I’ll be gone in the dark
This is an example of one of the best investigative journalism pieces in a long form format. The only reason why this is not a 5* review is entirely not of the fault of the authoress. She passed away before she finished the book, and the book was heroically finished by some kindly strangers who tried to finish the book.
I say all this in advance because the book itself is a gripping journalistic endeavor into the worst serial killer/rapist in American History, the Golden State Killer (GSK). From the mid 70s to the mid 80s, the GSK killed/raped over 50 victims up and down the entire state of California, from Southern California to Sacramento. He was never caught until very recently (2018), and only because genetics science has become so good that he was caught relatively quickly after his DNA information was given to the investigators.
The book itself is spectacular, a little meandering, and a really good glimpse into the life of obsessives, both within the police force tracking the killer, and the amateur community that itself was captured by the horrors of the GSK. The authoress, from a young age was always captivated by unsolved mysteries and sometime in the 90s, got caught up in the crimes of the GSK and decided to write a series of articles about him. Her own obsessiveness lead her to leave family events and shows in favor of trawling online about the GSK to try to solve the case herself.
She goes through each case, starting from the very beginning in the East Sacramento area, and traces how the early cases were like, and then shows how investigators from the Northern California and Southern California concluded that the methods of operations between the Visalia Ransacker and the East Area Rapist were really the same person.
She goes through the steps that the GSK would take during the crime, binding his victims, molesting them, and then finally killing them. How in the beginning, he wouldn’t kill them, but started to because he realized he needed more time for his getaway. He would steal things, but nothing of value, and he clearly would stalk the victims ahead of time, to time his crimes.
She goes through how he almost heartbreakingly was arrested, only to get away. How he escalated his own crimes from mere break-in and rape to murder. He would also play psychological games with his victims, once calling one of them to ask if they remembered. She goes through what a clearly intelligent person this was, and how he might have been special forces trained because he was inordinately patient. Willing to sit in one spot for hours for his victim to become their most vulnerable.
Indeed, reading through the crimes gives me a chill most horror movies and books cannot even come close to giving me.
It is so unfortunate that the authoress died before she could finish the book. Because the book is unfinished. As heroic an effort to complete the book in honor of her, it was still a poor effort. The book meanders a little bit, but that is part of the charm, because you cannot talk about the violent deeds of a real life killer without making the book too dark. The ending itself, was all business unfortunately, and seemed a bit rushed.
The book was also finished BEFORE the GSK was identified and apprehended. The conclusion of it was that none of the investigations/amateur sleuthing helped in identifying the real GSK, but keeping the publics awareness of it helped in raising the profile and thus, resources available to finally catching the GSK.
The next book I read, WAS about the forensics method in catching the GSK, and as I say, once you start one half of something, its hard not to finish.
4*, but really recommended if you’re into true crimes.