Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Unmasked: Crime Scenes, Cold Cases and My Hunt for the Golden State Killer by Paul Holes

40 reviews

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

sarabook's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

schohayes's review against another edition

dark inspiring sad medium-paced

4.0

I learned of the horrible Golden State Killer around 2016 or 2017. I couldn’t believe the case was still unsolved & it was SO exciting to hear of his arrest very soon after!! Paul Holes is a hero!!!!!! I liked this book, it’s very raw & real, and I’m grateful for how Paul acknowledges the victims he’s met throughout his gruesome career. Go Paul! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Sexual violence, Violence, and Rape

sparetimebibliophile's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

This gave a lot of insight into cold cases, and I loved the way the narrative unfolds regarding the Golden State Killer. I loved hearing this from the actual person who lived it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, and Death of parent

sophier's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual assault, Stalking, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, Alcohol, Child death, Confinement, Death, Rape, Sexual violence, and Body horror

katto06's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

I FREAKING LOVED THIS BOOK. As a fan of true crime and crime documentaries this was amazing. I felt like i was listening to a crime documentary and the suspense was chefs kiss. I love how the author made the reader feel like they were there in the moment. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Child death, Murder, Rape, Death, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, and Violence

stolenwater's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.0

Starts off slow with a lot of exposition on Paul’s early life and career but picks up and becomes more engaging about halfway through.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Sexual violence, Rape, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Sexual assault, and Murder

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Gun violence

Minor: Alcoholism

abbie_reads_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Child death, Cursing, Torture, Death, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Murder, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Violence

krymar13's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Grief, Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Confinement, Rape, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Child death, Murder, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Blood, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicide, Torture, and Violence

cass_lit's review against another edition

3.25

On one hand, I think this was an interesting real-life look at the investigative side of true crime. I wasn’t a huge fan of the author’s tone throughout, but I understand that to be in his position you probably need to be a little aloof and detached personality-wise (and we do need people in his position to get the bad guys, unfortunately). I skipped through a lot of the very detailed descriptions of the EAR’s rapes and killings because that’s a hell of a lot more likely to happen to me as a woman than it is to Paul Holes — I guarantee most of us women and enby folks have worried about the same scenario in our head, we don’t need 50 gruesome stories of the same situation for us to imagine the horror. 

I’ll add a few content warnings officially  but in case I forget any — it’s literally anything you can imagine relating to rape and murder. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual violence, Torture, Death, Child death, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, and Stalking

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders