I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer - Michelle McNamara

Two nights ago, I woke up out of breath, my heart racing, trying and failing to catch the tail end of whatever dream I was just having. I looked out my bedroom door to the top of the stairs and realized I had just seen someone standing there with a flashlight. This is the kind of thing I'll Be Gone in the Dark does to you. It makes you see things that aren't there. It makes you live, again and again, the terror of almost 100 victims of the Golden State Killer. 

Michelle McNamara's exhaustive research is evident on every page. That the book was published after her death is also evident, for while the chapters themselves flow flawlessly thanks to her unique prose and steady cadence, the way the chapters are laid out feels a bit out of sync with the rest of the book.

For ten years, Joseph DeAngelo stalked victims up and down the Golden State - raping more than 50 women and killing almost a dozen. Now that he's been caught, you get a sense of just how onto him Michelle really was. No one would have been more delighted by his capture than her, except of course this terrible person's many victims and their families. I also think Michelle would have done an amazing job piecing together DeAngelo's travels and motivations. I'm sad we won't get to read that book. And I'm sad to think Michelle is likely DeAngelo's last victim, having worked herself into a constant state of anxiety and exhaustion over the research and writing of this book, would she have been led to take the deadly combination of prescription drugs that, together with an unknown heart condition, led to her death? 

I'm glad her friends and family worked to get Michelle's book published. Some people wouldn't want their name forever connected to a serial killer, but somehow, I can see how this would have honored her memory.

4/5 Stars.