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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
dark
hopeful
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
True Crime is a genre as fascinating as it is disturbing, both in the stories it tells and in our hungry reception of them.
I don’t know why the gruesome details of the worst of humanity enthralls so many of us. The enduring popularity of True Crime media (Capote’s In Cold Blood, Forensic Files tv shows, podcasts like Serial, Casefile, My Favorite Murder) points to our macabre interest.
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark is at its best when it moves to examine this fascination and its effect on our lives. The book doesn’t solve the case, and readers shouldn’t expect and reveals of case-breaking clues. It’s in the subtitle, “One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer” that the heart of the book lies.
McNamara is certainly a skilled investigator, and her tireless work likely helped keep interest in the case high. The compassion and care with which victim stories are shared is unusual and refreshing. But it’s the moments of memoir that make this book great. The moments when McNamara reflects on how this obsession creeps into her life, paired with the knowledge that this ultimately contributed to her own death, is an important contribution to the genre at large.
Technically, the book suffers from McNamara’s death. It was pieced together posthumously, but her writing shines so much that the many Editor’s Notes didn’t feel intrusive. The end of the book is written by her investigative collaborators, and the loss of her voice weighs heavy on the narrative. The change in tone, purpose, and style is jarring.
The Golden State Killer was identified and arrested shortly after the book’s publication, and that development certainly lends a note of poignant conclusion. It also gives us space to continue reflecting on our own interest. What are the ramifications of armchair sleuthing, on these cases, on the innocent people Internet forums peg as criminals, on our own lives?
One aside: bougainvillea is mentioned more than once in the book. I certainly didn’t expect to learn about a particularly lovely plant common in California, but I suppose I’m glad to have done a Google Image search.
I don’t know why the gruesome details of the worst of humanity enthralls so many of us. The enduring popularity of True Crime media (Capote’s In Cold Blood, Forensic Files tv shows, podcasts like Serial, Casefile, My Favorite Murder) points to our macabre interest.
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark is at its best when it moves to examine this fascination and its effect on our lives. The book doesn’t solve the case, and readers shouldn’t expect and reveals of case-breaking clues. It’s in the subtitle, “One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer” that the heart of the book lies.
McNamara is certainly a skilled investigator, and her tireless work likely helped keep interest in the case high. The compassion and care with which victim stories are shared is unusual and refreshing. But it’s the moments of memoir that make this book great. The moments when McNamara reflects on how this obsession creeps into her life, paired with the knowledge that this ultimately contributed to her own death, is an important contribution to the genre at large.
Technically, the book suffers from McNamara’s death. It was pieced together posthumously, but her writing shines so much that the many Editor’s Notes didn’t feel intrusive. The end of the book is written by her investigative collaborators, and the loss of her voice weighs heavy on the narrative. The change in tone, purpose, and style is jarring.
The Golden State Killer was identified and arrested shortly after the book’s publication, and that development certainly lends a note of poignant conclusion. It also gives us space to continue reflecting on our own interest. What are the ramifications of armchair sleuthing, on these cases, on the innocent people Internet forums peg as criminals, on our own lives?
One aside: bougainvillea is mentioned more than once in the book. I certainly didn’t expect to learn about a particularly lovely plant common in California, but I suppose I’m glad to have done a Google Image search.
medium-paced
I really enjoyed this book, the weave of the story itself and the author's life and experiences while researching. Michelle McNamara died during the process of writing this book and never got to learn that the GSK was found. In additional reading on the case, it is clear that those working on the case had nothing but respect for her. The book reminded me of "The Green River Killer" by Ann Rule. It demonstrated that you can tell a heinous story with compassion for the victims and their families. I listened to this book, wish I would have read it as I found myself zoning out on some of the scientific information - it would have been more engaging to read it.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Tough to rate this book given the subject matter and the fact that the author died before it was finished. I didn’t love the jumping around between past and present but get why the author made the decision to do so. Her writing was captivating. Breaks my heart that she died before they caught the motherfucker.
McNamara writes beautiful nonfiction. Narrative and full of prose.
So glad my friend had the version with the arrest in it!! Glad this sick fuck is locked up!!
So glad my friend had the version with the arrest in it!! Glad this sick fuck is locked up!!
dark
informative
medium-paced