What to do when you feel a book is fantastic, but you feel that it isn't what it has been marketed to be. See, I wouldn't call it a thriller, or a suspense novel. I would call it a contemporary novel and an incredibly strong one at that.
Let me explain why. The Night Swim is about a very hard-hitting subject. It's about a rape trial in a small town, which is covered by our main protagonist Rachel who has a crime podcast. When she arrives in the town she finds a note on her car from Hannah asking her for her help. Her sister drowned 25 years ago in the same small town, and Hannah believes she was murdered. She wants Rachel's help in uncovering what happened and who has done it.
The story is told from the point-of-view of Rachel, while she investigates both the alleged crime of current times and the one from years ago. It's also told from the point-of-view of the podcast, and Hannah's letters about the past. It's a nice way to mix things up. It also gives the novel a bit of a faster pace.
As I stated in the opening paragraph, I didn't find the novel very mysterious. It did give me goosebumps just like Playing Nice by J.P Delaney last month. The subject matter really made me think. Goldin tackles the subject of the rape trial with confidence, and it shows she has done her research. The horror is in the slow burn and the subject-matter itself. I didn't think that the whole whodunnit added something valuable to the story.
I like that all main characters in the book are likeable, especially Rachel. She's a skilled investigative journalist and it's fun reading the story through her point-of-view. The fact that it takes place in a small town, adds to the drama of the story. People know each other, have opinions about each other and there are always plenty of secrets.
I haven't read Escape Room yet, but I've heard that Goldin also tackles a current subject in that novel. If she has done it as well as in The Night Swim, I will definitely pick it up soon as well.
Many thanks to the publisher Mirror Books and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy!
4 stars
Statistics:
Date read: August 1, 2020
Date published: August 4, 2020
Publisher: Mirror Books
Format: eBook
Pages: 352
Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Horror
My Number of Books Read by this Author: 1
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