psyduck_18 's review for:

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

---

This is my first true crime novel, and tbh I’m feeling really weird about giving it a rating due to the nature of the crimes, the very personal narrative given by the author, and the situation under which the book was published. Nevertheless, I have a lot of thoughts so I find a detailed review to be very necessary.

What I enjoyed most about this book was the depth with which victims of crimes were described. So often we listen to podcasts or watch documentaries about serial killers and true crimes, and all we hear about is the killer. Naturally, there was a lot of information about the killer, however our victims, our author, and our investigators are the real stars of the show. (It’s also worth noting here that I loved how careful the writers were to not glamorize EARONS and his crimes)

This book never came off as dry, with the slight exception of the summary at the ending that was pieced together after the author’s passing. What moved the book along in between the actual reporting of crimes came our authors narrative and the connection that the reader couldn’t help but feel towards their fellow true crime loving author.


And now, we wait to see what arises in the coming weeks with the real court case...