The Storm: A Novel by Rachel HawkinsPublication Date: January 6, 2026
Pages: 288
Add on: Goodreads
Rating: ★★★★
Source: From the Publisher
Genre: Fiction / Thrillers / Psychological
Publisher: St. Martin's Press / Macmillan
The New York Times bestselling author returns with a thrilling new gothic suspense about 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…
REVIEW
Rachel Hawkins delivers another knockout with The Storm, plunging readers into the tumultuous heart of St. Medard’s Bay, Alabama. Geneva Corliss, proprietor of the weathered Rosalie Inn, finds her quiet life upended when Lo, a woman with a notorious past, arrives to work on her memoir. As a hurricane barrels toward the coast, old secrets swirl to the surface, forcing Geneva to confront not just Lo’s dark history, but her own.
Hawkins turns the Gulf Coast itself into a living, breathing character, using the threat of a hurricane to ratchet up the tension. The story moves between Geneva’s present-day panic and flashes of Lo’s shadowy past, weaving a suspenseful tapestry that never loosens its grip.
What sets The Storm apart is its unflinching look at the damage secrets and family legacies can inflict. The characters are messy, deeply human, and often toe the line between right and wrong. Hawkins also draws sharp parallels between the devastation outside and the turmoil within, grounding her suspense in real emotional stakes.
Fast-paced and atmospheric, this novel keeps you guessing, with the Rosalie Inn and its storm-battered town lingering in the mind long after the last page. Some readers might find the shifting timelines a little jarring, and a few threads are left untied, but these are minor squalls in an otherwise riveting read.
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
