Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ALC of "Dark Corners" by Megan Goldin. This was my first time readling/listening to a Goldin book and after I was invested in this story, I learned it was the second Goldin book featuring Rachel Krall. I hope I didn't spoil anything from the first book since starting with this one.

I enjoyed this book and wonder if the reading experience was as enjoyable as the audio version. Since there was an imbedded podcast, I can imagine that might be distracting in written form but it was a seamless inclusion in the audiobook format.

The characters were well-developed and the underlying relationship between the FBI agent and Krall was a fun addition to the story. I was able to make out a few of the connections early in the story but overall, the mystery "who done it" story was delivered well.

Full Review and Recipe that Matches the Book: https://bakingthroughbookclub.com/202...

What do paroled prisoners, mega-influencers, and body odor have in common?

Together, they create the backdrop for a special addition to Rachel Krall’s award-winning podcast, Guilty or Not Guilty. Rachel is the fictional podcaster featured in Megan Goldin’s first book, The Night Swim . Dark Corners picks up a couple of weeks after the events of The Night Swim , when Rachel is supposed to be relaxing after her trip to Neapolis. One day, however, she gets a call from Special Agent Martinez from the FBI, where her name has come up in a missing persons investigation. A hot Instagram star by the name of Maddison Logan was in town for Buzzcon, a conference that serves as the mecca for mega-influencers. During that time, Maddison goes to see a convicted murderer by the name of Terrance Bailey in jail. Now, Maddison is missing, and the only lead the FBI has is a note Bailey scrawled to Maddison asking her to find Rachel Krall. With time running out, Agent Martinez hopes to find Maddison before it's too late. Can Rachel infiltrate the world of picture-perfect yoga poses and insufferable mealtime photographers in order to find out what happened to Maddison?

Like The Night Swim , Goldin does an amazing job laying out the puzzle pieces for her readers so that they can start solving the mystery little by little. It’s not hard to connect a few of the pieces, but the story doesn’t weave together until the end. If I had one criticism, I would say that the connection the story had to Buzzcon seemed shallow. That part of the ending felt rushed, like the author grew tired and decided to mop up the loose ends as quickly as possible. So much detail went into describing the mega-influencers that anything but a juicy ending for them seemed like a letdown.

A few friends have asked me whether I preferred The Night Swim or Dark Corners. One glance at Goodreads tells me that this is a highly-debated topic. The Night Swim was more detailed and realistic. The mystery was well thought-out, and I found myself wrapped in the trial. It definitely felt like it was ripped from the headlines. I was half expecting Guilty or Not Guilty to appear on my podcast recommendations right next to NPR's Serial. Meanwhile, Dark Corners was more salacious. It was realistic in its own way, but part of the fun was how UNREALISTIC the life of an influencer actually is. All the characters were unlikeable, but in a gossip magazine sort of way that makes you want to find out what happens next. Unlike The Night Swim , which covers the topic of rape, Dark Corners has far fewer trigger warnings. However, Rachel Krall seems almost TOO invincible in Dark Corners. Journalists have mad research skills, but it's hard to believe that Rachel could discover more information in one day than a whole team of FBI agents with unreleased details at hand.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Rachel Krall is a true crime podcaster who has helped at least one innocent person get out of jail. So when the FBI called her to Florida out of the blue her curiosity was peaked. She learned that Terrance Bailey was about to be released from prison after serving time for a lesser sentence even though he was suspected of murder. When another social media influencer who met with Bailey goes missing, Rachel is called upon to figure out what happened. The FBI is also trying to stop Bailey from being released. Will they have enough time to save the social media influencer is anyone’s guess.

Megan Goldin is one of my favourite authors so I was super excited to get the chance to listen to this one in advance. Unfortunately, this one fell a bit flat for me. It was particular long and I found it difficult to follow the story line all the way through. The narrator was really good and she was easy to listen to. Overall, the story was a bit slow and dragged out. I’ve seen many other who have enjoyed the book so I was encourage everyone to give any book a chance as you never know.

Author Megan Goldin is a mastermind with the pen. Once again she stuns with this phenomenal suspense.

Coming off the fame of her true crime podcast Rachel Krall is suddenly lured to Daytona Beach by the FBI due to her name coming up in an investigation. From there the world of social media influencers takes hold as one of their own goes missing. Narcissists to sociopaths, nothing is off limits in this incredible read!

Expected Pub Date: August 15th, 2023

After reading The Night Swim by Megan Goldin and really enjoying it, I was excited to see that this new novel, Dark Corners, featured the same true crime podcaster - Rachel - as the main character. This book was propulsive, well written and the audio narration and performance was wonderful - just like the first novel. I loved hearing the podcast aspect again and the different voices on the audiobook really elevated the feel of the novel and the back and forth between the story and the podcast.

One aspect I found really interesting is that this was based in the world of influencers and social media. It was so fascinating to really get into the head of some of the influencers and what goes on behind the scenes of getting the perfect picture and growing a follower base. And the idea of a monster hiding in plain sight -there were some twists and turns that were fun - but also predictable.

You don't have to read The Night Swim to enjoy this one - but I recommend it just so you get to know Rachel and her journey in the first novel. Overall, this was a fast read and I am excited to see if the author continues on in this series.

Thank you to Netgalley & Macmillan Audio for this advanced listen in exchange for my honest opinion.

Being new to the Rachel Krall series, I had no idea that Dark Corners is book #2. Golden's 2020 book Night Swim is book #1 and on my "to read" list.
FBI agents hit a wall in their investigation of the disappearance of Madison Logan, a social media influencer with a sizeable following. Agents discovered that Madison visited petty criminal Terrance Bailey in prison. Locked up for breaking and entering, agents are trying to charge him with the mysterious disappearances of six women, but don't have the evidence. When Madison goes missing after visiting Bailey, agents are trying to figure out how Bailey could be involved. Reluctantly, agents seek out Rachel Krall to help with the investigation. Rachel uses her previous "Runner Girl" social media platform rather than @rachelkrall so as not to draw attention to herself, and goes undercover at BuzzCon the social media influencers convention to get clues on Madison's disappearance. Rachel begins her investigation by visiting Bailey in jail just days before he is released. The visit doesn't yield much, however, Rachel does notice an unusual snake tattoo on Bailey. As she makes the rounds at BuzzCon she notices two things: the hyper-competitiveness and rivalries among influencers, and influencers with that unusual snake tattoo.
The podcast element makes this a good audiobook selection. It's an entertaining and quick summer read. If you like Jennifer Hillier, you'll enjoy Megan Golden. The narration is also good.

This is the sequel to The Night Swim and continues right where it left off. Rachel Krall finds herself and her podcast right in the middle of another mystery. This audiobook was done just as well as the first with multiple narrators and a podcast segment. I found the story even better than the first book. I really hope Megan Goldin keeps writing Rachel Krall mysteries because I need more.

Thank you to NetGalley, Megan Goldin and Macmillan Audio for an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Night swim, but this sequel featuring true crime podcaster, Rachel Krall was equally as good. Following a serial killer and a convention of social media influencers in Florida, Rachel teams up with local FBI agent to try to figure out what happened to some missing women.

Twisty with a touch of romance, the audio production quality was excellent and as was the narration by January LaVoy, Samantha Desz and Andre Santana. Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and Libro.fm for early audio copies in exchange for my honest review!

Famed true crime podcaster Rachel Krall finds herself intimately involved in the case of a suspected serial killer soon to be released from jail. A woman who visited the prisoner is now missing, and it is clear that the prisoner wanted the missing woman to contact Rachel. Why did he want to contact Rachel, who actually is this woman, where is she, and what about the abandoned camper filled with rats and snakes?

No matter the warnings from the FBI to go home, Rachel pursues her work as an investigative reporter to help solve the case.

I enjoyed the twists and turns as more suspicious deaths are revealed and Rachel immerses herself in the influencer culture to learn more about the mystery woman. A little romance spices up the thrills for a satisfying read.

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Being 100% this book was a little hard for me to get into in the beginning. I attribute that to not reading/listening to the first book in the series, so I felt like I was missing something. With that said it does not affect how I enjoyed the book or my rating of the book. I thought the narrator was able to capture the “smooth, sexy, easy listening voice Rachel is described as having. The whole book I thought the story was going one way to then be totally shocked with the plot twist at the end.

I may have jumped into the series at book 2 but I will be going back to listen to the first book as well as any future book in the series. Well done!

I LOVED The Night Swim so I was pumped to read this new release that included a continuation of Rachel’s character.

The audiobook was meh for me. I enjoy January LaVoy but the others were just okay.

The story lost steam around 40% for me and while I was surprised by the final twist, I’m not sure I was invested enough to care.

The influencer stuff seemed a little cliche and out of touch.

The romance element seemed forced and pointless.

Unfortunately this just didn’t work for me but I’ll still recommend readers pick up Night Swim.

This can be read as a stand-alone but is technically a sequel to Night Swim. This was way better than Night Swim. Like Night Swim, Dark Corners has a victims’ advocacy message though it’s not has heavy as the first book… actually it’s quite light. The topic of what types of missing people get more media and law enforcement attention is briefly mentioned but not explored much.

Dark Corners starts off with a missing influencer which leads to a series of other missing young women. We follow our main character, Rachel, and an FBI agent as they work to solve the mystery. We also get the perspective of a Norman Bates-esque serial killer throughout the book, which added to the eerieness.

This was pretty entertaining, though not my usual genre. Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC.

This book was definitely a thriller I wanted to read!

Terrance Bailey is about to get out of jail for a robbery from 6 years ago. However when a massive influencer goes missing all eyes are on him why? Because he is the one and only person to see him in jail. When a very well known podcaster get brought in to the mix to help solve this.. they discover a massive serial killer!

Thank you NetGalley for the audio advance copy!!

Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for providing an advanced copy of this! All thoughts and opinions are still my own.

4.5⭐

I'm not often a mystery/thriller reader, however there are certain authors and series I will make exceptions for. And this is definitely one of them. I absolutely fell in love with the Night Swim, and was so excited to see we were getting another story in this world. And this one was just as twisty and addictive as that first book!

This takes place directly after the end of book 1, however it follows a totally unrelated mystery. So, while I think you should because it's amazing, you don't NEED to read book 1 in order to pick this up.

Within 24 hours of returning home from the case in book 1, Rachel is called to Florida to help the FBI with a possible missing persons case. But when she gets there she finds that she is actually somehow already wrapped up into the case. Despite the FBI trying to force her out, Rachel insists on trying to help.

One of favorite parts of this series, is the way Megan Goldin blends timely discussions into the story. The Night Swim discussed rape culture & privilege, and this one covers social media and influencer culture.

But more that that, is the WAY she discusses them. The author never outright tells you how or what to think. She is not preaching her ideas to you. Instead she drops her characters into these situations and lets them play out in a horrifyingly realistic way. The toxicity of social media and influencer culture bled off the page.

And the ability to balance that with a twisty murder mystery is insanely impressive.

This book had me in its grip from chapter one and I was hooked until the very end.

If you're planning to pick this up, and you should, I HIGHLY recommend the audiobook. The audiobook is fantastically produced with multiple narrators, sound effects, and podcast elements that bring the story to life.

I might not be an avid mystery/thriller reader, but I would read 100 more books in this series!!

I will never not want this series on audio. The production that went into this book and the Night Swim is beyond! So good! I feel like not only am I following the story I am there listening to a podcast. This is every true crime podcast lovers dream! Definitely recommend this one! Thank you so much to Macmillan audio and Macmillan publishers for the ALC and ARC in exchange for my honest review!

If Megan wants to continue with Rachel’s story it will be an automatic buy for me!

St. Martin's and MacMillan audiobook, thank you for Megan Goldin's amazing thriller. I am such a fan of this writer and this might be one of my favorites from her. I love the true crime podcast format and that readers get to return to Rachel Krall (Night Swim main character); Rachel is smart, empathetic, and strong, the perfect main character to drive this suspenseful examination of social influencer lives, murder, and the darkness of being "internet/influencer famous". I love stories that examine social media and influencer themes and in the hands of a kind of behind the scenes true crime podcast trope... oh yes please!

Goldin understands how to make a thriller work: she uses pacing well, brings in effective changes in tone/style for the podcast chapters, and drops in twists and reveals that keep the plot moving without ever feeling like the twists and reveals are out of left field (which I hate in a thriller). Part of the fun of this book is also seeing how the story comes together, how seemingly unexpected connections make sense and how reveals bring the reader into the story.

I want to say that the audiobook production, from MacMillan, is outstanding for this book. The podcast chapters sound like a true crime podcast and the narration from André Santana, January LaVoy, and Samantha Desz is excellent (this book really benefits from the different narrators to really bring the podcast and thriller plot together).

I am never bored reading Megan Goldin's books and I really love that we got more of Rachel Krall. Recommended for fans of the author and for thriller fans in general. A strong recommendation for mystery and suspense fans and book clubs, I am thinking of adding this to one of my own book clubs for a change up from the usual historical and contemporary fiction reads.

NOTE, I would recommend reading Night Swim first but there are no spoilers in this book (I am just a traditionalist, I read in order as I like to see character growth, etc etc).

After loving the Night Swim, Dark Corners was one of my most anticipated summer thrillers. Unfortunately it was a bit of a let down for me.

The podcast in this isn’t seamlessly integrated to the story, I guess it’s supposed to be something recorded after the story took place and just randomly dropped in between chapters 🤷🏼‍♀️ It was hard to know that it was a podcast in the ebook bc it wasn’t marked with any information or font change and it wasn’t until I switched to audio that I understood.

I don’t know what happened to Rachel Krall from the Night Swim but Dark Corners Rachel is arrogant, stubborn and kinda rude. Her “I do what I want” attitude was annoying. I found the plot to be pretty far fetched and the POV of Thomas McCoy felt unnecessary for the majority of the book. There was an unnecessary romance that felt super forced. The dialog felt clunky and unnatural. There was too much use of names in it and no one talks like this, it’s just so awkward sounding and completely pulled me out of the story. The book also uses the full names of characters sporadically throughout, like “Joe Martinez was relieved when Rachel Krall agreed to meet with Terence Bailey.” I can only assume was a style choice by the author, but it was super distracting to me.

There is also repetitive info and phrases throughout, included the same descriptions used by two different characters a few pages apart. There were some minor plot holes and perplexing choices made by a professional journalist. The ending didn’t fully add up for me. I was invested enough to want to finish it, but was a bit let down because of how much I loved The Night Swim. I’d definitely read more by the author, but this wasn’t the book for me.

Thanks to St. Martins Press, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ALC/DRC.

Omg where I do I start with this review?!?! I LOVED IT!

Rachel Krall, the true crime podcaster star of Megan Goldin’s acclaimed The Night Swim, returns to search for a popular influencer who disappears after visiting a suspected serial killer.

Let me tell y’all that Megan Goldin writes my kind of “true crime” books. The characters are just creepy enough without being scary and the suspense here is chef’s kiss. Add in some mini cliffhangers and you won’t be able to put this one down. The mixed media format of a podcast is so fun and really makes the book come alive. Highly recommend the audiobook for a fully immersive story.

Thank you @stmartinspress for the E-ARC and @macmillan.audio for the ALC! Dark Corners is out 8/8/23

What was the last book that creeped you out?

This was so, so good! I’ve been wanting to read “Night Swim” for a while and when I received an audiobook of “Dark Corners” from @netgalley, I was all in.

This has it all. Great characters and a well-layered thriller/mystery that keeps you hooked til the end. It was an excellent book!

Themes: 🤳🎆🕵🏻‍♀️🎙️👀🔦🔍

My thoughts: 🥸🤓🫡🫢🫣🫠😁👍🏻👍🏻

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#goodreads
#bookofthemonth
@bookofthemonth
#readmorebooks
#readmorebooksbywomen
#mybookoshlife
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*4.5

Rachel Krall is back and recording another season of her true crime podcast. This time is different. She has been summoned by the FBI to assist in the case of a missing influencer. Rachel has no idea who the girl is nor has any connection to her. Days before the Maddison (the influencer) goes missing she visited with an inmate, Terence Bailey, who is about to be released. Bailey was arrested for breaking and entering but investigators think he was involved in the murders of 6 women. It is up to Rachel, with the help of the FBI, to figure out what happened to Maddison and to determine if Bailey the one who is behind it all.

I did not realize this was the second the a series so I immediately went and picked up The Night Swim. That being said I don't think is 100% necessary that you read it first but you might get a little spoiled for the case Rachel covers during the first book.

This story was SOOOO good and the audiobook was *chef's kiss*. I think I will listen to anything January LaVoy narrates!