Anticipation For I'll Be Gone In The Dark

[Meredith Quill]

Anticipate Here!

[lostmydamnmind]

Wait, what?

I had to google. Loved this book, I'm already starting my second read of it.

In a VERY weird way, reading this book and how the case was solved inspired me to look into DNA testing to find lost family members. It's a really strange connection, to find some kind of inspiration from a book about a serial rapist and murderer, but there you have it.

Edited because I didn't realize there were plans to take this to HBO.

Edited August 10, 2018 by lostmydamnmind

[Ciarrai]

So I loved the book and I understand why they would have glossed over it after her death, but Michelle McNamara died of a drug overdose and I wonder how much of that was caused by the case. Being so enmeshed in the case cannot have been good for her mental health, and I say that as someone who covered a serial killer trial as a reporter and has PTSD from it.

[DiabLOL]

6 hours ago, Ciarrai said:

So I loved the book and I understand why they would have glossed over it after her death, but Michelle McNamara died of a drug overdose and I wonder how much of that was caused by the case. Being so enmeshed in the case cannot have been good for her mental health, and I say that as someone who covered a serial killer trial as a reporter and has PTSD from it.

I also thought her drug use (supposedly secret but really was it?) use/abuse of drugs and the subsequent interaction that caused it was largely brought on by the trauma brought on by the case she worked on. I'd hold dear any insights you have especially because you shared so much in her dynamic.

[AdorkableWitch]

Her death was also linked to a previously unknown vascular disorder. I want to give the benefit of the doubt that she may have had prescriptions for these drugs and been taking the prescribed doses. I've not read anything to the contrary. 

[Automne]

Patton Oswalt said that she was having a hard time sleeping due to her investigation into the EAS/ONS/GSK, so that's what prompted her to use the sleeping pill (Ambien?). That combined with the unknown vascular disorder contributed to her death.

[Ciarrai]

20 hours ago, Automne said:

Patton Oswalt said that she was having a hard time sleeping due to her investigation into the EAS/ONS/GSK, so that's what prompted her to use the sleeping pill (Ambien?). That combined with the unknown vascular disorder contributed to her death.

Apparently she was taking Adderall, Xanax and fentanyl so... that's not a good combination.

[RedbirdNelly]

just adding this was the scariest true crime book I've ever read. I read it a few weeks before they caught him.

[Anela]

I bought this book in May, and still haven't read it. I need to... 

[Yokosmom]

The book is very choppy in places, since she never was able to finish it.  Her husband (and others) did their best.   I've read a lot (and listened to some great podcasts) about the case, but she still managed to cover some new ground.  I appreciated the fact that she covered the affect on the male victims, who had to listen, helplessly, as their wives were assaulted.

I have no doubt that the case greatly affected her and led to the drug use.  That said, anyone who takes fentanyl is playing with fire.

The police so far have done a great job of not letting out any information at all.  A little bit came out after his arrest, but after that, nothing.  I'd like to know what he was doing while committing all those murders in southern California.  What was his job?  Where did he live?  Why did he breakup with his fiance, Bonnie?  Why did he and his wife separate?  Did he have help committing the crimes?  Was his brother involved?  What was the real estate connection?  I'm sure that all of this will come out eventually...

Can I assume that the show/series will cover events after the book, such as the DNA search and his ultimate capture?

[PamelaMaeSnap]

I'm reading this right now, just a little way into it, and it's so gripping and mesmerizing ... I'm a true crime addict as well ...

Knowing it will be made into a miniseries, I'm really curious as well whether they will integrate her own story and death and how the book came to be along with its storyline ... I think that would make for a fascinating series. 

[tobeannounced]

I'm out of the loop. So they're making a mini series about Michelle writing the book? Or about the book? With, like, a script and actors or a documentary style?

Edited August 18, 2018 by tobeannounced

[PamelaMaeSnap]

I'm wondering if it's about Michelle writing the book and/or the plot of the book/the GSK/or it will combine the plot of how she investigated the EAR/ONS/GSK for the potential book AND the story of her death and how the book was finished. It has a lot of potential to be fascinating in so many ways.

[biakbiak]

It’s a documentary mini-series so I think it will focus more on the crimes:catching him and the investigation  with some of Michelle’s journey to write the book just because while there are various interview of her talking about the case it might be difficult to invoke her so much. Not to mention Patton has said she wasn’t ever interested in getting credit she just wanted him caught.

No doubt there will be a voiceover of her Letter to an Old Man at some point.

[Razzberry]

She was a good writer, but the book was a huge disappointment.  So much was left out she barely scratched the surface.  

[biakbiak]

9 hours ago, Razzberry said:

She was a good writer, but the book was a huge disappointment.  So much was left out she barely scratched the surface.  

Well given that she wasn’t finished with the book when she died who knows what she would have done.

[tobeannounced]

I have to admit I started the book but haven't finished it yet. I would find it very interesting if someone went through and kind of connected the dots of what Michelle was able to piece together and what turned out to be correct assumptions knowing what we know now.

Edited August 18, 2018 by tobeannounced

[Razzberry]

7 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Well given that she wasn’t finished with the book when she died who knows what she would have done.

Sure, but given the amount of time she had worked on it I was surprised at how much padding it needed.    Just speculation, but what I think happened is she learned Paul Holes was getting close to solving it.

[biakbiak]

4 minutes ago, Razzberry said:

Sure, but given the amount of time she had worked on it I was surprised at how much padding it needed.    Just speculation, but what I think happened is she learned Paul Holes was getting close to solving it.

I don’t understand your meaning, she died two years before they confirmed the DNA.

[Razzberry]

It took a while but think he rightly concluded years ago that DNA was the only way it was going to be solved.  Before that no one had a clue, or even came close to solving it.  It's amazing the guy is still alive.

[biakbiak]

3 minutes ago, Razzberry said:

It took a while but think he rightly concluded years ago that DNA was the only way it was going to be solved.  Before that no one had a clue, or even came close to solving it.  It's amazing the guy is still alive.

I still don’t understand your point, she also thought DNA would be the thing to catch him since they had it but she was also investing other leads because DNA still hadn’t caught up to him.

[Razzberry]

What other leads?

In 1976 the EAR task force suspected a guy I worked with because he was caught peeping in someone's window at 3:00 am.  The cops let him go for some reason.  He worked graveyard shift by himself, and told me about it when I came in in the morning.  He was really sweating it. Then a couple days later I was assigned to the van he drove at night.  Cleaning it out I found a knife rolled up in a black ski mask tucked under the seat.  At that time I turned it over to my boss and he called the police, then the EAR task force got involved and interviewed me.  The weird thing is he also looked exactly like one of the three main sketches.   An investigator for Sacramento Co contacted me again just last year,  so they were still working on it, but obviously getting nowhere.  I'm just so glad the creep was finally caught.

Edited August 18, 2018 by Razzberry

[biakbiak]

Leads perhaps was the wrong term, I meant creating a fuller picture of what different sources knew about the case and pulling it together, even if it wouldn’t directly lead to catching him. She obviously couldn’t include the DNA stuff because they didn’t have a hit and hadn’t gotten there but that didn’t mean she didn’t think it was the way they would probably finally identify him.

Edited August 19, 2018 by biakbiak

[AntAnn]

1 hour ago, Razzberry said:

In 1976 the EAR task force suspected a guy I worked with because he was caught peeping in someone's window at 3:00 am.  The cops let him go for some reason.  He worked graveyard shift by himself, and told me about it when I came in in the morning.  He was really sweating it. Then a couple days later I was assigned to the van he drove at night.  Cleaning it out I found a knife rolled up in a black ski mask tucked under the seat.  At that time I turned it over to my boss and he called the police, then the EAR task force got involved and interviewed me.  The weird thing is he also looked exactly like one of the three main sketches.   An investigator for Sacramento Co contacted me again just last year,  so they were still working on it, but obviously getting nowhere.  I'm just so glad the creep was finally caught.

That is frightening @Razzberry

[PamelaMaeSnap]

Razzberry, can we assume the guy you worked with was NOT D'Angelo?

[chenoa333]

So when is this mini-series going to be aired and what network? I want to see it. Fascinating case. Anyone know where i can go online for updates on the murderer of the McStay family? I don't see much mentioned about that crime anymore or if the trial has started for the killer (Chase Merrit?)

[biakbiak]

1 hour ago, chenoa333 said:

So when is this mini-series going to be aired and what network? I

HBO and they haven’t announced a date yet.

[chenoa333]

7 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

HBO and they haven’t announced a date yet.

Thanks!

[formerlyfreedom]

 

Coming to HBO starting Sunday, June 28, 2020.

From The A.V. Club

Quote

HBO’s docuseries based on Michelle McNamara’s bestselling I’ll Be Gone In The Dark premieres next month, and today the network dropped a trailer for the six-part investigation into the Golden State Killer. As the footage makes clear, the series will unpack the case as it also investigates the life of McNamara, who died in 2016 before the book was completed. It was finished by researcher Paul Haynes, journalist Billy Jensen, and McNamara’s husband, comedian Patton Oswalt.

 

[Starleigh]

Huh. I had no idea this was being made into a mini series until I came across this thread. 

I read the book a few months ago, and thought it was fascinating. 

The preview looks quite promising. Looking forward to this. June 28 is Not that far away!