Your Next Read: I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

I'll Be Gone in the Dark:

One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer

by Michelle McNamara

It is a Thursday evening in March. My husband and I have arrived early to Skylight Books in Los Angeles. The multitude of bookshelves are being rearranged for tonight's event. We pick up our copy of the book, pre-ordered weeks ago to save our spot in the signing line. Like many others there, we wanted to secure our opportunity to hear Patton Oswalt and get his autograph. There is another reason too. The book is intriguing with a backstory that is rarely heard. I'll Be Gone in the Dark is being published posthumously, which adds a grime yet alluring tag for a true crime book.

We take our seats and I open up the hardcover to catch a glimpse of what is to come. The foreword, written by Gillian Flynn, sets us up to understand that while we will be reading about an investigation into a rapist and murderer what we are really reading is a memoir of Michelle McNamara. And that, as it turns out, is the beauty of this story.

The guest speakers are introduced and there are a lot more than was expected. First, the hosts of tonight's event also host the true crime comedy podcast My Favorite Murder, Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Don't those names just sound like detective novel gumshoes? Turns out this book signing was being recorded for their podcast, which posted Episode 115 I'll Be Gone in the Dark earlier this month. Now you too can listen to the whole adventurous night.

Introduced next was Patton Oswalt, Michelle McNamara's husband, who has been on the promotional book tour in Michelle's place. And last came some surprise guests, Paul Haynes and Billy Jensen who were also joining tonight's event. When Michelle suddenly passed away before the book was complete Patton asked Paul and Billy to sort through the materials and stitch the rest of the book together. Paul, who Michelle refers to as the Kid, is referenced as the most promising amateur detective that will solve this case. Billy was a friend of Michelle who collaborated with her on other projects and helped shape where the book was going and how to finish it.

What is clear, from both the discussion had on this evening as well as having now read the book itself, is the terror this book elicits from the reader. People, including everyone on that stage, agree that you will compulsively check your windows and doors nightly while reading I'll Be Gone in the Dark. Michelle was a phenomenal storyteller and is able to bring so much humanity into such a grisly tale. Everyone involved, from the victims to the detectives, are so compassionately written that you start to feel like you could be part of the team. Which appears to be one of Michelle's goals in writing this novel. 

Besides getting her own obsession on paper she is wholly convinced that the answer is so close, if only the right person gets involved. It sounds like many people believed she would be that person and you can sense how near she feels to finding out the truth of the killer's identity. Every page turn draws you in to her passion, determination and often her conviction that she is about to break the case. Your excitement builds with hers as you pursue a line of evidence and track a suspect only to feel the emotional collapse when it falls apart. Her story is so compelling that you mourn her passing when the end of her writing comes and Paul and Billy take over to wrap up what was left incomplete. And despite the story not being finished, after all the Golden State Killer is still unidentified, Paul and Billy have a wonderful resolution that encapsulates the spirit of the narrative.

For True Crime fans this is a must read.

UPDATE 4/25/2018: After all this time a huge break in the case was announced today. The man now referred to as the Golden State Killer (thanks, Michelle!) has been arrested. Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. is a 72 year old man living in Citrus Heights, one of the neighborhoods terrorized by him back in  when he was active. It is fascinating to note that Citrus Heights is named in the books as one of the neighborhoods of particular interest due to the layout of the attacks and the definable "buffer zone" where the killer is likely to have lived. I will be interested in the coming days to read more about the case and learn about his patterns and how they apply to the details in the case as Michelle McNamara so enticingly laid out for readers. Catch up on the latest news from the Los Angeles Times.