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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
“That summer I hunted the serial killer at night from my daughter’s playroom.”
“Unsolved murders became an obsession.”
“Make one move and you’ll be silent forever and I’ll be gone in the dark.”
This was a hard book for me to get through. It’s always interesting the various ways a true crime writer approaches a book. Some focus squarely on the killer; some focus mostly on the victims and who they were; some focus more on law enforcement and the pains of tracking down a killer; some sound more like professional newspaper writers presenting facts while others write in a novelized style. I’ll Be Gone In The Dark is different in that it does a lot of these things and more. One is the obsession of Michelle, a non law enforcement officer in this true crime podcast internet sleuth world we live in. So there are times that the book focuses on her. Other times we get very detailed accounts of the brutal crimes (admittedly I had to start skimming as these were causing me anxiety!!). Other times she focused on the law enforcement officers and other times on the victims. Throw in the fact that she passed away while writing this makes this one unique book that unsurprisingly became a big success, along with the fact the Golden State Killer was finally caught all these many, many years later. And I love the fact that DNA can be used years later to capture these monsters to give some sense of justice and closure to families.
With that said, this book did have some issues for me. While Michelle is a good writer, there are so many spots where she overwrites. A few paragraphs that are needed easily became pages and pages. And as mentioned before, the descriptions of the many, many brutal crimes became so overwhelming that I couldn’t take anymore and had to start skimming - only so many times you can read about another victim(s) waking up in the middle of the night with a flashlight shining in their face before being brutally tortured and sometimes killed. I am assuming her intent was to shed light on the brutality in hopes that we wonder why he wasn’t caught and why this monster was not being discussed more. But for me, I would have preferred a less-is-more approach.
“Unsolved murders became an obsession.”
“Make one move and you’ll be silent forever and I’ll be gone in the dark.”
This was a hard book for me to get through. It’s always interesting the various ways a true crime writer approaches a book. Some focus squarely on the killer; some focus mostly on the victims and who they were; some focus more on law enforcement and the pains of tracking down a killer; some sound more like professional newspaper writers presenting facts while others write in a novelized style. I’ll Be Gone In The Dark is different in that it does a lot of these things and more. One is the obsession of Michelle, a non law enforcement officer in this true crime podcast internet sleuth world we live in. So there are times that the book focuses on her. Other times we get very detailed accounts of the brutal crimes (admittedly I had to start skimming as these were causing me anxiety!!). Other times she focused on the law enforcement officers and other times on the victims. Throw in the fact that she passed away while writing this makes this one unique book that unsurprisingly became a big success, along with the fact the Golden State Killer was finally caught all these many, many years later. And I love the fact that DNA can be used years later to capture these monsters to give some sense of justice and closure to families.
With that said, this book did have some issues for me. While Michelle is a good writer, there are so many spots where she overwrites. A few paragraphs that are needed easily became pages and pages. And as mentioned before, the descriptions of the many, many brutal crimes became so overwhelming that I couldn’t take anymore and had to start skimming - only so many times you can read about another victim(s) waking up in the middle of the night with a flashlight shining in their face before being brutally tortured and sometimes killed. I am assuming her intent was to shed light on the brutality in hopes that we wonder why he wasn’t caught and why this monster was not being discussed more. But for me, I would have preferred a less-is-more approach.
All around good book but to be honest it made me realize what I'm looking for in my true crime books. I love a good story that involves the chase, the arrest, and the background of the killer, this book is great for those readers who like cold cases and hearing more about what happened to the victims than the killer themselves. The man apprehended as the Golden State Killer isn't even mention until the last 1o pages or so.
dark
informative
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
fast-paced
dark
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced
So I finally had the chance to listen to this audiobook. It was informative and gripping but dragged on in places. Otherwise, it was a good book.