I'll Be Gone in the Dark Audiobook By Michelle McNamara cover art

I'll Be Gone in the Dark

One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer

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I'll Be Gone in the Dark

By: Michelle McNamara
Narrated by: Gabra Zackman, Gillian Flynn - introduction, Patton Oswalt - afterword
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The basis for the major six-part HBO documentary series.

Number one New York Times best seller.

A best book of the year:

Washington Post | Maureen Corrigan, NPR | Paste | Seattle Times | Entertainment Weekly | Esquire | Slate | Buzzfeed | Jezebel | Philadelphia Inquirer | Publishers Weekly | Kirkus Reviews | Library Journal | Bustle

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 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 is destined to become a true-crime classic - and may at last unmask the Golden State Killer.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2018 Tell Me Productions (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers Anthony Award Biographies & Memoirs Goodreads Choice Award Murder Serial Killers True Crime Scary Funny Suspenseful Serial Killers True Crime
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Editor's Pick

A true crime thriller that became front-page news
"The best true crime books pass on an obsession: they haunt you the way the case haunted the writer. Before Michelle McNamara came along, few besides the most dogged web sleuths and law enforcement knew about the Golden State Killer, a serial predator who stalked, raped, and murdered victims in their own homes in California in the 1970s and ’80s—and then vanished, letting the trail grow cold. Much has been made about whether McNamara’s gorgeously written, obsessively researched book helped catch the suspect who was arrested just two months after its publication. But McNamara herself predicted DNA technology would eventually beat him, though she didn’t live to see it happen. Don’t listen to this book to figure out whether McNamara “solved” the case. Listen to be in the company of her sharp, compassionate, and haunted mind, for which Gabra Zackman’s skillful, subtle narration is the ideal conduit. Listen because this audiobook is, quite simply, on the very short list of masterpieces in the literature of true crime."
—Kat J., Audible Editor

Featured Article: The Best True Crime Audiobooks for Your Inner Detective


The best true crime audiobooks will have you on the edge of your seat—whether the story divulges details about well-known serial killers or unidentified villains of unsolved crimes. You won’t be able to stop listening as each mystery unravels, especially when these fascinating, gripping tales are read by some of the most captivating voices in audio. Here are the best true crime audiobooks to get your heart racing.

Featured Article The Best True Crime Audiobooks for Your Inner Detective
Captivating Investigation • Meticulous Research • Excellent Narration • Victim-centered Approach • Haunting Prose

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I really enjoyed this audiobook! the narrator is amazing, and the story itself is very interesting. it’s written in a clever way that gives you the facts, but in a way you’ll remember them and actually enjoy hearing about them, rather than lists of things for you to remember

loved it!

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Girl, your work lives on and when they no doubt catch this coward your work will have played an critical role.

in your life you inspired so many inquisitive minds and in your death you leave behind and incredible legacy showing what shear determination and will can accomplish.

I'm sorry you were not living to see your work published. What we as readers (and listeners) are left with is a testament to not just your incredible dedication towards finding an elusive killer but the impact you had on the lives of those around you.

For anyone who is looking to enter the world of True Crime know that this book and Michelle's prose is unlike any I've ever listened to before. she treats victims with respect. She does not dwell on unnecessary lurid details but rather on the strength of the victims and their families and the incredible determination of the cases lead detectives even decades on.

MICHELLLLLEEE!!!

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What did you love best about I'll Be Gone in the Dark?

Michelle is such an amazing writer and storyteller. I was actually driving through Oak Park, IL when she was talking about it. It was such a wild coincidence that I was actually driving through the town she was describing and it was like she was sitting next to me describing the streets I was on.

The greatest tragedy is that Michelle will not see this investigation all the way to the close. It seems that they are so close to catching, I hope she will be forever remember for her contribution to not only this case but to true crime overall.

The world lost an incredible woman when it lost Michelle McNamara, but her legacy lives on forever in this book.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

Good

Incredible and Haunting

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This book was wonderful from start to finish. I had a pang I’d hurt every time I’d hear parts were taken from Michelle’s notes. I’ve fallen for her writing style, her determination to find someone that has eluded so many for so long. I only wish Michelle had lived long enough to see just how great her work is in these pages.

If only Michelle could see how much her work inspires

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Michelle McNamara's unfinished opus on the East Area Rapist is more artful than most true crime books. Instead of merely listing the nuts and bolts of the crimes, she paints a vivid picture of where they occurred and how they forever changed those involved. She also describes in sad detail the effect of her obsession with the case on her life and health.

The presentation of the book is somewhat disjointed, understandably as it had to be finished posthumously by her husband and research assistants. But each individual section is mesmerizing and even soulful. When McNamara passed away, her loved ones lost the most, but fans of true crime lost the great books she would certainly have written after this.

Gabra Zackman reads McNamara's words with clarity and appropriate gravitas. I would happily listen to other books she has narrated.

Dark and engrossing

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