Nonfiction Navigators discussion

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, written by Michelle McNamara, is a true crime nonfiction that delves into the search for a serial rapist and murderer whom she named the Golden State Killer. The Golden State Killer, also known as the East Area Rapist-Original Night Stalker (EAR-ONS), was a violent criminal who committed at least 12 murders, 50 sexual assaults, and 100 burglaries throughout California from 1974 to 1986. In her book, McNamara provides insight not only on the Golden State Killer himself, but on the victims, detectives, criminologists, and modern-day internet sleuths whose lives have been impacted by him. Although the book does not follow a linear timeline, it is divided into three major sections: the first mainly focuses on the actual crimes and investigations at the time, the second on modern-day search efforts, and the third, drafted posthumously by two of her friends and fellow researchers, focuses on the lingering material and questions McNamara left when she died unexpectedly before finishing the book. Altogether, these three sections paint a picture of the large-scale effects of the Golden State Killer, including how he has affected McNamara herself.

One of my favorite aspects of McNamara’s writing is her dedication to portraying each individual as more than just their involvement with the case. By focusing on a few key players, she is able to characterize them as the three-dimensional people they were without inundating readers with too much information. This deviates from standard true crime nonfiction by emphasizing the lives of those affected rather than the perpetrator; a feat all the more impressive when considering the almost impossibly large scope of this case. However, when examining this along with the information McNamara provides about herself in the book, her accomplishment is no surprise. The subtitle reads “One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer,” and to call McNamara’s dedication an “obsession” is no overstatement. At the time of her death, she had accrued thousands of files on the killer and spent countless sleepless nights theorizing and chasing leads. Much of the second section of the book focuses on her own research process and her interaction with other researchers and even some of the individuals involved with the case as it was ongoing. This makes the book as much of a memoir as it is a true crime nonfiction, and despite the negative connotation memoirs have with being boring, McNamara herself is just as compelling as the subject matter.

Overall, I would consider I’ll Be Gone in the Dark a modern classic in the true crime subgenre. Most readers with an interest in true crime will enjoy this book. I would also recommend it to someone interested in the genre with no prior experience, as the memoir aspects and personal focus make it an easier read than some of the more dry, fact-oriented books in this genre. Plus, although McNamara died before she could find out, the story does have a happy ending: in 2018, after decades of searching, DNA evidence finally allowed investigators to find and charge the Golden State Killer.