Book Review: I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

I’LL BE GONE IN THE DARK: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara is a chilling account of the evolution of one of the most prolific serial rapists turned serial killer in California’s history.

This story is an enthralling web of evidence, interviews with law enforcement and empathy for victims and their families written by a talented journalist obsessed with justice. For over ten years from 1974 to 1986, a sadistic predator roamed the night committing approximately fifty sexual assaults in Northern California and ten murders in Southern California. All of these crimes were only tied together later by the advancement of DNA.

Three decades later, Ms. McNamara, who was a true crime journalist with her own cold case blog, began an intensive search for the faceless man she dubbed “The Golden State Killer”. Her passion for justice shows in all of her writing. Sadly, Ms. McNamara died before she was completely finished with this book, but her research assistant and a fellow true crime writer pulled the remainder of the information together to finish this work of her lifetime for publication.

This is an intriguing true crime book that was left as an open mystery the authors hope will lead to the discovery of the faceless Golden State Killer.

***

(Update: This book was published in February, 2018 and in April, 2018 authorities announced the arrest of 72 year old Golden State Killer suspect Joseph James DeAngelo on eight counts of first degree murder based on DNA evidence.)

Book Review: True Crime Addict by James Renner

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RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

This book was not what I was expecting; it was so much more! It is the personal story of an investigative true crime reporter, James Renner, and the cold case disappearance of a UMass student, Maura Murray, from a rural New Hampshire road. Both stories intertwine with each being intriguing, sometimes disturbing, and completely compelling as we follow the search for Maura and Mr. Renner’s descent into a dangerous true crime addition.

James Renner has had a lifelong obsession with true crime beginning with his following of the Amy Mihaljevic case when he was just eleven years old. He turned that obsession into a career as an investigative journalist and true crime writer. Mr. Renner is open about his problems with PTSD due to his delving into the dark side of crime and as he investigates the 2004 disappearance of Maura Murray it also effects his judgement, personal well-being and family. Maura’s story isn’t all it seems and the questions become an addiction to Mr. Renner, his online followers and me, as the reader.

This is a must read for the true crime lover. It is also a candid look into the mind of one of the addicted that try to solve these mysteries. Maura’s story is still unsolved and gives all who read this story a chance to come to their own conclusions based on the information given.

Thanks very much to St. Martin’s Press and Net Galley for allowing me to read this ebook in exchange for an honest review. It was my pleasure.