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The air is hot and sultry. And another hurricane is forming in the Caribbean with it's eye on St. Medard's Bay on the Gulf Coast of Alabama. Here's a word to the wise: Not everyone who dies during a hurricane in St. Medard's dies from the storm. Sometimes people are murdered during hurricanes in this tiny beach town.

Written by Rachel Hawkins, this ChickLit murder mystery/psychological thriller/suspenseful soap opera novel (yes, it's quite the genre mish-mash) is a gripping page-turner.

This is the story of Geneva Corliss, a 40-year-old unlucky-in-love woman who has taken over running the Rosalie Inn, a beachfront hotel her family has owned for generations. The inn has an eerie reputation: When hurricanes strike St. Medard's, which they seem to do with great regularity, the Rosalie survives when so many other structures are destroyed.

Worried about the financial impact of so many empty rooms at the Rosalie, Geneva is thrilled when a writer named August Fletcher calls to book two rooms for an indefinite period of time for himself and the subject of a book he is writing. The subject in question is Gloria Bailey, who goes by Lo and grew up in St. Medard's. Lo has quite the reputation. Beautiful and sexy, she had an affair at age 19 with Landon Fitzroy, who was 11 years older and the son of the governor. When he turned up dead in a hurricane in 1985, his injuries were not consistent with a vicious storm—more like a vicious human being. Lo was arrested and tried for murder, but a hung jury resulted in her release. Now she is back, hoping to write her memoir with August and finally set the record straight.

Ah, but nothing is as simple or straightforward as it would seem. Lo has secrets…lots of them. And one by one, she spills them, shocking Geneva and August and making Geneva wonder if Lo returned to St. Medard's not to write a book but to get revenge.

Oh, and guess what? Another hurricane—Hurricane Lizzie—is headed straight to St. Medard's. Who will survive? Who will die? And will anyone be murdered? (And for what it's worth, fairly early on I thought I had figured out Landon Fitzroy's murderer…and I was almost right save for a major twist to it all.)

Rachel Hawkins cleverly and seamlessly tells the story from each character's point of view—some of whom are more reliable and truthful than others—as well as going back and forth in time.

As the temperatures rise and the monster storm approaches, the electrifying plot simmers with tension making this an entertaining and smart summertime novel—even if it does read like a soap opera at times.

Short but gripping psychological thriller taking place on a peninsula off Alabama. Three hurricanes have battered the Rosalind Inn on St. Menhard's Bay, one in which a wealthy playboy, Landon Fitzroy, scion of an old Alabama family, was killed. Returning 40 years later is the alleged murderess, Gloria "Lo" Bailey along with a journalist, August, who is writing her story about the murder. Lots of twits and secrets are revealed. Alternating in time between the present on various points in the past, what happened is slowly revealed. While there are some flaws, it really enjoyed and was engaged with this book. I want to thank NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this book.

THE STORM
By Rachel Hawkins
Narrated by Alex Knox; Cathi Colas; Dan Bittner; Jane Oppenheimer; Patti Murin; Petrea Burchard; Stephanie Németh-Parker

3.5 stars
I combined the ebook with the audiobook for this one, and the full cast narration was a nice touch—the narrators did a fine job bringing the story to life.

In The Storm by Rachel Hawkins, Geneva Corliss, owner of the struggling Rosalie Inn in St. Medard’s Bay, Alabama, is thrilled when a true-crime writer books a long-term stay. But she soon learns he’s brought along Lo Bailey—the woman accused of murdering her lover, political heir Landon Fitzroy, during a 1984 hurricane, in St. Medard’s. Now in 2025, Lo claims she’s back to clear her name, but Geneva can’t help wondering what really brought her to town. As a storm barrels toward St. Medard’s, another is brewing within the town—where the past and present collide in a tangle of secrets and lies.

While the premise was intriguing, I found the pacing a bit slow through the first half, and I kept waiting for something to happen. The second picked up and pulled me in a bit more, but more towards the end. I enjoyed the unreliable characters and the sense of not knowing who to trust. The small coastal town setting and the impending storm added some great atmosphere and anxiety.

It was a good read overall—just was hoping for more. That said, others have loved this one, so definitely check out their reviews too! I’ll still look forward to whatever Rachel Hawkins writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC, and to Macmillan Audio for the ALC.