Book Description
I order another bourbon, neat. This is the drink that will flip the switch. I don’t even know how I got here, to this place, to this point. Something is happening to me lately. I’m drinking too much. My sheets are soaking wet when I wake up from nightmares of decaying corpses. I order another drink and swig it, trying to forget about the latest case I can’t shake.
Crime-solving for me is more complex than the challenge of the hunt, or the process of piecing together a scientific puzzle. The thought of good people suffering drives me, for better or worse, to the point of obsession.
People always ask how I am able to detach from the horrors of my work. Part of it is an innate capacity to compartmentalize; the rest is experience and exposure, and I’ve had plenty of both. But I had always taken pride in the fact that I can keep my feelings locked up to get the job done. It’s only been recently that it feels like all that suppressed darkness is beginning to seep out.
When I look back at my long career, there is a lot I am proud of. I have caught some of the most notorious killers of the twenty-first century and brought justice and closure for their victims and families. I want to tell you about a lifetime solving these cold cases, from Laci Peterson to Jaycee Dugard to the Pittsburg homicides to, yes, my twenty-year-long hunt for the Golden State Killer.
But a deeper question eats at me as I ask myself, at what cost? I have sacrificed relationships, joy—even fatherhood—because the pursuit of evil always came first. Did I make the right choice? It’s something I grapple with every day. Yet as I stand in the spot where a young girl took her last breath, as I look into the eyes of her family, I know that, for me, there has never been a choice. “I don’t know if I can solve your case,” I whisper. “But I promise I will do my best.”
It is a promise I know I can keep.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57693618-unmasked?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=cZOsxygT1Q&rank=1
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RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
UNMASKED: My Life Solving America’s Cold Cases by Paul Holes is a candid look into the professional and personal life of a man who chases monsters. This book is part true crime, part memoir and wholly fascinating for a person interested in true crime like me.
Paul Holes was fascinated with the TV show, Quincy growing up and he aspired to be just like the character. He went to college and received a degree in biochemistry and was hired initially in a crime lab to process biological evidence samples, but he continually studied and read books in other areas of forensic study and investigation. He wanted to be in the field and not just in a lab. He was inquisitive and pushy enough to meet and befriend investigators who helped him advance with both sides of criminal investigations and cold cases, forensic and investigative.
He discovered he was especially intrigued with cold cases and giving the victims and their families resolution. The cold case file on the East Area Rapist (EAR) was the case that led to his obsession with these types of cases and ultimately, even with all his other successes, it was the one that led to the trail and ultimate unmasking of the Golden State Killer (GSK). Even though he has retired, he continues to investigate cold cases across the country and co-hosts a podcast with Billy Jensen called The Murder Squad.
I found the cases in this book engrossing, and I was also impressed with Mr. Hole’s candid accounts of his personal problems. I find the people willing to chase the most depraved killers and rapists as interesting as the crimes and criminals themselves. Mr. Hole’s admits to personal problems his professional obsession has caused and yet he continues. He has an empathy for victims and their families that continually pulls him into that next case.
I highly recommend this true crime/memoir!
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About the Author
Paul Holes retired as a Cold Case Investigator after spending over 27 years working for the Sheriff and District Attorney’s Offices during his tenure in Contra Costa County located in the Bay Area, California. Having experience in both forensic and investigative assignments, Paul throughout his career specialized in cold case and serial predator crimes, developing and applying investigative, behavioral, and forensic expertise in notable cases such as Zodiac, Golden State Killer, and Jaycee Dugard. Paul is frequently sought out by investigators to consult on the most complex and high profile cases and has played a part in putting several serial predators on Death Row such as Darryl Kemp, Joseph Naso, and Joseph Cordova Jr.
As an FBI Task Force Officer while employed with the DA’s Office, Paul teamed with FBI and Sacramento DA personnel to apply innovative technology that identified Joseph DeAngelo as the Golden State Killer, the most prolific and cunning serial predator in U.S. history.
Since the arrest of DeAngelo, Paul has been very involved on the media side continuing to assist law enforcement and victim’s families with their unsolved cases, through the television show The DNA of Murder with Paul Holes and with the podcast Jensen & Holes: The Murder Squad.
