Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Unmasked: My Life Solving America's Cold Cases by Paul Holes

21 reviews

scmiller's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

brookey8888's review

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.0

This was good, but hard to read at times. The different cases he talked about were very interesting and it was interesting to see the behind the scenes and how investigations work. I also liked learning more about the golden state killer and his friendship with Michelle. The only thing I didn’t like was hearing about his horrible marriages. I get why he talked about them because the job took over his life, but I didn’t care. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

mahmabaer's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

This was the longest audiobook I have listened to up to date, and it was also the most challenging.  Paul Holes knows his job and he does it well, and he doesn't shy away from some of the more graphic aspects of his work.  There were several times I almost stopped listening because I didn't know if I could stomach the information.  Hearing about

rapes, abuse, dead bodies, murdered children and brutal crime scenes

is not for the faint of heart or the middle of the night.  I found that most times, if I stopped, put on a funny video and gave myself a break, I could get back to the story and make it through the darkness and onto the next chapter.  Though the thing that has been the most unsettling was a brief, passing comment that had no merit in the story, and it hasn't left me since I heard it (

when the marriage councilor told him that most people's spouses dont want to hear about a baby being put in boiling water

), which I assume is a crime scene he had to attend that I hope to God never ever ever happened, and yet, I know it did.

While, surprisingly, I found the scientific and legalistic aspects of Paul's story fascinating and compelling, I struggled a bit with the personal aspects of Paul's story.  I haven't decided if I find Paul to be a man who recognizes his faults and accepts them, specifically when it comes to his family and marriages, or whether I am turned off by the bravado and arrogance that comes through at times in respect to his job and the satisfaction he gets from being so good at it.  I have never met the man, but I suspect the truth falls somewhere in the middle -- that he's just a guy who is another imperfect human, like the rest of us, trying to make up for those imperfections the best way he knows how.  He makes mistakes and tries to fix them, and in doing so, he either fixes things or makes more mistakes.  In short, he puts his pants on one leg at a time like any other man -- his pants just happen to be plastic coveralls, to protect him from the crime scene evidence he has to handle.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism

emily_mae08's review against another edition

dark informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, and Murder

wanna_read's review

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

travelseatsreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

 Most true crime fans have a case that truly captivates & terrifies them & for me it was the Golden State Killer. It baffled me that someone who kept raging such a widespread & prolonged reign of terror & heinous crimes was still out there. The day it was announced that he was finally in custody a chilling shiver ran down my spine, could it really be true? That day & many more after, one name kept popping up, & after reading the many books & listening to the varied podcasts on the case it was one I was familiar with as being crucial to the investigation & that was Paul Holes. 

Within the pages of Unmasked, Holes gives an honest, enthralling & detailed account of his life, the cases which still haunt him & of course his involvement in catching the GSK. In this part memoir/part true crime story Paul chronicles his career from the early days of wetting his feet in the crime lab, to helping solve some of the most horrific crimes but old & new as Chief Of Forensics. 

Holes gives some pretty gruesome & grisly accounts of the crime scenes, this book isn't for the faint hearted but what he does master is retelling the stories of the crimes while remaining fully respectful & empathetic to the victim & their families. Often in true crime books the voice of the victim is overshadowed by that of the perpetrator but it's clear Holes always holds the victim & justice in the forefront of his mind. 

He also brings the reader along into the fascinating world of forensics & crime scene investigation & gives an insight of the wide-spanning painstaking cooperative effort that is involved in investigating a case, while being very honest about many of the roadblocks & hurdles (from political to human error) that can turn a case upside down. His honesty also reaches past his career and Paul details how his obsessive nature & need to find answers has had a huge impact on his family life over the years.

It's almost impossible to imagine the possibility of DeAngelo currently wasting away in Corcoran State Prison without Holes dogged & obsessive perseverance and even for that alone this book is worth your time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Murder

sarabook's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

princesspunx's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

carissa230's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

Paul Holes does a great job of bringing us into the life and career of someone slightly obsessed with solving crimes. Paul wasn't holding back when he told of his personal relationships he ruined with his career. He does a great job of honoring the victims while telling of the crimes and the reason he never gave up on the cold cases. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, and Murder

elisabethshelby's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

This book is the perfect read for anyone who loves Dateline or solving cold cases.  Paul takes the reader behind the scenes to really understand what goes on when law enforcement reviews old cold cases.  The details are specific, and sometimes even reading what goes on can be a bit jarring to realize.  Hey, let's look at this face covered in maggots to try to determine a time of death.  Oh....ok.

Paul's book mostly looks at his career-long hunt for the Golden State Killer, and his work towards finally tracking down the correct person.  Between his hunt, he looks at other memorable cases he helped with, including Jaycee Duggard, Laci and Connor Petersen, and more.  The stories are well told, and only in a handful of places does the narrative seem to slow down a little too much.  For the most part, this is a well written story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail