REVIEW: I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

 

For a really long time - about ten years or so - people in California were terrorized by a man that broke into their homes, bound them and committed other acts of violence against them.  The geographic breadth of these crimes was tremendous - this person was active in both Northern California and also Southern California and this person was known by a number of names - the Visalia Ransacker, the East Area Rapist, the Original Night Stalker (not to be confused with Richard Ramirez) and, ultimately, the Golden State Killer. This book was Michelle McNamara's posthumous chronicle of her attempts to identify the killer. She became obsessed with the case and, at the time of her death at 46, had amassed boxes and boxes of materials on the case. 

This book is, in part, a memoir as it is a chronicle of police procedure. McNamara talks about her obsession, the rabbit holes and her relationship with her mother. I enjoyed the balance that she brought to this aspect of the book, and I enjoyed the humor that she also brought to it.  Perhaps that is because humor is how I deal with particularly stressful or upsetting topics myself, but I found it humanizing of the author and a nice touch.  THere were parts of the story that I had never known before - police investigated 8000 (yes, eight thousand) suspects for this case and only recently (as in during Covid) were able to arrest the person that they knew was the GSK. The breadth of this man's crimes was absolutely breathtaking. He was averaging two sexual assaults per month and the amount of work that went into scoping out victims was mindboggling.  

Not only were the crimes tragic, but the backstory of this book is also tragic. McNamara died at 46, before completing the book and before learning that the GSK had been identified, arrested and convicted.  The book was completed in a somewhat piecemeal fashion with others piecing together chapters as best they could - there are parts of the book that clearly identify what parts were pieced together. Those parts were definitely not as smoothly written, thought that isn't anyone's fault certainly.  I still really enjoyed this book and find that it's a worthwhile read. There is also an HBO series that I intend to watch. 

Highly recommended.