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According to some statistics, one third of the murders in the United States go unresolved. For many, especially the families of those who were murdered there is no ending, no resolution, no justice until the killer or killers is found, tried and brought to justice. For Jan and I, listening to this book was an eye opening experience as Billy Jensen took us on his journey to bring some resolution to the families, and perhaps in a small way allow justice to be served on those who chose to kill.

Jan’s review

True crime is having a moment. Growing up, I used to sneak read True Detective magazine under the covers. But now, those of us who are true crime fans can admit to our fascination without sounding too weird. 

What drives an interest in true crime? Contrary to what some may believe, fans do not derive voyeuristic pleasure out of the misery of others. Investigative journalist Billy Jensen’s driving force is empathy for the victims and their families and the desire to make the monsters pay for their crimes. The focus of his work, and this book, is justice, not gratuitous details.

Jensen details his early work as a journalist and what drove him to crime investigations. He is unflinchingly honest about his frustrations and failures, as well as his successes.  

He writes about his friendship with Michele McNamara, who was investigating and writing a book about the Golden State Killer at the time of her untimely death. The author, along with Michelle’s husband and her research assistant, finished the book, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark (a book I highly recommend). Michelle’s death was the catalyst for the author to take his work to the next level. 

Along with DNA databases, crowdsourcing on social media is a game changer, and allows for average citizens to assist in identifying victims and catching the criminals. I found this section of the book to be most interesting.

 If you’ve ever wanted to become a citizen detective, the author has a section at the end of the book with instructions, complete with a list of rules, tips and cautions. 

This was a compelling buddy read with Marialyce. The author’s persistence, passion and dedication shines through. This is a must-listen for fans of true crime.

An Audible Original, the hardback will be published on August, 2019.

Marialyce’s review

Sometimes a tragedy can spur one onto doing something, of taking a stand, of getting involved. With the death of his friend, Michele McNamara, the author of I’ll Be Gone In the Dark, a book I read and so enjoyed, Billy Jensen becomes involved in the concept and tracking of killers who got away. With the advent of DNA tracking, many, who were previously living among us, though that was denied the ones they killed, were fated to be found. While Ms McNamara died before the Golden State killer was identified, her relentless and exhaustive research on him was the catalyst to spur Mr Jensen on to taking up the gauntlet pursuing other killers. Jensen was also one of those who assisted in completing Michelle’s book after her untimely death.

Through the use of the internet, social media platforms and research, Jensen has helped to solve a number of cases, bringing to justice those who had escaped the consequences of their crime. He presents us with how he was spurred on by his love of true crime stories started early on by the stories his father shared with him and later as a journalist, tuned off by the intrusion into the lives of the bereaved. He turned to the concept of crowd sourcing to catch, to ferret out, and find the perpetrator, bringing to some families a closure of their circle of grief.

The book is fascinating, even providing a how to guide to become your very own investigative detective and help the police to ferret out a possible murderer. I definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy true crime stories and the audible version I listened to narrated by the author was done so very well. Perhaps now with the internet, social media platforms and of course the use of DNA, many more will be brought to justice and the families of those who lost their loved ones will be able to know that while their loved ones have lost their lives, those who killed them might no longer walk among us free to live their life, a life they denied others to have.

and here’s the author

• Billy Jensen is a true crime journalist focused squarely on unsolved murders and missing persons. But after 17 years of writing hundreds of stories with no endings, he was fed up–and decided to try and solve the murders himself using radical social media techniques. And it worked. Billy has solved or helped solve ten homicides. Law enforcement agencies now reach out to Billy to help in cases that have them stumped, using him as a “consulting digital detective,” or as Men’s Journal referred to him: The Facebook Detective.
• He has written crime stories for Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Magazine and the Long Island Press, and was most recently a producer and investigator on the Warner Bros. show Crime Watch Daily, where he covered the Allenstown 4 murders, the Humboldt 5, the gap in the system when it comes to missing persons and unidentified remains and the unique talents of citizen detectives. His investigation into the wrongful conviction of Kimberly Long helped earn her release from prison.
• After his friend Michelle McNamara suddenly passed away in 2016, Billy helped finish her book on the Golden State Killer, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, alongside her researcher Paul Haynes and her husband Patton Oswalt.