Good books not only present thrilling plots and relatable characters, they also provide readers with something additional to consider. Novels like Megan Goldin's DARK CORNERS shine a light on the fake world of social media while engrossing us in a desperate attempt to stop a serial killer before he can strike again.

Many of you met true-crime podcaster Rachel Krall in THE NIGHT SWIM. But if you don't remember the book or haven't read it, no worries. There are references here to Rachel's past successes, but there is absolutely nothing that is missing for newcomers. In this gripping novel, Rachel is asked to fly to Daytona Beach to meet a prisoner who is suspected of being a serial killer. One of the FBI agents who would like her to drop everything and do this is Joe Martinez, and they carefully provide just enough information to hook her as they reel her in. Rachel and Joe meet at the prison, where he tells her more.

"Goldin is a master puppeteer as she presents false flags and red herrings galore.... Read DARK CORNERS for the wonderful plot, relatable characters and suspenseful twists."

At the same time, there's a conference in town for social media influencers called BuzzCon. One of them, Maddison Logan, is nowhere to be found. Just before her disappearance, she had visited one of the inmates at the prison, Terence Bailey, who was convicted of burglary but also suspected of several murders. He is due to be released shortly. The FBI and Rachel know that if a kidnapped person isn't found in the first few days, her chances of being killed are far greater, so there’s an urgency to their actions.

Goldin is a master puppeteer as she presents false flags and red herrings galore. But each one serves to illustrate something important in this very clever mystery. At the heart of the story is what social media influencers will do to get their audience and keep them. By using the conference as a setting, Goldin is able to show how these influencers (or "content creators," as she says they prefer to be called) get those perfect shots and stunning videos. Suffice to say, those beautiful posts are not candid but rather carefully curated and meticulously planned both pre- and post-filming.

While the lifestyle of an influencer may seem to be simply amazing, there's a lot of work that goes into what they do. And there's the real fear that any negative press or responses might cause a loss of followers, which, in turn, will lead to a loss of income. And really, who knew that some of the most followed influencers make a LOT of money? Enough to support a very lavish lifestyle. But it's all fake --- the professional photographers, the retakes, the planning. One photographer/boyfriend of an influencer complains to Rachel that he hasn't eaten a hot meal in years.

Rachel attends BuzzCon to find out what she can about Maddison, and it's through her perspective that we see the tin foil reality of the glittery diamond posts on social media. Using an old account that isn't connected to her current persona as the podcaster, she wants people at the conference to open up to her, which they might not do if they think she's investigating.

The story is told in three parts. There's the narrative with Rachel and her investigation; chapters that are cleverly written based on the transcript from Rachel's podcast as she shares what she's collected in a surprisingly informative and emotional format; and shorter chapters that center on Thomas McCoy. We aren't sure who this man is, and we don't know where he fits into this whole mystery. But he's certainly an unpleasant character, to say the least.

Goldin keeps the suspense at peak tension as we grapple with the question of serial killers (are there one or two?); missing and wanna-be influencers; and mothers grieving over their missing daughters. That's still another important theme in this expertly plotted novel --- the families of the missing. At one point, Rachel comments, "We're so desensitized to evil...that we forget about the victims. Not just those they kill, but those they leave behind." Goldin also points out the missing white woman syndrome as she demonstrates that it's a real thing: "When a young middle-class or upper-class white female went missing, it was front-page news. That wasn't the case when the missing woman was a person of color, or poor. It also wasn't the same for missing boys and men. Those missing people didn't capture the imagination of the public or the media in the way that a missing blond-haired white girl from an affluent family did." Ain't that the truth?

Read DARK CORNERS for the wonderful plot, relatable characters and suspenseful twists. Think about the issues that are presented in these pages regarding social media and the expectations that all the perfect posts create. Consider the fact that when people of color, foster kids or children of low "status" go missing, the police wait before investigating --- often with tragic results, as Goldin so ably points out. I plan to keep this book for use in future book clubs because I think so many of the topics that are addressed are real and important, and therefore must be discussed and considered. Doing so while reading this exceptional thriller is the delicious icing on the cake.