2.5 out of 5

Dark Corners is the second book in a series about Rachel Krall - a crime podcaster with top notch investigative skills. Everyone seemed to enjoy book one, The Night Swim (I rated 3/5 stars) so I was quite pleased to receive the advanced copy through Netgalley.

I don't know what exactly happened here but Rachel is now mean. Every interaction with law enforcement is defensive, smug or rude. I mean if that's the character it's fine I guess but it was such a jarring departure from the tone established in the first book.

Plotwise - an influencer goes missing after visiting an inmate set to be released in a matter of days. Goodness gracious, this was like spinning plates, there were so many different threads in this story it felt like work trying to keep up. Multiple POVs is great but this may have been a bit too ambitious.

I will say the book is still quite readable and I was interested to see how it concluded but with so many random 'things' going on the third act did suffer a bit from the necessity of wrapping everything up. The final few chapters especially have a lot of 'then this happened', 'but this is what really happened', 'you'll never guess what happened'.

Generally pleased to have met Rachel Krall but I don't think this is a series I'll keep up with.

My sincere appreciation to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review. I am so thankful even if this one didn't quite do it for me.

After enjoying The Night Swim, I was excited to see that Rachel Krall’s adventures continue with Dark Corners.

This time Rachel gets roped into an FBI investigation of a suspected serial killer and the world of social media influencers.

I enjoyed the book from start to finish although the writing style varied from book 1. I hope that this series continues and that we get to see more of the podcast transcripts someday.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

Dark Corners, Megan Goldin’s sequel to The Night Swim, follows Rachel Krall again as the FBI requests her help in investigating the disappearance of influencer Maddison Logan. Krall travels to Florida to meet with prisoner and suspected serial killer Terence Bailey, as he was recently visited by Logan, and Krall’s name is brought up. Krall proceeds to go undercover at a popular influencer event and helps to search for Logan. Dark Corners follows the intricate and twisted tale that befalls the popular true crime podcaster. This story is a strong thriller and moves quickly. I thoroughly enjoyed this intriguing read and mystery. Megan Goldin is a gifted storyteller!

Dark Corners is the second book in the Rachel Krall series, which I didn’t know was going to be a thing. I’m glad it is though because I really enjoyed it as well as The Night Swim. In Dark Corners, podcaster Krall has been brought down to a florida prison to interview inmate Terence Bailey. Bailey has requested Krall by name to his only visitor in 6 years, Instagram influencer Maddison Logan, who mysteriously vanished after her visit to the jail. With 2 days left until Bailey’s release and he being a suspected serial killer, the FBI and Rachel Krall have their work cut out for them.
This book was fast paced, interesting and I truly enjoyed reading it. If you enjoyed The Night Swim, I think you will also enjoy this. Also, I don’t think you need to have read the first one at all in order to read this book. They don’t overlap on content or anything.
4 ⭐️ Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy of this book for my review.

Rachel Krall is back, and better than ever in Megan Goldin's latest tale of suspense and intrigue.
Maddison Logan is a wildly popular social media influencer who looks as if she is hiding something. She recently had visited inmate Terence Bailey in prison just days before he was released. While Terence was in jail for breaking and entering, it has been widely suspected that he was previously responsible for the murders and disappearance of several women. When Maddison visited Terence, he provided her with a warning to reach out to Rachel Krall for help. When Maddison vanishes shortly thereafter with foul play suspected, Rachel is summoned to Florida by the FBI to assist with the investigation. But why was Maddison visiting Terence? What could she possibly have to do with the disappearance of the women? And if Terence is still locked up, who has taken Maddison, and why?
As Rachel begins to explore the pasts of both Terence and Maddison, it appears that not all is as it seems. There are many dark corners that need exploring, and the world of social media is blurring the edges even more. It soon becomes a race against time as Terence is about to be released from prison to continue his reign of terror. Can Maddison be saved before it is too late?
Twisty turvy tale that brings to light the dark side of social media. Told from different points of view, it kept me highly engaged until the unexpected ending. Goldin is at her finest in this intriguing read!

A second Rachel Kroll book? Yes, please! Although a follow-up to The Night Swim, this book works completely on its own as a standalone. It's hard to not compare two books in a series, so I'll just say it-- this unfortunately wasn't as compelling as it's predecessor.

The Night Swim is sort of like the gold-standard of incorporating podcasts to the thriller genre (to me at least, and hey, this is my review LOL). However, I found the podcast excepts in this book to be almost unnecessary since we were already along for the investigation with Rachel. This definitely was more of a sequel for Rachel than "Guilty or Not Guilty" as we get to see her join an active investigation with the FBI and go undercover at an influencer convention.

Rachel's involvement in this case might not be the most believable plotline, but I found it pretty easy to overlook for the sake of the story. However, between the slew of characters and excessive storylines, I had a hard time even keeping track of and staying invested in "the story." While Goldin pulled it together in the end, I still don't know if I found every detail and derailment to be necessary even if I did find the influencer world to be entertaining!

Overall though, I really like Rachel and I hope we get more of her (and "Guilty or Not Guilty") in a third book.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my early copy in exchange for an honest review!

“Dark Corners” started out great with an interesting premise and characters, plus an intriguing and fast-moving plot. However, the book really started dragging around the 50% mark and probably didn’t pick up again until 80%+. Overall a fun read, but wish it were about 20% shorter!

This was my first book by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Rachel is called to help the FBI out on a case involving a serial killer. I thought the author did a great job of developing the characters and giving them depth. I enjoyed the different points of view. I really liked how the author incorporated the podcasts and gave a peek into the world of influencers. This is apparently a second book but it can easily be read as a stand alone. Thank you to net galley and the publisher for an ARC. Very good book!

I was excited to read more adventures of Rachel Krall, as I enjoyed the first novel "Night Swim" featuring this character. The first novel includes her podcast, and I must admit that was catnip for me.

This second installment was not QUITE as good but close to it, in my opinion. Rachel is the same kick butt, savvy journalist. This time she has been summoned by the FBI when her name comes up when a social media influencer visits a prisoner, and then the social media influencer disappears shortly afterward.

Does the FBI contact on-the-ground investigative journalists/podcasters often? I don't know. It seemed a little suspicious because Rachel seemed not integrated into the full investigation. It was like she was put on the side to help the specific FBI agent.

The POVs were Rachel's perspective (third person) at various points in time, a smelly Uber driver, and then the reader would get some oddly narrated chapters. It was like it was a podcast episode, but it never directly said it was. A header would have been great for those chapters!

I did miss Rachel's podcast episodes, which featured so prominently in the last book. It was the extra something that made that one a really, really good book for me.

As for the plot, I wasn't too interested in the social media influencer conference that featured prominently for a chunk of the novel, but I think the author handled it well, and the reader got some behind-the-scenes information. It's obvious that Goldin knows a lot about the subject.

The pace of the novel was pretty good. There was a little romance thrown in, which surprisingly worked - although I'm not sure how realistic it would be that FBI agents get involved during the investigation.

I really enjoyed this novel overall! Thank you to NetGalley for the Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! This Intriguing story grabs you and doesn’t let you go! It’s full of murder and lots of mystery, as a podcaster works with the FBI to try and solve all the cases.

I really loved this book! It grabbed my attention from the start. We pick back up with Rachel Krall, a true crime podcaster. She gets sucked into an investigation at Daytona Beach after a famous influencer goes missing. I love all the talk about social media influencers taking on a different persona online than the way they are in real life. There were so many twists and turns. I did predict one twist, but it didn't take away my enjoyment for this book. There were quite a few surprises. Not to mention a cute little side romance. I recommend this book if you love books with a podcast element and a good missing person investigation. Thanks to netgalley for allowing me to read.

This was a fun and twisty read, but left me a little less than satisfied. I didn't buy into the FBI being so cool with letting Rachel in on a lot of the info they did, and I kind of wish one of the POVs was left out, as it drained some of the tension from the story. I also felt the influencer culture was a little one-dimensional and a little too based in stereotypes, so a lot of them came off like caricatures instead of real people. However, I did enjoy the ride and thought the mystery unfolded in an exciting way, so would recommend!

A fun fast read that is a crime thriller who dun it.
This author reminds me a lot of Lisa Gardner. If you like Lisa Gardner then you will love this book!
Thank you to the publisher for letting me read this on NetGalley !

If you enjoyed 'The Night Swim', you might like Dark Corners even better! Rachel Krall is the famous true crime podcaster (from the first book, The Night Swim) who is helping the FBI search for Maddison Logan, a social media influencer who went missing after visiting Terence Bailey in prison. Terence Bailey is about to be released from prison for breaking and entering but has long been suspected as being a serial killer.

Rachel decides to investigate Maddison's disappearance herself and joins BuzzCon (a social influencer conference happening locally) because Maddison was supposed to be attending. As the story progresses, we see Rachel pursue each and every lead and make more progress on the case than the FBI. But does this make her an easy target as the next victim?

I really enjoyed how the mystery unfolded. My only criticism is that the reader has more information than the characters which led to the book dragging on a bit in the middle chapters. The twists also had less impact because again the reader had more information than Rachel and the FBI. This made it a bit easier to see the plot twists coming. Overall, it was a great read and all questions are answered by the end of the book.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary advanced copy of this book. Make sure to get your copy on August 8th, 2023.

I wasn't a HUGE fan of the first book The Night Swim so i went into this one with high hopes it would be better. I was hesitant to pick this up thinking it was going to be another book where 90% of it takes place in a courtroom. I get that a lot of people like those books, but I am not one of them. I did in fact enjoy this book more than book one so that was nice. A few of the ‘twists’ weren’t twists at all to me since I spotted them a mile away and I feel most readers probably would too. Overall, it was a good read and worth it, would I read it again? Probably not...

Overall, this is another fantastic thriller by Megan Goldin with an interesting, timely setting in the social media influencer world with the popular podcast format draw. Each chapter ends on a cliffhanger to keep you coming back for more. Details will not only reel you in but repel you in all the best ways - you’ll practically smell the pungent words coming off the page.

Rachel Krall’s morning is completely upended when she’s called by the FBI to fly across the country to sunny Daytona Beach for a case. What she doesn’t yet know is that she’s been named by a suspected serial killer in prison… and he wants to meet with her. She quickly becomes entangled in a missing person’s case as she goes under cover at the influencer conference the missing person, Maddison Logan, was attending. Despite the FBI’s pleas for her to fly home and stay safe, she dives deeper into the missing person’s last interactions all while uncovering the dark and glamorous world of money-making social media influencing complete with elaborate cocktail parties and luxury swag. True to source, she does this all while digging up cold case clues. Following Rachel undercover at BuzzCon, her podcast, the FBI’s search for Maddison and the dialogue of a mysterious, smelly ride-share driver, this story is one maze that you will love getting lost in.

This book does not contain dramatic twists and turns. Rather it’s a slow trickle of new information that’ll keep you wanting to devour each fresh page until you can no more. In a book community desperate for the next unique, dramatic-twist thriller, I appreciated the subtle twists, steady yet quick pace and complete closure on all plot points. The alternating storylines all hold equal interest and help with the stellar breakneck pacing.

I felt a slight lack in character development, however that is likely do to the fact that our main character, Rachel Krall, was introduced in Night Swim, Goldin’s breakout novel from 2020 in which we’re introduced to Rachel and her justice-serving podcast. While reading Night Swim is not essential to understanding Dark Corners, I suspect the grasp and enjoyment of Rachel Krall’s personality and motivations would be much more profound having just read Night Swim. Other critiques include that it felt unrealistic that Rachel would be such an integral member of piecing together an FBI case and their reliance on her knowledge was questionable. Her interactions with the FBI also felt strange at times, with some awkward banter and unrealistic exchanges.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own. I was spooked reading this one in the dark which is a telltale sign of a strong thriller. There was a slight lack in character development and some of the character interactions felt odd, but overall I highly recommend this next dive into main character Rachel Krall and her quest for justice through her podcast.

I have read all of Megan Goldin books and loved them. I love the decision to turn Rachel from night swim into a series. i enjoyed Rachel’s investigatory skills in ‘the night swim,’ so i was excited to see what case she would crack open next! Rachel is now helping the FBI in the search for Maddison Logan, a popular social media influencer who went missing after visiting Terence Bailey, a suspected serial killer in prison. Rachel is confused as to why the FBI called her in, and she discovered that, Maddison visited Bailey and he told Maddison to bring Rachel Krall to him! The Night Swim” was told from the alternating perspectives of two characters, Rachel and Hannah (the sister of a Victim) along with the transcripts of Rachel Krall’s Season Three podcast, as she follows a LIVE TRIAL for the first time, while making her PODCAST. The style of this book was different, and told all from Rachel’s side in her findings. Rachel inserted herself into the INFLUENCER world at a BUZZCON conference, where she w discovered dangerous rivalries, hoping to learn more about Maddison.
She and FBI agent Joe Martinez will also discover connections to at least two unsolved cases, of girls who also went missing just as Terrance Bailey was incarcerated.

Could Terrance Bailey still have an accomplice on the outside?

All in all I really enjoyed the style of this book, once I got over not have different POV!

#netgalley

In Dark Corners Megan Goldin brings back podcaster Rachel Krall from The Night Swim, this time a suspected serial killer, who is incarcerated for other crimes draws her in to a case involving missing sex workers, a missing influencer (or should I say content creator?), the FBI and mystery that even Rachel doesn't know her role in. Rachel uses her skills that she has honed as a hit podcaster and researches a case that goes back nearly a decade. Will she bring closure for all of those involved in these cases and create her next hit season, or will this mystery and predator allude everyone and potentially lead to more bodies?

I am a huge fan of Megan Goldin! When I saw that she has a follow up novel to "The Night Swim" with Rachel Krall as the lead character, I was thrilled to receive an ARC. Goldin does not disappoint in the fun and twisty mystery.!

Rachel Krall is a famous podcast host, who moonlights as a mystery solver in her free time. She is called out of bed early one morning by the FBI to help with an investigation that her name has come up in. She is flown down to Daytona with little information on the case, but she knows that a prisoner wants to speak with her.
It turns out that a social media influencer has gone missing and her last known whereabouts were visiting this very prisoner, Terrance Bailey. Bailey makes some cryptic comments to Rachel when he meets her that baffle the FBI and Rachel herself. She checks into the social media conference that the influencer had been attending to find out more, even though the FBI has determined she should go home. Rachel is not afraid of a suspected serial killer getting out of jail in the next few days. (But shouldn't she be??).

"The scariest monster is the one that hides in plain sight," Bailey had told Rachel. She should heed this warning, but will she?
This is a fun mystery that had me guessing and getting some parts right and some parts wrong. I enjoyed the ride and would recommend this book to all of Goldin's fans. It wasn't my favorite of hers, but definitely a good time was had reading it. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley! 3.5 stars

I'm just going to throw this out there: Megan Goldin is very quickly heading to the top of my favorite authors list. There, I said it.

As soon as I found out that Goldin had written another book, I was excited and requested it on Netgalley without even reading the premise. And then, I finally read the book (while on vacation, because I save my favorite authors for vacation) and imagine my absolutely joy when I find out that this book is the SECOND Rachel Krall book? I absolutely loved <i>The Night Swim</i> and knew I was going to be in for a great read.

Thankfully, I was not disappointed. This thrilled just goes from 0 to 60 so quickly you'll get whiplash. I was immediately drawn in, especially because there has all the makings of the type of book I love - multiple POVs, a podcaster, a look into the lives of influencers, and, of course, crime and mystery. Plus, Rachel Krall is an amazing MC and it was so fun to get to dive into her life and learn even more about her.

I loved Rachel's dislike of influencers and all things social media, and it was also really fun to see how Goldin would portray influencers. Although I love social media, this novel does a great job of sharing the pitfalls of wanting to be in that kind of spotlight, and Rachel's healthy distrust was definitely fun.

This novel is incredibly fast paced and very hard to put down, so I recommend if you do make this a vacation book and you don't want to miss your vacation reading it, either choose your plane ride or read it by the beach or pool. Just remember to apply SPF because you will be in the sun until the story is over.

Once again, Megan Goldin has knocked this story out of the park. I can't wait to see what Rachel Krall does not (and I hope Agent Martinez will be along for the ride).