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A review by stormlightreader
Chase Darkness with Me: How One True-Crime Writer Started Solving Murders by Billy Jensen
What kind of worked for me?
Jensen is a journalist who clearly advocates for the victims. We hear about Jensen's use of Facebook ads to try and reach potential witnesses, at his own expense. He combines real life examples of mysteries that he solved or helped solve, while discussing those that weren't solved.
The pacing worked well for me, possibly because I was using a combination of audio and physical. However, I feel like the book idealises regular people helping to solve crimes, which I really don't think should be encouraged. It’s a mix of autobiography and true crime, and I could have done without the former.
These gripes (and the more detailed gripe below) aside, I enjoyed listening to the cases that he was involved with. The range of crimes was quite unexpected and it was interesting to hear about crimes more at the community level, rather than the more sensationalised crimes (which are obviously name-dropped in here but not focused on).
What really didn't work for me?
This book feels like an attempt at being a follow up to I'll Be Gone in the Dark (by Michelle McNamara), which for me, is a one-of-a-kind true crime book that cannot be replicated. I know Jensen was involved in finishing I'll Be Gone in the Dark following McNamara's death (we are reminded several times), and quite a bit of this book is given over to the details of meeting with McNamara's widower and finishing the book.
Listening to this author detail how he went from writing about crime for newspapers to helping to track down criminals himself kind of made me think he was trying to replicate the relationship McNamara developed with police during the hunt for the Golden State Killer. There is even a direct comparison at one point, when he refers to him trying to prove that he can be trusted by detectives the way McNamara was naturally embraced by them. When I read I'll Be Gone in the Dark, I really felt how much McNamara wanted the GSK captured, whereas I didn't get that same vibe with this book. It felt more like a 'How To' guide for amateur keyboard detectives.
Jensen is a journalist who clearly advocates for the victims. We hear about Jensen's use of Facebook ads to try and reach potential witnesses, at his own expense. He combines real life examples of mysteries that he solved or helped solve, while discussing those that weren't solved.
The pacing worked well for me, possibly because I was using a combination of audio and physical. However, I feel like the book idealises regular people helping to solve crimes, which I really don't think should be encouraged. It’s a mix of autobiography and true crime, and I could have done without the former.
These gripes (and the more detailed gripe below) aside, I enjoyed listening to the cases that he was involved with. The range of crimes was quite unexpected and it was interesting to hear about crimes more at the community level, rather than the more sensationalised crimes (which are obviously name-dropped in here but not focused on).
What really didn't work for me?
This book feels like an attempt at being a follow up to I'll Be Gone in the Dark (by Michelle McNamara), which for me, is a one-of-a-kind true crime book that cannot be replicated. I know Jensen was involved in finishing I'll Be Gone in the Dark following McNamara's death (we are reminded several times), and quite a bit of this book is given over to the details of meeting with McNamara's widower and finishing the book.
Listening to this author detail how he went from writing about crime for newspapers to helping to track down criminals himself kind of made me think he was trying to replicate the relationship McNamara developed with police during the hunt for the Golden State Killer. There is even a direct comparison at one point, when he refers to him trying to prove that he can be trusted by detectives the way McNamara was naturally embraced by them. When I read I'll Be Gone in the Dark, I really felt how much McNamara wanted the GSK captured, whereas I didn't get that same vibe with this book. It felt more like a 'How To' guide for amateur keyboard detectives.