As a true-crime podcast listener whose playlist includes Jensen and Holes: The Murder Squad, I figured I knew what to expect with this book. I wasn’t wrong, but I wasn’t completely correct either.
Holes’s memoir digs into his career as a cold case investigator. He describes his progression through the ranks and takes readers along as he works on various cases, at times describing crime scenes in very graphic detail. However, he also reveals his personal struggles with mental health, from anxiety that began in his youth to PTSD developed after exposure to numerous grisly crime scenes. We learn how his obsession with cases impacted his personal relationships, including his relationship with his own family. I appreciated that Holes mentions seeking treatment for these issues at several points throughout his life.
I took some time to listen to the audio of I’ll Be Gone in the Dark for comparison. McNamara’s book is almost entirely focused on GSK’s victims and the hunt to bring him to justice. Holes definitely spends a good chunk of his book on that case, but he also describes other cases and focuses on his personal life. His book feels like a memoir, while hers is more narrative nonfiction.
Unmasked is a great introduction to several of Holes’s cases and the advancements in DNA technology that have increased law enforcement’s ability to find and apprehend violent offenders. It would be an excellent starting point for someone just beginning to look into those topics, but further reading would be necessary for those seeking more detail about individual cases. I very much enjoyed my reading experience with this book.
Thank you so much to BookishFirst and Celadon Books for the ARC of Unmasked in exchange for my unbiased review!
Holes’s memoir digs into his career as a cold case investigator. He describes his progression through the ranks and takes readers along as he works on various cases, at times describing crime scenes in very graphic detail. However, he also reveals his personal struggles with mental health, from anxiety that began in his youth to PTSD developed after exposure to numerous grisly crime scenes. We learn how his obsession with cases impacted his personal relationships, including his relationship with his own family. I appreciated that Holes mentions seeking treatment for these issues at several points throughout his life.
I took some time to listen to the audio of I’ll Be Gone in the Dark for comparison. McNamara’s book is almost entirely focused on GSK’s victims and the hunt to bring him to justice. Holes definitely spends a good chunk of his book on that case, but he also describes other cases and focuses on his personal life. His book feels like a memoir, while hers is more narrative nonfiction.
Unmasked is a great introduction to several of Holes’s cases and the advancements in DNA technology that have increased law enforcement’s ability to find and apprehend violent offenders. It would be an excellent starting point for someone just beginning to look into those topics, but further reading would be necessary for those seeking more detail about individual cases. I very much enjoyed my reading experience with this book.
Thank you so much to BookishFirst and Celadon Books for the ARC of Unmasked in exchange for my unbiased review!