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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
This book is truly special and important. I’m not going to muck up this review with a bunch of fluff. The book is incredible. You should read it, especially if you appreciate true crime writing. Full stop.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
The narrative is even more disjointed than would be expected from a posthumous work, making it difficult to read as a clear end was never in sight. Most accounts feel like excessively graphic depictions of the crimes without an immediate investigative perspective to step back from the voyeurism.
The book only briefly touches upon the method used to catch the killer (shortly *after* the book's release) which makes most of its breadth a collection of false leads and dead ends.
The book only briefly touches upon the method used to catch the killer (shortly *after* the book's release) which makes most of its breadth a collection of false leads and dead ends.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
This was such an intense listen! I enjoy throwing in non-fiction, but omg this one has elicited fear and nightmares in such a visceral sense.
I appreciate that the author takes the time to dissect herself to the reader so that she is out on display as much as the victims she is presenting to us. Everything is taken into delicate considerarion and thoughtfully discussed.
I must say that I'm thankful for technology and the persistence of the heart. I would fully be okay with the FBI having access to geanology and the like to catch these criminals!
I appreciate that the author takes the time to dissect herself to the reader so that she is out on display as much as the victims she is presenting to us. Everything is taken into delicate considerarion and thoughtfully discussed.
I must say that I'm thankful for technology and the persistence of the heart. I would fully be okay with the FBI having access to geanology and the like to catch these criminals!
Not a big fan of true crime and honestly don't intend on reading much more but one of the categories for a reading challenge. That being said I admired the compassion she showed towards the victims and families.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark an intense, deeply personal journey into darkness that chills you to the core while honoring the lives forever changed by one of California’s most elusive predators.
Michelle McNamara’s writing is masterful, weaving a narrative that is equal parts investigative journalism and memoir. There’s a heavy, almost oppressive weight to this story, not just from the terrifying acts of the Golden State Killer, but from the obsessive toll it took on McNamara herself. You feel the late-night digging, the restless searching, and the quiet ache of a woman consumed by her need to bring a monster to justice.
What elevates this book is McNamara’s voice—sharp, reflective, and full of empathy. She brings humanity to a genre that can sometimes feel clinical. The victims are never reduced to statistics; they are remembered, respected, and mourned. Even the neighborhoods she describes feel ghostly, haunted not just by the crimes but by the passage of time.
Reading this book is unsettling, atmospheric, and unforgettable. And knowing that Michelle didn’t live to see the killer caught makes it all the more poignant.
Michelle McNamara’s writing is masterful, weaving a narrative that is equal parts investigative journalism and memoir. There’s a heavy, almost oppressive weight to this story, not just from the terrifying acts of the Golden State Killer, but from the obsessive toll it took on McNamara herself. You feel the late-night digging, the restless searching, and the quiet ache of a woman consumed by her need to bring a monster to justice.
What elevates this book is McNamara’s voice—sharp, reflective, and full of empathy. She brings humanity to a genre that can sometimes feel clinical. The victims are never reduced to statistics; they are remembered, respected, and mourned. Even the neighborhoods she describes feel ghostly, haunted not just by the crimes but by the passage of time.
Reading this book is unsettling, atmospheric, and unforgettable. And knowing that Michelle didn’t live to see the killer caught makes it all the more poignant.
adventurous
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
I was loving this, but really hoped the ending would be more revealing.
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
This book is mostly facts with some speculation because the author passed away before the criminal was apprehended.
I genuinely loved the chapter where her husband, Patton Oswalt, truly brought her to life. His admiration for her ability to choose an often unrewarding life of criminology as a cold case solver that is not within the the range of FBI or Police, but someone who's independent as an online detective.
Reading this reflectively after the predator was caught is very intense. She was very close to seeing it solved. The suspension that he was military, and or familiar with Police life was absolutely correct.
The hunch that DNA evidence would eventually lead him to being caught did happen, about two years after her death.
It's also very unnerving that the very people who investigate these crimes are sometimes the very people who commit them. There is overlap in his history of being a burglary unit and the start of his crimes. That's some of the most horrifying instances of all and that no one suspected him even when he threatened and stalked the very police chief who fired him for theft of a hammer and dog repellent.
I genuinely loved the chapter where her husband, Patton Oswalt, truly brought her to life. His admiration for her ability to choose an often unrewarding life of criminology as a cold case solver that is not within the the range of FBI or Police, but someone who's independent as an online detective.
Reading this reflectively after the predator was caught is very intense. She was very close to seeing it solved. The suspension that he was military, and or familiar with Police life was absolutely correct.
The hunch that DNA evidence would eventually lead him to being caught did happen, about two years after her death.
It's also very unnerving that the very people who investigate these crimes are sometimes the very people who commit them. There is overlap in his history of being a burglary unit and the start of his crimes. That's some of the most horrifying instances of all and that no one suspected him even when he threatened and stalked the very police chief who fired him for theft of a hammer and dog repellent.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Stalking, Murder