Kudos for the return of podcaster Rachel Krall! So glad to see this character back again as I was a big fan of Night Swim. The plot for Dark Corners is equally suspenseful and unique. I enjoy thrillers like this one when authors think outside the box and it's not the same cookie cutter whodunit. And the creep factor was definitely there as I can almost smell the Rideshare driver...yuck. Looking forward to the next Rachel Krall book! My thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

A solid mystery with its own clever twists. Rachel Krall is the main character in this novel and this is the second book that she has starred in. I enjoyed Night Swim a great deal. Even though Dark Corners didn't mesmerize me quite as much, it's still a good read.

This story revolves around the world of influencers. A young influencer is missing and Rachel is pulled into it when she finds out that the girl had left a message for her. Things only get more interesting when there are links made to a man getting ready to be released from prison. Could he be related to the missing influencer? There seem to be too many coincidences.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: I also received an early copy of the audiobook and really enjoyed listening to this book. This type of story really lent itself to this format and the narration felt spot on. 4 1/2 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for both early copes of the ebook and audiobook.

I have become a fan of Megan Goldin's ever since her first novel, The Escape Room. Each book she has written takes us to the underbelly of society and the crimes they commit. 

This is a follow-up book to The Night Swim. While you don't have to read that book to enjoy this one, it might give you a little more background on Rachel Krall. However, the author does provide quite a bit of history on Rachel so that the reader does not feel lost.

I was drawn into the story when Rachel is flown to Florida, by the FBI, for a reason that we don't discover until later. However, this sets off a chain of events that put her life and others in danger. 

I found the world of influencers very interesting and probably very true. Nothing they post is real. It is all staged. It makes me wonder why people give so much power to these people. But it was also intriguing to get a glimpse into that world.

Rachel is a smart investigative investigator, and that might be how she was able to uncover information that the FBI couldn't find. A lot of it comes down to trust and the fact that she is not part of the government. I enjoyed the special report that was shared every few chapters that reflected what she learned about this situation.

As I read this novel, I wondered if Terrance (Terry) was guilty, or was it circumstance? Was there a partner, or was he working on his own? There are many holes in the case against him, but what was fact or fiction was buried until Rachel starts digging into the missing persons case and his case. 

There were many twists and turns. Some I expected, and many I did not. I had a hard time putting the book down, wondering what could possibly happen next. 

Overall, we give this book 4 paws up.

Rachel Krall is a famous podcaster who has helped mini suspected criminals prove their innocence and when a famous influencer name Madison goes missing after going to see us suspected serial killer in prison the FBI want her to help. The suspected SK who’s name is Bailey ask the influencer Madison to get in touch with her but when she arrives he doesn’t have much to say. Rachel quickly gets drawn into the case and learns that it has a lot more to do with the world outside of prison then The man who’s in it she finds herself getting involved with the world of influencers in those and the tripping community but when someone else is murdered and then tries to kill Rachel it all becomes way more personal than any other case. It doesn’t help that she finds herself very attracted to special agent Martinez and although they share a night together she is leery because he is still mourning the loss of his own wife. Are usually love meg golden books but I can’t say I was overly excited about this one are usually love books having to do with podcasts, influencers in the young adult community but I found myself bored at times and even figure out the killer long before I was halfway done aspire all that though I do still recommend this book because I am usually an outlier when it comes to opinions and have always thought Megan Golden to be an awesome writer so maybe it is just my frame of mind at the moment. I want to thank Net Galley and Saint Martin’s press for my free Ark copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Here we go again! Rachel Krall is back!

This time, the FBI needs her help with a case and Rachel can't help but be intrigued. That is until, Terrence Bailey, the suspect Rachel is tasked with interviewing is released and appears to be hot on her tail. Rachel however, doesn't back down. Why? Maddison Logan, a social media influencer has gone missing and Rachel feels compelled to help, even if it costs her.

A thriller that keeps you on your toes, Megan Goldin, knows how to keep readers gripped to the pages. While this wasn't my favorite book by her, I enjoyed it.

A buddy listen with Kaceey.
3.5 Stars

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the arc and Macmillan audio for the alc.

{ Dark. Methodical. Discomfiting. }

The Night Swim blew me away when it came out a few years ago, and I've enjoyed Megan Goldin 's other books, as well. So, I was excited to read this Dark Corners, which follows the main character from The Night Swim as she works on another case.

The mystery in Dark Corners was strong, but overall the story did not capture my interest as strongly as it's predecessor. The writing felt a bit forced, and a romance was thrown in that seemed completely out of place with the rest of the plot.

This one can definitely be read as a standalone!

Thank you, Megan Goldin, St. Martin's Press, and Netgalley for the gifted eARC.

Terence Bailey is in prison for breaking and entering, though it has been suspected that he has murdered six women. While there, other than his lawyers, he has only ever had one visitor, Maddison Logan. Maddison is a well-known influencer. Shortly after visiting Terence, Maddison disappears. Rachel, a well-known crime podcaster, is called in by the FBI to help find the missing influencer. There's one problem. Maddison doesn't seem to exist outside of social media. To help find out what Maddison was doing before she went missing, Rachel goes undercover at a BuzzCon conference Maddison had recently attended. When a body of a female turns up with a snake tattoo matching one that Terence also has, the police begin to think that Terence has help on the outside. Now that Rachel is a target, can she find out what happened to Maddison while keeping herself safe?

There was something about Dark Corners that just didn't work for me. I found the pacing to be a bit too slow and the story to be on the boring side. I actually didn't find myself wanting to go back to continue reading this book. That's says quite a lot about how unengaged I was with the writing, characters, and plot of this book. The podcast chapters didn't work for me either, having read another book this year that pulled off podcasts in a far superior manner. By the last 10% of the book, I thought things picked up, but the other 90% was just not to my liking.

Favorite Quote: "The scariest monster is the one that hides in plain sight."

Dark Corners released yesterday and it’s one of my favorite thrillers so far for the year. I was a little worried going into this one as I have not read the first but there was no need to worry! @megangoldinauthor did a great job recapping the first book without info dumping. I was hooked from the very beginning and the pace was perfect to keep wanting to read one more chapter. Highly recommend checking this one out even if you haven’t read The Night Swim.

This book follows crime journalist and podcaster Rachel Krall as she is asked by the FBI to come talk with an inmate as her name is the only clue they have in their current case. I loved getting Rachel’s pov plus her podcast as well as two other pov’s. Thank you @stmartinspress for my #gifted copy for review.

Dark Corners was a suspenseful, tense procedural thriller with fantastic character development. It’s told from 3 different perspectives: the killer, Rachel and the detectives searching from the killer, and Rachel’s podcast. Goldin’s writing flowed effortlessly between each perspective. I would recommend this book to fans of true crime, dark thrillers, and police procedurals.

4.5/5 stars

Dark Corners is book two in the Rachel Krall series. It is a thriller that can be read as a standalone.

The main character of this book is Rachel Krall. She was the lead character in Night Swim. The case in Dark Corners is completely self-contained in this book. It can be read as a standalone. However reading the first book will give readers a better understanding of Rachel and her podcast.

Rachel is the host of a hugely popular true crime podcast. She is asked by the FBI to go to Florida.

The key characters are: inmate Terence Bailey (who is believed to be a serial killer), Instagram influencer Maddison Logan, FBI agent Joe Martinez, and ride share driver Thomas McKoy.

This book was so good! I really enjoyed it. The case is so fascinating and creepy. Rachel herself is amazing. And the sparks between the FBI agent and Rachel were off the charts. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a good thriller.

WOW! Love this author and this book. Sometimes in a series of books I find myself losing interest as the story progresses and I start to dislike the main character. This is not the case with this series. This is a great one even as a stand alone book. Looking forward to the next edition. One of my favorite mysteries this year!

After the incredible debut of Goldin’s book the Night Swim, I had high hopes for Dark Corners!

Rachel Krall is back, and this time she’s not just a podcast host, she’s also a homicide investigator? After being responsible for proving someone was innocent on her podcast, everyone wants Rachel to prove their innocence. This includes serial killer Terrence Bailey. A popular influencer visited him recently, and now she’s missing. The last thing he told her was to contact Rachel. What transpires is a rollercoaster of events as Rachel attends BuzzCon, a convention for influencers, in order to find the truth.

What I liked:
- Strong female leads
- Podcast style books
- A look into the reality of an influencers life
- Differing POV’s, including the serial killers
- Somewhat of a happy ending
- The notion that horrible people “are hiding in plain sight”, and the reality that just your ordinary Uber driver can be an absolute homicidal maniac 😅

What I didn’t care for:
- The sudden romantic plot line that didn’t have much context
- The story was a quick read, but it wasn’t very riveting. The “plot twists” didn’t cause me to gasp, and just felt a little, well…meh
- Somewhat of a happy ending, but the last few pages were just rushed and corny

HOWEVER, although not as good as the Night Swim, Dark Corners had great aspects and do I look forward to reading more of Rachel’s journey!

Rating: 3⭐️

Thank you to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for an ARC of Dark Corners, in exchange for my honest review :)

Megan Goldin has become a must-read author for me, and this is the much-anticipated sequel to the fabulous The Night Swim. This time around, Rachel is a rockstar podcaster, and she's the go-to person for the wrongfully convicted. Megan is an expert of crafting a clear mystery, and I'd recommend this to anyone new to the mystery/thriller genre. However, the obvious climax and reliance on by-the-number tropes keeps this from five stars.

True-crime podcaster Rachel Krall, has been called in by the FBI to aide in the case of missing social media influencer, Maddison Logan, who disappeared after visiting inmate Terence Bailey. Bailey was convicted of breaking & entering but investigators believe he is connected to the several brutal murders and is about to be released. The FBI can’t prove that he is a murderer or that he had anything to do with Maddison’s disappearance but Rachel is hot on the case!

This was an exciting, fast-paced thriller full of red herrings and side plots that kept me guessing. I loved the Florida setting in this book which made for an atmospheric read. This is the 4th book I’ve read by Megan Goldin including Night Swim which is the first book in this series. Rachel’s character seems a little edgier in this book now that she’s older and has lived a little since book one.

(Spoilers Ahead)

This book was good but not great. It felt superficial, even for a genre novel. There was not enough character development and some of the situations felt very contrived. Why wouldn’t Rachel have shown Grace a picture of Maddison? That seemed like it would have connected some dots faster. And why was Terry such an ominous presence? It didn’t align with how the book ended. I liked the plot but thought there were a lot of areas for improvement.

Thank you to the publisher - I received a complimentary eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"Dark corners can be danger points."

Rachel Krall is drug into an FBI situation involving a missing influencer and a suspected killer behind bars. Rachel is a true crime podcaster whose recent fame has enhanced her reputation as an investigative reporter. She flies to Daytona Beach to visit the convict who's about to be released after an incarceration for breaking and entering -- they couldn't make a murder charge stick. But, Maddison Logan, the young woman who has disappeared, had visited him right before she vanished.

The first thing the reader must do is accept that the FBI would ask Rachel Krall to be involved in this case and provide her with all the pertinent details. I found that aspect a bit hard to swallow and so i did not like this second installment as much as I did the first as it just seemed too outlandish. Rachel was far removed from her podcast role.

The plot was OK, the weirdness that was trimethlylaminuria was quite interesting (it's a rare condition that makes someone smell horrible, and is sometimes called fish odor syndrome). I did not find this to be much of a suspense thriller, more a mystery that sort of hopped and skipped all over the place. Not a fan of the instant romance either. Was never satisfied with the information finally revealed about the killer.

Frankly, I was really bored by the influencer angle. I am sure others might disagree, but I am so over this constant self-obsession and the competition for followers and viral posts. What I think is really meant is that there is danger in the dark corners of social media.

Will I read another installment in this series? Probably, but I sure hope that the author returns to the writing style and format with the podcasts, scripts, etc. that made the first better for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this e-book ARC to read and review.

The Night Swim is one of my all time favourite thrillers that I’m constantly recommending so when I found out it was getting turned into a series, I was so excited!

This one takes a bit of a different approach than the first as instead of the podcast angle, we dive into the social media world and get an influencer trope. While I did find this element quite intriguing and really liked the BuzzCon idea, I did find myself missing the podcast and therefore it felt like a little of the magic from the first one was lost.

Goldin continued with a dark and sinister theme and provided us with an abundance of compelling red herrings and misdirections! Rachel continued to be the strong and determined protagonist that we originally met and I enjoyed following along with her journey and investigation.

While the plot was quite complex at times, I liked that I didn’t get confused and I applaud Goldin’s stellar writing for this!

While this can certainly be read as a standalone, by no means do I recommend passing up on reading The Night Swim first!!

Thank you to Netgalley, Megan Goldin, and St. Martin's Press for this ARC of Dark Corners in exchange for an honest review!
Description:
Dark Corners follows Rachel Krall, the true crime podcaster that we all came to love in the Night Swim. This time, Rachel is called to help the FBI when her name is brought up by a prisoner, Terence Bailey, who is soon being released from prison after serving time for breaking and entering. Although that isn't the worst crime that the FBI believes he has committed. Terence is suspected of killing six women and the FBI want to make sure he isn't released from prison and able to harm any other women. When famous influencers from the BuzzCon event that Rachel is partaking in keep going missing or are found dead, the FBI and Rachel begin to suspect that Terence is not working alone.
Review:
I have read all of Megan Goldin's books and have absoutely loved them all. Dark Corners was a highly anticipated read for me. First, I loved getting to know Rachel even more in this book after the Night Swim. I had some issues with the pacing of this one compared to the Night Swim. I felt it was a lot slower paced and slower to capture my attention, but it finally picked up around the 60-70% range which is when I truly became invested in the story. I loved that we actually knew the perpetrator very quickly on and were able to get into his disturbing head. We also got to find out the tricky ways he was able to disguise himself which was fascinating. I would have liked to have an epilogue; I felt like the book abruptly ended.
All in all, I would recommend to others and cannot wait to read Megan's future releases.
3.5 star rounded up to 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and. St. Martin’s Press for this ARC of Dark Corners by Megan Goldin. This book is a twisty story about a Podcaster and the dark side of being a social influencer. Rachel Karll gets pulled into an investigation that she can’t resist. While digging deeper into this case, she learns more about the world of being a social influencer and what it takes to make it in this career. Is this world so cut throat that the cost is your life?

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I am loving this series and would love to see it continue. Social media influencers and podcasters are a dime a dozen these days but this story felt fresh and unique. I love when an author not only tells us about the crime but takes us along the journey of digging to the bottom of the story and revealing the truth! With twists (and Wei by guesses by the reader) along the way. 4 stars.