I cannot believe that I get to kick off Megan Goldin’s blog tour today! Thank you so much to Mirror Books for asking me to be involved in the tour, and for supplying the ARC. Here is my review:
In The Night Swim, a new thriller from Megan Goldin, author of the “gripping and unforgettable” (Harlen Coben) The Escape Room, a true-crime podcast host covering a controversial trial finds herself drawn deep into a small town’s dark past and a brutal crime that took place there years before.
Ever since her true-crime podcast became an overnight sensation and set an innocent man free, Rachel Krall has become a household name – and the last hope for people seeking justice. But she’s used to being recognised 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 new season of Rachel’s podcast has brought her to a small town being torn apart by a devastating rape trial. A local golden boy, a swimmer destined for Olympic greatness, has been accused of raping the beloved granddaughter of the police chief. Under pressure to make Season 3 a success, Rachel throws herself into her investigation – but the mysterious letters keep coming. 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 insist she was murdered – and when Rachel starts asking questions, nobody in town wants to answer. The past and present start to collide as Rachel uncovers startling connections between the two cases – and a revelation that will change the course of the trial and the lives of everyone involved.
What does TWG think?
With Megan Goldin’s debut novel, ‘The Escape Room’ being one of my top reads of 2019, I was so excited to get stuck into her newest book, ‘The Night Swim’ – and what a book it is!
Rachel has gone from zero to hero in a short space of time due to her true crime podcast, with many people finding her voice familiar in public, but not her looks. Until now. Given the nature of her podcast and the fact that she has been face to face with serial killers, the prospect of being recognised in public filled her with dread. How did they know what she looked like? How did they know where she would be at that precise moment when even she didn’t have a clue until the last minute?
Just like crimes and the trials that go with them, there was clearly a lot more to the situation than Rachel had anticipated. Was she going to end up being a crime in her own true crime podcast?
Megan Goldin nails suspense like nobody’s business. She knows how to create drama that is unique to the storyline, and she knows how to keep it consistent throughout the entire book. For me, those elements were the highlight of the book because, whilst they showcased the authors fantastic way with words, they also gave the storyline its intricate layers that ended up holding me hostage.
I would be genuinely surprised if this novel didn’t make it onto the big screen at some point because it just screams to be televised!
If you’re after a storyline that has you hooked from page one, with characters who manage to unnerve you and intrigue you at the same time, as well as a read that is full to the brim of dramatic events, suspense and stomach churning intensity, then I highly recommend that you put ‘The Night Swim’ on your ‘to read’ pile – you will not regret it.
The Writing Garnet 