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About the Book

About the Book

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

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.

For more than 10 years, a mysterious and violent predator committed 50 sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated 10 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.

Audiobook available, read by Gabra Zackman; with an introduction by Gillian Flynn and an afterword by Patton Oswalt

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

  • Publication Date: February 26, 2019
  • Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, True Crime
  • Paperback: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Harper Perennial
  • ISBN-10: 0062319795
  • ISBN-13: 9780062319791