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

The full title of today's selection is I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer, by Michelle McNamara. It chronicles not only the extensive history and search for one of California's more prolific, but not commonly well-known, serial rapists/killers, but also McNamara's obsession with finding this man and bringing him to justice. Unfortunately, McNamara, who was the wife of comedian Patton Oswalt, passed away in April of 2016, two years before both the publication of this book and the eventual arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo, the man who would be charged with the crimes that had been attributed to the Golden State Killer.

Genre, Themes, History: This is a nonfiction book that falls under the second category of true crime. Both the foreword by Gillian Flynn as well as the afterword by McNamara's husband show her to not only be interested in true crime and serial killers, but people in general. And 'interest' probably is not the right word as McNamara was known for her incredible attention to detail, and also her extreme commitment to the case. She sometimes feared that she was overstepping her bounds by some of the actions she took, but she did them anyway. And she often asked authorities questions she felt they would not like or would not answer, but she asked them anyway. As for the Golden State Killer, who was mostly known by law enforcement as either the East Area Rapist or the Original Night Stalker, he was active for ten years between 1976 and 1986, committing over 50 sexual assaults and 10 murders. Having successfully eluded police he seemingly disappeared, with some believing he had died, and others saying he had been arrested on some other charge and was languishing in jail. McNamara either was not convinced or did not care; she wanted to know the guy's identity and be sure he was caught, whether she was the one who broke the case or not. It also did not help that the Golden State Killer was active right before major advancements had been made in using DNA to find criminals; however, such advancements are what would lead to authorities eventually finding him in 2018. With a mix of details about the crime scenes, stories about the life and times of the victims, and personal memoir, McNamara takes us through a scary time in California's history, as well as her own obsession with it. 

My Verdict: Any lover of true crime will love McNamara's book as she shares with us her obsession over the Golden State Killer. Being one of the lesser known serial rapists/killers, it adds to the intrigue as these are stories and details many people have never heard before, making them a new discovery for lovers of the genre. Many may be drawn to the book due to the recent capture of the Golden State Killer, or the fact that McNamara died before completing her research, or even simply the fact that she was the wife of Patton Oswalt. Whatever the reason, they will not be disappointed and will be as interested in solving the mystery as anyone else. And while she gives the hard facts about the case, she also manages to weave humanity throughout the story, something many of her colleagues, as well as her husband, praised her for. 

Favorite Moment: Since the Golden State Killer was caught after this book was published, I cannot point to that as my favorite moment. So instead I will say when McNamara was going on a tour of sorts of places where the Golden State Killer committed a lot of his crimes with Paul Holes, a criminalist with the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office.

Recommended Reading: My experience with true crime is limited, but there is always In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Also, there is Skip Hollandsworth's The Midnight Assassin, which tells the story of a serial killer that terrorized Austin, Texas in the late 1800s but was never caught.