Reviews with content warning for Violence - Dark Corners

Shortly after meeting with Terence Bailey, an inmate in a Florida prison, Maddison Logan, a popular #vanlife influencer, disappears. In the meeting, Rachel Krall’s name came up, so the FBI flies Rachel to Florida.
Rachel is a popular true-crime podcaster, and she has made a name for herself in the podcasting world.
Terence Bailey will be released in a few days. He is a suspected serial killer, but there’s no evidence to tie him to any of the killings. He went to jail when he was twenty-one years old, and now, he’s twenty-seven years old.

MY THOUGHTS

I hadn’t read book 1 (Night Swim) before, but I didn’t feel like I was missing anything. It was good as a stand-alone book.
I read this one in less than 24 hours, and I found myself thinking about it in the moments I put the book down.
Really enjoyed the character development. Rachel is a capable, strong-willed, smart character.
Multiple POVs, including Rachel’s, one scary dude, & a podcast transcript.
Loved the ending and the many twists throughout that kept me in suspense
I liked the romantic aspect in the book, but felt the chemistry between the characters.
Excellent writing. Complex plot, but well-plotted and easy to follow.
Short chapters, which I love.
The commentary on influencers throughout was timely, observant, and interesting.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️4.5 stars rounded to 5, as I finished in less than 24 hours. Solid thriller with a well-written, capable woman as the MC.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. It will be published on August 8, 2023.

Content Warnings

kimveach's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This thriller combined serial killers with an Influencer conference and a true-crime podcast. I enjoyed the combination of serious crime with the absurdity of influencers.

Content Warnings

badwolfbooks's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This story follows Rachel Krall, back from her podcast and entering the lives of the influencers of this generation. Rachel has been named a person of interest after a soon-to-be released prisoner named her specifically, and asked for her to speak to him. Rachel travels to Miami to visit Terrance Bailey, and in turn, becomes involved in the disappearance of a popular Travel Blogger. Despite the FBI's Joe Martinez urging Rachel to go back home, Rachel stays in Miami and joins the influencer conference under a slight alias. In order to assist with the case, Rachel goes undercover as "RunningGirlRach," and gets the inside scoop on the world of influencers and the cut-throat competition that goes on behind closed doors.

Megan Goldin is one of my favourite thriller authors and The Night Swim is a clear-cut favourite. When I heard that this book followed Rachel Krall again, I was hyped for it. However, there are things in this book that just made me cringe with the predictability and it made me bring down the book in rating a bit.

For one, The fact that Rachel is in this conference under her Running instagram account and no one knows who her real identity is because she never shows photos of herself. She's supposed to remain anonymous... But she checks into the hotel using her real first and last name? And the fact that she does this leads her right into danger because the bad guy calls the hotel and asks for her by name.... It just came across as sloppy and, honestly, lazy.

Secondly, the little piece of romance seemed forced and quick. Joe Martinez did not show any sign that he was into Rachel, nor did she show any sign that she was into him... Until they had dinner in her hotel and had sex (closed door). All of a sudden, he's talking about how he can't keep his mind from her? The timeline just didn't make sense and I found myself rolling my eyes.

The suspect in this also was very evident from his initial introduction, but the reasoning behind his crime spree was never discovered. It's open-ended, and I guess there's a reason for that but I couldn't tell you what that was.

I really love Megan's writing, but the experience of reading this one was dramatically different than reading her others and I was left a bit disappointed.

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