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

THE BASIS FOR THE MAJOR 6-PART HBO® DOCUMENTARY SERIES

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR:

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 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 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.

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Published Feb 26, 2019

368 pages

Average rating: 7.35

416 RATINGS

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Kristen Olson

Jan 14, 2025

8/10 stars

It was too bad Michelle McNamara didn’t get to finish this book. The parts written by her were very well written and really drew me into the narrative. I believe if she had been able to finish it herself it would have been tighter overall.

Shawna K88

Dec 29, 2024

6/10 stars

Khris Sellin

Jul 05, 2024

10/10 stars

I'm a little obsessed with true crime stories, and Michelle McNamara was living my dream - an amateur sleuth who was able to investigate a cold case full time. While married to the funniest guy on earth! Sadly, her obsession with this case probably did lead to her early death. Also sad that she did not live to see the killer finally caught after four decades. It's interesting, now knowing who the real killer is, to read her thoughts on it, and those of the professional investigators working the case, and the descriptions from victims, to see how they matched (or didn't) the real culprit. She was a great writer and researcher. She dug deep for not just cold, sterile facts but also the humanity, the stories of the victims themselves.

Rena M Led

Dec 09, 2023

10/10 stars

This book is so well written. I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared. It’s hard to believe that the killer was guilty of so many rapes and murders and I hadn’t heard of him before this book.

Michelle McNamara was an amazing writer. The descriptions of the neighborhoods in CA are reminiscent of Joan Didion’s writings. The descriptions of the crimes are scary and horrific.

The work that was done after she died is a great testament to the person she must have been.

And now, the killer’s been caught! Amazing.

WineforReading

Aug 23, 2023

9/10 stars

Breathtaking story and painfully sad that it is true. Amazing how Michelle doggedly investigated and horribly sad that she didn’t get to see him caught.