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

Michelle McNamara,

Gillian Flynn (Introduction)

Start date: March 1, 2020

Finish date: March 29, 2020

Discussion: Monthly Group Reads

Why we're reading this: The topic is True Crime.

I'll Be Gone in the Dark One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer…more
[close] The topic is True Crime.

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

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What Members Thought

Mar 12, 2020 Megan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I read this book about the Golden State Killer as part of a Goodreads book club read. It's something I've been meaning to read for a while, but needed group support to get thru. Michelle McNamara was a brilliant, insightful writer and a committed amateur sleuth. she chronicles her interest in true crime, which began with the unsolved murder of a young woman jogger in her childhood Chicago neighborhood, and culminated in her obsession with bringing the man she called the Golden State Killer to ju I read this book about the Golden State Killer as part of a Goodreads book club read. It's something I've been meaning to read for a while, but needed group support to get thru. Michelle McNamara was a brilliant, insightful writer and a committed amateur sleuth. she chronicles her interest in true crime, which began with the unsolved murder of a young woman jogger in her childhood Chicago neighborhood, and culminated in her obsession with bringing the man she called the Golden State Killer to justice.

The story alternates between retellings of the crimes, from the killer's beginnings as a prowler and thief to his reign of terror as the East Area Rapist and his descent into murder as the Golden State Killer. There is fascinating information about the evolution of CSI techniques, finger printing, and DNA testing (not all DNA tests are alike and to get a true match form one jurisdiction to the next, the same test has to be used.)

McNamara moves the action between crime scene re-enactments and police sleuths to her family experiences as her interest in crime progresses. Her family stories and her evocation of the characters of the people affected by the Golden State Killer and the professionals working to catch him help offset the horror of the material. She shares stories of growing up in Chicago, and some very sweet family moments. her husband, comedian and actor Patton Oswald, was very supportive and she shared some heartwarming moments with their young daughter.

She describes the crimes with enough detail to make them real with out using gratuitous violence. This is mot gore porn. It's a frank, respectful treatment of what happened to the victims and survivors. This book helped me realize how import neighborhood tips and amateur sleuths can be in helping over-extended police departments catch criminals.

McNamara and her fellow sleuths helped create a vast database of information about clues and cold cases which will undoubtedly help law enforcement in the future. I'm sad she didn't live long enough to see him caught (she died before finishing the book), but it's obvious from her epilogue she could sense the net closing in. Because this book wasn't finished when Michelle died, and was pulled together by others involved in the case, parts of it are not as smooth as they could be. It is still an excellent book. Because of the subject matter, I don't recommend reading it late at night, it will cause paranoia and insomnia. ...more

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Jul 08, 2023 Keri rated it really liked it

Really interesting, though a bit jumbled. I’m sad she didn’t get to see Justice brought to the killer.

2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 27, 2020 Yuan rated it liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, audiobook, 2020-reads

I listened to this book as an audiobook and at times, I felt the narrative was a bit disjointed between cases. I'm not sure if I would have liked it more had I read it in print version. Overall 3.5 stars ...more

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