Monday, August 24, 2020

Book Review - Night Swim; Megan Goldin

The Night Swim, Megan Goldin
St. Martin's Press - 2020

Rachel Krall is a successful true-crime podcaster. Her podcast "Guilty or Not Guilty" features people believed to be wrongly accused of a crime. For her upcoming season she is covering a high profile, small town rape trial where an Olympic hopeful and has been accused of raping the granddaughter of the town's police chief.  

In the midst of the trial Rachel finds a disturbing note on her windshield from a young woman named Hannah who claims her sister Jenny was murdered 25 years earlier and that the case was covered up, it was ruled as an accidental drowning. Hannah is begging Rachel to look into her sister's case which has haunted her for so many years.  It appears that there are many similarities in the two cases both in this small beach town.

The subject matter of rape is a tough topic so readers should be aware of this before deciding if this is a book that they want to read.  It's also a story about memory, secrets, cover ups and the justice system. It's all rolled up into a page turning mystery and courtroom drama.  Told through Rachel and Hannah's third person POV, where Hannah slowly reveals her late sister's story and Rachel's coverage of the current courtroom rape trial plays out.

The characters were well explored, I  felt Hannah's pain and the emotional trauma for what she witnessed and for what had happened to her only sibling Jenny. The author does a very good job tying the two similar stories together;  well done overall.

Rating 4/5 stars

10 comments:

  1. This sounds pretty good and I appreciate your warning about the content.

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  2. That does sound good even with that tough topic.

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  3. This one is on my list...hoping my library hold comes in soon.

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  4. I'm glad you liked this book. I kept thinking there was going to be a weird twist where Jenny was really Hannah or Hannah didn't really die, then I realized it's not really a thriller. :-)

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  5. Having recently read My Dark Vanessa (which is also about a tough subject to read) I'm not sure I'm up for this one right now, but it's one I'll definitely keep in mind. Great review! :)

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  6. This book is new to me. It sounds intense.

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  7. Have read mixed reviews on this one. It is a tough topic but right now a very timely one.

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  8. It does sound interesting. Sadly, the topic continues to be relevant.

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  9. Well, we certainly want those bad ones to get what they deserve!

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  10. I've heard so many good things about this one that I finally just bought it. I can't wait to read it!

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