ARC Review: The Storm by Rachel Hawkins

The Storm
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Publication: St. Martin's Press (January 6, 2026)

Description: New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins is back with a thrilling new gothic suspense set in a Gulf Coast beach motel where hurricane season can be murder.

St. Medard’s Bay, Alabama is famous for three things: the deadly hurricanes that regularly sweep into town, the Rosalie Inn, a century-old hotel that’s survived every one of those storms, and Lo Bailey, the local girl infamously accused of the murder of her lover, political scion Landon Fitzroy, during Hurricane Marie in 1984.

When Geneva Corliss, the current owner of the Rosalie Inn, hears a writer is coming to town to research the crime that put St. Medard’s Bay on the map, she’s less interested in solving a whodunnit than in how a successful true crime book might help the struggling inn’s bottom line. But to her surprise, August Fletcher doesn’t come to St. Medard’s Bay alone. With him is none other than Lo Bailey herself. Lo says she’s returned to her hometown to clear her name once and for all, but the closer Geneva gets to both Lo and August, the more she wonders if Lo is actually back to settle old scores.

As the summer heats up and another monster storm begins twisting its way towards St. Medard’s Bay, Geneva learns that some people can be just as destructive―and as deadly―as any hurricane, and that the truth of what happened to Landon Fitzroy may not be the only secret Lo is keeping…

My Thoughts: This suspense novel was a compelling read. Composed of excerpts from books, magazines, tabloids, and other sources, the story of what happened in 1984 in St. Medard's Bay, Alabama, when Hurricane Marie whipped threw and left Landon, the scion of the wealthy Fitzoy, dead. 

Pressure from the governor who happened to be Landon's father caused Landon's local lover Lo Bailey to be accused and tried for his murder. There was a hung jury but that didn't mean the Lo wasn't convicted by the court of public opinion. 

Now, it is 2025 and Lo has come back to St. Medard's Bay to stay at the Rosalie Inn along with the man who is writing the book about what happened all those years ago. Geneva Corlis is the current owner of the inn. Her mother who was one of Lo's best friends suffers from early-onset Alzheimer's and is in a nursing home. 

Geneva is struggling to hold on to the inn. Every guest is a blessing and will help with her maxed out credit cards. A writer who wants to stay for at least a month and is willing to pay double her normal rates seems like a gift from heaven. 

Flashbacks fill in the reader on what happened in the past and Geneva learns all sorts of family secrets through the course of the story. And a new hurricane has St. Medard's Bay in its sights just as the most damning secrets are set to be revealed. 

This was a twisty story the was the ultimate page-turner. I couldn't put it down.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.