Author Paul Holes chronicles his long career solving cold cases in Unmasked: My Life Solving America’s Cold Cases. This is a fascinating look at one man’s efforts to bring criminals to justice.
While Holes’ most famous case, the Green River Killer, is the main focus of the book, it is not the sole focus. The author weaves in stories of his other cases over the course of his career as well as incidents from his personal life. The stories are well detailed and hold the reader’s interest. I appreciated that the scientific details related did not bog down the story and that they were clear enough for the average reader to understand. Having said that, and while I personally felt that this book is very worthwhile, it is still a difficult book to read at times. Paul Holes is very clear about the details involved in the killings that he investigated and while the details are always related in a respectful manner and are not sensational, it is still difficult to read the accounts of what the killers did to their victims, Equally difficult is reading the accounts of how the killings affected relatives and friends left behind, and how it affected Paul Holes’ personal life. I found myself having to compartmentalize as I read, much as the author explained he has to do when undertaking these investigations. I recommend this book for anyone who appreciates police procedurals mixed with personal anecdotes.