I liked this book! It was a slow in areas but overal it it was a 3.75 for me. The night swim was better and hard to beat. In my opinion.

We follow Rachel who is a famous podcaster that is summoned to the prison where an inmate has requested her. The inmate requested Rachel through a girl who is now missing.

I was so excited to get this ARC of the second installment of Rachel Krall's story. Overall, I enjoyed this story but it took me a while to get into it. I had a hard time keeping track of the multiple story lines and who was who. Because of that, the first half felt slow but it picked up in the second half. I missed the podcast angle of it this time around. This story is also based in the world of being a social media influencer, so if that is a topic that interests you, I would recommend you picking this one up. I enjoyed the first book more than this one but overall it was a 3/5 for me. I'm not sure if I would read a next one, it would depend on the topic.

Thank you, Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review. My review will be posted on Goodreads, Amazon, and Instagram.

I very much enjoyed this! I remember liking Rachel Krall book #1 but not sure if I loved it. This (to me) was better; maybe because it is more fresh in my mind. Would recommend if you like police procedural, influencer trope, & an all around good mystery. This starts off as a missing person case and becomes so much MORE.

This has a police procedural aspect. Although Rachel isn't a police officer she is doing her asking around & digging as if she is. At times she finds out more information than the FBI working on the missing girl case. I liked when she would get together with Joe to share information (swoon -- wait, don't forget this isn't a romance novel, Dani LOL).

The audiobook narrator kept me immersed in the story and I didn't struggle to stay focused. I read this as a hybrid audio/ e-book: I listened to the audiobook for a while and then skimmed thru the e-book later to be sure I didn't miss any important details (or I'd simply have the audiobook playing as I was reading thru the ebook as well, probably super strange I know haha).

The relationship between Rachel & Joe was so surprising but made me HAPPY. I hope we haven't seen the last of Joe in this series (I hope there is more to this series too)!

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press for the widget to read & review the ARC!
Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio for the approval to read & review the ALC!

⭐️Dark Corners by Megan Goldin

What did I just read? Meh. Blah. Average. Boring. I read Night Swim and loved it so much I was recommending it to anyone who asked for a rec. So when I got approved for this, I thought luck was on my side! It took me so looooong to read this book. I. Did. Not. Like. It.

The main character, true crime podcaster Rachel Krall, is requested to come to Florida by the FBI to help them with a case. Why? Why would they do that? She really had no business being there. And then when they didn’t get the results they wanted, they tried to get her to go back home. Yeah right. She’s a true crime podcaster and you just dangled a carrot in front of her face!

The case: missing social media influencer Maddison (I already forgot her last name.) First, why is Maddison with 2 d’s? But I digress. While Rachel is in Florida “helping” the FBI she gets an invite to attend BuzzCon, a special event for influencers. Rachel has a random account that may or may not be about running that she barely uses that has gotten her this weird invite -- although no one else thinks it’s weird. The whole influencer storyline, which really had nothing to do with anything, was so cringey and icky.

Then we have the fact that Rachel just keeps sticking around, assisting the FBI…ugh. Like no! There’s just no way. Her involvement with the case was just so far-fetched.

I will say the twist at the end about Terry caught me a bit off guard which was a really nice surprise. The rest of the ending…meh. And the romance came out of left-field.

Additionally, I felt like this book was an afterthought. Maybe she had such success with Night Swim that she thought she could extend that success into a series. All that happened was a confusing, bummer of a story, and the creation of an unlikeable character -- Rachel was great in the first book and awful in this book. The story bounced around like it was written by two different authors. It would go from great, well-structured story-telling, to mediocre, novice writing. Often I felt like I was being told what was going on like I was a 5-year-old.

Overall, this was a complete disappointment. I’m sorry Megan…I only finished it so I could write a review.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this title for review.

I have been a fan of Megan Goldin since i read Escape Room. This book did not disappoint. I love true crime podcasts and it was a fun read to follow the perspective of the podcaster helping the police solve the crime.

I was so excited to find out that this author's newest release was a sequel to Night Swim and I was not disappointed! I really loved this book and I'm thrilled to have been given an early release! Thank you to Megan Goldin, the publisher, and Netgalley! I appreciate the podcast format, which is embedded so well into the main story. It was really engaging and suspenseful. Great story!

Wow wow wow! This second Rachel Kroll book is excellent. There are mysteries within mysteries and so many hot, current topics throughout Dark Corners. I always enjoy a true-crime podcast storyline and I’m really digging these influencer main characters and this book is full of both.
I really enjoy Rachel as a character in general. She’s not an unrealistic sleuth putting herself in danger or getting herself into unnecessary pickles. She seems very level headed and genuine, considering she had a popular Instagram, she fit right in at this influencer conference and was able to do some easy investigating. Maybe the police work was a tad unbelievable- as an avid true-crime consumer, they don’t always seem to work so fast or care so much and especially may not open up to a podcaster IRL.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I was already apprehensive about ride-shares and I’ll definitely never drink provided bottled water again (if I ever did before). I also enjoyed the little added lover story in this one - Dark Corners may overall be even better than The Night Swim! I definitely recommend to any fans of true-crime, influencer life, and an overall excellent mystery.

I loved The Night Swim. I was so excited for a second Rachel Krall book that I reread it in preparation and loved it even more!! Unfortunately, Dark Corners did not even feel like it was written by the same person and i didn't like this one AT ALL. Spoilers ahead.

There were just SO MANY examples of people behaving stupidly and plot points that seemed way over the top. The hotel receptionist wouldn’t give out Rachel’s hotel room number so quickly - especially when she was staying under an alias and he gave her real name. Rachel wouldn’t have been so dumb to just get into a random car when she KNEW someone was after her! If someone runs away to go into hiding, they don’t then become a social media influencer always showing their face to thousands of followers! Rachel’s “romance” felt so forced and fake - I loooooove a good romance and this one just made me roll my eyes.

What was the point of the podcast “special episode” bits that were interspersed? Just for some info dump opportunities? It also made it hard to feel truly anxious when Rachel was in danger because we know she gets out okay to make that special episode that just randomly stops.

I could keep going and going but will stop here. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading and listening copies. This one was a miss for me.

😁REVIEW😁
Dark Corners by Megan Goldin
Out 8/8/23

Thank you to @ for a netgalley of this one (and all of MG’s previous books).

Honestly, this book was an absolute page turner. Though I really enjoyed Night Swim, Dark Corners is a perfect second act for our main protagonist Rachel. The plot was had enough intensity that you needed to get to the end. The chapters that were the podcast did not interfere with the story at the fore front, but more supported how we were getting to the end. The back drop of an influencer’s conference was fun. And Joe Martinez better be in the next book with Rachel’s character. Goldin is truly an amazing thriller/suspense writer and I am HERE for whatever she writes next!

Don’t be alarmed. This is not a true sequel. You do not need to read NS to read this one, however I recommend reading all of Goldin’s backlist.
•

If you were a fan of this author’s previous thriller novel, The Night Swim, you’ll wanna get this. The true crime podcaster MC of that book, Rachel Krall, is back! This time she is trying to solve the case of a popular online influencer who has gone missing under strange circumstances that involve a man suspected of the murder of 6 women…

There was a little aspect of this that I couldn’t take seriously and was sort of silly and took away from the scare factor for me…curious to discover what other readers think of it. 😆 I also didn’t feel attached to any of the characters, unfortunately. Despite that, I still enjoyed the crime solving aspect and the author’s writing style was solid.

I enjoyed this crime thriller and think it will be great for fans of Jennifer Hillier and Karin Slaughter (but less graphic than her books typically are).

3.5/5 stars rounded up to 4 for the review

This book deserves a place of notoriety in the breathless page turner category. I absolutely could not put it down and just had to know how it would all resolve. It was great to pick back up with Rachel Krall from The Night Swim and see more of her character development. However, do not feel like you have to read The Night Swim prior to Dark Corners. This can be thoroughly enjoyed as a stand-alone novel.

I started reading this shortly before bedtime and got totally creeped out. I suggest you start reading in the daylight hours because the first couple of chapters are 👀.

Dark Corners has multiple mysteries that ultimately converge for a suspenseful and satisfying conclusion.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press for the ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review!

This book would have been better if there were less victims. There were to many names to remember of the missing and or murdered victims. I listened to the audiobook and the best part was the podcast episodes. This gave a clear outline of what was happening in the story. Otherwise, I would have been lost.

I found this book very engaging, a common thread in Goldin's works.

A solid thriller with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. I'm not usually a fan of plots that involve podcasts or social media influencers (I guess I'm old and still can't relate to that world well), but Goldin manages to include these aspects without sinking the narrative.

Another great thriller by one of my favourite authors.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's press for an advanced digital copy in exchange for a fair review.

5⭐️ Dark Corners was Megan Goldin best book yet! I loved it. She wrote a thrilling suspenseful story that held me captive. I loved The Night Swim and I was glad to see Rachel again.
True Crime is my jam and I thought MG did a really good job. Mystery and fear drove this and I was surprised a few times. It was creepy and cleverly told. I didn’t want it to end and I can’t wait for the next one. I highly recommend it. I listened to most of this and loved the audio version. The narrators were a perfect fit.
Thanks Macmillan Audio and St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley.

This was not my cup of tea - I wasn't a fan of the writing or plot. I found a lot of the writing to be annoying and cringey but to each their own.

I need to read book one, but I read this could be a standalone. I didn't find myself confused, I just didn't like it.

Dark Corners follows podcaster, Rachel Krall (previously in The Night Swim) as she looks into the disappearance of influencer, Maddison Logan, after she visits a soon to be released prisoner, Terence Bailey. Terence was in jail for a break and enter, but is suspected of being a serial killer in the Daytona area. Rachel was summoned to the area by the FBI, but they cannot stop her from investigating this disappearance on her own. She begins to uncover secrets and she realizes no one is truly safe.

I was excited to see Rachel Krall's character come back in this book, but you do not have to have read The Night Swim to enjoy this book. I like that Rachel is a strong character who is able to stand on her own two feet, and will stop at nothing to figure out what happened. I liked how the book unfolded, peeling back the story one layer at a time. I think some of the aspects of the podcast and narrators of the chapters are lost in the physical book, but imagine it would be perfect on audio.

The chapters fast paced and short, which makes this book a quick and easy read. I kept on telling myself "just one more chapter" and then I was done! My only complaint is some of repetitiveness in the book, which made the book longer than necessary. I found some aspects of the story were spoon-fed to us, which made some plot points obvious. That said, even though I figured out much of the major "reveals" it didn't impact my enjoyment of the novel. I thought it was fast-paced, interesting and had lots of twists and turns.

If you like thrillers, or even those crime type podcasts, this may be the book for you! Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of this book. All opinions are 100% mine.

This was such an addictive read I literally listened to it in a few hours because I couldn’t put it down. I loved the format of podcast updates/episodes interwoven onto the rest of the story. I also enjoyed being back in Rachel Krall’s world and watching her help solve the case. The story kept me intrigued and guessing the whole time. I really hope there are more books coming in this series! I listened to the audiobook and the narration was so good!

Megan Goldin hit another home run with Dark Corners. I loved the first Rachel Krall story and was excited to see her character come back with a sequel. The story captivated me form the beginning and it was a quick read. Highly recommend! Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this book.

I love Rachel Krall. She’s a badass MC who we originally met in The Night Swim and now Dark Corners. When I saw Megan was coming out with another book, I instantly added it to my tbr pile.

I’m not gonna go into to much detail about the story other than that you’ll be in for a hell of a ride. This book has so many twists and turns that I never saw coming. Megan has a very intriguing writing style that I can’t get enough of. I love the true crime podcast aspect of the book and how it adds to the story itself.

I really hope this isn’t the last we get to see Rachel Krall and Joe Martinez. If you love influencer lifestyle, serial killer plot lines and true crime podcast’s then I highly recommend picking this one up on August 8th!

Thank you so much to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the e-arc!

4.5 stars! I absolutely loved Dark Corners by Megan Goldin. The Night Swim was such a great story, and I loved the idea of weaving the podcast in with the story, and Goldin does the same thing with Dark Corners. With a formula that works so well, I hope she writes more books in this series and with the same format.

Dark Corners dives into the world of influencers, missing girls, and the American justice system. I was hooked from the beginning and stayed up way past my bedtime to finish this. I felt like I was in Florida watching this unfold and it truly did have me checking all the dark corners of my house. You don't have to read The Night Swim first but I think it would. This is such a fun thriller/mystery!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the digital ARC.