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cryptalopod 's review for:
I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer
by Michelle McNamara
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
If you are or have been an enjoyer of True Crime content, you may be familiar with this book. I'll Be Gone in the Dark is a mostly True Crime novel but also part memoir to the woman who, with no proper training but boundless determination, strived for years to solve a decades old case. Michelle was a writer and blogger when she fell into researching the East Area Rapist (who she would later dub the Golden State Killer, the name that is most popular now in the modern lexicon) and this book serves as her magnum opus on the case. In this book, she details events as they happened through known reports and first hand accounts from detectives and victims of EAR's crimes, all of it culminating not in his capture, unfortunately, but in her death. Michelle passed away before she was able to finish her book and two of her friends and colleagues finished it for her, piecing together her notes to be left in the final stages of waiting, as Michelle was convinced a DNA test a la 23andMe would eventually solve the case. In this, she was right, but not until years later would his identity finally be revealed.
I write all the above because it is important to know this book serves two functions: a case study on a serial killer, and the account of a true crime girly, but the 'good' kind. There are moments in the book when the memoir overtakes everything else, and to say it feels out of place is not correct, but it did pull me from the book. The book plays with the line of cold fact and humanity in an interesting way simply by the nature of how it was written, and with the added weight of I'll Be Gone in the Dark being essentially Michelle's master work, a conversation is certainly at play. Michelle is incredibly aware of herself as she writes about her journey through obsession, and it is clear this takes a toll on her life similarly as it does the investigators that she interviews for the book.
Speaking of the investigative work, there is no questioning she did an incredible job for someone not visibly affiliated with law enforcement (she does endear herself to many through her years researching the case). How some of this information is provided is less than ideal at times, because the book does not follow the linear fashion I think would be the most concise way to discuss the case. But that's probably a part of the zig zag nature homeboy took through his crimes. The narrative is told predominantly through the lens of the victims, though as an unsolved case without a perpetrator to give 'credit' [at the time], its hard to tell if this was a choice to bring in more of that humanity, or simply to work with what they had. The book is clearly not idolizing EAR or putting him on a pedestal, and for that I am grateful.
It predominantly exist in part 1-the victims/crime, part 2- the investigation to find EAR, and part 3-whatever Michelle was not able to finishing. Because of this, it can be a little choppy at times, but overall it was not hard to read if you are aware of the subject matter (homeboy had his name for a reason).
There is no doubt Michelle's media presence revealed this case to the general public. Through blogs, articles, and interviews, McNamara brought a light to an otherwise 'unknown' assailant. Instead of living in the memories of those he victimized, EAR/GSK became a well known perpetrator to the point this very book got a mini series made about it. Michelle's work did lead to EAR's eventual arrest and conviction, and that is interesting to reconcile with the current state of the True Crime landscape.
If you enjoy true crime, it may be worth your while to read this. It's an interesting experience, and though I don't think I will ever read a book with this much attachment again, it was worth the unique perspective
I write all the above because it is important to know this book serves two functions: a case study on a serial killer, and the account of a true crime girly, but the 'good' kind. There are moments in the book when the memoir overtakes everything else, and to say it feels out of place is not correct, but it did pull me from the book. The book plays with the line of cold fact and humanity in an interesting way simply by the nature of how it was written, and with the added weight of I'll Be Gone in the Dark being essentially Michelle's master work, a conversation is certainly at play. Michelle is incredibly aware of herself as she writes about her journey through obsession, and it is clear this takes a toll on her life similarly as it does the investigators that she interviews for the book.
Speaking of the investigative work, there is no questioning she did an incredible job for someone not visibly affiliated with law enforcement (she does endear herself to many through her years researching the case). How some of this information is provided is less than ideal at times, because the book does not follow the linear fashion I think would be the most concise way to discuss the case. But that's probably a part of the zig zag nature homeboy took through his crimes. The narrative is told predominantly through the lens of the victims, though as an unsolved case without a perpetrator to give 'credit' [at the time], its hard to tell if this was a choice to bring in more of that humanity, or simply to work with what they had. The book is clearly not idolizing EAR or putting him on a pedestal, and for that I am grateful.
It predominantly exist in part 1-the victims/crime, part 2- the investigation to find EAR, and part 3-whatever Michelle was not able to finishing. Because of this, it can be a little choppy at times, but overall it was not hard to read if you are aware of the subject matter (homeboy had his name for a reason).
There is no doubt Michelle's media presence revealed this case to the general public. Through blogs, articles, and interviews, McNamara brought a light to an otherwise 'unknown' assailant. Instead of living in the memories of those he victimized, EAR/GSK became a well known perpetrator to the point this very book got a mini series made about it. Michelle's work did lead to EAR's eventual arrest and conviction, and that is interesting to reconcile with the current state of the True Crime landscape.
If you enjoy true crime, it may be worth your while to read this. It's an interesting experience, and though I don't think I will ever read a book with this much attachment again, it was worth the unique perspective