Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

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

19 reviews

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Violence, Murder, Death, Gun violence, Rape, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Child death, Stalking, Sexual violence, and Trafficking

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Domestic abuse and Drug abuse

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

e_asw_97's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Alcoholism

sky_maris's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Grief, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Kidnapping, Child death, Violence, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Stalking

ktdakotareads's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Violence, Addiction, Gore, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Torture

Minor: Alcoholism

ame_lepage's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

3.75

 I picked this book up on a whim. I really had no expectations, so I really didn't know what I was getting into.
I would like to say first that this book has many trigger warnings: very graphic rape and murder scenes, portrayal of depression and PTSD, and just mental health issues in general. I sometimes had a hard time getting through some parts.
This memoir was eye-opening in many ways. I've always been a fan of true crime and getting a behind-the-scenes perspective was interesting. Paul Holes' story is fascinating and I'm glad that I discovered his story.
The end really allowed us to see the deep connexion between Paul and the victims. You could see how emotionally involved he was in the different cases and I honestly teared up a little.
However, I do think that the book ended up being a little bit repetitive. He talks a lot about different cases that he delt with throughout his career, but at the end, they were pretty similar.
The ending was filled with scientific terms that kept me from fully understanding the Golden State Killer case's conclusion. The writer did overall a good job at making the science palatable. But she kind of dropped the ball at the end.
Overall, I'm glad I read this. It's not the best memoir that I have ever read, but it certainly was interesting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Blood, Mental illness, Murder, Violence, Body horror, Gore, Rape, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol

amber_and_her_books's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Drug abuse

motleybooksandtea's review against another edition

dark emotional informative medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Child abuse, Medical content, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Body horror

Minor: Eating disorder

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Torture, Violence, Confinement, and Death