I was unaware that this was a sequel in a series. The cover is what drew me in and honestly I didn't read the synopsis. With that being said I enjoyed this book. I was lucky enough to receive both the E-ARC and the Audiobook. I chose to listen to the audio. I really enjoyed the audiobook. Especially the podcast chapters. It was an intriguing story and I enjoyed it. I did think the ending was a little rushed. Overall a good read.

Book Releases August 8, 2023

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the E-ARC and to Macmillan Audio for the ALC

All thoughts and opinions are honest and my own.

was really excited to be back in this world, the first book in the series was a solid read for me and I was looking forward to seeing what Rachel was up to. One of the things I liked most about the first book was the podcast aspect, it was really well done and I wanted more of that than what was given here but that’s a minor gripe. The first quarter of this one was really good for me, strong pacing and an intriguing plot but things did slow down for the middle sections quite a bit. Normally that would bother me but it actually didn’t this time, maybe it was because I enjoyed the influencer plot line or maybe I just liked seeing the growth of Rachel’s character but it did work pretty well for me. The suspense part of the story was great and some of the smaller twists came as a surprise to me, definitely higher tension in the very ending that bumped up my rating. If you liked The Night Swim I think you’ll like this too.

Popular true crime podcaster Rachel Krall, has solved several cases and freed an innocent man from jail, but she is still surprised when the FBI asks her to fly down to Florida to speak a prisoner in a Correctional Facility near Daytona. Terrence Bailey is about to be released on bail after two years jail for B& E, followed by a further four years for fighting with another prisoner. The FBI also suspected he is responsible for several murders of young women, but with only circumstantial evidence could never charge him. They will, however, be watching him closely when he’s released.

In all his time in jail, Bailey has never received a visitor, until recently when Maddison Logan came to see him. A highly successful social media influencer, Maddison blogs about her nomadic lifestyle and travels in her van and is currently in Daytona to attend BuzzCon, a convention for influencers. A few days after visiting Bailey, Maddison disappeared without a trace and the FBI is concerned that this is no coincidence.

When FBI agent Joe Martinez scrutinised the video recording of Maddison’s meeting with Bailey, he could tell they were having a disagreement and as she was leaving Bailey wrote on the desk “Bring Rachel Krall to me”. Unfortunately, when Rachel meets Bailey, he doesn’t tell her anything, but warns her that “the scariest monster is the one that hides in plain sight”. With what sounds like a veiled threat, Martinez tells Rachel she should return home, but with the scent of a good podcast in the air, she decides to attend Buzz Con undercover. Maddison appears to have had no history before she burst onto the influencer scene six years ago and Rachel wants to find out more about her and where she’s come from.

I enjoyed this second outing with Rachel Krall. She is just as tough, tenacious and resourceful as she was in ‘The Night Swim’ and not fearful of the risk to herself, although perhaps she should be. The world of influencers that Goldin immerses us in is a very unpleasant one filled with narcissistic, arrogant people more interested in outdoing their rivals in photographing their food, clothes and poses for their blogs than in connecting with others at BuzzCon. However, Rachel is able to blend in and find out information about Maddison that the FBI can’t access. She generously passes this onto Martinez, who gradually changes his opinion of her as stubborn and difficult to one of respect and even attraction.

The well written and carefully paced plot unfolds gradually with a few false turns along the way, so it’s not until the second half, when all the pieces are falling into place, that the suspense starts to build to the tense climax. The voice of of a ride share driver occasionally interrupts the narrative, leaving the reader wondering how he could be connected to Bailey. An entertaining and engaging novel, with perhaps more than you wanted to know about the world of influencers, this can be read as a stand-alone novel.

I thought this was a good second book in this series. I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did. It’s fast moving and has some surprises towards the end. Definitely recommend
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

Dark Corners is the second book in Megan Goldin's Rachel Krall series, but it stands on its own. Rachel is a true crime podcaster who gets a call from an FBI agent to meet him in Florida to help with an investigation. Maddison Logan, a very popular influencer, has disappeared after visiting a prisoner who is about to be released on a breaking and entering charge, but is suspected of committing more than one murder. Rachel agrees to assist the FBI and learns a lot about the world of influencers while looking into this complex and dangerous case.

I enjoyed the prior book, The Night Swim, a little bit more than this one, but both are really good. The story alternates between a few different points-of-few and also includes Rachel's transcript on a special report she is making. Rachel sometimes stubbornly takes unnecessary risks, but I admire her dedication to finding the truth. Many things are what they seem in this story, and I like the surprising ending. I also liked the spark between Rachel and the FBI agent she is assisting and would love seeing both characters in a future book.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy of this ebook at no cost. My review is voluntary and unbiased.

This is the third Megan Goldin book I’ve read and all of the, have been fantastic so far.

This one kept me guessing throughout. I had theories, but even when I guessed the twist, there ended up being more unexpected twists involved that left me surprised.

Overall, great read and I’d definitely recommend it to others looking for a gripping thriller.

I received this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I LOVED The Night Swim and couldn't wait to read this one. I did enjoy it, but it didn't quite live up to my expectations. There was a lot going on in this story. I listened to The Night Swim and loved the podcast aspect. I'm wondering if I would've liked this better had I listened to it.

3.75 stars

2 stars

The first installment of the Rachel Krall series was my first experience with Megan Goldin; now three years later, it has been my only overwhelmingly positive one. I have read (or have attempted to read) two other books by her that just did not hit the mark and I found myself longing for the nuanced, atmospheric, and tense approach that she took to The Night Swim. When I learned that she was writing another Rachel Krall book, I figured that this would be my best chance of recapturing that magic.

Alas, that was not to be.

This book leans more into the crime genre rather than the mystery/thriller that I was expecting, which was really not an issue for me. What was, however, was the repetitive writing, the immense amount of telling and not showing, and above all, the stilted characterization of our protagonist. I remember Rachel of The Night Swim being a bit rash on occasion, but that was tempered by her relentless pursuit of justice and her care of others. The Rachel of Dark Corners felt like she was at the mercy of the crime genre plot beats rather than a character in her own right. Other than two or three throwaway lines sprinkled throughout, she was just moving through the investigation full steam ahead no matter the consequences.

The short chapters and the evidence reveals certainly make the book read quickly, but I am left wondering if maybe The Night Swim should have stayed a standalone.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Rachel Krall, famous podcaster, has been called in to help on a case by the FBI. Terry Bailey is being released from jail in a few days. No one has visited him his entire sentence, until one week prior when influencer Maddison Logan visits him- and then goes missing. Rachel goes undercover at BuzzCon to find out if anyone has any idea what happened to her.

I read this immediately after finishing The Night Swim. The format is very different from the first book in the Rachel Krall series. I loved the format of book 1, so it did take me a little bit to get into this book, but once I did I could not put it down. I loved how the different storylines came together in a way that did not feel overly far fetched. Rachel was a little more annoying at the start of this book than in book 1, but she did grow on me. My biggest wish would be for the podcast chapters to be more clearly labeled. Maybe it was an ebook issue, but the slight font change took me a few chapters to notice so it ended up being pretty confusing for me at the start.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the new book by Megan Goldin, wonderfully narrated by André Santana, January LaVoy, and Samantha Desz - 4.5 stars rounded up!

Rachel Krall, who has a podcast called Guilty or Not Guilty, and has been called upon by the FBI to go to Florida to assist on a case. The search is on for a missing social media influencer, Maddison, who disappeared hours after visiting Terence Bailey, convicted for breaking and entering, but suspected of murdering multiple women. When Maddison goes missing, authorities wonder if he is working with someone on the outside and why Maddison even went to visit him. Rachel goes undercover at BuzzCon, a convention for social media influencers, to try and find out more about Maddison. But suddenly Rachel may be in serious trouble.

This is the second in the Rachel Krall series and while it can definitely be read as a stand alone, it's a great series to start from the beginning! This was an interesting look into the dark side of social media influencers and a peek into that surreal world. Rachel is a great character and this is at its heart a good police procedural, with lots of tension and twists. A must read series and I can't wait for more to come!

This story is told is told in multiple points of view in alternating chapters including third person from podcaster Rachel Krall, rideshare driver Thomas McCoy and FBI Agent Joe Martinez interspersed with episodes from Rachel’s podcast in first person. This is the second book in the Rachel Krall series but can be read as a stand-alone although I highly recommend The Night Swim.

This story finds Rachel traveling to Florida on the FBI’s dime to speak to a prisoner when his recent visitor, a media influencer goes missing. Rachel finds herself in the midst of a social media influencer convention along the way, which made for some head shaking at some of the obsessions over engagement and stress over content that I’m sure a lot of us can relate to if we let ourselves get too caught up in it. It also created a mix of characters to get mixed up in the case of a missing girl, previous murders and even new bodies to be found.

While I enjoyed the mystery here, this story had a less personal feel for me. I was missing an empathetic victim point of view here that I felt like I needed to really engage. I prefer mysteries where I have to guess the identity of the perpetrator and I’d rather not view the story from a serial killer’s point of view, but that’s a personal dislike of mine. Other may enjoy it. I enjoyed the story, but I didn’t find it twisty and wasn’t surprised by the end. Hopefully I’ll enjoy the next one more.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy provided for an honest review.

I am so glad to be back in the world of Rachel Krall and her Guilty or Not Guilty podcast. Since reading The Night Swim, I’ve slowly devoured every book that Megan has written and this is officially ranking as my next favorite.

From the first few chapters, I was hooked. I love the multiple perspectives, the budding romance, and especially the bad guy’s chapters. I do wish there was a LITTLE more podcast as part of the book, but there was so much other drama and plot that it wasn’t lacking a thing.

I saw a few of the turns coming, but the ones I didn’t see had me reeling.

Now that there’s a sequel to The Night Swim, I can only hope that Rachel Krall becomes a series. Please?

Dark Corners brings back, Rachel Krall, the popular podcaster of “Guilty or Not Guilty” a podcast that has helped wrongly accused criminals. We first met Rachel in The Night Swim.

Rachel is asked by the FBI to come to Florida to see an inmate, Terence Bailey, who has asked to see her. Bailey is due to be released.
He was suspected of the serial killings of young women, unfortunately there wasn't real evidence to convict of him of those crimes. He was charged with a different offense. Bailey had a visitor, a social media influencer, Maddison Logan. Maddison goes missing and a body that could be her, is found by her home. Rachel begins to investigate, butting heads with the FBI Agent, Joe Martinez. She begins to infiltrate the world of social media. There are a few more bodies and some twists to keep the story moving.

I had high expectations for this book based on the previous Rachel Krall novel. I am sorry to say I was disappointed. I found Rachel to be unlikable in this book. She was argumentative much of the time. This is not a bad book, per se, just not up to par with The Night Swim, which I enjoyed. I found it to be somewhat predictable and therefore, it left me with a "blah" feeling at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, St. Martin's Press, for an ARC. The review is my own.

Dark Corners by Megan Goldin is a highly recommended mystery/thriller and the second novel after Night Swim featuring Rachel Krall, a famous true crime podcaster.

Maddison Logan, a popular influencer, disappeared after visiting inmate Terrance Bailey. Bailey, convicted for breaking and entering, is scheduled to be released in two days, but he is still a suspect in the murders of six women. Rachel Krall's name came up in the investigation of Maddison's disappearance so the FBI asked her to visit Bailey before his release. The visit yeilds no new information but Rachel decides to stay in Florida and even agreed to attend, undercover, BuzzCon, a popular conference for social media influencers. She thought she would be able to get more information about Maddison from those attending.

Readers will assiduously have suspend all disbelief that FBI agent Martinez would ask a true crime podcaster (no matter how famous or how many followers she has or how insistent she is) to assist in an investigation. Yeah they might infiltrate a conference undercover, but it would be with their agents. Sure, Rachel certainly has the right to stay in Florida and look into the case on her own, but the FBI wouldn't be giving her info. Rachel herself is an not entirely believable character.

Chapters in the narrative alternate between the voice of the killer, the FBI investigation, and Rachel. Adding to the mix are occasional excerpts from Rachel's podcast of the case, obviously told after the fact. Sometimes this presentation of alternate viewpoints and transcripts work for me and sometimes it doesn't. It wasn't entirely successful this time. Perhaps reading an increasing number of books all including excerpts from influencers, podcasters, or content creators in the plot is beginning to wear thin.

After a slow start the pace does pick up and the novel becomes more compelling. Dark Corners can be read as a stand alone, even though it is the second in a series. The ending is satisfying
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of St. Martin's Press via NetGalley.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Google Books, Edelweiss, and Amazon.

Rachel is a successful podcaster that gets involved with an FBI investigation into a serial killer. Full disclosure, I haven’t read but #1 but didn’t feel like I missed out on anything needed to enjoy this one. It kept my attention from the first page!

A Fan of true crime and the world of content creation? This thriller book is about it -

Podcaster - Rachel is a true crime podcaster who has tried to prove innocence of many of those in jail for crimes

Missing Influencer - she is summoned by the FBI to visit a man in jail who has recently met with an influencer who has recently gone missing

Past connections - and the last name he mentions, is Rachels. How does this man relate to other past connections to crimes? And where did the missing girl go?

I have been a fan of Megan Goldin’s previous books. This is actually the second book in a series, the first being Night Swim. Despite that, you can still absolutely read this as a standalone novel and still understand what is happening. Overall, I found this book moving along at a nice pace, and it reveals the information well to make you think you are figuring it out along with Rachel. My criticism lies with the end, because while it wraps things up pretty nicely, the ending is a bit abrupt, almost like there is a book 3 coming. It’s not cliffhanger material, but it just felt off. If you like thrillers, you may want to try this one.

This was an enjoyable FBI/serial killer mystery. I loved Night Swim so I was excited about this follow up novel. I didn’t love it as much as her debut but it was an entertaining read.

Rachel is called in by the FBI to talk to a guy in prison after an influencer visited him and he told her to reach out to Rachel. The influencer, Maddison, has gone missing so they need Rachel’s help to find out what happened.

This was a slow burn that ended with a ton of action and unfolding the last 10-20% of the book but it was entertaining so the slow burn wasn’t a bad thing. I liked the social media conference and story lines and I liked the added bonus of the romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

🌴🚘🌇Quick-moving, terrific suspense😲

With a mesmerizing plot and a truly repugnant serial killer villain, Megan Goldin's Dark Corners had me captured, though I had to put it down occasionally because the tension and my dread of what was about to happen made me step back for a few minutes.

This was truly an excellent thriller, told with mutiple POVs, with just a tint of romance and plenty of social commentary about the obsessively competitive culture of social media influencers. And a not so subtle criticism of some law enforcement types who get stuck on a suspect and won't let go even when there's no evidence to corroborate their suspicions. MC Rachel Krall is the podcaster who looks into cases of possible miscarriage of justice and this Daytona, Florida based case is a perfect fit for her curiosity, tenacity and investigative skills. I loved her character and hope the author writes more in this Rachel Krall series.

I'd read one other novel by Goldin (Stay Awake) and, for me, she aced it two for two. It was so easy to get caught up in the plot and the lives of the different characters: the good, the bad and the misunderstood.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

Thanks to Netgalley for the E-ARC while I this is the first book I read of the series of Rachel Krall I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the whole podcast chapters and the short chapters. The one thing I didnt really vibe with was all the names thrown out I kind of got confused there for a minute. But I love how it showcased the life of a influencer and all the work that it takes to be one. Cant wait for more books in this series.

Dark Corners is book 2 of the Rachel Krall series by Megan Goldin. I didn’t read the first book Night Swim and didn’t need to understand this book. Once again the story involves Rachel as a true-crime podcaster. She wants a story on a popular influencer who disappeared. The question really is did Maddison disappear because she wanted to or because she was forced to. Rachel becomes very invested in the story and sets herself up as an influencer herself.

Another interesting character is Terrence Bailey. Terrence is in prison for a single crime, but the detective believes he is involved in many more unsolved murders. After meeting with Rache he certainly does and says some interesting things. For example:“The scariest monster is the one that hides in plain sight.” Is he threatening Rachel? Maddison just happened to disappear after meeting with Terrence in prison. Now Rachel met with him, so is she next to disappear?

Nothing deters Rachel from discovering the truth about Maddison. She is now invested and keeps up her act as an influencer.

Is Terrence the killer everyone thinks? I found the beginning of the book to be a little slow, but it really picked up. Lots of twists and villains.

If you liked Night Swim, you’ll like this one.