Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Unmasked: Crime Scenes, Cold Cases and My Hunt for the Golden State Killer

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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danie_405's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative slow-paced

3.0

This book is about Paul Holes' career as a forensic investigator. and how he helped catch the Golden State Killer. As well as his life, mostly the adult part during his career, and how it affected his life.

The topic was interesting but the author's writing was a bit repetitive and I zoned out a lot while reading it. Part of that was my messed up sleep and part of it was the writing. It just seemed to drone on a lot. The author was a great narrator. He has a podcast I listen to, but I prefer his co-host's books to his.

I listen to a lot of true crime podcasts and at least one true crime book a month, so it's not a new type of content for me. Though I don't read many memoirs, so maybe that's what I didn't like about it.

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elisabethshelby's review against another edition

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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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alliemikennareads's review against another edition

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dark informative medium-paced

3.5

This book brings an interesting view into true crime from the perspective of a cold case investigator. Equal parts memoir and investigative / procedural. I enjoyed the methodical view presented in an interesting way. I didn’t love that several parts felt repetitive and it was a little less engaging than some other true crime I’ve read. Overall, it’s an interesting read for true crime fans!

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gimmiiie's review against another edition

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dark informative sad fast-paced

5.0

"Healing is subjective, but the scars never fade, and the pain is always a breath away" P.3

This is a heavy, real, and informative book. Paul Holes is honest, real, and personable. I have been a fan of Paul Holes and his work to bring justice to victims. Reading his experiences and struggles with mental illness.

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