I'll Be Gone in the Dark

Long title, I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer. True crime story spanning decades, both proper "chapters" and passages later edited together from notes after the author's passing. From goodreads:

A masterful true crime account of the Golden State Killer—the elusive serial rapist turned murderer who terrorized California for over a decade—from Michelle McNamara, the gifted journalist who died tragically while investigating the case.

"You’ll be silent forever, and I’ll be gone in the dark."

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.

At the time of the crimes, the Golden State Killer was between the ages of eighteen and thirty, Caucasian, and athletic—capable of vaulting tall fences. He always wore a mask. After choosing a victim—he favored suburban couples—he often entered their home when no one was there, studying family pictures, mastering the layout. He attacked while they slept, using a flashlight to awaken and blind them. Though they could not recognize him, his victims recalled his voice: a guttural whisper through clenched teeth, abrupt and threatening.

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. Framed by an introduction by Gillian Flynn and an afterword by her husband, Patton Oswalt, the book was completed by Michelle’s lead researcher and a close colleague. Utterly original and compelling, it is destined to become a true crime classic—and may at last unmask the Golden State Killer.

The killer in question was caught very recently, though sadly not before the author's passing.

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This is a discussion thread for people who have read or are reading the book in question. With that in mind, there are likely to be spoilers throughout. However, in the event of major twists or “how it ends”, please wrap content in spoiler tags.

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[spoiler]Surprise!content here[/spoiler]

  

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— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

— graphics by lady ❤ —

Oh hai I finished this yesterday.

I super loved this book; IMO McNamara wrote it more like 'genre' than 'non-fiction,' and the way that she handled the victims and their families was sympathetic, considerate, and nuanced. Also, the interest the book piqued in the case totally helped lead to the alleged killer's arrest, I am FAIRLY CONFIDENT here, espec. given the last few chapters.

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Also, the chapter where she talks about her mom? I cried.

  

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MJ made this!

and the way that she handled the victims and their families was sympathetic, considerate, and nuanced.

Not done yet, however I'd like to add "the reader" to this list. I appreciate a certain level of darkness in my books but appreciate that she didn't give the communal "us" too much. It's enough for me to appreciate the weight of what's going on but not enough to give me nightmares.

  

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— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

— graphics by lady ❤ —

Yes!! The only time I was freaked out was when I read the section on the Visalia Burglar alone in my townhouse #yikes

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   Aldous Crouch

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MJ made this!

FIN.

So while I enjoyed it, I do have to admit it wasn't my favourite. I think the combination of different authors (the last chunk) and unfinished chapters with the "bouncy" timeline made it a bit harder to really lose myself in, but I did have a positive experience overall.

That afterward, though. #I'mnotcryingyou'recrying

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   Cassius Lestrange

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— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

— graphics by lady ❤ —

ZOMBIE COMMENT - because I'm dragging this back from the dead, but I read it again recently in light of Deangelos' trial proceeding.

Pattons section kills me! When I bought the book I got the audiobook free and he READS his section and you could hear the emotion in his voice. It was just too much! I was in bits!

  

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