Review: Dark Corners by Megan Goldin

Author Megan Goldin
Publisher: St. Martins Press
Publication Date: August 2023

Terence Bailey is about to be released from prison for breaking and entering, though investigators have long suspected him in the murders of six women. As his freedom approaches, Bailey gets a surprise visit from Maddison Logan, a hot, young influencer with a huge social media following. Hours later, Maddison disappears, and police suspect she’s been kidnapped—or worse. Is Maddison’s disappearance connected to her visit to Bailey? Why was she visiting him in the first place?

When they hit a wall in the investigation, the FBI reluctantly asks for Rachel’s help in finding the missing influencer. Maddison seems only to exist on social media; she has no family, no friends, and other than in her posts, most people have never seen her. Who is she, really? Using a fake Instagram account, Rachel Krall goes undercover to BuzzCon, a popular influencer conference, where she discovers a world of fierce rivalry that may have turned lethal.

When police find the body of a woman with a tattoo of a snake eating its tail, the FBI must consider a chilling possibility: Bailey has an accomplice on the outside and a dangerous obsession with influencers, including Rachel Krell herself. Suddenly a target of a monster hiding in plain sight, Rachel is forced to confront the very real dangers that lurk in the dark corners of the internet.

I wasn't a big fan of Night Swim, but I when I picked up Dark Corners, I didn't initially know that it  was a sequel to Night Swim.  I think that you could read this one as a completely stand alone book.  The only thing that the two really have in common is Rachel Krall, the true Crime Podcaster.   I did end up really liking this one.

Rachel ended up being a much better written character in this book.  I ended up really liking her and would actually read another book with her in it. You get to know her much more and she grew on me.  Maybe it was making her the main character that gave her more depth.  The mystery was also really good. It's got some twists and kept me guessing.  I would recommend this one.  You can totally disregard Night Swim and just read this one.  You'll like Rachel a lot more.

Review: The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

Author: Megan Goldin
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: August 2020

After the first season of her true crime podcast became an overnight sensation and set an innocent man free, Rachel Krall is now a household name―and the last hope for thousands of people seeking justice. But she’s used to being recognized for her voice, not her face. Which makes it all the more unsettling when she finds a note on her car windshield, addressed to her, begging for help.

The small town of Neapolis is being torn apart by a devastating rape trial. The town’s golden boy, a swimmer destined for Olympic greatness, has been accused of raping a high school student, the beloved granddaughter of the police chief. Under pressure to make Season Three a success, Rachel throws herself into interviewing and investigating―but the mysterious letters keep showing up in unexpected places. Someone is following her, and she won’t stop until Rachel finds out what happened to her sister twenty-five years ago. Officially, Jenny Stills tragically drowned, but the letters insists she was murdered―and when Rachel starts asking questions, nobody seems to want to answer. The past and present start to collide as Rachel uncovers startling connections between the two cases that will change the course of the trial and the lives of everyone involved.

I was so looking forward to reading The Night Swim.  I loved The Escape Room and was hoping I wooed love this one as well.  I'll be honest, I didn't love it and I'm not completely sure I liked it. In The Night Swim,  Rachel is a True Crime pod-caster who is in town to cover a rape trial of a high school student.  While she is there, she gets letters from someone who wants Rachel to look into a death that happened years before.  

There was a twist at the end that I didn't guess, but it wasn't enough to save the book for me.  Rachel was just kind of a boring character. She felt generic to me.  I was more interested in the story that is told to us through the letters Rachel received.  The other thing I wasn't a fan of was the way author wrote every male in this book.  I understand what she was trying to do by making the rape trial a parallel to a recent real life trial of a college student who got a slap on the wrist , but it was just over the top.  Every single male in this book was either a pig or woman abuser.  Really?  Not all men are like that and to pretend otherwise is disingenuous.  It was annoying and got old.

It's an OK mystery, but not thrilling.    I found this one slow paced and not all that interesting. I didn't even really love the podcast excerpts that were included.  I think I'm in the minority when it comes to this one.  So, give it a try and see for yourself.  

Review: The Escape Room by Megan Goldin

Author:Megan Goldin
Publisher; Penguin eBooks
Date of publication: May 2018;
Re-issue by St. Martins Press August 2019

Vincent, Jules, Sylvie, and Sam are ruthlessly ambitious high-flyers working in the lucrative world of Wall Street finance where deception and intimidation thrive. Getting rich is all that matters, and they'll do anything to reach the top.

When they are ordered to participate in a corporate team-building exercise that requires them to escape from a locked elevator, dark secrets of their team begin to be laid bare.

The biggest mystery to solve in this lethal game: What happened to Sara Hall? Once a young shining star—”now gone but not forgotten”.

This is no longer a game. 
They’re fighting for their lives.

Don't you just love when you go into a book not really knowing anything about it and find yourself just devouring it?  That is what happened when I picked up The Escape Room.  I loved this book.   The book involves four people who are summoned to do a mandatory team building exercise involving an Escape Room game.  Once they all enter the elevator, it quickly becomes clear that this isn't just your ordinary escape room game.  

The book goes between the present in the elevator and the past narrated by Sarah Hall.  She is an ambitious business school graduate who is hired to work in a prestigious firm on Wall Street.  That is all you need to know going into the book.  The story was pretty fast paced and kept me engaged.  I had an idea of who was behind everything, but I didn't know the why or the how.  That was the best part of the book.     I highly recommend this one.  I  have a feeling it will make my top 10 of 2018.