The Storm

• Author: Rachel Hawkins
• Genre: Mystery
• Publication Date: January 6, 2026
• Publisher: St. Martin’s Press/Macmillan Audio

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an ARC of this ebook and audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

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…

I’ve been a huge fan of Hawkins’ books since I read my first one, and I was eagerly anticipating this one. I always find it fascinating to read books involving or set during natural disasters, whether fiction or non, and hurricanes are something I am familiar with. I’ve spent just about my entire life living on Long Island, and we’re right in the path of the hurricanes when they come up the East Coast. I have vivid memories of my first hurricane, ironically named … Hurricane Gloria, and my area was right in the path of both Hurricane Irene and Superstorm Sandy. So reading about a town that is specifically known for regular, hard-hitting hurricanes made me curious. What would make someone want to live in a place where damaging hurricanes are a regular occurrence?

That isn’t quite what the story was about, but it did involve the weird ability of some towns to have an almost magnetic pull on the people who grew up there. No matter what they do and where they go, something always brings them back. In books, it is usually unfinished business, and this is no exception. Geneva came back to St. Medard’s Bay to run the Rosalie Inn, a local fixture that has weathered all the previous storms. She inherited the inn after her mother was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease. As a result, we don’t get to know much about Geneva’s mother—she barely responds to attempts at interaction any longer, and I got the feeling that while they had a pretty good relationship, it wasn’t a close one. This leaves a lot of blanks in Geneva’s knowledge about her mother, and the only way to answer some of her questions is to rely on the people who knew her mother personally. 

St. Menard’s Bay in summer at the height of hurricane season, set in a floundering inn makes for a very atmospheric setting. The oppressive heat of a town right on the Alabama beach was so thick I could practically feel it, and it is freezing where I am right now. Additionally, with the threat of an impending hurricane, I can attest to that strange, tense, strain that is in the air. Everyone is hoping for the best and preparing for the worst, and that only added to the suspense of the novel. I had so many questions that arose while I was reading the early part, and I’m really glad to report that this is one of those immensely satisfying books that answered all of my questions. 

At the heart of the story is Gloria “Lo” Bailey, a stunningly beautiful young woman who grew up in St. Medard’s Bay, and her torrid relationship with a married, older man named Landon. Landon is a character that we only know of after he has passed, but we do get to see him in the eyes of several people and in the context of their relationships with him. He is the son of the state governor, and has spent his entire life preparing for a future in politics. Unfortunately, that future is cut short during Hurricane Marie in 1984.

I found it really interesting how the story was told. Rather than sticking to just a typical storytelling structure, there are inclusions of flashbacks, memoir and book excerpts, and even news articles. While it gave a more rounded picture of what happened, it felt as though these could have been integrated better into the storyline—instead, we are shuffled back and forth from 1984 to 2025, and these other excerpts seem to break up the chapters. Reading this as an e-ARC made it easier to remind myself who was telling the story, although I did get approved for the audiobook when I was close enough to the end that it was a total lifesaver, so I could finish the book without sacrificing my chores. I did like the narration, especially since it was narrated by a full cast. That obviously makes it a lot easier to keep track of who is narrating and which timeline they are in, and to differentiate between the narrators. One thing I found especially frustrating is that some of the chapter titles just list a specific storm name and then start in on an excerpt of the story-within-a-story, or a flashback, and it can be really difficult to figure out whose perspective the chapter is being told from. 

Ultimately, I found myself empathizing with Geneva the most, but also finding Lo to be a curious mixture of brash and off-putting while simultaneously alluring, much like almost everyone else who meets Lo. The pacing was fast and always had me excited to read more, with tight plotting even if things felt a tiny bit over the top on some of the plot twists. But it came across as somehow fitting with the overall vibe of the story and I didn’t mind extending a little more willing suspension of disbelief. While this wasn’t my favorite Hawkins book, it was still a good read. Full of complex and intriguing characters, unpredictable plot twists, an atmospheric setting, and a potential hurricane looming in the near future, I couldn’t put it down, and would probably choose to read it completely as an audiobook so that I could fully benefit from the full cast narration.

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