it just didn't stand out to me as anything special. It did not hold my attention.

As a fan of podcasts, true crime, and true-crime podcasts, this book was made for me as a reader. I was worried how the "podcast narration" feel might translate to the page, but it worked very well. Great storytelling and great character building made this one of my favorite books so far this year. I would definitely like to read more from this author, and would even go so far as to say this might make a great series.

This intense novel goes a long way to explain why many female rape victims are often beaten down by the justice system that purports to represent and protect them.
Rachel Krall, a true crime podcaster travels to small town North Carolina to cover a high profile rape trial. high profile because the accused is a privileged young sport superstar, bound for Olympic glory and the victim is one of two sisters in a single parent family. On arrival, Rachel finds a note on her windshield about another similar incident that happened twenty five years previously in the same town. Soon Rachel is following the court case as well as conducting her own investigation into the older case.
What follows is a page-turning suspense story with many all-too-real moments which remind us that young female victims of assault or rape are often left vulnerable and open to public disparagement rather than given the support and help they need.
The author creates well-rounded characters. Rachel is brave, no-nonsense and willing to take risks. the male characters are well drawn and Golden does not fall into the trap of painting all her male characters with the same brush. A real page-turner that shines a spotlight on a very pressing issue.

What a ride. The author tackles the intricacies of proving rape in the courtroom, weaving together two stories, an old rape and murder, with a current rape trial. Rachel arrives in Neapolis to observe and record podcasts as a rape trial unfolds. But letters keep showing up begging her to look into an old rape and murder case which happened in this very town. As Rachel digs around, the townspeople grow uneasy. Why can’t she leave well enough alone? The current rape case brings out how difficult it is to actually get a rape conviction, being very dependent upon the traumatized raped girl’s testimony.
An enlightening read.

I didn’t read The Night Swim by Megan Goldin so much as I absorbed it. All of my senses were engaged with this fantastic story. The book’s chapters alternate between three POVs – Rachel Krall, a popular true crime podcaster; Hannah, a woman whose sister died 25 years ago; and the podcast itself. Rachel has traveled to a small town called Neapolis to cover the highly publicized trial of a local hero accused of raping a young teen girl. On the day she arrives, Rachel finds a letter left on her car windshield from a woman who lived in Neapolis when she was growing up. She (Hannah) claims that her older sister was murdered despite the fact that the case was declared an accidental drowning. The chapters from Hannah’s POV are absolutely gut-wrenching. And the chapters that are from the podcast POV are mesmerizing. I could actually hear Rachel’s podcasting voice, that low-pitched, soothing tone that the best podcasters have. While Rachel stays on task covering the current trial, she can’t help but be intrigued by Hannah’s story and starts investigating that as well. By the end, the reader has satisfying resolutions to both crimes.
I can’t say enough positive things about this book. It has it all. I read and loved Goldin’s earlier novel, The Escape Room, and this latest venture is as good or better than that. The writing is tight, and the character development is brilliant. Once I started, I could not put The Night Swim down. I absolutely loved it – 5 stars all the way.
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me a digital ARC in return for an honest review. The Night Swim comes out on August 4, 2020. It’s going to be a huge success. Don’t miss it!

I loved this book, and woke up in the middle of the night to read more! It centers around Rachel, who is a household name based on 2 years of doing successful podcasts on murder trials, and is now traveling to Neapolis, NC to cover a rape case for her 3rd season. She starts receiving letters from Hannah who urges her to also look into Hannah's sister Jenny's murder in 1991 in the same town, which was ruled as an accident. The chapters alternate between Rachel, Hannah, and a transcription of Rachel's podcast about the rape trial.

This story is great because it has not one, but two mysteries to solve, and the author really draws in the reader to care about them both. Rachel is human and understandable, not wanting to do something stupid but also driven by curiosity- I feel like I could completely empathize with her decisions throughout the story. The podcasts about the way rape cases polarize people were really compelling; the way both sides of the story were presented gives the reader reasonable doubt on both sides.

I especially enjoyed the mystery surrounding Jenny's fate, though it is horribly sad. The author did a great job suspensefully laying out the details of the situation through Hannah's letters to Rachel- I couldn't wait to see what really happened. I figured out who the culprit was literally right before Rachel did- what a great job of bringing all the pieces together so the reader and Rachel would get there around the same time.

I have gushed about this book a lot, but will add one last piece around the imagery the author elicited around Neapolis, the crimes, and the courtroom- she was able to lay out the details in a way that I could clearly picture myself there, but without going so deep into specifics that would have made the story boring. Even though some of the rape scenes were graphic, the information given was just enough to truly make me understand what it was like to be there without overdoing it. This is a special skill.

I have very little to complain about with this book, but my only small nit is that I couldn't figure out why the prosecutor couldn't manage to dig up any other girl that the defendant, Scott, had had sex with. I kept waiting for him to pull out a believable witness who could say one way or another what Scott was actually like, but it never came.

In a nutshell, I would strongly recommend this book for those who like mysteries and courtroom dramas- this was a fantastic book that will stick with me for much time to come. I think that this book will be memorable for many readers who like the same kind of books that I do. I am going to go back and read Megan Goldin's previous book as soon as I can.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I had a difficult time getting through the beginning of it because it seemed a little disjointed. But then I got through the last half in a day!!! When all the pieces started coming together wow!!

The social commentary on rape and the rape case was so important. I just finished reading Know my Name by Chanel Miller and it really reminded me of that. The accounts of sexual assault were haunting.
The combination of switching narratives to podcast to courtroom was wonderfully engaging.

This one will stay with me a while. I love it!

4 stars

I really enjoyed this book. As a fan of all of the murder-based podcasts AND a well developed thriller, I knew that this could work nicely for my creepy tastes.

Often, I felt like the podcast angle got pushed aside. Despite the short episode interludes and presenting a frame through which to do the research, the podcast isn't as much of a focus - especially as the novel progresses - as I thought it would be at the start. By the time I got to the end, this component felt more extraneous to me than essential, and that's something I think a mindful editor could have (and should have) corrected.

Another minor point of concern I experienced was the few times that rapists and survivors/victims of rape and sexual assault are described in binary gender terms. It would have been useful to hear some acknowledgement - even casually - that all kinds of folks can and do inhabit either role.

What DID work well for me in this novel is here: (1) the simultaneous stories (the historical rape and potential murder of Jenny Stills and the contemporary trial on behalf of Kelly Moore) as well as (2) the clear message that rape and sexual assault have life-long and widespread impacts. On the first point, though these story lines do feel a bit distant at first, I think they are woven together quite nicely (if, in some ways, too predictably) by the end. Regarding the second, it's not lost on me that so many of the works I'm reading lately center on this topic. Calling all rapists and perpetrators of sexual assault: STOP.

One final point I must mention is how much I dislike the final scene. I also found this literally exact final moment too predictable, and I didn't love the message I saw clearly in the symbolism. Since I'm keeping this spoiler-free, I'll leave this point nebulous, but there was a missed opportunity.

Overall, I really like the sentiment, the flow of the simultaneous stories, and the somewhat vacuous persona that the main character, Rachel, has. It's easy to step into her shoes since she leaves a lot of space for us to do that.

An intense gripping story that was very descriptive . I felt a real connection to the characters. At times I felt quite mad at the possibility of nothing happening to the accused.
I have read the author’s previous book and was excited to get a copy of this one. It doesn’t disappoint and is just as good as her previous one. Definitely recommend!

This is a very different kind of mystery where the past comes back to have a dramatic impact on the future. It is about "boys being boys" with a license to rape and destroy a girls reputation with society's help. The double standard that we are fighting so hard to end today is really addressed in this story with a shocking ending.

I really enjoyed this book! The Night Swim by Megan Goldin is full of suspense! It is a story about a small town rape trial, and a podcaster
that goes to cover the story, and while she is there starts getting anonymous letters from someone wanting help solving an old mystery. I definitely wanted to find out what was happening.

I received this ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review

**Thank you Netgally and St. Martin's Press for an e-Arc in exchange for an honest revie

Rachel arrives at a small town to investigate the rape of a teenager girl by an 18 year old swimmer. She's a podcaster and wants to get the whole truth. Years ago, another girl named Jenny was also raped and mysteriously died.

Trigger warning: obviously for rape. And it's presented pretty brutally.

I can tell this was inspired by Serial, Sadie and the famous Brock Turner case. I think this was a good read, very quick. The story isn't a typical thriller in that most is done through Hannah's letters and the courtroom drama as opposed to it unfolding organically. The podcast element is fun and I like seeing more novels use this element in the story. It gave the story an organic vibe and Rachel made choices that made sense.

4/5 stars.
I think it was a good read but it wasn't really a mystery/thriller. It's more a contemporary watching rape cases in a town unfold. i would recommend it to fans of Serial, Sadie and courtroom dramas. This would be a great beach read (or potentially a great summer audio book).