You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
dark
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Great for anyone who watched the HBO special.and wants to hear Michelle's voice.
I enjoyed the information and actual true crime part of the book. But I came for and stayed for Michelle's story. I loved hearing her tone and thoughts through her older articles and what she had written. I also loved how much thought went into explaining how each section was written.
If you're looking for MORE detail about the case or the survivors, you're better off watching HBO, or finding a different book. But if you're looking for a nonfiction about a true crime lover who let's her love for justice consume all: look no further.
I enjoyed the information and actual true crime part of the book. But I came for and stayed for Michelle's story. I loved hearing her tone and thoughts through her older articles and what she had written. I also loved how much thought went into explaining how each section was written.
If you're looking for MORE detail about the case or the survivors, you're better off watching HBO, or finding a different book. But if you're looking for a nonfiction about a true crime lover who let's her love for justice consume all: look no further.
Read this review and hundreds more at The Quill To Live.
I’m not what the culture would call a “True Crime Girlie.” I’ve seen my fair share of crime documentaries, and I’ve absorbed a heap of secondhand information from my wife and her friends who are more interested in such things. I prefer my crimes fictional, and I often find the True Crime genre icky, particularly when creators try to make it lighthearted and fun with no regard for the victims or their families. For these reasons, I hesitated to start Michelle McNamara’s I’ll Be Gone In The Dark, but I had it on Audible and a few weeks to burn before I got a new credit, so I gave it a go. Did it turn me? Let’s find out.
I’ll Be Gone In The Dark chronicles Michell McNamara’s investigation into the serial rapist and murder who would become known as The Golden State Killer. McNamara was a journalist and blogger who developed an obsession with the case, and the book details her experiences talking with victims, current investigators, former case workers, and many others. She dredged up all sorts of data and details in her quest to find the killer, and she logged it all in a style that manages at once to be full of empathy for those affected and suspense for those seeking a story. Sadly, McNamara passed away before the book was finished, but her widower, Patton Oswalt, enlisted the help of Paul Haynes and Billy Jensen to finish it.
I won’t mince words here, folks. I’ll Be Gone In The Dark is excellent. McNamara is thoughtful and comprehensive in her research. She’s honest about the toll of obsessively researching an unsolved serial murder case. She treats the victims and families with respect in her writing, but she also crafts compelling scenes. By reconstructing the Golden State Killer’s crimes into chilling written vignettes, McNamara paints a picture of just how horrifying the man was. Every page bleeds with elegant descriptions and recountings of key events in the criminal’s tirade through California.
And yet, McNamara herself plays a co-starring role in the book. As I said, she viscerally describes her obsession and its impacts on her life and health. She balances those passages with concessions that you can’t make progress in a case—especially as someone now officially involved with law enforcement—without her unending levels of drive and motivation. I’m thankful for McNamara’s ambition. It yielded an amazing work of prose and investigation the likes of which I’ve never read before.
Only two months after the book’s launch in 2018, Joseph James DeAngelo was discovered, arrested, and convicted for the crimes of the Golden State Killer, East Area Rapist, and Original Night Stalker. Genetic research and forensics led to his arrest. McNamara touted such methods as possible inroads to an arrest in the book, and she was right.
As a fantasy- and sci-fi-first reader, I appreciate an author who takes the real and makes it a compelling story without sensationalizing details at the expense of real people’s trauma. I’ll Be Gone In The Dark threads the needle perfectly, and it’s a must-read for anyone even remotely interested in this terrifying case.
I’m not what the culture would call a “True Crime Girlie.” I’ve seen my fair share of crime documentaries, and I’ve absorbed a heap of secondhand information from my wife and her friends who are more interested in such things. I prefer my crimes fictional, and I often find the True Crime genre icky, particularly when creators try to make it lighthearted and fun with no regard for the victims or their families. For these reasons, I hesitated to start Michelle McNamara’s I’ll Be Gone In The Dark, but I had it on Audible and a few weeks to burn before I got a new credit, so I gave it a go. Did it turn me? Let’s find out.
I’ll Be Gone In The Dark chronicles Michell McNamara’s investigation into the serial rapist and murder who would become known as The Golden State Killer. McNamara was a journalist and blogger who developed an obsession with the case, and the book details her experiences talking with victims, current investigators, former case workers, and many others. She dredged up all sorts of data and details in her quest to find the killer, and she logged it all in a style that manages at once to be full of empathy for those affected and suspense for those seeking a story. Sadly, McNamara passed away before the book was finished, but her widower, Patton Oswalt, enlisted the help of Paul Haynes and Billy Jensen to finish it.
I won’t mince words here, folks. I’ll Be Gone In The Dark is excellent. McNamara is thoughtful and comprehensive in her research. She’s honest about the toll of obsessively researching an unsolved serial murder case. She treats the victims and families with respect in her writing, but she also crafts compelling scenes. By reconstructing the Golden State Killer’s crimes into chilling written vignettes, McNamara paints a picture of just how horrifying the man was. Every page bleeds with elegant descriptions and recountings of key events in the criminal’s tirade through California.
And yet, McNamara herself plays a co-starring role in the book. As I said, she viscerally describes her obsession and its impacts on her life and health. She balances those passages with concessions that you can’t make progress in a case—especially as someone now officially involved with law enforcement—without her unending levels of drive and motivation. I’m thankful for McNamara’s ambition. It yielded an amazing work of prose and investigation the likes of which I’ve never read before.
Only two months after the book’s launch in 2018, Joseph James DeAngelo was discovered, arrested, and convicted for the crimes of the Golden State Killer, East Area Rapist, and Original Night Stalker. Genetic research and forensics led to his arrest. McNamara touted such methods as possible inroads to an arrest in the book, and she was right.
As a fantasy- and sci-fi-first reader, I appreciate an author who takes the real and makes it a compelling story without sensationalizing details at the expense of real people’s trauma. I’ll Be Gone In The Dark threads the needle perfectly, and it’s a must-read for anyone even remotely interested in this terrifying case.
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Interesting mix of a look into a serial killer and how investigators can be affected by the search.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced