Last summer, I received an ARC of Megan Goldin's second psychological thriller novel The Escape Room, but unfortunately, despite my best intentions, I never found time to read and review it. I was still feeling bad about that, so a few months ago, when I was offered an ARC of Goldin's latest book The Night Swim, I snatched it up and made absolutely sure that I would get to it this time around. Now after having read the book, I'm so glad I prioritized this one because it was actually really good! I've heard people say that Goldin's books are "unputdownable" and while I can't speak for her previous 2 thrillers, since I haven't read them, I CAN say that for The Night Swim, that is definitely a true statement – as soon as I started reading, I found that I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.
Not wanting to give too much away, I will be brief with the premise: Riding off the popularity of her true crime podcast's first 2 seasons, Rachel Krall is under a lot of pressure to make season 3 of her program Guilty or Not Guilty a success. She decides to do things differently this time around and cover a rape trial in the small town of Neapolis, North Carolina as it plays out in court, in essence putting her listeners in the jury box along with the real-life jurors who will decide the case. At the center of the trial is 19-year-old Scott Blair, the town's golden boy athlete and Olympic hopeful, who has been accused of raping high school student Kelly Moore, the granddaughter of the town's long-time police chief. As Rachel arrives in Neapolis to prepare for the trial, she starts to receive mysterious letters from a woman named Hannah Stills, who wants Rachel to help her find out the truth about the death of her sister Jenny Stills. Twenty-five years ago, at the age of 16, Jenny tragically drowned in the waters of Morrison Point in Neapolis – at least that's the official version of the story – but in her letters, Hannah insists that her sister was actually murdered. Despite being busy with the trial, Rachel's curiosity is piqued, and figuring that this is a small town where everyone pretty much knows everyone, she decides to utilize the little bit of free time in between attending court sessions and recording her podcast to ask around with the townsfolk about Jenny. What Rachel doesn't bargain for is that, in a town where everyone seems to have an opinion on the Blair trial (to the point where the town is being torn apart by the divisiveness over people's support for Kelly versus Scott), when it comes to Jenny Stills' case, there's a hesitance among those who were around during that time and no one seems to want to answer any questions. As Rachel starts to dig deeper, she discovers surprising connections between the 2 cases – connections that could impact the trial as well as upend the lives of everyone involved.
One of the things that makes this story unique is its structure – alternating between podcast episodes, courtroom scenes, Hannah's letters recounting the events of 25 years ago, and Rachel's perspective in present time, we get a well-rounded narrative that pretty much covers all the bases. For me, this structure worked really well, as there was a good balance between getting to know / feel for the characters and driving the plot forward in a well-paced manner – this is important because a lot of times with this genre (mystery / thriller /suspense), the focus is more on the plot rather than on character development, so for this one to balance both is great to see. From a suspense perspective though, I did feel that this was a bit lacking, as there weren't any shocking twists or turns that left me feeling stunned or blown away – in fact, I actually figured everything out very early on (there were some clues that were fairly obvious in my opinion), but that's okay, since the story itself was compelling enough that it kept me wanting to turn the pages to find out if my theories were correct.
Another thing that made this stand out from other thrillers for me is the fact that there was a certain amount of depth to the story that I wasn't expecting. Both of the cases (Jenny's case in the past and Kelly's in the present) in the story involve a thought-provoking exploration of our country's criminal justice system and our attitudes as a society towards victims of rape and assault. Goldin did a great job of transferring real-life experiences to the page and, albeit indirectly, forcing us as readers to not only reflect upon the same issues that plague our own society, but also what our own roles are in perpetuating those issues. To this point, some of the courtroom scenes actually made me angry, as I was thinking how certain characters could so blatantly distort facts to suit a particular argument and get away with it – but then I remember this is what happens all the time in real life. Stories like this one -- that put a spotlight on the not-always-pleasant realities of life and also of society, that challenge us to think and reflect and question society's reasoning for believing what we do – are so relevant and necessary right now, especially in light of the reckoning our country is currently going through on so many fronts. In this regard, the chapters with the podcast episodes were particularly well done and, without a doubt, the most powerful parts of the story.
I definitely recommend this book -- especially for those who prefer a thriller / suspense read with substance -- but with the caveat that parts of this story will be frustrating and maybe even upsetting. Fair warning that this will be a difficult read majority of the time, but absolutely worthwhile and necessary!
Received ARC from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley.
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