December Book of the Month: I’ll Be Gone in the Dark

December Book of the Month: I'll Be Gone in the Dark

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

I’ll be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara is a true crime account of the Golden State Killer, the rapist and murderer who terrorized middle-class California neighbourhoods from 1976 to 1986.

At the time of publishing in early 2018, the Golden State Killer had not yet been caught, despite an almost 40-year search by investigators who interviewed more than 8,000 suspects, and despite the efforts of researchers like McNamara, who dedicated 10 years of her life to finding the man behind the mask: the man who eluded police and held an entire state a hostage to fear for more than a decade.

December Book of the Month: I'll Be Gone in the Dark

The wanted poster for the man known as the East Area Rapist/Golden State Killer. Credit: FBI.

Sadly, McNamara passed away unexpectedly at the age of 46 in April 2016, two years before police apprehended Joseph DeAngelo, the alleged Golden State Killer, perpetrator of 50 rapes and at least 13 murders. DeAngelo will face trial later this year, a fact that McNamara would surely have celebrated with her colleagues and investigators.

In fact, after reading her book, which is part memoir, it’s hard to say what was more fascinating, her account of the Golden State Killer’s movements or her frank honesty about her own obsession with true crime. 

McNamara’s descent into the often dark underworld of unsolved crimes began when she was a young girl growing up in Illinois. A 24-year-old woman was murdered in her neighbourhood of Oak Park. The case was never solved, and so began McNamara’s relentless mission to unmask and name the perpetrators of horrific, unsolved crimes.

McNamara, wife of actor Patton Oswalt and mother to their young daughter, Alice, sacrificed much of her personal life as she travelled all over the country, lost many nights of sleep and missed special events, all in the name of justice. She is clearly well respected by the investigators she befriended and worked with while researching her book. In fact, upon her death, the book wasn’t yet complete and it was her lead researcher and one of her colleagues who pored over her 3,500 files and pages of notes and completed her work.

And her work is remarkable. McNamara outlines, with painstaking detail, the experiences of the Golden State Killer’s victims. It’s admittedly a tough read at times as she delves into the depraved mind of the man known then as the East Area Rapist (EAR) and Original Night Stalker (ONS). She also interviewed many of the investigators who worked the case over the years, and she explores the toll it took on their own lives as the EAR-ONS eluded capture time and time again.

In the Epilogue of I’ll be Gone in the Dark, McNamara writes a letter to her imagined Golden State Killer, titled, Letter to an Old Man. One paragraph that stands out reads as follows:

“The race is yours to win. You’re home free; you can feel it. The victims recede from view. Their rhythm is off, their confidence drained. They’re laden with phobias and made tentative by memory. Divorce and drugs beset them. Statute of limitations expire. Evidence kits are tossed for lack of room. What happened to them is buried, bright and unmoving, a coin at the bottom of a pool. They do their best to carry on. So do you.”

McNamara’s skilled writing and her deep understanding of both the perpetrator and his victims is what makes this book so compelling and a must-read for true crime fans.

Book of the Month

Every month we will be featuring a book to be showcased in our Book of the Month. Staff members and friends will be reading the book and posting their reviews. We’d love to hear what you thought of these books as well. Post your comments and let us know. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark is available at London Drugs along with many other great titles and is on sale for the month of December.

November Book of the Month: The Travelling Cat Chronicles

November Book of the Month - The Travelling Cat Chronicles

The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa

If you love to read you’ve likely read books of every genre, and you’ll know that certain books leave a mark on you for various reasons. Some are disturbing, some make you think about the bigger life issues, and some are just so heartwarming that they make you smile every time you think about them. The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa is one of those books that falls firmly into the heartwarming camp.

On the surface it’s a simple story about Satoru Miyawaki, who is taking his beloved cat Nana on a journey through Japan to visit old friends in search of a new home for his pet. It’s not immediately clear why he has to find a new home for a cat he clearly adores, but as the story gently unfolds, we learn more about Satoru and what brought him to his cross-country journey with Nana.

Satoru adopted Nana from the streets and, despite Nana’s initial resistance to domestication, they become inseparable. Nana is so named because of the kink in his tail that resembles the number seven, and “nana” is also the Japanese word for “seven.” The story is partially told in Nana’s voice and, in fact, many of the more revealing moments about Satoru are told by the astute feline with whom he shares his life.The Travelling Cat Chronicles

As Satoru and Nana set off in Satoru’s silver van, always with Nana riding up front so he can admire the changing scenery, the story of Satoru’s often heartbreaking past is slowly revealed. Satoru visits friends he has not seen in a long time, starting with Kosuke from elementary school, then Yoshimine and Sugi and Chikako from high school. As Satoru reunites with his old friends, they reminisce about the past and their shared experiences. Eventually, Satoru and Nana land at the home of his aunt Noriko, who took Satoru in as a child after a tragic era in his life. Through it all, Nana remains a keen observer who is slowly realizing the purpose of the cross-country journey.

If you are an animal lover, this book will certainly appeal to you, but at its heart it’s also a book about love, jealousy, and the relationships we form throughout our lives. The friendship between Satoru and Nana is so endearing and so pure it will restore your faith in humanity. Be warned though, this book will absolutely make you ugly cry. Reading it on your morning transit commute or in any public place is not advised! Reading The Travelling Cat Chronicles is like cuddling up with your favourite pet. It will warm your heart and remind you of all that is good in the world.

Book of the Month

Every month we will be featuring a book to be showcased in our Book of the Month. Staff members and friends will be reading the book and posting their reviews. We’d love to hear what you thought of these books as well. Post your comments and let us know. The Travelling Cat Chronicles is available at London Drugs along with many other great titles and is on sale for the month of November.

October Book of the Month: China Rich Girlfriend

Book review: China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan

China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan

In China Rich Girlfriend, Kevin Kwan’s glitzy sequel to the New York Times bestseller (and blockbuster movie), Crazy Rich Asians, Kwan once again takes us on a dizzying journey into a world of wealth and privilege that few of us will ever experience first-hand. Kwan’s descriptions of luxury designer brands and excess are jaw-dropping and, as you turn the pages, you may find yourself in turn entranced and horrified by the over-the-top affluence of the world he describes.

At the end of Crazy Rich Asians, Nick Young, the fabulously wealthy, dashing heir to a Singapore fortune, proposed to his modestly-raised American girlfriend Rachel Chu, and fell out with his meddling relatives. China Rich Girlfriend picks up two years later as Nick and Rachel prepare to head to the altar in a comparatively low-key but (of course) luxurious Californian wedding surrounded by Rachel’s relatives.

At the wedding rehearsal dinner, the couple is visited by Nick’s scheming mother Eleanor Young, who has hired a private investigator to track down Bao Gaoliang, a wealthy politician in China who claims to be Rachel’s estranged father. Rachel’s world is thrown into a tailspin as she learns that she has a family she never knew about in China. Gaoliang is now married to Bao Shaoyen and they have a son, Carlton, who is the spitting image of Rachel.

Once the shock wears off, Rachel and Nick decide to honeymoon in China to meetReading October Book of the Month: China Rich Girlfriend her new extended family. Of course, things don’t go all that smoothly when Rachel turns up. Shaoyen is threatened by her husband’s oldest daughter and she makes her feelings clear, forbidding anyone in her family from associating with the newcomers. Carlton and his girlfriend, Collette Bing, ignore her request and spend time getting to know Rachel and Nick, even travelling to Paris with them. Without giving up too many spoilers, events take a turn for the worse and there are tearful confessions, arrests, someone is poisoned, and more than one of the characters will fall from grace.

Elsewhere we learn that Nick’s beautiful and alluring cousin, Astrid Leong, is struggling as her marriage to Michael is crumbling. Her family’s wealth has always been a bone of contention between her and her self-made husband. As his business has become more successful he has grown increasingly abusive, and in despair Astrid turns to her former fiancé, Charlie Wu, for comfort. Will she succumb to pressure and stay with her husband to avoid disgracing her family or will she break away and finally be with Charlie?

In Crazy Rich Asians we met Kitty Pong, former soap actress. In the sequel we get to know more about Kitty and her desperation to be accepted by Singapore’s elite. Kitty, who is married to the mysteriously absent Bernard Tai, hires Corinna Ko-Tung, a well-connected woman from a respected family to help her make the right connections and make some headway with Singapore’s high society. Kitty’s struggle to fit in and the scandal that seems to follow her wherever she goes makes her one of the more interesting characters in China Rich Girlfriend, and you’ll find yourself rooting for her on her journey of self-discovery.

China Rich Girlfriend will appeal to readers seeking an escapist novel, but the numerous characters and side stories can be confusing at times. You will need to concentrate to remember who is who and how they’re connected. Overall it is an entertaining romp through a world like no other with glamorous stops in Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Paris.

Book of the Month

Every month we will be featuring a book to be showcased in our Book of the Month. Staff members and friends will be reading the book and posting their reviews. We’d love to hear what you thought of these books as well. Post your comments and let us know. China Rich Girlfriend is available at London Drugs along with many other great titles and is on sale for the month of October.

March Book of the Month

 

The Inner Life of Animals by Peter Wohlleben
Through vivid stories of devoted pigs, two-timing magpies, and scheming roosters, The Inner Life of Animals weaves Peter Wohllenben’s wealth of personal experience observing nature in forests and fields with the latest scientific research into how animals interact with the world.
Horses feel shame, deer grieve, and goats discipline their kids. Ravens call their friends by name, rats regret bad choices, and butterflies choose the very best places for their children to grow up.
Peter Wohlleben follows the hugely successful The Hidden Life of Trees with insightful stories into the emotions, thoughts, and intelligence of animals around us. Animals are different from us in amazing ways – and they are also much closer to us than we ever would have thought.

Book of the Month
Every month we will be featuring a new book to be showcased in our Book of the Month. Staff members and friends will be reading the book and posting their reviews. We’d love to hear what you thought of these books as well. Post your comments and let us know. The Inner Life of Animals is available at London Drugs along with many other great titles and is on sale for the month of March.

February Book of the Month

 

The Dry by Jane Harper
Federal Agent Aaron Falk hasn’t been back to the place where he grew up in twenty years. Not since he and his father were run out of town.
Even when Falk gets word that his childhood best friend, Luke, is dead and his entire family murdered, Falk still isn’t planning on going back. But then he gets a note: Luke lied. You lied. Be at the funeral. And just like that, Falk is swept back into the secrets of teh place and people he left so long ago.
When Falk returns for the funeral amid the worst drought in a century, long-buried mysteries resurface, along with the lies that accompanied them. And Falk will discover anew what he’s known all along: sometimes you have to go back home in order to finally leave your past behind.

Reviews
An exciting book that keeps you guessing. The story keeps you engaged and wanting to read more! – Review by Laura

Book of the Month
Every month we will be featuring a new book to be showcased in our Book of the Month. Staff members and friends will be reading the book and posting their reviews. We’d love to hear what you thought of these books as well. Post your comments and let us know. The Dry is available at London Drugs along with many other great titles and is on sale for the month of February.

January Book of the Month

 

In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende
Amid the biggest Brooklyn snowstorm in living memory, Richard Bowmaster, a lonely university professor in his sixties, hits the car of Evelyn Ortega, a young undocumented immigrant from Guatemala, and what at first seems an inconvenience takes a more serious turn when Evelyn comes to his house, seeking help. At a loss, the professor asks his tenant, Lucia Maraz, a fellow academic from Chile, for her advice.
As these 3 lives intertwine, each will discover truths about how they have been shaped by the tragedies they witnessed, and Richard and Lucia will find unexpected, long overdue love.

Reviews
An interesting story of 3 people who meet by chance and how they their lives become intertwined when having to deal with a terrible crime. Forced to spend time together to deal with their circumstances, they reveal each other’s tragic backgrounds. It tells the story of corruption and desperation in some South American countries and how immigrants will risks their lives to find work and a better way of life in North America. A contemporary story that is both eye-opening and gripping. – Review by Janice

Book of the Month
Every month we will be featuring a new book to be showcased in our Book of the Month. Staff members and friends will be reading the book and posting their reviews. We’d love to hear what you thought of these books as well. Post your comments and let us know. In the Midst of Winter is available at London Drugs along with many other great titles and is on sale for the month of January.

December Book of the Month

 

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
In 1843, Grace Marks was convicted for her involvement in the vicious murders of her employer, Thomas Kinnear, and Nancy Montgomery, his housekeeper and mistress. Some believe Grace is innocent; others think her evil or insane. Now serving a life sentence, Grace claims to have no memory of the murders. Was Grace a femme fatale – or a weak and unwilling victim of circumstances?

Reviews
After watching the miniseries I was left wanting to know more about Grace marks and Dr. Simon Jordan. The book did not disappoint, although Margaret Atwood admits this is fiction based on fact, I found being able to read some of the letters and news articles written about Grace made it feel more real. – Review by Amy Lynne

Book of the Month
Every month we will be featuring a new book to be showcased in our Book of the Month. Staff members and friends will be reading the book and posting their reviews. We’d love to hear what you thought of these books as well. Post your comments and let us know. Alias Grace is available at London Drugs along with many other great titles and is on sale for the month of December.

 

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