The second book in Megan Goldin's Rachel Krall series is a solid entry. I particularly enjoy listening as the podcast chapters really do sound like little interludes. The mystery here didn't grab me quite the same as The Night Swim but it was very good. Rachel's character is a little more rounded out again as the reader has spent more time with her. In this latest entry, Rachel has a bit of a romance as well. All in all, I do recommend and will be interested to hear more from this series.

I had very high hopes for this book because I absolutely loved The Night Swim, but it ultimately was a miss for me. I couldn't get into the story, I found it very boring and predictable. It was still good and I would suggest others to read it, but it didn't have the punch that The Night Swim had.

I loved The Night Swim so I was very excited for Dark Corners and another story of Rachel’s podcast, but this one didn’t completely hit the mark for me.
To be completely honest, there was just so much going on and so many characters with all these little side stories, that they all got hard to follow at times.
I will say, the pacing was fast - this was a very quick read for me! The mystery aspect was present, and unique in a way that unlike other thrillers we’re given the who at the beginning and throughout the book you find the connections and the why, but ultimately - I think it just lacked depth. (Maybe because of all the vapid and vain social media influencer characters 🤪)

I think it was a good read, but not a great one! And if there was ever a third Rachel Krall book, I’d give it a shot too. This one just missed some marks for me personally!

I really enjoyed this one. I love Rachel and her investigation journalism/podcast. You have an Instagram influencer, a smelly ride share driver and a man about to be released from prison who may or may not be a serial killer and somehow they are all tied together. This was a slower paced mystery but I was never bored and can’t wait see what case Rachel dips into next book.

This mystery has an interesting and current premise involving influencers on social media. The first half of the book seemed to go pretty slowly for me - still interesting, but slow. The second half really amped up the excitement as Rachel and Joe tried to find out who the killer was. There were some surprises I didn't see coming and the book concluded with satisfying answers. The way it ended, I expect to see further "Rachel and Joe" books in the future. One question that bugged me and distracted me - - - what happened to the kitten!?!?

Look. Maybe it just wasn't for me!

While there (eventually) was a good mystery and decent plot, execution left a bit to be desired. Between a slow start, shifting POVs thru the whole book (that added nothing) and a twist at the end that I could tell was coming 50 pages in to the book, this was a good concept that felt rushed.

I did love the influencers though... high marks for the consistency and research done to get that right.

My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Reading Between the Wines book review #85/115 for 2023:
Rating: 3.5 🍷 🍷 🍷1/2 (rounded to 4)
Book: Dark Corners
Author: Megan Goldin
RELEASES on August 8, 2023!!!

Sipping thoughts: I really like Goldin as an author and the way she writes. I also loved Rachel Krall in The Night Swim. She was really good in this one too, but I feel I was more surprised with what happened in the first installment. However, book 2 was good with a lot of deceit, lies, and twists as well. I did not feel like there were major reveals in this one which is the reason I gave it 3.5 stars but I was really invested in the truth and enjoyed the ending so I rounded it to 4 stars. I hope to continue to read more books in the Rachel Krall series.

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley and @MacmillanAudio for an advanced copy of @DarkCorners.

#DarkCorners #MeganGoldin #MacmillanAudio #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult

I really enjoyed this second installment in the Rachel Krall series. I find Goldin's writing to be engaging and you can read it in long sessions without losing interest. I also continued to think about the story between readings.

Without giving anything away, Rachel Krall is brought in to an investigation by an FBI agent when a young woman goes missing and Rachel's name comes up through an inmate. Rachel ends up attending an influencer conference in order to stay close and investigate. There is a lot going on and there is a bit of a love interest for Rachel in this one. It will be interesting to see where it goes in the next book.

There are also chapters told from the perspective of a person who clearly has some ulterior motives with his actions. However, we don't know exactly how this person plays into the story. This part of the storyline is slowly revealed throughout the story. Fortunately, this book isn't as graphic as the first book, so this gives it a good creep factor.

My only issue with this one is that I thought the end wrapped up a little too quickly with parts of it feeling more like lucky guesses than investigative work. However, the connections were pretty solid and make sense within the story.

This audiobook had multiple narrators: André Santana, January LaVoy, and Samantha Desz. They all did a wonderful job with the narration. I look forward to reading the next book in this series and plan to listen to it.

This audio is so good! The chapters from the podcast sounds just like a podcast. The narrator has a soothing voice that makes you want to listen. The story was great.

This book had a lot going on, and social media influencers will likely find this story interesting. Even though social media is currently quite popular, I didn't find it interesting in this book.
However, I really enjoyed the little chapters—that's usually a great plus in my book. But for some reason, I was unable to enjoy this book as much as I had hoped to. I don't know if it was the timing or just me, but I didn't fully identify with any of the characters or the plot.

Podcaster solving serial killer cases - YES PLEASE!!! I loved this one. Megan Goldin lures her readers in immediately, while throwing red herring about until you can figure out what is really going on.

2.75 STARS - Rachel Krall, who we first met in The Night Swim, is a True Crime podcaster. In Dark Corners, the second book in the series, she is asked by the FBI to help on the case of a missing social media influencer by visiting serial killer Terence Bailey in prison to see if she can get info about the missing woman and discover if that case relates to unsolved cases, including a recently discovered charred body.

The premise is strong, and the story starts off with a creepy serial killer vibe, but soon loses steam when readers are told early on who is doing the killing. This means the bulk of this suspense read isn't about figuring out whodunnit, but waiting around to see how the killer is connected to the story. Kind of disappointing.

Unfortunately, I had a few issues with this book. Some were small issues (Rachel was rude and pompous, the forced and superfluous romance, repetitive and awkward dialogue) but one was a big problem - the heavy-handed focus on social media influencer culture.

Too much page time was spent at a conference for social media influencers (who come off as stereotypical, vacuous, self-centred jerks) and despite Rachel being a blogger and podcaster herself, she is frustratingly ignorant about social influencing. I soon started to skim pages and even debated DNFing the book, but instead I switched to the audiobook and things got better - especially the bits of Rachel's podcast which made more sense in audio.

Narration: The audiobook narrators did a good job but there were some odd dubbing fixes to the narration that were noticeable.

I enjoyed The Night Swim but Dark Corners left me with a story that was equally over the top and underwhelming and didn't give me the chilling story I was anticipating.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to St Martin's Press for the complimentary advanced ebook and eAudiobook of this title which were given to me in exchange for my honest review.

I was a big fan of Rachel Krall's first case The Night Swim and hoped she would get a second book, which she did so yay!!!! Dark Corners was as entertaining as I hoped it would be. Not as good as the first book, but still very much a solid and well performed audiobook.

Although the plot wasn't my favorite. I'm not a big fan of social media in itself and even less so when it's the driving force behind a plot. It's the opposite of timeless and a novel that won't be remembered over time. At least that's my feeling to all things social media influencers and their problems.

But overall I had a good time listening to the audiobook. The podcast part of the book is still the best produced of all, but could have been a bigger part of the story. Because I'm not sure it actually added anything to the book.

The ending, and especially the romantic interest, makes me hope that there will be more Rachel Krall books in the future. I would really love that.

Let me start with the positives by saying first and foremost that the audiobook version is fabulous! Since there is a podcast element, that was really well done and was nice to hear as if it were a real production.

I wanted to like this book, and there were several elements I did enjoy, but overall I was left feeling quite jumbled and overwhelmed. There was a lot going on, and I simply think some of it was not needed. By the time we got thick into the influencer conference and all these additional characters, I was losing ground fast. For me, Megan Goldin needs to work a lot harder at the classic "show, don't tell" writing advice, as I was eventually so tired of hearing that Rachel was so sexy or so beautiful or so badass.

I think my favorite part of the novel was the character of Thomas. I enjoyed the little details that made him come alive, particularly his twisted history and his medical condition. Other little elements such as the mystery of the tattoos and Bailey's artwork were nice touches that kept me interested. I wish the book had more of these shining moments rather than a lot of the pitfalls of sloppy writing or biting off more than the author can really chew as far as the plot is concerned.

Lastly, I want to note that I have not read the first book in this series, The Night Swim, but I was never confused in any way.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this ARC which I received in exchange for an honest review!

Wow, oh wow, did I enjoy Dark Corners. I have read several books by this author and I can honestly say that she is one of my thriller/mystery authors. Something that I specifically love about this book as well as The Night Swim by her is connection to true crime and true crime podcasts. I love true crime and listen to so many true crime podcasts so this added feature in the Dark Corners was a lot of fun for me.

The main character that we follow, Rachel, is a true crime podcaster and she was such a fun character to follow because of her wit and how smart she is. She wouldn’t back down from a challenge which I love. Her banter with Agent Joe Martinez was so entertaining and seeing their connection build during this investigation was A+.

I really enjoyed that the author kept jumping between POVs, including the serial killers POV. The way the serial killer kept going undetected for so many years is terrifying and the way he hunted for his victims was very realistic. Megan Goldin always has several twists and turns in her books.

I highly recommend this book! I can’t wait for more books in this world.

P.S. If you love audiobooks, this book has a great one with an awesome narrator!

Rachel Krall, true crime podcaster, is back to help the FBI search for a social media influencer who disappeared after visiting a suspected serial killer in jail.

Megan Goldin has done it again! I’ve loved all of her books and Dark Corners is no exception. The main character is *chef’s kiss* - a smart and determined sleuth who can hold her own against anyone, even a serial killer or the FBI.

This is the third book I've read from this author and this latest release has been my favorite so far. I really enjoy how the podcast element is used to tell part of the story. It works so well, particularly in audiobooks. The characters were interesting and the storyline kept me listening. The narrator was excellent, which makes the experience of listening all the more enjoyable. I would highly recommend this author for all of her body of work. She does not disappoint.

𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜: ‘Dark Corners’ is a follow-up to ‘The Night Swim’ but it can definitely be read as a stand-alone. This book focuses mainly on missing people and murder.

This book was so much fun. A little slow in the beginning but quickly picks up; not a dull moment. I loved the MC, Rachel Krall. Some people commented she is snarkier in this book than TNS but I found her reactions to be justified.

To be honest, I do not care one bit about the influencer world, which is a heavy topic within this plot, but the author made it pretty entertaining and I found myself not minding it at all.

The different POVs was a great touch. The narrators’ voices were very fitting and they did an amazing job telling this story. This was a fun, fast, and entertaining book. I was hooked the whole time.

Thank you so much Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, and the author for this ALC! ‘Dark Corners’ will launch August 8th!


Find me on IG: coffeebreakwithrachel

Thanks to Netalley, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for the ebook and audiobook arcs of this novel. I loved being able to listen, because the podcast element to this book is so nicely done on audio and the narrators do a great job. I enjoyed seeing Rachel back working on another case, although you do have to suspend some belief in parts of the story. I also could do without romance in my thrillers... but that's just me!

Short synopsis: True crime podcaster Rachel Krall is back investigating a missing social media influencer.

My thoughts: I really enjoyed Night Swim so I was excited to see book 2 come out. My favorite thing in these is the little podcast snippets Interwoven throughout the book, especially on audio!

This was a quick read with some fun points of view: Rachel, the FBI agent in charge of the case, and a hired car driver. We are able to suspect someone pretty early on, but don’t realize the extent of their involvement until the last little bit of the story. I didn’t expect that at the end!

I also liked the social media aspect of it, and the lengths some people will go to for fame and notoriety. Also, the book community is the best community; book lovers are so friendly overall and I just love my book friends!

Read if you love:
* Podcasts
* True crime stories
* Investigations
* Social media
* Short chapters
* Multiple POV