Michelle McNamara was obsessed with the subject of this book. She believed that by using modern technology, a rapist and killer could finally be brought to justice.

She created maps and chased leads. She ran a true crime blog and this was one of her topics.

It haunted her. Then, tragically, Michelle died before this masterwork could be completed.

Her fellow researchers put I’ll Be Gone in the Dark together from her notes. It is a chilling but thorough portrait of the perpetrator of a series of unsolved crimes.

It also includes some autobiographical chapters to explain Michelle’s obsession with the man she named, “The Golden State Killer,” but also why she loves writing.

She writes about why she couldn’t stop researching and examines her complicated relationship with her mother: “No one would have taken more joy from this book than my mother. And I probably wouldn’t have felt the freedom to write it until she was gone.” pg 41

It is an amazing book. And, I believe, it has enough details that, if someone who reads this book knew that guy, he will be brought to justice at last.

He pointed a knife at her and issued a chilling warning: “Make one move and you’ll be silent forever and I’ll be gone in the dark.” pg 61

Gillian Flynn writes a stellar introduction: “I’ve always thought the least appreciated aspect of a great true crime writer is humanity. Michelle McNamara had an uncanny ability to get into the minds of not just killers but the cops who hunted them, the victims they destroyed, and trail of grieving relatives left behind.”Introduction.

This killer, whoever he is, is terrifying not only for the carnage he left, but the meticulous way he planned and carried out the murders.

He was organized and unhinged, as compared to other murderers whose passion and disorganization are their downfall: “It’s a tiny minority of criminals, maybe 5 percent, who present the bigger challenge- the ones whose crimes reveal pre-planning and unremorseful rage.” pg 14

I read this book in one sitting. It is that compelling.

But I paid for it during the night. Each creak, any small sound in the house and my heart would leap into my throat.

“He’s here,” my over-active imagination declared. “This is the end.”

It made it all too easy to understand the terror the murderer inflicted on his victims and the community he plagued. Multiple states away and decades removed from the crimes and I was petrified as well.

Recommended for brave readers, fans of true crime and anyone who wants to help solve an unsolved mystery.

Thanks for reading!

UPDATE: About a month after I wrote this book review, a man was arrested under suspicion of being the ‘Golden State Killer’.

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