Book Review: The Storm

The Storm by Rachel Hawkins

This riveting thriller will be released on Jan 6, 2026 in the United States!

The Storm is an intriguing thriller set in a beautiful, but surprisingly deadly, little town beset by hurricanes in Alabama. This book goes down easy and smooth, like a sweet tea after a long sweaty summer day in the Deep South.

Geneva is the proprietor of Rosalie Inn, a cute pink boutique inn, right on the water, owned by her family for generations. The inn is in danger of closing, her ex is long gone, her mom has dementia, and her life kind of sucks at the moment, so Geneva needs a win. It seems like a Cinderella story, true crime-style, when August Fletcher, magazine journalist, offers to pay a lot of money to stay at the inn while researching the truth behind the years of tabloid headlines about Lo Bailey, who as a teen was accused of murdering the son of an Alabama political titan (after the “love affair” with icky power dynamics).

 Could the inn become true-crime famous and have a renaissance and actually make money? What seems like a good story worthy of a podcast becomes more personal when Lo Bailey comes to stay at the inn too, and as it turns out, she was best friends with Geneva’s mom throughout their childhood. Geneva is desperate to learn more about her mother, who is rarely lucid and suffering from dementia, and Lo seems like a solution to her problems, until she seems like someone Geneva can’t trust.

August is ostensibly helping Lo write her memoir, but as more truths are revealed, the story twists and turns, and August begins writing another book about the crimes committed. But what will happen when a hurricane is bearing down on them once again, stress is high, and truth cannot be denied?

Plot and Themes

The book had interesting twists, in a soap opera way sometimes, but not in a bad way. There were also some themes about female friendship and empowerment and power and corruption in politics and society.

 My Thoughts

I love when someone is writing a book about something that happened before! And they are revisiting the scene of where it happened and someone is probably still lying about something! This premise will always draw me in. Now add a dangerous little small town, an impending hurricane, and finding out the truths about your parents and your past and yes, please, sign me up! I have also enjoyed Rachel Hawkins’ other books and read all of them. Some reviews said that The Storm was not as good as her others, but I disagree. You should check it out!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.