Today I’m thrilled to share my review of The Night Swim as part of the blog tour – and this novel was a huge hit for me! Read on to find out why…
Title: The Night Swim
Author: Megan Goldin
Publisher: Mirror Books
Synopsis
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.
Electrifying and propulsive, The Night Swim asks: What is the price of a reputation? Can a small town ever right the wrongs of its past? And what really happened to Jenny?
My review
The Night Swim grabbed me from page one, kept me firmly entranced throughout and completely floored me with how brilliant the plot and writing is!
Firstly, I LOVED the premise of this novel – Rachel is an investigative reporter who fronts a true crime podcast – the kind of thing I love listening to, so this immediately appealed to me! It’s nice to have a change from crime novels fronted by police or your usual private investigators – Rachel offers a different perspective, and one which I welcomed. There are actually two distinct storylines to this novel – one which focuses on the trial that Rachel is covering in her podcast, and one she is asked to investigate from many years ago by a mysterious woman called Hannah. I loved both storylines – although there were many parts that made for very difficult reading in both, due to the nature of the crimes (rape and murder).
I also really warmed to Rachel as our narrator, and also the voice of poor Hannah as she relays what happened to her sister Jenny more than 20 years ago. The story jumps between the present day, in which we follow Rachel and is told from a third person perspective, and the storyline which tells what happened to Jenny is told from Hannah’s perspective. Finally we also see chapters which are transcripts from Rachel’s podcast, ‘Guilty or Not Guilty’, written in the first person. I loved the mix of voices and POVs.
I was completely gripped throughout and only wish The Night Swim was longer as I’d happily have read more. I haven’t read anything else by Goldin but am now adding her other novels to my TBR list straight away!
Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys well written crime, true crime podcasts, or both!
Rating: 5/5
Many thanks to the publisher, Mirror Books, for providing a copy of this book on which I chose to write an honest and unbiased review, and for inviting me onto the blog tour!
Buy The Night Swim here on Amazon.
About the author: Megan Goldin
Megan Goldin worked as a correspondent for Reuters and other media outlets where she covered war, peace, international terrorism and financial meltdowns in the Middle East and Asia. She is now based in Melbourne, Australia where she raises three sons and is a foster mum to Labrador puppies learning to be guide dogs. The Escape Room was her debut novel.