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

This chillingly addictive account traces the crimes of the Golden State Killer (GSK), a prolific serial rapist and murderer who terrorized much of California in the 1970s and 1980s and has never been caught. The number of victims, eye-witness statements, and physical evidence surrounding the GSK is overwhelming. Yet journalist McNamara, who passed away while writing this book, sifts through the information with ease and sensitivity. Interspersed among chapters recounting specific GSK cases are more personal passages, in which McNamara explores her passion for detective work and the online communities whose members dedicate themselves to solving the unsovled. Though hard to put down, this work is a touch uneven, as a few sections were pieced together posthumously from notes and early drafts. Also, in the chapter "Los Angeles, 2012," McNamara draws a tone-deaf analogy between the widespread inaction of neighbors during GSK's spree and her encounter with a "young African American kid," whose "body language was so off" outside of her neighbor's house. That said, the big names attached to the book (Gillian Flynn, Patton Oswalt) will give it great shelf appeal.