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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
A wonderful talent lost too soon. I'm not a True Crime expert, but it's hard to deny it's addictiveness. McNamara uses great storytelling strategies to get us into the world of a serial killer investigation: with it's dead ends and the frightening details.
dark
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Torture, Murder
Incredible book!!! Wow. Just wow. So captivating. Painful to know that McNamara didn't live to witness this guy's apprehension. Highly recommend this book to anyone who likes true crime or suspense/mystery (even if you think you don't like nonfiction, you'll love this).
challenging
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Deeply chilling and entirely engrossing. I couldn’t put it down, despite the fact that I was terrified of every noise outside my bedroom door.
The story is a sad one as the author died in her sleep so young. But in the end, sharing DNA repositories is what solved the case. It frustrates me that a lack of these kinds of resources is what keeps many cases from being advanced or even solved. This story makes me believe more than ever how desperately we need to reform our law enforcement, giving them the tools and incentives to share information that is up to date with current technology. So many rape kits sit on shelves, so many cotton swabs with DNA evidence are ferreted away for years. The monster who committed these crimes is serving life in prison.
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
I appreciate the volume of research that went into the book, but I didn’t like the writing style and/or the narrator.
This is arguably the scariest book I've ever read. The horrors are real, and the unstoppable nature of the Golden State Killer has kept me awake many nights.
By dumb luck (okay, and tons of amazing detective work), GSK was caught in the middle of my reading this! That added a layer of relief for myself as well as pride and sadness knowing that Michelle McNamara contributed to catching a monster but will never know her profound impact. She writes about unspeakable tragedy with the appropriate amount of detail and unwavering respect for the victims and their families - a combination that is hard to find in a true crime book. I couldn't stop talking about these crimes and the hunt for the GSK for a long time after finishing this, and I'm still following the legal case against him now. This book has stayed with me.
Recommendation: I highly recommend listening to Paul Holes and Billy Jensen's follow-up book about catching the GSK: "Evil Has a Name: The Untold Story of the Golden State Killer Investigation"
By dumb luck (okay, and tons of amazing detective work), GSK was caught in the middle of my reading this! That added a layer of relief for myself as well as pride and sadness knowing that Michelle McNamara contributed to catching a monster but will never know her profound impact. She writes about unspeakable tragedy with the appropriate amount of detail and unwavering respect for the victims and their families - a combination that is hard to find in a true crime book. I couldn't stop talking about these crimes and the hunt for the GSK for a long time after finishing this, and I'm still following the legal case against him now. This book has stayed with me.
Recommendation: I highly recommend listening to Paul Holes and Billy Jensen's follow-up book about catching the GSK: "Evil Has a Name: The Untold Story of the Golden State Killer Investigation"
dark
tense
medium-paced