Melissa (Always Behind)'s Reviews > Unmasked: My Life Solving America's Cold Cases

This is an incredibly fascinating memoir by Paul Holes, detailing his career as a criminologist and his obsession with finding justice for those victims whose cases have gone cold. He is most famous for his work with the East Area Rapist (Golden State Killer) case.

Although I found the book decently fast paced and intriguing, I had a couple of issues that prevented me from rating it higher. One is personal--I both read and watched the TV series for I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer, so I was very, very familiar with the Golden State Killer case, how everything transpired over the years, and how the culprit was eventually caught and arrested. So much of this book felt like a re-hashing of that account, albeit from a different perspective, although Holes and Macnamara did collaborate so there is some overlap. The parts about how exactly the DNA sequencing took place was incredibly detailed and made me glaze over a bit.

Also, I know that life is messy and there are many cases out there that just aren't ever solved. Yet I was left wanting more from the cases that Holes worked on that were solved. Instead we get more of a personal account of the tolls his job and obsession with finding solutions took on his marriages and relationships. I admire his dedication to learning and to finding justice, but it's a bit depressing when we learn of the cost of that dedication.

Overall though, this is a gripping book and if you aren't as familiar with the ins and outs of the Golden State Killer case, you will be all the more captivated by the book and how that case was solved. Totally a worthwhile read, I am always enthralled with true crime and those who do the work to get those cases solved.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own.