Book Review: The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

Wow. Just, wow. This was an unbelievably all-too-believable book that was so well-presented and emotionally charged that I couldn’t put it down… I was on vacation when I started reading. I had read The Escape Room and liked it as a fairly easy thriller – interesting and well-paced and a quick, easy read – and figured Goldin’s second would be more of the same. When I started reading, realized it was a book about rape and violence against women, I almost put it down. I didn’t see how it could be another “easy thriller” given the topic. I tend to avoid these as topics, and they certainly aren’t “vacation reads”… But from the opening paragraphs I was completely and utterly drawn into Goldin’s world and simply couldn’t stop reading until I knew what had happened – both to K and to Jenny (and Hannah, of course).

The choice of a true-crime podcaster as the protagonist gave the story an angle that I was less familiar with and I found Rachel to be a totally accessible, believable character who felt like a “regular” person thrust into an extraordinary series of events. It never felt forced, she never acted in ways that felt disingenuous or forced. She was a real person, uncovering unreal details about all too real events and worked beautifully as the source of those revelations. I have been raving about this one to everyone I know, and am exceptionally impressed at the way the author crafted a tight mysterious thriller out of the hot mess that is rape trials and rape investigations. Goldin was sensitive without being melodramatic, and her crisp prose was unflinching without feeling overdone or presented for shock value.

This was a difficult read but an exceptional one and I’m DEFINITELY a member of the Megan Goldin fan club as a result of it!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy. The book releases in the U.S. tomorrow, August 4, 2020.