Psychological Thriller Review: Dark Corners | Megan Goldin

Megan Goldin is an auto-buy author for me since her very first book. While Dark Corners is billed as the second book in a series, I’d say it reads more like a standalone book featuring the same lead, true crime podcaster Rachel Krall. The first book we saw Rachel Krall in was Night Swim and I recommend it (fair warning, it does cover on more sensitive topics than this book), though you don’t need to read both books to enjoy them.

In Dark Corners, Rachel Krall becomes involved in a new case helping to search for a popular social media influencer who disappeared live on stream. Absolutely gripping!

About the Book | Dark Corners

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 freedom 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? Why was she visiting him in the first place?

When they hit a wall in the investigation, the FBI reluctantly asks for Rachel’s help in finding the missing influencer. Maddison seems only to 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 Krall 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, the FBI must consider a chilling possibility: Bailey has an accomplice on the outside and a dangerous obsession with influencers, including Rachel Krell herself. Suddenly a 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. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop | Macmillan

Review | Dark Corners

The opening chapters to Dark Corners start with a fascinating twist. Podcaster Rachel Krall is called in by the FBI to interview a man who is set to be released from prison. At first, Rachel is confused why they are asking for her help, but it soon becomes clear that Terence Bailey has a lot more to him than the breaking and entering charge that locked him up. Law enforcement suspects him of murdering at least six people. Even more troubling, days before his release he was visited by a popular social media influencer, Madison Logan.

I won’t spoil it, but there is a reason Rachel was called to assist on a case about two very different people whom she has never heard of. Terence Bailey may be suspected of being a serial killer, but he was never convicted making him less known outside of his geographic region. Madison Logan had inexplicably visited him just before her disappearance. Meanwhile there are few people who are less interested in influencer culture than Rachel Krall. Despite hosting one of the most popular true crime podcasts out there, Rachel has carefully scrubbed her face from the public eye after her last case sent floods of convicted prisoners her way hoping for her to cover their case. She hasn’t heard of Madison Logan before, so why is she being asked to talk to the FBI?

The more Rachel looks into the missing Madison Logan, the stranger the young influencer seems. Despite having a huge following, beauty, and charisma, Madison seems to not exist outside of her social media account. Her content contains no photos of her with family, friends, or a significant other.

One aspect of the book that I enjoyed was learning more about the influencer culture, as Rachel Krall goes “undercover” at BuzzCon. Rachel uses a fake influencer account called @runninggirlrachel to be present at these necessary events without disclosing her true identity and opening herself up to unwanted attention or safety concerns. The world of BuzzCon exposes the dark side of influencer culture, where competing with others for opportunities and followers is thinly veiled by joining exclusive pods of influencers to promote one another.

After learning about the request for her to speak with Terence Bailey, it’s clear Rachel is in danger, especially if her identity is revealed. The events of the mystery unfold rapidly, and each new twist and turn heightened the tension. These are two seemingly separate cases that are linked due to the visit at the prison, but no one can find a link between Madison and Terence.

I enjoyed this psychological thriller even more than I enjoyed The Night Swim. Each book works as a standalone, and there is very little linking the two other than the main character Rachel Krall (and of course, the global spotlight she gained through her work covering the case in the prior book). Readers can easily read the books in either order.

I loved the mixed-media format of the book. The podcast episodes intersperse between the main events of the novel. If you do the audio format of this book, the podcast episodes enhance the story by using different sound techniques and voices for the characters. Rachel is highly detailed and talented at her job. Rachel is professional, empathetic, and sharp. There is a mystery narrator who becomes more relevant as the book goes on. A small romance subplot definitely will please those who are always rooting for love!

Thank you to St Martins Press for my copy. Opinions are my own.

Other Books to Check Out

If you liked Dark Corners, you may want to try Megan Goldin’s other books. My favorite book of hers is The Escape Room, where four colleagues at a prestigious finance firm enter and elevator to find a chilling message and now obvious means to escape. They all have secrets and it soon becomes clear someone knows them. Stay Awake features a woman who has awoken in the back of a taxi driving her home, only for her to realize that years have passed and someone else lives in her home. A chilling message scrolled on her body reminds her to stay awake and try to find out what happened the past two years. The first Rachel Krall book, The Night Swim, takes podcaster Rachel Krall to the small town of Neopolis where the town’s golden boy has been accused to assaulting the granddaughter of the police chief. While Rachel is there to cover the trial, mysterious notes are left for her encouraging her to look into the cold case of a murdered girl in the very same town.

If you like Megan Goldin, you’re certain to like writing duo Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. Check out You Are Not Alone, where a woman witnesses a shocking event, inexplicably intertwining her life with the lives of two charismatic sisters. You might also like Kate White’s mystery and suspense novels, such as The Second Husband. In this book, a woman has worked hard to rebuild her life after the death of her first husband, but her new marriage is threatened when a detective shows up reopening the case surrounding her late husband. You will be thinking about how well you really know the people in your life…

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. She is the author of The Escape Room, The Night Swim, and Stay Awake.