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Chase Darkness with Me
Chase Darkness with Me
How One True-Crime Writer Started Solving Murders
by Billy Jensen
***With an exclusive behind-the-scenes conversation between Billy Jensen and retired detective Paul Holes on the Golden State Killer, their favorite cold cases, and more***
Have you ever wanted to solve a murder? Gather the clues the police overlooked? Put together the pieces? Identify the suspect?
Journalist Billy Jensen spent fifteen years investigating unsolved murders, fighting for the families of victims. Every story he wrote had one thing in common—they didn't have an ending. The killer was still out there.
But after the sudden death of a friend, crime writer and author of I'll Be Gone in the Dark, Michelle McNamara, Billy became fed up. Following a dark night, he came up with a plan. A plan to investigate past the point when the cops had given up. A plan to solve the murders himself.
You'll ride shotgun as Billy identifies the Halloween Mask Murderer, finds a missing girl in the California Redwoods, and investigates the only other murder in New York City on 9/11. You'll hear intimate details of the hunts for two of the most terrifying serial killers in history: his friend Michelle McNamara's pursuit of the Golden State Killer and his own quest to find the murderer of the Allenstown Four. And Billy gives you the tools—and the rules—to help solve murders yourself.
Gripping, complex, unforgettable, Chase Darkness with Me is an examination of the evil forces that walk among us, illustrating a novel way to catch those killers, and a true-crime narrative unlike any you've read before.
***With an exclusive behind-the-scenes conversation between Billy Jensen and retired detective Paul Holes on the Golden State Killer, their favorite cold cases, and more***
Have you ever wanted to solve a murder? Gather the clues the police overlooked? Put together the pieces? Identify the suspect?
Journalist Billy Jensen spent fifteen years investigating unsolved murders, fighting for the families of victims. Every story he wrote had one thing in common—they didn't have an ending. The killer was still out there.
But after the sudden death of a friend, crime writer and author of I'll Be Gone in the Dark, Michelle McNamara, Billy became fed up. Following a dark night, he came up with a plan. A plan to investigate past the point when the cops had given up. A plan to solve the murders himself.
You'll ride shotgun as Billy identifies the Halloween Mask Murderer, finds a missing girl in the California Redwoods, and investigates the only other murder in New York City on 9/11. You'll hear intimate details of the hunts for two of the most terrifying serial killers in history: his friend Michelle McNamara's pursuit of the Golden State Killer and his own quest to find the murderer of the Allenstown Four. And Billy gives you the tools—and the rules—to help solve murders yourself.
Gripping, complex, unforgettable, Chase Darkness with Me is an examination of the evil forces that walk among us, illustrating a novel way to catch those killers, and a true-crime narrative unlike any you've read before.
Reviews-
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July 29, 2019
In this engrossing memoir, journalist Jensen takes the reader on his quest to hunt down killers using internet sleuthing and crowdsourcing. He came by his calling early in life: “I didn’t have podcasts and documentaries telling me about the most horrific crimes of the era. I had Dad.” From hearing his father read crime headlines from the paper to becoming a journalist for major magazines and crime shows, Jensen eventually worked with fellow journalist Michelle McNamara, who was investigating the Golden State Killer. After McNamara’s sudden death, at the request of her husband, Jensen helped finish I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, her book about the serial killer, which was published in 2018 and prompted renewed interest in the decades-old case that led to the arrest of Joseph DeAngelo. Jensen details many other cases where he helped find killers for police departments around the country using Facebook, and he writes about his elation the first time his methods solved a case. At the end, Jensen lays out exactly how the reader can join the chase and work to track killers and fugitives as an online citizen detective. For fans of true crime, this is a fascinating story. Author tour. Agent: Marc Gerald, Europa Content. -
August 1, 2019
True crime is having a moment, and Jensen has helped make that happen. After toiling away as a true-crime journalist for over 15 years, he tired of covering stories without resolutions and decided to try to solve crimes himself. His work put him in contact with Michelle McNamara, who was then researching an unknown serial killer-rapist she dubbed the Golden State Killer. They had plans to start a show about amateur investigators, but after McNamara's untimely death, Jensen helped finish her book, I'll Be Gone in the Dark (2018), and began solving crimes using what he dubs internet sleuthing. Here, he highlights many of his investigations, several where the killer was caught at least partially owing to his actions. While the many cases get a little jumbled, Jensen's passion and techniques come through clearly. This book will find an easy audience in true crime-readers, "Murderinos" (My Favorite Murder cohost Karen Kilgariff writes the foreword), and anyone fascinated with Michelle McNamara, as well as wannabe detectives, who will be rewarded with Jensen's guide to self-sleuthing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.) - Patton Oswalt "An intense, fascinating read for true crime lovers and newbies!"
