Author: Paul Holes, Jim Clemente, Peter McDonnell
Genre: True-Crime, Nonfiction
“I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” was my introduction to the true-crime genre. It was a very well documented and impressive piece of investigative journalism. Mitchell’s hard work and conviction made the book more heartfelt. Evil Has a Name could be considered an unofficial sequel to it.
For a decade, a masked man terrorized the state of California. He perpetrated numerous crimes, which includes fifty sexual assaults and ten brutal murders. He eluded multiple police forces for more than four decades. But few never gave up, and after their relentless efforts, the Evil finally has a name – Joseph James DeAngelo.
The book is exclusively available as an audiobook, so the style is quite different from a traditional book. It’s almost like “listening” to a documentary.
Evil Has a Name is a first-hand account of the investigation. It’s a very well structured compilation of the various interviews conducted with the victims, their friends and family, and the investigators involved.
The personal interviews with the victims and their families are heartbreaking. The details sometimes are sensitive, but there are discretion warnings before the book goes into such details. It’s glad to know the ones who came out of this tragedy has finally have closure, and their tenacity is commendable. The authors capture that very well.
The book goes into quite a bit of details of the investigations, which might not be available to the public before this book. It shines a light on how exactly the Golden State Killer was caught. It’s fascinating to learn how DNA fingerprinting and modern tools like ancestory.com and other genealogical websites helped investigators track him. It’s quite impressive how investigators like Paul Holes and Larry Pool had to work with a few traces to finally unravel the mystery. It’s quite commendable what these investigators did, and brought some closure for the victims.
Although the investigative part is quite enthralling, yet the book doesn’t sensationalize the crime (though I particularly didn’t enjoy the background score). It interweaves the personal interviews quite well to create a compelling narration.
The book is a perfect companion and finale for “I’ll be Gone in the Dark”, and if you liked it, this is a must-read.
Checkout my review for I’ll Be Gone in the Dark:
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