#BlogTour: THE NIGHT SWIM by Megan Goldin @megangoldin @StMartinsPress

Publication: 4th August 2020 – St. Martin’s Press

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 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 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.

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?

Macmillan

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I am delighted to welcome you on my stop for the blog tour of The Night Swim, the incredible new novel by Megan Goldin.

I have to admit that I had high expectations for this novel. Last years, I loved the author’s debut novel, The Escape Room, and since then I have been looking forward to her next novel. Were my expectations met? They were exceeded!!!

The protagonist of The Night Swim is Rachel Krall. Everyone knows her voice. Her true crime podcast is the most popular in the country and she’s helped to prove the innocence of a few people. For the third season of her podcast Rachel has decided to cover the trial of Scott, a popular young man accused of raping, Kelly, a high-school student. On her way to Neaples, North Carolina, Rachel stops for a coffee and when she returns to her car she finds an envelope addressed to her. Inside the envelope there is note from Hannah who asks Rachel for help to find justice for her sister Jenny who died in Neaples twenty-five years earlier. Everyone thought it was an accident, but Hannah is convinced she was killed. Rachel is worried because, even though everyone knows her voice, few people know what she looks like. She tries to focus her attention on the trial, but letters from Hannah keep coming and the more she reads them, the more she is drawn to the case and as she starts asking a few questions she wonders if maybe Hannah is right.

I have to warn you, The Night Swim is not an easy read. Some of the violence and the pain described were hard to read and made me furious and bitter: both Jenny and Kelly’s stories were emotional and intense and so well-written that they left me a bit shaken. The story is told from three different perspectives and I don’t know which one I was drawn more: Rachel’s investigation which I found suspenseful and gripping, Hannah’s letters that were heart-breaking and disturbing, or the scripts of the podcast whose narrative kept me glued to the pages.

I really liked the character of Rachel Krall. She is brave, funny, smart, and strong. She does her best to remain objective and I could see why people could be drawn to her podcast (I don’t listen to podcasts and yet I think that I would enjoy hers).

Would I recommend The Night Swim? Without any doubt!!! It has a fantastic protagonist, a thrilling plot, two cases, one that slowly unravels and one that is begin investigated (and with a twist that I didn’t see coming!), and a satisfying ending.

A huge thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the novel.

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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 is her debut novel.

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