Reviews tagging 'Violence'

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

119 reviews

winifred_k22's review

challenging dark emotional informative medium-paced

3.5

---

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

---

Content Warnings

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

valmai's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

5.0

We’ve lost a great author in McNamara. Her obsessive chronicling of the hard to find details of the Golden State Killer translate into a thoughtful and terrifying blend of memoir, true crime reporting, and rigorous research. I read this in two days. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Rape, and Sexual violence

haileyeh's review

dark emotional informative medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Torture, Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, Death, Stalking, Murder, and Physical abuse

beebug1991's review

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Murder, and Violence

theunfinishedbookshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

---

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

---

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. 

---

Content Warnings

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

cardigann's review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

4.75

This is an incredibly powerful and respectful piece of true crime journalism, one that led to real life impact and justice. I wish she’d lived to see the impact of her work, to finish this book with the true finality only she could’ve given it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and 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.

---

Content Warnings

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