I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Apr 30, 2018 Sarah rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction, audiobook, true-crime

I can't say I "liked" this book because the crimes it describes are so terrifying and horrible in their sadism and psychological terror. My fear and horror is a credit to the author - she is intent on telling the victims' stories while she follows the clues to the killer and rapist behind them. I started reading this book before the recent news of the arrest in the Golden State Killer case but finished it after. It was an interesting experience to be following the efforts of the investigators' k ...more

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Aug 11, 2018 Alvin rated it it was ok

I live in this area which added another level of terror to this book. I made sure all my windows and doors were locked when reading this, not that the false sense of security comforted me. I don’t usually get into these types of books, but the author’s style of storytelling made it feel more digestible.

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Apr 28, 2018 Erin rated it it was amazing

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I read “In Cold Blood” when I was in high school. The book absolutely terrified me. The family reminded me of my own. The teenage girl reminded me of myself. I imagined myself experiencing the horror that family experienced and I lost a lot of sleep. The sleep I did manage was filled with nightmares. After “In Cold Blood,” I read “Helter Skelter,” another particularly fantastic true crime book about the Manson family killings., written by the district attorney who prosecutors them. Then I was ho I read “In Cold Blood” when I was in high school. The book absolutely terrified me. The family reminded me of my own. The teenage girl reminded me of myself. I imagined myself experiencing the horror that family experienced and I lost a lot of sleep. The sleep I did manage was filled with nightmares. After “In Cold Blood,” I read “Helter Skelter,” another particularly fantastic true crime book about the Manson family killings., written by the district attorney who prosecutors them. Then I was hooked. I figured all true crime books were barn burners like those two. I quickly discovered that so much of true crime writing is trash. Lurid, disrespectful to the victims, terribly written. So I stopped reading books in the genre. But I came back for “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” because I had read so much about Michelle McNamara and had heard all of the wonderful things said about her and her writing by her husband Patton Oswalt and her many friends. As I got further into the book, I knew this was “In Cold Blood” level writing, but without some of the fake flourishes that Capote utilized (and definitely without the creepy relationship Capote had with the killers). This book is the real deal. McNamara’s extraordinary journey to unmask the man she dubbed the Golden State Killer who raped 50 people and killed 10 almost 40 years ago is a thing to behold. She tragically died before the book was finished. Patton Oswalt recruited Michelle’s investigative partner and a journalist to attempt to finish it (they did a really nice job). But the book doesn’t end with a revelation of the monster. But as I was mid-book, THEY CAUGHT THE GOLDEN STATE KILLER. Joseph James DeAngelo. A 72 year old grandpa living in suburban California. Unbelievable. The story is still unspooling as I write this. He was arraigned last week. My heart breaks that Michelle isn’t alive to see it, but I hope that somehow she knows. And I hope that his capture after all of these decades brings some solace to the hundreds of people who were terribly impacted by this man’s horrendous crimes. My understanding is that the book will be updated when more information comes out. Personally, I would recommend reading it now. Then read the news stories that have already come out and the ones that are sure to follow. And catch the update when it comes out. Even if you aren’t a “true crime reader” generally, I would recommend this one. ...more

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May 02, 2018 Ms. McGregor rated it really liked it

This was a very good book made great by the possible resolution the author couldn’t write herself. Knowing the identity of a suspect now adds dimension to reading the book now.

My favorite true crime is the type that focuses on the men and women who pursue justice relentlessly, and this is one such book.

Also, it was creepy and terrifying and that’s not really for me. I refused to read it after dark. Yet, I couldn’t wait to pick it up the next morning.

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May 12, 2019 Kaitlin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction, memoir, crime, female-protagonist, journalist

This book has an almost true crime podcast feel to it—contemplative, intriguing, it has forward propulsion. It was really really well written and I found it highly compelling reading. It’s tragic—the author’s story, the story of the killer, it makes me sad to know the killer has been caught and that the author can’t write a follow up book, because I’d read it in a heartbeat.

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