Description:
THE BASIS FOR THE MAJOR 6-PART HBO(R) DOCUMENTARY SERIES
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Washington Post Maureen Corrigan, NPR Paste Seattle Times Entertainment Weekly Esquire Slate Buzzfeed Jezebel Philadelphia Inquirer Publishers Weekly Kirkus Reviews Library Journal Bustle
Winner of the Goodreads Choice Awards for Nonfiction Anthony Award Winner SCIBA Book Award Winner Finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence
The haunting true story of the elusive serial rapist turned murderer who terrorized California during the 70s and 80s, and of the gifted journalist who died tragically while investigating the case--which was solved in April 2018.
Introduction by Gillian Flynn - Afterword by Patton Oswalt
"A brilliant genre-buster. . . . Propulsive, can't-stop-now reading." --Stephen King
For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area.
Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist and citizen detective who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called "the Golden State Killer." Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was.
I'll Be Gone in the Dark--the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden death--offers an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind. It is also a powerful memoir, a portrait of a woman's obsession and her unflagging pursuit of the truth. Utterly original and compelling, it has been hailed as a modern true crime classic--one which fulfilled Michelle's dream: helping unmask the Golden State Killer.
- A Groundbreaking True Crime Memoir: Follow the author's obsessive search for the truth, a quest that tragically cost her her life but ultimately led to justice.
- Meticulous Investigative Journalism: Delve into the complex case files, witness interviews, and online communities that Michelle McNamara navigated to piece together the killer's identity.
- The Hunt for a Serial Killer: A chilling account of the violent predator McNamara dubbed "the Golden State Killer," who terrorized California with fifty assaults and ten murders.
- Solving a Decades-Old Cold Case: Discover the story that captured a nation, a modern classic that helped unmask one of America's most elusive criminals years after the trail went cold.
Brief description:
Michelle McNamara (1970-2016) was the author of the website True Crime Diary. She earned an MFA in fiction writing from the University of Minnesota, and had sold television pilots to ABC and Fox and a screenplay to Paramount. She also worked as a consultant for Dateline NBC. She lived in Los Angeles and is survived by her husband, Patton Oswalt, and their daughter, Alice.
Review Quotes:
"This book just knocked me over." - Megan Abbott
"What readers need to know--what makes this book so special--is that it deals with two obsessions, one light and one dark. The Golden State Killer is the dark half; Michelle McNamara's is the light half. It's a journey into two minds, one sick and disordered, the other intelligent and determined. I loved this book." - Stephen King
"Unputdownable.... Powerful." - Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air
"This is a one sit-down read. That's how riveting it is. Very few writers have the skill to bring a decades-old cold case to life; in these pages, Michelle McNamara has not only successfully resuscitated the fascinating case of the Golden State Killer, but done so with humanity, insight, and grace." - Michael Connelly
"Remarkable.... A modern true crime classic." - Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Impressive." - Booklist, starred review
"A powerful portrait of the scale of the Golden State Killer's crimes, of the mechanics of criminal investigations, of the strange particular dread and paranoia in the California in the 1970s, and of McNamara's own obsession with violent men, and this one violent man." - San Francisco Chronicle
"Remarkable... The detective's nose for the crucial clue transmutes so easily into a novelist's eye for the concrete detail that conjures a memory or emotion. She applies the same gift to a handful of portraits of people affected by the killer's crimes.... These read like fragments from Raymond Carver stories, tales of ordinary lives fractured by incomprehensible violence. Had she lived, McNamara might have helped identify the man who committed that violence, but before she died, she did something nearly as miraculous: making them all live again in some small way." - Laura Miller, Slate
"Narrative true crime journalism at its very finest, a complex, multilayered, chilling portrait of a faceless monster, and a remarkable tribute to the woman who, up until her last day, believed she would one day have him in her crosshairs." - Village Voice
"The work has many notable qualities -- in particular, a penetrating and elegiac voice." - Seattle Times
"Any true crime project is basically a reckoning with death, but in this case, it's a reckoning that is no longer theoretical. McNamara is gone. And what's especially sad about her absence is just how good she was." - The Portland Mercury
"Both a vivid and meticulous investigation of a twisted predator who terrorized quiet, upper middle-class communities in California for nearly a decade, and a wrenching personal account from a writer who became consumed by her subject." - Alexandra Alter, New York Times
"Chilling.... Hard to put down." - Minneapolis Star Tribune
"What makes McNamara's work so compelling is her empathy and sensitivity toward the people touched by these crimes.... I wish I could read the next 10 books she would have written." - Kate Tuttle, Los Angeles Times
"A singular, fascinating read. It's lifelike in its incompletion... a posthumous treasure that feels thrillingly alive. A-" - Entertainment Weekly
"Breathtaking, ambitious, and exquisitely written." - New York
"Michelle McNamara was an obsessive. She was also a damn good writer. That combustive mix has produced I'll Be Gone in the Dark, a dark page-turner.... Scintillating." - USA Today
"Utterly gripping." - People
"Both a vivid and meticulous investigation of a twisted predator who terrorized quiet, upper middle-class communities in California for nearly a decade, and a wrenching personal account from a writer who became consumed by her subject." - New York Times
"That the book feels triumphant even after tragedy upon tragedy is a testament to McNamara's skill as a reporter." - Esquire, "The 25 Best True Crime Books Every Person Should Read"