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I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer
Resumen
Introduction by Gillian Flynn
Afterword by Patton Oswalt
A masterful true crime account of the Golden State Killer—the elusive serial rapist turned murderer who terrorized California for over a decade—from Michelle McNamara, the gifted journalist who died tragically while investigating the case.
"You'll be silent forever, and I'll be gone in the dark."
For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area.
Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called "the Golden State Killer." Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was.
At the time of the crimes, the Golden State Killer was between the ages of eighteen and thirty, Caucasian, and athletic—capable of vaulting tall fences. He always wore a mask. After choosing a victim—he favored suburban couples—he often entered their home when no one was there, studying family pictures, mastering the layout. He attacked while they slept, using a flashlight to awaken and blind them. Though they could not recognize him, his victims recalled his voice: a guttural whisper through clenched teeth, abrupt and threatening.
I'll Be Gone in the Dark—the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden death—offers an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind. It is also a portrait of a woman's obsession and her unflagging pursuit of the truth. Framed by an introduction by Gillian Flynn and an afterword by her husband, Patton Oswalt, the book was completed by Michelle's lead researcher and a close colleague. Utterly original and compelling, it is destined to become a true crime classic—and may at last unmask the Golden State Killer.
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Michelle McNamara spent years looking at evidence to uncover a rapist and murderer active in the 1970s and 1980s in California. She worked with police, other true crime obsessives, victims, and others to collect and sift through the massive amount of evidence available. The suspect was originally called the East Area Rapist. As DNA technology improved the EAR was tied to rapes and murders in southern California. Michelle named him the Golden State Killer.Michelle was still researching, compiling, and writing this book when she died unexpectedly in 2016. Her husband, Patton Oswald, and editors finished this book and it was published in early 2018.By this time DNA sharing sites were popular in researching genealogy and the police were able to use a distant relative to arrest Joseph James DeAngelo, the Golden State Killer in April 2018.The account of Michelle's work and the killers' crimes are detailed, interesting and compassionate. It is not over-sensationalized. Details are for understanding the crime and not for shock value. It is well written and the reader has a great audio-book voice.
The determination to find the Golden State Killer by an amateur detective shows what doggedly following leads can do. Interesting and amazing how much one woman was able to accomplish
Michelle McNamara’s writing style is compulsively readable. I read this book in a little more than 24 hours, putting it down only to sleep, eat, and walk my dog. Understandably, though, the book feels incomplete. Michelle died before she was able to finish the book. Her research assistant and editors did their best to fill in the blanks and wrap things up, but one can’t help but think this good, detailed, readable book would have been exceptional if she had been able to finish it herself. There’s also the fact that this is still an unsolved series of violent crimes, and for someone more accustomed to fiction, a dark book where Evil walks free is unsettling, disturbing, and unsatisfying. I hope that someday these crimes are finally solved and the Golden State Killer is finally unmasked. That would be a fitting tribute to not only the victims, but also Michelle. She obviously poured heart and soul into researching these crimes. She handled the details of the victims with grace and kindness, and gave the detectives and criminalists their due as well. Were mistakes made in the initial investigations? Undoubtedly. But Michelle never blasts law enforcement, and instead shows great respect for them.
Surely an instant true crime classic, not least for what followed its publication. It’s a grippingly told story about a truly terrifying killer, but the biggest twist comes after the final page - as a suspect was finally arrested months later, using the very techniques detailed in the book
This was a really interesting book. It's about a woman's obsession with the EAR/Golden State Killer and helping as much as she can to solve the case. (The case was solved last year, sadly after she died). Very detailed book about the murders/rapes and the path the suspect took throughout California. Ending was very sad (Kudos Patton for a great ending and writing).
I'll be gone in the dark is a good but disturbing read. I thought Michelle McNamara did a great job of showing how horrible the crimes committed really were. I enjoyed learning about her journey leading to her obession with catching this person. Unfortunately, she passed away without completely finishing this book, however it was completed with the help of people who had worked with her. I thought overall it was a very good and informative book
A good, encompassing book detailing one women's efforts to catch a predator who eluded police. The killer is depicted as a type of Jack the Ripper who was, after the great efforts, apprehended. The study is detailed, but the specifics sometimes went over my head. Nevertheless, this was an entertaining and informative read that spanned much of a timeline and was satisfying- as you root for McNamara, despite the odds, throughout the entire process. Due diligence is taken as well as a high degree of respect and consideration for the victims of these awful, horrendous incidents. 3.75- worth reading.
Really very good and much better than it had a right to be as the author left us before putting her finishing touches on it. Everyone did a truly remarkable job in making the author's voice resonate throughout. I truly loved the sections of memoir and the honesty of McNamara in describing her passion for this topic. Normally, I'm not sure that I would have liked the insinuation of the author's life into the narrative, but she made it seem so completely natural and seamless that it worked. I really knew virtually nothing about this case so it was all new to me. McNamara conveyed the mood without going into a lot of graphic detail. I will honestly say that it spooked me more than a little as I sat at home alone reading of this monster's crimes. Her respect and admiration for all of the investigators who had spent huge chunks of their lives toward solving those crimes is evident and that made me respect and admire her. I really wish that she had been able to finish the book because I think the reader would have been rewarded with a narrative that was thematically more nuanced and cohesive.
This book was well-written "true crime" reporting; and the reader was pulled in to the often-gruesome details. Reading this book was like driving bay a car accident..."gawking" because you can't look away! This book was something different! Good stimulating reading!
While perusing the New York Public Library's Winter 2018 Staff Picks (an excellent recommendations list by the way) I came across I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara. Since I have somewhat of an interest in true crime and especially serial killers (see my archive for the evidence) this seemed a natural choice for me. McNamara (who sadly passed away before completion of the book) covers the history of the Golden State Killer back to his beginning when he was still referred to as the Visalia Ransacker before upping his game to become the East Area Rapist. (Michelle actually gave him the moniker of the Golden State Killer.) He began as a peeping tom before graduating into a burglar, rapist, and then finally a serial murderer. His reign of terror in California where he committed more than 120 burglaries, 50 rapes, and 13 murders spanned about a decade from the late 70s into the mid-80s before abruptly stopping. His crimes crossed jurisdictions and so for many years police did not know that all of these crimes were the work of one single man...a man that at the time of this book's publication was still not identified. McNamara talks about her obsession with true crime and specifically with this man who she often referred to as her 'white whale'. She cultivated relationships with other true crime aficionados through online forums (and her blog) but also developed close working friendships with detectives both past and present who had worked on the case. By assembling all of the available evidence (of which there was an abundance) she began to comb through it hoping that she would see something that would help them find the man who many believed had either died or been imprisoned on unrelated charges. Although there was ample evidence including DNA there was no match in any database so detectives routinely fed his DNA markers into genealogy websites hoping for a match...and shortly after McNamara's book was published they found one. This book is as much a true crime novel about an unidentified killer as it is the memoir of the woman who devoted so much of her time to investigating his crimes. If you like watching shows like Cold Case or really anything on the I.D. channel you'll feel right at home with I'll Be Gone in the Dark. 8/10
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara was unfortunately published posthumously as the author died suddenly in 2016. True Crime readers would likely know of McNamara from both her website TrueCrime Dictionary and her published magazine articles, many of which were about the Golden State Killer.The Golden State Killer was a serial killer, rapist and burglar who committed at least 13 murders, more than 50 rapes and over 100 burglaries in the state of California from 1974 to 1986. The name Golden State Killer was coined by the author to describe this monster who, before the use of DNA profiling and identification was thought to be more than one person. Many of his crimes were linked in the early 1980’s when DNA profiling was used. In fact DNA evidence was finally the nail in the coffin for Joseph James DeAngelo. The Golden State Killer was apprehended in 2018, unfortunately after the author’s death and he is currently being processed through the courts. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark was written and published before the perpetrator was known and so deals more with the actual crimes and how the victims were affected.I’ll Be Gone in the Dark is both informative and chilling. This book consists of very dark subject matter and the author makes every effort not to dwell on the horror or sensationalize the crimes in any way. She delivers the information in an honest and straight forward manner and includes information on how the investigations developed and how they all so often lead to a dead end. At the time of her death the book was still unfinished and consisted of legal pads full of notes and files of related research. People closest to the author helped put the book together which explains to me why the book felt a little disjointed at times. Nevertheless, this is an excellent true crime story by an author that was totally dedicated to this project.
Somehow this book was both a memoir of the author and a true crime story. The writer’s voice is so vulnerable and human in contrast to the awful crimes she researched. The author passed before the book was completed and the parts that others put together to finish it are a bit jolting from the author’s own style but in its way that makes the reader feel her abrupt absence as well.
Listened to this on audio. McNamara was a true crime blogger/writer who became obsessed with a series of violent rapes and murders in the 70's. The crimes started in the Sacramento area and the suspect was dubbed the East Area Rapist (or EAR). He later moved south to Santa Barbara, other points south until he got to Irvine. He was also dubbed the Original Night Stalker (or ONS). Then in the late 80's his activity stopped.McNamara heard about these crimes in the mid-2010's and became obsessed with solving the case. She worked with the various police departments, compiling thousands of pages of interviews and boxes of evidence. This became the basis for this book. Unfortunately, she passed away before it was finished, and her husband Patton Oswalt tasked her researcher and a journalist friend to complete this opus.It is a very excellent read, recreating/revisiting the crimes as well as discussing her point of view and history and how she came to want to work on this subject. The introduction was read by Gillian Flynn, the book proper is read by Gabra Zackman, and Patton reads the afterword.Recommend.8/10 S: 1/18/19 - 1/26/19 (9 Days)
This was rated as one of the best true crime books of 2018, and that is why I picked it up.
Unfortunately, I was rather disappointed despite the glowing introduction by Gillian Flynn. Michelle McNamara apparently spent much of her life searching for this particular killer who was first a rapist and then escalated to murder. He was known by three different names, and ultimately apprehended after McNamara's untimely death. I think that is what caused the hype about the book.
The style of writing is very interesting and well-paced in places, and then there are endless pages of what feels like unrelated biographical details about the author herself. The timeline swings back and forth and I had a headache about quarter way through the book!
I realise this was published posthumously, edited by someone else who has obviously tried to do the author justice. I am sure if she had been alive at publication this would have been a different book.
I would love to read a proper account of this killer who evaded justice for so long.
Unfortunately, I was rather disappointed despite the glowing introduction by Gillian Flynn. Michelle McNamara apparently spent much of her life searching for this particular killer who was first a rapist and then escalated to murder. He was known by three different names, and ultimately apprehended after McNamara's untimely death. I think that is what caused the hype about the book.
The style of writing is very interesting and well-paced in places, and then there are endless pages of what feels like unrelated biographical details about the author herself. The timeline swings back and forth and I had a headache about quarter way through the book!
I realise this was published posthumously, edited by someone else who has obviously tried to do the author justice. I am sure if she had been alive at publication this would have been a different book.
I would love to read a proper account of this killer who evaded justice for so long.
All of the praise I have heard for this book is completely warranted. Very well written, even with the piecing together done after the author’s death, and absolutely riveting. So much information, but presented in such a way that it’s not dry at all... just terrifying. The epilogue gave me chills.
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark—the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden death—offers an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind. It is also a portrait of a woman’s obsession and her unflagging pursuit of the truth. Utterly original and compelling, it has been hailed as a modern true crime classic—one which fulfilled Michelle’s dream: helping unmask the Golden State Killer.I’ll Be Gone in the Dark is the true story of the Golden State Killer, also known as the East Area Rapist. He terrorized California, committing at least 13 murders, more than 50 rapes, and over 100 burglaries in from 1974 to 1986. Author Michelle McNamara believed she was coming close to discovering the Golden State Killer’s identity when she unfortunately passed away. She did not complete I’ll Be Gone in the Dark but her husband, Patton Oswald, decided to publish it anyway. He and her researchers pieced together the gaps in her writing. Any time they have done this, it’s explained in the text at the point where it occurs.Coincidentally, the Golden State Killer was caught shortly after this book was published, which is one of the main reasons I wanted to read it. It’s a lot more satisfying to read true crime if the crime has been solved! I found this book to be a little disjointed and confusing. However, that’s understandable considering it’s basically unfinished. Michelle worked on this book for years and it’s amazingly well-researched. She was allowed to take boxes upon boxes of police files home to look at and she analyzed them all thoroughly. She also performed several interviews with people involved with the case.The Golden State Killer’s capture is bittersweet. Of course it’s fantastic that he was caught but it’s sad the Michelle wasn’t alive to see it. She was, in her own words, obsessed with this case. At the end of the book is a letter to the Golden State Killer from Michelle about what she thinks will happen when he is captured that is eerily close to the truth.Fans of true crime and those curious about the Golden State Killer should definitely check out I’ll Be Gone in the Dark.
Rating 3.5I liked reading about Michelle McNamara's obsession with the Golden State Killer. I had never heard much about this serial killer/rapist until McNamara's sudden death and subsequent publishing of this book. So everything mentioned in here was completely new to me. The only reason that this didn't get a 4 star from me is that I could tell it was unfinished and not what McNamara would have published if she hadn't died so suddenly. I do wish that she had been able to see the capture of the suspect in the killings and that we could have gotten her opinion on the suspect and if he fit her profile of the killer
If she'd been able to finish it, this would have been amazing. They did a sound job filling in the gaps.
It’s a shame she passed away before a) she could finish the book and b) they caught the killer. The parts that she wrote were vivid and engaging, but all I could feel from the parts her co-author was a sad wistfulness that she wasn’t there to fully realize her vision.
I woke up on April 25th to a story I never thought, but I had long hoped, to see: there was an arrest in the Golden State Killer case. The Golden State Killer (GSK), aka The East Area Rapist (EARS) or The Original Night Stalker (ONS), was suspected of fifty rapes, a dozen murders, and more than 100 burglaries, all committed in California over the course of a few decades, and it was long thought that he wouldn’t be caught. As a huge true crime fan, I knew this case fairly well, thanks two big factors. The first was the podcast “My Favorite Murder”, and that led to the second: the book “I’ll Be Gone In The Dark” by Michelle McNamara. McNamara was a true crime writer with the blog “True Crime Diary”, and had been doggedly pursuing The Golden State Killer (a phrase she created) at the time of her tragic death in 2016. Earlier this year “I’ll Be Gone In The Dark” was released, in part to Bill Jensen, a co-investigator and investigative journalist in his own right. So when an arrest was made, the news spread like wildfire, and while the police were reluctant to give McNamara any credit outside of raising awareness, many think that that very awareness (starting with her blog and various articles she wrote) was vital to putting pressure on, which in turn led to an arrest. I read “I’ll Be Gone In The Dark” before Joseph DeAngelo, a former police officer and seventy two year old man, was arrested for the crimes. But now that he has been, I want to shine a light on this great book, especially since the story has finally found some closure.What stands out immediately about this book is how personal it is. While McNamara herself didn’t know anyone who was hurt or killed by GSK/EAR/ONS, an unsolved murder of a childhood neighbor always stuck with her throughout her life. As she started to learn about The Golden State Killer, she began to feel a deep sense of injustice for the victims that he left behind, and started to investigate it herself. She made connections with investigators, she dove into online groups of fellow armchair investigators, she visited locations and dug through box after box of evidence. Her almost obsessive commitment to this case is juxtaposed with the crimes themselves, and the horror that GSK/EAR/ONS brought upon his victims. But she is always sure to be respectful, and to keep the details vague enough to be respectful, but precise enough to paint a picture of just how awful these crimes were. She gives voice and context for the people that GSK/EAR/ONS raped or murdered, and always puts them at the forefront and the fact that justice eluded them and those they left behind for so long. In many true crime books (with a few exceptions, of course, like Ann Rule) the focus is primarily on the murderer, and the victims merely objects in a salacious story. But with McNamara, she wants the reader to know the victims and makes their voices the most important ones. Would this be different had DeAngelo been identified at publishing? Possibly. But I do get the sense that for McNamara, the identity was only important for justice purposes; this wouldn’t have been a story to give him any glory or to make his crimes entertainment.As you read, McNamara instills actual terror into you. I had to stop reading this book after dark, because any noise and anything out of place sent me into a paranoid spiral. Her writing is that immersive, pulling you in and keeping you engaged. She also makes herself vulnerable by being fully aware and honest with her own obsession, and the toll that it takes on her life and her own mental health. Unlike the book that Robert Graysmith wrote about The Zodiac Killer, McNamara knew that she was treading towards obsession, and that it was deeply affecting her life. The sad fact of the matter is that when Michelle died unexpectedly in her sleep, she could have been seen as, in a way, GSK/EAR/ONS ‘s last victim. She had been having trouble sleeping, and her husband (comedian Patton Oswalt) had suggested she take some Xanax and just sleep until she woke up. And she didn’t wake up, because of an undiagnosed heart condition in tandem to the Xanax and other prescriptions. The tragedy of her death lingers on the page, as there are sections with editor’s notes that explain that they were originally unfinished, or that they were pieced together by her notes or previous articles. It’s so great to see that this book and story she was so dedicated to was finished by people close to her, but the loss is still palpable.So how does the new information about John DeAngelo affect this book? If anything, it makes it more poignant, and it certainly doesn’t diminish it. I say this because of a specific moment in the epilogue, entitled “A Letter To An Old Man”. It’s a final moment that is essentially a letter from Michelle to GSK/EAR/ONS, and it works as a powerful cap off to a wonderful book. The final paragraph is all the more powerful now. I’m going to quote part of it here to show you what I mean, a quote that’s made the rounds on social media a lot in the days after DeAngelo’s capture.“The doorbell rings. No side gates are left open. You’re long past leaping over a fence. Take one of your hyper, gulping breaths. Clench your teeth. Inch timidly towards the insistent bell. This is how it ends for you. ‘You’ll be silent forever, and I’ll be gone in the dark,’ you threatened a victim, once. Open the door. Show us your face. Walk into the light.”And as Patton Oswalt and many others have pointed out, this is exactly what happened on April 25th, 2018.“I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” is a stunning true crime book and an opus for a voice that left us far too soon. It will surely be considered one of the greats of the genre in the years to come, and Michelle McNamara will be remembered for all the good that she did in her help to bringing closure to the victims of a horrible monster. But it’s also just well written book about confronting darkness in life and in ourselves, and how to battle it as best we can.
This book is exceptional. The way Michelle NcNamara was able to run through all the gruesome facts of each attack by the Golden State Killer was captivating. She did a great job of toeing the line of making the readers understand how gruesome and terrible the attacks were but not being overly detailed making it impossible to read. I liked how each part had a clear path showing the different phases of her investigation into who the GSK was. I thought it was a little disjointed jumping from her writing to someone else's. You could easily tell it was not her writing, but maybe it was good that they didn't try to mimic her writing style. I think I enjoyed this book so much because I really didn't know much about the case at all. I am saddened that she passed away before he was caught. I wonder what her thoughts would be.If you're a true crime fan I would highly recommend this book.
For more than ten years Northern California was haunted by an unknown, violent predator who committed fifty sexual assaults in the area. He then moved south in California and his reign of terror expanded to murder. This man became known as the East Area Rapist. One day he simply disappeared. He was never identified. There was never a solid lead on who he might be. He was never captured.Michelle McNamara stumbled upon the case decades later and become obsessed with finding out who this criminal was. She dubbed him the Golden State Killer. She found a community of like-minded individuals also passionate about bringing justice upon the man who committed these crimes. She gathered extensive amounts of data, case facts, interviews, and anything that would shed some light on identifying the killer. McNamara’s untimely death lead to the book being completed by a close colleague. Within these pages lies the truth and search to unmask a killer.I’m not typically much of a non-fiction reader, but I have a soft spot for true crime. I originally saw I’LL BE GONE IN THE DARK all over social media and knew I wanted to read the book and then when the killer was caught I knew I had to read the book. Michelle McNamara’s dedication to research and investigating the Golden State Killer is absolutely amazing! There truly is no other way to categorize the level of detail that went into this book. After page one I was hooked and wanted to run off to Google everything. Luckily, McNamara already had everything I needed within these pages, aside from what has happened since the release of the book of course.Michelle McNamara and those who picked up after her death have a writing style that is gripping and enticing while being saturated in facts. I think I shy away from non-fiction often because it can become unreadable and boring. That never happened with I’LL BE GONE IN THE DARK. I was stunned what I read and at times downright terrified by this man’s actions. This is definitely not a book I recommend reading while home alone at night. I also listened to parts of this one on audiobook, which was a fantastic experience. I highly recommend this book for anyone and everyone!
This is the author's memoir of her obsession with identifying the EAR/ONS who we now know to be Joseph James DeAngelo. The problem with this book was that McNamara died before DeAngelo was identified and before she finished the book. The book was acually pieced together after her death. Now that DeAngelo has been identified you are reading of his devious crimes through a different lens. He was responsible for over 50 rapes, 12 murders, and 120 break ins. The parts of the book where McNamara describe the victims and the lives they were leading before tragedy interceded were so well written and were my favorite. I found the weak part to be in the end where all of her conjecture and grasping at straws hypothesis. She was not a law enforcement officer with detective training. She was someone who was a good writer and who was fascinated, maybe in a n unhealthy way, with the case. The most interesting thing I took from the book was when it was revealed that she was interested in using Ancestry.com to submit the unidentified DNA. We now know that was how the case was solved. DeAngelo's DNA was submitted into a family DNA site and his family was identified. McNamara did not have the ability to do this herself. I wonder if the detectives got the idea to do that from her. If that is the case then she solved everything. Publicly they have said that her research had no bearing on what they did. Due to McNamara's death I found the book to be disjointed. It is better if you know the facts of the case before trying to read it. DeAngelo's crimes were prolific and it is hard to understand all that is attributed to him just by reading the book. If you read the Wikipedia article first you will be better off. What I got from this book are glimpses of how good the book could have been if MCNamara had lived long enough to see DeAngelo's arrest. As it is you are left with a tribute to one woman's obsession with unmasking a man who very nearly eluded justice.
Author Michelle McNamara was a true-crime journalist who was determined to track down the evil man she dubbed the Golden State Killer. Tragically, she died before finishing this book and before the killer was caught. Her prose is nonfiction but flows like a novel. She meticulously details the research that went into putting together a profile of the killer. She, along with her lead investigator, pored over reports, searched the internet, talked with detectives and interviewed victims and their families. This is an incredible account of a cold case and a determined woman who wouldn’t quit. The book was finished by her lead investigator and a close colleague, but the heart of the book is truly Michelle McNamara’s accomplishment.
DEAR LORD, DON't READ THIS BOOK AT NIGHT! And don't read it if you're going to be alone at night. My sense of security in my own house has been forever disrupted, but that's the point I guess.
4.5 captivating and incredibly creepy. One would have had to have been in a news blackout, at least here in the states, to have not heard about the long overdue capture of the rapist and murderer, called the Golden State killer. This book is do well researched, an in-depth expose of all the incidents, the evidence collected and the many areas in California where this killer roamed. It was presented in a clear, concise and very interesting way. Yes, there is repetition, but it would be hard not eliminate that, as Michelle talks to many different law enforcement personnel as well as others, going over what she found, what they found, and what do far had been concluded. That for so long he was able to go without capture, it both unbelievable but yet understandable. There were no data bases Shari g informstion, nor was there dna profiling back then.I chose to listen to this and the narrator was outstanding. In fact I believe listening to this increased the creep factor quite a bit. You see, the rapist/killer whispered to his victims and the narrators whispering and thd rords spoken were chilling. Actually went to bed with bear spray on my nightstand. Years ago I was a true crime fanatic, read Helter skelter, all of Ann Rules many crime exposes, but this is the first one I have read for s long time. It was part of a sisters read and it helped, talking to oyhers, able to share our thoughts.It is terrible that after sll her work, Michelle died, way to young, before she saw this book published, nor the man who had been here obsession so long captured. Her husband narrates the end of the sufio, talking abbout his wife, and her work.
“I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” is one of those books that stay with you long after you turned the last page. It’s an incredible narrative of a series of crimes that really happened in the 1970’s and 1980’s and remained unsolved until earlier this year (two years after author Michelle McNamara’s untimely death).It’s a book you cannot put away because McNamara’s way of telling the Golden State Killer’s story is haunting and all-consuming. It keeps you awake all night and turns your into a hobby detective. It’s an incredible piece of real-life crime fiction that is flooded with an unbelievable amount of details, compassion, and history. It tells the story of a killer, of his victims, of the many crime units, detectives, and forensic criminalists, who tried to catch him, of the people and the community life in Southern and Northern California, and of a woman, who dedicates her life and legacy to finding out the truth.What a captivating book that deserves all the praise it receives and more! 5 stars!
I don’t know how a non fiction book about a serial killer and rapist could be so boring, but this one certainly is. The author was obsessed with this horrid criminal, and she did great work in trying to find him. I’m, of course, very glad he was finally found, but I guess I”m just not cut out to be a detective. Minutiae piled on top of minutiae - this is what it takes to solve a cold case, but it doesn’t make for very interesting reading.
Tags: Nonfiction, Audiobook, True Crime, Golden State Killer/East Area Rapist, Unsolved Mysteries (but recently solved)Overview: Michelle McNamara was a freelance writer and crime blogger (and whose husband you may know as the well-known comedic actor Patton Oswalt). She became incredibly obsessed with the East Area Rapist (EAR) who she later dubbed “The Golden State Killer” (which stuck) and, for years, looked into the crimes and people involved with investigating them. She was working on this book when she died unexpectedly in her sleep in 2016. Oswalt, with the help of editors and through use of her notes and what had been written, published the book posthumously in 2018, just before police successfully captured the Golden State Killer through the use of DNA on an ancestry site.Highlights: This book sold like wildfire especially after the announcement was made that they’d finally captured the Golden State Killer shortly after the book was published. So there was a lot of hype surrounding it in mid-2018. I had heard that it kept people up at night and some went so far as to install security systems in their homes. While I found it to be a bit creepy in the beginning, it quickly become very technical with details of crime scenes and interviews with those who did much of the investigation in the 70s and 80s. McNamara never fully figured it all out, though it was apparent, towards the end of the book, that she was on the right track and getting really close. Had she held out a bit longer, she would’ve seen the killer finally come to justice.Pre-Requisites: It helps to know a bit of the background of the East Area Rapist – an overview of the time period and some of the crimes committed. The book jumps around a bit and it can be hard to follow along with the storyline, so it’s helpful to have a grounded idea of where all the jumping around takes place in the larger scheme of things.If you like: true crime, unsolved mysteries (but recently solved!), books about murders (and other crimes), investigative research, 1970s-80s based stories, investigations pre-21st century tech
Michelle McNamara's book is compelling and tense, but also filled with compassion and righteous anger for the victims of the man she dubbed the Golden State Killer. I could only read this because by the time I did they caught the guy. Otherwise it would give me nightmares. It's an amazing accomplishment and an unforgettable read.