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

by Michelle McNamara

Other authorsPatton Oswalt (Afterword), Gillian Flynn (Introduction)
Hardcover, 2018

Status

Available

Publication

Harper (2018), 352 pages

Description

Biography & Autobiography. True Crime. Nonfiction. HTML: #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Washington Post | Maureen Corrigan, NPR | Paste | Seattle Times | Entertainment Weekly | Esquire | Slate | Buzzfeed | Jezebel | Philadelphia Inquirer | Publishers Weekly | Kirkus Reviews | Library Journal | Bustle | Mother Jones | Real Simple | Crime Reads | Book Riot | Bookish | Amazon | Barnes and Noble |Hudson Booksellers New York Public Library | Chicago Public Library Winner of the Goodreads Choice Awards for Nonfiction | SCIBA Book Award Winner | Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence The haunting true story of the elusive serial rapist turned murderer who terrorized California during the 70s and 80s, and of the gifted journalist who died tragically while investigating the caseā??which was solved in April 2018.Introduction by Gillian Flynn ā?¢ Afterword by Patton Oswalt "A brilliant genre-buster.... Propulsive, can't-stop-now reading." ā??Stephen King For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area. Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called "the Golden State Killer." Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was. I'll Be Gone in the Darkā??the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden deathā??offers an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind. It is also a portrait of a woman's obsession and her unflagging pursuit of the truth. Utterly original and compelling, it has been hailed as a modern true crime classicā??one which fulfilled Michelle's dream: helping unmask the Golden… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member msf59
"Youā€™ll be silent forever, and Iā€™ll be gone in the dark."

ā€œIf you commit murder and then vanish, what you leave behind isnā€™t just pain but absence, a supreme blankness that triumphs over everything else. The unidentified murderer is always twisting a doorknob behind a door that never opens.
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ā€œ

For over a decade, starting in the mid-1970s, a young man terrorized California, committing fifty sexual assaults and then moving onto murder, killing at least ten people. He was never caught.
About thirty years later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime blogger and journalist, stumbles upon the case and immediately became obsessed with finding the psychopathic rapist, who she coins the Golden State Killer.
After years of researching and compiling profiles and police reports, she decided to put this all into a book. Sadly, she died before finishing the manuscript, but her outlines and notes were painstakingly documented, so her key researchers, completed the project. Good thing too, because this is an excellent true crime tale. Her prose is strong and deft, as she draws the reader into this dark, terrifying world of a relentless monster.

Gillian Flynn, introduces the book and she is the perfect choice, (Dark Places, definitely comes to mind) and the epilogue was written by her husband, the comedian and actor, Patton Oswalt, who has also been touring and promoting his late wife's masterful book.
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LibraryThing member arielfl
This is the author's memoir of her obsession with identifying the EAR/ONS who we now know to be Joseph James DeAngelo. The problem with this book was that McNamara died before DeAngelo was identified and before she finished the book. The book was acually pieced together after her death. Now that
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DeAngelo has been identified you are reading of his devious crimes through a different lens. He was responsible for over 50 rapes, 12 murders, and 120 break ins.

The parts of the book where McNamara describe the victims and the lives they were leading before tragedy interceded were so well written and were my favorite. I found the weak part to be in the end where all of her conjecture and grasping at straws hypothesis. She was not a law enforcement officer with detective training. She was someone who was a good writer and who was fascinated, maybe in a n unhealthy way, with the case. The most interesting thing I took from the book was when it was revealed that she was interested in using Ancestry.com to submit the unidentified DNA. We now know that was how the case was solved. DeAngelo's DNA was submitted into a family DNA site and his family was identified. McNamara did not have the ability to do this herself. I wonder if the detectives got the idea to do that from her. If that is the case then she solved everything. Publicly they have said that her research had no bearing on what they did.

Due to McNamara's death I found the book to be disjointed. It is better if you know the facts of the case before trying to read it. DeAngelo's crimes were prolific and it is hard to understand all that is attributed to him just by reading the book. If you read the Wikipedia article first you will be better off. What I got from this book are glimpses of how good the book could have been if MCNamara had lived long enough to see DeAngelo's arrest. As it is you are left with a tribute to one woman's obsession with unmasking a man who very nearly eluded justice.
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LibraryThing member Darcia
Michelle McNamara was still working on this book when she died. Her research team and editor finished it by piecing together the finished sections, her notes, and various articles she'd written. Unfortunately, it reads exactly like the resulting patchwork, often lacking cohesion and structure.

For
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the most part, this is more a memoir and tribute to Michelle than a true crime book about the Golden State Killer. The subtitle states, "One Woman's Obsessive Search...," and obsessive is exactly the write descriptor. McNamara's unhealthy obsession with this then-cold case made me uncomfortable. I wanted to know why no one in her family intervened. McNamara's myopic focus on this elusive killer didn't seem to leave room for her husband or daughter. Her mental health certainly suffered, and yet we never learn why this specific case, out of all those she'd researched, held her so transfixed.

The first part of the book covers McNamara's personal life and obsession with this case, as well as facts about some of the rapes and murders. The second part takes us to the time when she teams up with a detective working the cold case, in which they chase after the Golden Gate Killer's trail. Some of this information is repetitive, having already been covered in the first section. The final section, for me, was little more than filler added by the editor in order to pad the page count and incorporate the copious amount of notes taken by McNamara. This section reads exactly like the dry research notes it is.

This book was released in February 2018. The Golden State Killer was caught in April 2018, so there is no information here on the killer's identity or his life. Also, we never learn whether any of McNamara's immense investigative research helped - or even hindered - the detectives in charge of the case.

While I did find sections interesting, I thought the content suffered from lack of structuring, as well as the underlying feel of McNamara's unhealthy obsession.
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LibraryThing member mcelhra
Iā€™ll Be Gone in the Darkā€”the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden deathā€”offers an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind. It is also a portrait of a womanā€™s obsession and her
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unflagging pursuit of the truth. Utterly original and compelling, it has been hailed as a modern true crime classicā€”one which fulfilled Michelleā€™s dream: helping unmask the Golden State Killer.

Iā€™ll Be Gone in the Dark is the true story of the Golden State Killer, also known as the East Area Rapist. He terrorized California, committing at least 13 murders, more than 50 rapes, and over 100 burglaries in from 1974 to 1986. Author Michelle McNamara believed she was coming close to discovering the Golden State Killerā€™s identity when she unfortunately passed away. She did not complete Iā€™ll Be Gone in the Dark but her husband, Patton Oswald, decided to publish it anyway. He and her researchers pieced together the gaps in her writing. Any time they have done this, itā€™s explained in the text at the point where it occurs.

Coincidentally, the Golden State Killer was caught shortly after this book was published, which is one of the main reasons I wanted to read it. Itā€™s a lot more satisfying to read true crime if the crime has been solved! I found this book to be a little disjointed and confusing. However, thatā€™s understandable considering itā€™s basically unfinished. Michelle worked on this book for years and itā€™s amazingly well-researched. She was allowed to take boxes upon boxes of police files home to look at and she analyzed them all thoroughly. She also performed several interviews with people involved with the case.

The Golden State Killerā€™s capture is bittersweet. Of course itā€™s fantastic that he was caught but itā€™s sad the Michelle wasnā€™t alive to see it. She was, in her own words, obsessed with this case. At the end of the book is a letter to the Golden State Killer from Michelle about what she thinks will happen when he is captured that is eerily close to the truth.

Fans of true crime and those curious about the Golden State Killer should definitely check out Iā€™ll Be Gone in the Dark.
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LibraryThing member loraineo
Very good true crime book about the Golden State Killer.. At times some of it is hard to read, so much detail. The author did a good job interviewing many of the people / families involved in these horrible crimes. Definitely I would recommend this book to anyone who likes true crime books.
LibraryThing member RidgewayGirl
The Golden State Killer is an uncaught man responsible for over fifty rapes and/or murders across California. Until recently, law enforcement were not even aware that the unknown rapist known as the East Area Rapist was the same person as the serial killer working further south, who was known as
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the Original Night Stalker. Author Michelle McNamara became fascinated by unsolved crimes after a young woman was killed in her community when McNamara was fourteen. She would eventually start a blog and become a well-known amateur sleuth who used the internet to find clues and to look over the original police work, becoming knowledgeable enough to be accepted by the detectives and forensic scientists who had worked or are still working on finding the criminal. I'll Be Gone in the Dark is the result of years and years of work.

There's a lot of hype and publicity surrounding this book. The author died before the book was finished, but her husband and fellow researchers worked to put together a finished book from what she's already written as well as drafts of magazine articles and her notes. The result should be a mess, but instead makes for fascinating reading. McNamara takes a series of crimes in which the perpetrator varied little in his approach and methods, and crafted a well-paced and insightful book. Her writing combines accounts from survivors, family members, and law enforcement with the story of her pursuit of the killer and how it affected her, as well as how advances in forensics have allowed clues and evidence to be found that was unavailable when he was committing his first crimes. McNamara's writing shines and stands in startling contrast to the plodding prose of the final chapters put together by others.
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LibraryThing member jmchshannon
Michelle McNamaraā€™s posthumous novel about the Golden State Killer was a surprise addition to the readathon that was literally a could-not-stop-listening choice. She was meticulous in her research and brutally honest in her obsession with this previously obscure serial killer. Anyone who chooses
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to read this one now has the added benefit of the latest updates with the recent arrest of a suspect. This is a definite must-read and will be a highlight of the year.
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LibraryThing member gail616
Such a shame sheā€™s gone. Iā€™ve always followed true crime and was familiar with the case. I couldnā€™t put the book down. Iā€™d have loved to read more of her work.
LibraryThing member seasonsoflove
I had been wanting to read this book since it first came out, and was so excited when my dad surprised me with a copy.

And then they caught The Golden State Killer.

I dropped every other book I was reading, and went straight for this one.

The research Michelle McNamara had done before she passed is so
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impeccable and in depth, and mixed in with her amazing writing style, has created a book that I could not put down. There was so much care that went into making sure the book was finished and published.

Reading this, knowing that The Golden State Killer has been caught, just added another layer. Seeing where so many instincts were spot on, and reading the epilogue addressed to the killer before he was caught, was incredible.

I definitely recommend this read.
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LibraryThing member Narshkite
Michelle McNamara was clearly a dogged and brilliant researcher, a good citizen, and loving mother and wife. Her death is a loss to so many, and my heart goes out to them. I want to want to give this a 5-star, but if I am being honest I don't feel the book accomplishes much.

I don't read a lot of
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true crime, but I have read and liked a number of books in this genre. I was a huge fan of Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America, The Executioner's Song, In Cold Blood, Shot in the Heart, Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders and a number of other less classic crime books. This book though was nothing like those books. This was 100% procedural, and that did not work for me. Because no one has ever solved this case, we know nothing of the killer. Delving into the "why" is for me the most interesting aspect of crime writing. Of course the "how" is interesting too, but its not terribly substantial, uncomfortably voyeuristic, and repetitive. It is a side dish to the main event of understanding why these things happen, and sometimes what this says about all of us as a community or society. For me, this book offered no entree. It felt like a needlessly extended magazine piece (which is what it was.)

The book was well-written enough, and it didn't bore me, but there are much better crime books out there that provide actual insight rather than simple documentation of (failed) crime-solving.
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LibraryThing member JaredOrlando
I am convinced that Michelle McNamara's I'll Be Gone in the Dark will go down in history, along with Helter Skelter and In Cold Blood, as required reading for true crime enthusiasts, and perhaps scholars. Her sympathy for victims, the humanization of a killer, and beautiful prose add up to an
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obsession in reading her obsession with finding the Golden State Killer.
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LibraryThing member watersgendry
This one will be with me for a long time. Michelle is a beautiful writer, and I only wish she had been able to continue her work.
LibraryThing member Bodagirl
McNamara's writing is absolutely wonderful and it sucks you in so fast. I'm not very familiar with the case so a more complete timeline and list of persons related would have been helpful.
LibraryThing member Beamis12
4.5 captivating and incredibly creepy. One would have had to have been in a news blackout, at least here in the states, to have not heard about the long overdue capture of the rapist and murderer, called the Golden State killer. This book is do well researched, an in-depth expose of all the
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incidents, the evidence collected and the many areas in California where this killer roamed. It was presented in a clear, concise and very interesting way. Yes, there is repetition, but it would be hard not eliminate that, as Michelle talks to many different law enforcement personnel as well as others, going over what she found, what they found, and what do far had been concluded. That for so long he was able to go without capture, it both unbelievable but yet understandable. There were no data bases Shari g informstion, nor was there dna profiling back then.

I chose to listen to this and the narrator was outstanding. In fact I believe listening to this increased the creep factor quite a bit. You see, the rapist/killer whispered to his victims and the narrators whispering and thd rords spoken were chilling. Actually went to bed with bear spray on my nightstand. Years ago I was a true crime fanatic, read Helter skelter, all of Ann Rules many crime exposes, but this is the first one I have read for s long time. It was part of a sisters read and it helped, talking to oyhers, able to share our thoughts.

It is terrible that after sll her work, Michelle died, way to young, before she saw this book published, nor the man who had been here obsession so long captured. Her husband narrates the end of the sufio, talking abbout his wife, and her work.
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LibraryThing member karenvg3
This book was sooo hard for me to read and took so long. Not because it was bad, but because it hit so close to home. Growing up in San Jose, CA we were on his path. Now living in the Sacramento area all the land marks are known to me. McNamara did an amazing job with this book. Iā€™m just so sad
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that she died before seeing this nightmare of a man behind bars. 5šŸŒŸšŸŒŸšŸŒŸšŸŒŸšŸŒŸ
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LibraryThing member DonnaB317
DEAR LORD, DON't READ THIS BOOK AT NIGHT! And don't read it if you're going to be alone at night. My sense of security in my own house has been forever disrupted, but that's the point I guess.
LibraryThing member Citizenjoyce
I donā€™t know how a non fiction book about a serial killer and rapist could be so boring, but this one certainly is. The author was obsessed with this horrid criminal, and she did great work in trying to find him. Iā€™m, of course, very glad he was finally found, but I guess Iā€m just not cut out
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to be a detective. Minutiae piled on top of minutiae - this is what it takes to solve a cold case, but it doesnā€™t make for very interesting reading.
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LibraryThing member jess_reads_books
For more than ten years Northern California was haunted by an unknown, violent predator who committed fifty sexual assaults in the area. He then moved south in California and his reign of terror expanded to murder. This man became known as the East Area Rapist. One day he simply disappeared. He was
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never identified. There was never a solid lead on who he might be. He was never captured.

Michelle McNamara stumbled upon the case decades later and become obsessed with finding out who this criminal was. She dubbed him the Golden State Killer. She found a community of like-minded individuals also passionate about bringing justice upon the man who committed these crimes. She gathered extensive amounts of data, case facts, interviews, and anything that would shed some light on identifying the killer. McNamaraā€™s untimely death lead to the book being completed by a close colleague. Within these pages lies the truth and search to unmask a killer.

Iā€™m not typically much of a non-fiction reader, but I have a soft spot for true crime. I originally saw Iā€™LL BE GONE IN THE DARK all over social media and knew I wanted to read the book and then when the killer was caught I knew I had to read the book. Michelle McNamaraā€™s dedication to research and investigating the Golden State Killer is absolutely amazing! There truly is no other way to categorize the level of detail that went into this book. After page one I was hooked and wanted to run off to Google everything. Luckily, McNamara already had everything I needed within these pages, aside from what has happened since the release of the book of course.

Michelle McNamara and those who picked up after her death have a writing style that is gripping and enticing while being saturated in facts. I think I shy away from non-fiction often because it can become unreadable and boring. That never happened with Iā€™LL BE GONE IN THE DARK. I was stunned what I read and at times downright terrified by this manā€™s actions. This is definitely not a book I recommend reading while home alone at night. I also listened to parts of this one on audiobook, which was a fantastic experience. I highly recommend this book for anyone and everyone!
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LibraryThing member basilisksam
A very interesting book and I'm glad I read it. However, the stellar reviews by Stephen King and Michael Connelly on the back cover left me puzzled. Some parts of the book are very good indeed, some patchy and some repetitive. This is totally not the fault of the original author who tragically died
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before the book was finished, leaving her friends and collaborators to fill in the gaps. I would definitely recommend this to anyone with an interest in true crime but warn them to be aware of its shortcomings too.
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LibraryThing member mandkrue86
ā€œIā€™ll Be Gone in the Darkā€ is one of those books that stay with you long after you turned the last page. Itā€™s an incredible narrative of a series of crimes that really happened in the 1970ā€™s and 1980ā€™s and remained unsolved until earlier this year (two years after author Michelle
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McNamaraā€™s untimely death).

Itā€™s a book you cannot put away because McNamaraā€™s way of telling the Golden State Killerā€™s story is haunting and all-consuming. It keeps you awake all night and turns your into a hobby detective. Itā€™s an incredible piece of real-life crime fiction that is flooded with an unbelievable amount of details, compassion, and history. It tells the story of a killer, of his victims, of the many crime units, detectives, and forensic criminalists, who tried to catch him, of the people and the community life in Southern and Northern California, and of a woman, who dedicates her life and legacy to finding out the truth.

What a captivating book that deserves all the praise it receives and more! 5 stars!
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LibraryThing member justagirlwithabook
Tags: Nonfiction, Audiobook, True Crime, Golden State Killer/East Area Rapist, Unsolved Mysteries (but recently solved)

Overview: Michelle McNamara was a freelance writer and crime blogger (and whose husband you may know as the well-known comedic actor Patton Oswalt). She became incredibly obsessed
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with the East Area Rapist (EAR) who she later dubbed ā€œThe Golden State Killerā€ (which stuck) and, for years, looked into the crimes and people involved with investigating them. She was working on this book when she died unexpectedly in her sleep in 2016. Oswalt, with the help of editors and through use of her notes and what had been written, published the book posthumously in 2018, just before police successfully captured the Golden State Killer through the use of DNA on an ancestry site.

Highlights: This book sold like wildfire especially after the announcement was made that theyā€™d finally captured the Golden State Killer shortly after the book was published. So there was a lot of hype surrounding it in mid-2018. I had heard that it kept people up at night and some went so far as to install security systems in their homes. While I found it to be a bit creepy in the beginning, it quickly become very technical with details of crime scenes and interviews with those who did much of the investigation in the 70s and 80s. McNamara never fully figured it all out, though it was apparent, towards the end of the book, that she was on the right track and getting really close. Had she held out a bit longer, she wouldā€™ve seen the killer finally come to justice.

Pre-Requisites: It helps to know a bit of the background of the East Area Rapist ā€“ an overview of the time period and some of the crimes committed. The book jumps around a bit and it can be hard to follow along with the storyline, so itā€™s helpful to have a grounded idea of where all the jumping around takes place in the larger scheme of things.

If you like: true crime, unsolved mysteries (but recently solved!), books about murders (and other crimes), investigative research, 1970s-80s based stories, investigations pre-21st century tech
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LibraryThing member MinDea
This book is exceptional. The way Michelle NcNamara was able to run through all the gruesome facts of each attack by the Golden State Killer was captivating. She did a great job of toeing the line of making the readers understand how gruesome and terrible the attacks were but not being overly
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detailed making it impossible to read. I liked how each part had a clear path showing the different phases of her investigation into who the GSK was. I thought it was a little disjointed jumping from her writing to someone else's. You could easily tell it was not her writing, but maybe it was good that they didn't try to mimic her writing style.

I think I enjoyed this book so much because I really didn't know much about the case at all. I am saddened that she passed away before he was caught. I wonder what her thoughts would be.

If you're a true crime fan I would highly recommend this book.
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LibraryThing member Susan.Macura
A single perpetrator committed more than 50 rapes that then escalated into 10 murders before disappearing in 1986. Who was he? Why did he stop? These are questions the police have never been able to solve. True-crime journalist Michelle McNamara became obsessed with this case, and devoted much of
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her life to trying to solve it, working with both the police who came to trust her and through her Website True Crime Diary. She also worked on this book as she proceeded. However, sadly, she did not live long enough to either find this individual or finish her book. While the search goes on without her, more interest has been drawn to it from her work, and this book was finished by those who loved her and helped her. It is a fascinating look at both a serial rapist and killer as well as those who seek the truth.
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LibraryThing member thelibraryladies
I woke up on April 25th to a story I never thought, but I had long hoped, to see: there was an arrest in the Golden State Killer case. The Golden State Killer (GSK), aka The East Area Rapist (EARS) or The Original Night Stalker (ONS), was suspected of fifty rapes, a dozen murders, and more than 100
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burglaries, all committed in California over the course of a few decades, and it was long thought that he wouldnā€™t be caught. As a huge true crime fan, I knew this case fairly well, thanks two big factors. The first was the podcast ā€œMy Favorite Murderā€, and that led to the second: the book ā€œIā€™ll Be Gone In The Darkā€ by Michelle McNamara. McNamara was a true crime writer with the blog ā€œTrue Crime Diaryā€, and had been doggedly pursuing The Golden State Killer (a phrase she created) at the time of her tragic death in 2016. Earlier this year ā€œIā€™ll Be Gone In The Darkā€ was released, in part to Bill Jensen, a co-investigator and investigative journalist in his own right. So when an arrest was made, the news spread like wildfire, and while the police were reluctant to give McNamara any credit outside of raising awareness, many think that that very awareness (starting with her blog and various articles she wrote) was vital to putting pressure on, which in turn led to an arrest. I read ā€œIā€™ll Be Gone In The Darkā€ before Joseph DeAngelo, a former police officer and seventy two year old man, was arrested for the crimes. But now that he has been, I want to shine a light on this great book, especially since the story has finally found some closure.

What stands out immediately about this book is how personal it is. While McNamara herself didnā€™t know anyone who was hurt or killed by GSK/EAR/ONS, an unsolved murder of a childhood neighbor always stuck with her throughout her life. As she started to learn about The Golden State Killer, she began to feel a deep sense of injustice for the victims that he left behind, and started to investigate it herself. She made connections with investigators, she dove into online groups of fellow armchair investigators, she visited locations and dug through box after box of evidence. Her almost obsessive commitment to this case is juxtaposed with the crimes themselves, and the horror that GSK/EAR/ONS brought upon his victims. But she is always sure to be respectful, and to keep the details vague enough to be respectful, but precise enough to paint a picture of just how awful these crimes were. She gives voice and context for the people that GSK/EAR/ONS raped or murdered, and always puts them at the forefront and the fact that justice eluded them and those they left behind for so long. In many true crime books (with a few exceptions, of course, like Ann Rule) the focus is primarily on the murderer, and the victims merely objects in a salacious story. But with McNamara, she wants the reader to know the victims and makes their voices the most important ones. Would this be different had DeAngelo been identified at publishing? Possibly. But I do get the sense that for McNamara, the identity was only important for justice purposes; this wouldnā€™t have been a story to give him any glory or to make his crimes entertainment.

As you read, McNamara instills actual terror into you. I had to stop reading this book after dark, because any noise and anything out of place sent me into a paranoid spiral. Her writing is that immersive, pulling you in and keeping you engaged. She also makes herself vulnerable by being fully aware and honest with her own obsession, and the toll that it takes on her life and her own mental health. Unlike the book that Robert Graysmith wrote about The Zodiac Killer, McNamara knew that she was treading towards obsession, and that it was deeply affecting her life. The sad fact of the matter is that when Michelle died unexpectedly in her sleep, she could have been seen as, in a way, GSK/EAR/ONS ā€˜s last victim. She had been having trouble sleeping, and her husband (comedian Patton Oswalt) had suggested she take some Xanax and just sleep until she woke up. And she didnā€™t wake up, because of an undiagnosed heart condition in tandem to the Xanax and other prescriptions. The tragedy of her death lingers on the page, as there are sections with editorā€™s notes that explain that they were originally unfinished, or that they were pieced together by her notes or previous articles. Itā€™s so great to see that this book and story she was so dedicated to was finished by people close to her, but the loss is still palpable.

So how does the new information about John DeAngelo affect this book? If anything, it makes it more poignant, and it certainly doesnā€™t diminish it. I say this because of a specific moment in the epilogue, entitled ā€œA Letter To An Old Manā€. Itā€™s a final moment that is essentially a letter from Michelle to GSK/EAR/ONS, and it works as a powerful cap off to a wonderful book. The final paragraph is all the more powerful now. Iā€™m going to quote part of it here to show you what I mean, a quote thatā€™s made the rounds on social media a lot in the days after DeAngeloā€™s capture.

ā€œThe doorbell rings. No side gates are left open. Youā€™re long past leaping over a fence. Take one of your hyper, gulping breaths. Clench your teeth. Inch timidly towards the insistent bell. This is how it ends for you. ā€˜Youā€™ll be silent forever, and Iā€™ll be gone in the dark,ā€™ you threatened a victim, once. Open the door. Show us your face. Walk into the light.ā€

And as Patton Oswalt and many others have pointed out, this is exactly what happened on April 25th, 2018.

ā€œIā€™ll Be Gone in the Darkā€ is a stunning true crime book and an opus for a voice that left us far too soon. It will surely be considered one of the greats of the genre in the years to come, and Michelle McNamara will be remembered for all the good that she did in her help to bringing closure to the victims of a horrible monster. But itā€™s also just well written book about confronting darkness in life and in ourselves, and how to battle it as best we can.
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LibraryThing member bostonbibliophile
Michelle McNamara's book is compelling and tense, but also filled with compassion and righteous anger for the victims of the man she dubbed the Golden State Killer. I could only read this because by the time I did they caught the guy. Otherwise it would give me nightmares. It's an amazing
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accomplishment and an unforgettable read.
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Awards

Audie Award (Finalist — Audiobook of the Year — 2019)
Edgar Award (Nominee — Fact Crime — 2019)
Anthony Award (Nominee — 2019)
Macavity Award (Nominee — Non-Fiction — 2019)

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2018

Physical description

352 p.; 6 inches

ISBN

0062319787 / 9780062319784

Local notes

prison
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