Dark Corners
Megan Goldin
352 pages
St. Martin’s Press
published August 8, 2023
I was such a fan of The Night Swim. While I never listen to podcasts, I love a book about one and it drew me in from the start and I gave it all (five) the stars. I was lucky enough to read this follow up to The Night Swim with some great buddies, and that upped my enjoyment of the book. But I didn’t love this one quite as much as book one. First let me note that these two books have the same main character but different stories, so they can each be read as a stand alone.
What this one lacked for me was the feel of the podcast. I read an ARC and I’ve heard the final copy is a little clearer, but I had a hard time figuring out what was happening in the chapters representing the podcast. These almost seemed like research notes and not an actual podcast. Were they in the current timeline or another?
But the story itself was interesting. A missing influencer with a tie to a convict on the verge of being released from jail. Rachel is pulled into the mix and it is quite the cat and mouse game as she steps into an influencer convention. I had a great time trying to figure out who was genuine and who was less than reliable. This may have been slightly enhanced by the buddy read, but I thought the story was solid and might have been a five star read for me if not for my disappointment over the podcast formatting.
While I know the summer is almost over in the northern hemisphere, this really is the epitome of a beach or summer read. I’d call it a blockbuster thriller read.
About the book
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 release date 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? And why was she visiting him in the first place?
When they hit a wall in the investigation, the FBI reluctantly asks for Rachel Krall’s help in finding the missing influencer. Maddison seems to only 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 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—identical to a tattoo Rachel had seen on Bailey’s hand—the FBI must consider a chilling possibility: Bailey has an accomplice on the outside and a dangerous obsession with influencers, including Rachel Krall herself. Suddenly the 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.
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