I'll Be Gone in the Dark

One Woman‘s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer

by Michelle McNamara

ePUB

English language

Published Feb. 1, 2018 by HarperCollins.

ISBN:: 978-0-06-231980-7

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(41 reviews)

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 Dark—the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden death—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 classic—one which fulfilled Michelle's dream: helping unmask the Golden State Killer.

1 edition

Megan reviewed I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

Good Book About Terrible Events

4 stars

Content warning Discussion of Sexual Violence

I’m 2/3rds of the way through this book, I am really enjoying the author’s style. The book documents the 40 year pursuit of a prolific rapist and murderer eventually dubbed the Golden State Killer. Its also the story of another tragedy, the premature death of the author, who passed away in her sleep and never saw the man responsible for the crimes being brought to justice. She does a great job of capturing and bringing to life what it was like for people living in the communities this man terrorised, and the harms that the victims who survived have had to live with. Its upsetting, but also engaging, well researched and well written.

It passes my personal morality test for true crime books, its a book that centres the lives and experiences of the victims.

pithypants reviewed I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

Review of "I'll Be Gone in the Dark" on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Maybe it's because they had to stitch this together based on notes, interviews and drafts in the wake of the author's death, but it felt very repetitive to me. There were multiple times when I had to check my phone to make sure the audiobook hadn't accidentally reverted to an earlier bookmark. I don't read much in the "true crime" genre, so this was another instance where I felt a comprehensive article could've been as (or more) effective than a book. I found myself getting impatient.

meeg reviewed I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

Review of "I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer" on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I'm not sure I'm going to see this book through to the end- it's very well-written and engaging, and I can understand the accolades, but the world is just already so bad.

johnny dangerously. reviewed I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

Review of "I'll Be Gone in the Dark" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Almost certainly the only True Crime novel I'll read, or ever need to read. While I generally find this genre's penchant for lurid fixations on invasions of privacy distasteful, this book is thoughtful and eloquent, putting itself under the microscope as much as the killer.

Kevin Smokler reviewed I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

Review of "I'll Be Gone in the Dark" on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

Were in just a recounting of a dogged investigation I'd have given it 4 stars for how thorough and dogged it was. Given that the late Michelle McNamara could put a narrative together, knew when to press the gas pedal of a story and when to let up, knew that emotions should be deployed to support a narrative rather than shout over it makes this a brilliant, sad, unforgettable and important book.

B. Zelkovich reviewed I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

Review of "I'll Be Gone in the Dark" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This book is amazing, and I can only imagine how much better it could have been if Michelle had been able to complete it. The narrative held me captive, and wrung me dry. I loved every minute of it.

GG reviewed I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

Review of "I'll Be Gone in the Dark" on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

An interesting true-crime read, but it’s now outdated given that it was written before he was arrested.

Alex Keane reviewed I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

Review of "I'll Be Gone in the Dark" on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I really enjoyed the dual track narrative connecting McNamara's life and her knowledge of a past crime in her home town with the crimes of the Golden State Killer she became obsessed with. Each tidbit of the killer's tale is interspersed with moments that led to McNamara developing her interest in crime stories or that led to her discovery of certain aspects of the Golden State Killer's case.

Yukari reviewed I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

Review of "I'll Be Gone in the Dark" on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

What an incredible book. All the EAR/GSK stories are chilling, but more than anything, I am in awe with Michelle’s talent as writer as well as her tenacity. What a loss. But at least now we wait for truths to come out from the authorities. Thank you @PaulHoles for your contribution among others.

the_lirazel reviewed I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

Review of "I'll Be Gone in the Dark" on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

3.5 stars

Michelle McNamara was an excellent writer. Clear, humane, interesting, compassionate, insightful. She really was a cut above your average true crime writer and while the great tragedy of her death was obviously the loss of a woman who loved and was loved by a great many people, I'm also heartbroken that we won't get anymore writing from her.

And yet I was let down by this book. The quality of the writing is not why this book didn't quite work for me. My disappointment results from two things, one of which could have been fixed by good editing and the other which was beyond anyone's control.

The first problem I have with the book is that both while reading it and afterwards thinking it over, I have no idea of the chronology of the events it reports. The various crimes and then the contemporary attempts to solve them are presented in an episodic way without, as far as I can tell, any eye to timeline. While McNamara was relating the happenings, I was totally engrossed by her descriptions, especially how she kept the focus on the victims and their loved ones and not on the criminal. But I could never get a handle on the order in which things happened. The little timeline on the map at the front of the book barely helped. I feel that this book would have been much stronger if at least the crimes were told chronologically. Perhaps other people can mentally construct a timeline from the way the episodes were presented. I can't, and so the attacks are pretty much a muddle in my mind. This is, above all, an editing problem.

The second complaint I have about the book was beyond anyone's control. McNamara never got to write a proper ending. I am confident that if she'd been able to wrap up the book herself, it would have been taken to a higher level. Her two friends who try to wrap things up in the last section do as good a job as anyone could do, but McNamara's style and approach to the story was so distinct that there was no possible way for anyone else to craft a really satisfactory ending.

I keep thinking about how tragic it is that McNamara didn't live long enough to see this case solved and the killer arrested. And yet it's clear from her writing that she believed it would happen someday. She was right. She wasn't responsible for finding the killer in the end, but I don't think she would have cared about that. It would be enough for her that he was finally dragged into the light.