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janine1122 's review for:
Unmasked: My Life Solving America's Cold Cases
by Paul Holes
4.5 stars.
I had a hard time putting this book down. I was taken aback throughout the book at Holes's honesty about his obsession with his work, and how he both knew the ways it interfered with his family and personal life but was unable to keep himself from doing it anyway.
Holes was personally involved in the investigations of so many huge, well-known crimes - Jaycee Dugard, Laci Peterson, and of course the Golden State Killer. Hearing about his experiences with these cases and others even more gruesome leaves you wondering how anyone in his line of work could possibly come out of those experiences unscathed. And, as becomes clear throughout the book, the truth is you probably don't.
There is so much horror in the stories Holes shares, the horrors he has seen and the unspeakable things that people can do to one another. But in that horror is also where his sense of purpose lies - if the very least he can do is try to bring some peace and closure to the families of the victims of these unspeakable atrocities, then isn't it is responsibility to do what he can to make that happen?
I found this to be a very honest read that truly gave me insight into Holes as a person, and I really appreciated the ways in which he talked about his mental health and struggles with anxiety and panic attacks throughout his life. I especially appreciated him confessing the ways in which he felt incapable of communicating how much he cared about the people in his life that he loved. How there was somehow this wall between how he felt and his inability to actually SAY that to the people he loved the most, even though he knew he could lose them, something he was terrified of happening.
A great, engaging read, though it does get pretty dark, something it's probably good to know going in.
I had a hard time putting this book down. I was taken aback throughout the book at Holes's honesty about his obsession with his work, and how he both knew the ways it interfered with his family and personal life but was unable to keep himself from doing it anyway.
Holes was personally involved in the investigations of so many huge, well-known crimes - Jaycee Dugard, Laci Peterson, and of course the Golden State Killer. Hearing about his experiences with these cases and others even more gruesome leaves you wondering how anyone in his line of work could possibly come out of those experiences unscathed. And, as becomes clear throughout the book, the truth is you probably don't.
There is so much horror in the stories Holes shares, the horrors he has seen and the unspeakable things that people can do to one another. But in that horror is also where his sense of purpose lies - if the very least he can do is try to bring some peace and closure to the families of the victims of these unspeakable atrocities, then isn't it is responsibility to do what he can to make that happen?
I found this to be a very honest read that truly gave me insight into Holes as a person, and I really appreciated the ways in which he talked about his mental health and struggles with anxiety and panic attacks throughout his life. I especially appreciated him confessing the ways in which he felt incapable of communicating how much he cared about the people in his life that he loved. How there was somehow this wall between how he felt and his inability to actually SAY that to the people he loved the most, even though he knew he could lose them, something he was terrified of happening.
A great, engaging read, though it does get pretty dark, something it's probably good to know going in.