I'll Be Gone in the Dark

For over a decade, a cunning and violent predator stalked California—first terrorizing the north with a string of home invasions and sexual assaults, then moving south to commit ten brutal murders. Law enforcement called him many names. He vanished without a trace. And for years, the trail went cold.

But Michelle McNamara refused to let it stay that way.

A relentless true crime journalist and creator of the website True Crime Diary, McNamara immersed herself in the details of the case, determined to unmask the man she dubbed “The Golden State Killer.” She sifted through evidence, connected with investigators, and followed every twisted thread the killer left behind. What she found was not just a horrifying portrait of a phantom criminal—but a reflection of obsession, justice, and the toll of chasing monsters.

Written with haunting precision and completed posthumously after McNamara’s sudden death, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark is a true crime landmark—part memoir, part investigative triumph, and an unforgettable dive into the darkness of one of America’s most chilling unsolved cases.