Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara

155 reviews

kendall09's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious medium-paced

5.0

This book was one of the best books I've read this year! The way McNamara writes is beautiful, yet haunting. This book is about her journey searching for the GSK and how it ensnared her in it's trap. Though she is discussing horrific topics and crimes, she doesn't dwell on the gruesome details of each crime, instead points out the specific clues and pieces of evidence that link back to the GSK (or East Area R*pist). She writes eloquently, does not get into too technical jargon, and leaves you hanging on to her every word. Knowing that she passed before the completion of her book, and before they caught the vile person who was coined the Golden State Killer by McNamara, makes this read so much more haunting. I am stuck with the words she ended her book on,"Letter to the Golden State Killer" (https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/letter-to-the-golden-state-killer) before she passed and before the arrest of GSK. 

It closes with: 

"This is how it ends for you.

“You’ll be silent forever, and I’ll be gone in the dark,” you threatened a victim once.

Open the door. Show us your face.

Walk into the light." 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, and Torture

kyliesh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

Likely the scariest book I’ve ever read. McNamara has a way of writing non fiction really well and walking the line of being empathetic toward victims but not holding back on details that are important to the case really well. Extremely sad that she was unable to see the GSK identified and imprisoned but her letter in the epilogue was truly amazing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Stalking

winifred_k22's review

challenging dark emotional informative medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Murder, Blood, Sexual assault, Stalking, Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, and Death of parent

alexisgarcia's review

dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Blood, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Grief, and Murder

lauren_drinkard's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Stalking, Sexual assault, and Murder

theunfinishedbookshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Murder, Stalking, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

wintery1's review against another edition

dark informative tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Torture, Death, Violence, Murder, Sexual violence, Rape, and Drug abuse

wandering_canuck's review

dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

Although this book pulled me in from page 1, it lost me about midway through. Though McNamara was obviously thorough in her research, I found my mind wandering throughout the second half. To be fair, this book was cobbled together by other writers after McNamara's early demise, so one can't judge it too harshly. I, of course, wanted the book to end with the capture of the Golden State Killer but, alas, McNamara didn't live long enough to witness his arrest and conviction. Though well written, the test of a great book for me is whether I would recommend it to others. Sadly, this one falls short of the mark. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Murder

hayleyfitz's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Gore, Body horror, Rape, Stalking, Sexual assault, Blood, and Sexual violence

dejasquietplace's review

dark informative sad tense medium-paced

4.5

I'll Be Gone in the Dark is a tense investigative recounting of the Golden State Killer's horrific crimes and the obsessive search for him by a few very dedicated people. It delves well into the circumstances of every rape and murder attributed to him, with a focus on the victims, never once straying into tactless humor about the situation, portraying it as it was-- almost beyond words. While a couple parts could meander a little, I enjoyed pretty much every minute of McNamara's writing. It's obvious how dedicated she was to the case.
What lingers large over the book that gives it an even sadder air is the knowledge that the GSK was found through ancestry DNA only a couple short years after the author's passing. And of course, the answer is the most boring, obvious, and gut-wrenching one: he was a cop. I had a distinct melancholy while listening to the audiobook, knowing she would never get to see him served justice, although the victims' remaining families do, thankfully. This is a great read that I would recommend to anyone interested in a thorough history of a true monster in the dark, written maturely and unflinchingly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Rape, Murder, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual assault