Wednesday 13 June 2018

Review - I'll be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

True crime is one of those genres that I don't indulge in very often, but when I do, I tend to go on a mini-jag.

This time, I picked up I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara, about the man who came to be known as the Golden State Killer.

Michelle - who died suddenly in 2016 before finishing the book - writes about her obsession with this one man; an elusive predator who terrorised couples for years in the 1970s and 80s.

At the time Michelle was compiling her research for what would become this book; the killer still had not been caught; although there has been an arrest since publication.

What makes I'll Be Gone in the Dark so compelling is Michelle's very distinctive voice throughout. Even as she's tracking down the crimes of the Golden State Killer, she acknowledges her own obsession with the case.

The book itself was finished by Michelle's research assistant and a journalist friend, and there is an unfinished quality to the narrative. However, that doesn't take away from Michelle's very deft touch and her obvious attention to detail.

Unfinished - and in some cases unpolished - the book stands as a testament to one woman's determination to find answers to some heinous unsolved crimes, and is well worth reading.

1 comment:

  1. I enjoyed reading this one - if enjoy is the right word.

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