Next in my book review series for 2022 is Evil Has a Name: The Untold Story of the Golden State Killer Investigation by Paul Homes, Jim Clemente, and Peter McDonnell.

While this may not be the typical history book that I read and review, the story was a huge part of history in the US, and it is super interesting. This book is available through Audible and is an audio book, and I highly recommend it.

Serial killer tv shows have been all the rage for a few years now, and it doesn’t seem to matter if they are real or fiction (Dexter). And the Golden State Killer is nothing new, but this looks at it from the investigation standpoint.

Throughout the book you get to hear from some of the people that were there including former cold-case investigator for the Contra Costa County (East San Francisco Bay area) Sheriff’s Office. This makes it more authentic to hear from the people who were actually in the investigation. You get to hear their mistakes, close calls, and the leads that just didn’t pan out.

From my standpoint, I knew of the Golden State Killer but did not know the entire story. I was unaware that he started off burglarizing homes in one area and then moved on to rape in another. This was all before he started killing. But perhaps even more interesting was the fact they didn’t put it all together until DNA. There was no link between the Visalia Ransacker, the East Bay Rapist, and the Golden State Killer. It wasn’t until the end that they realized that all of those were the same person, Joseph DeAngelo.

There are so many leads throughout the investigation, especially one this size. He killed 13, raped 50, and burglarized 120 homes. With so many leads it is difficult to narrow things down, but the crazy fact of it was that at one point the investigator was a day or two away from retirement and had the option of checking one last lead. For whatever reason he decided not to knock on that door that day, of one Joseph DeAngelo.

That to me was the most interesting part. What would have happened had he knocked on that door? Would DeAngelo have disappeared? We will never know, but we do know eventually he was caught, arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced.

The story of how the investigation progressed over the years is quite interesting. I found the pre-DNA days the most interesting. Hearing of how they investigated back in the 70s and 80s was like a throwback. I was surprised that so many of the departments kept DNA for as long as they did with the hopes that it might be useful one day, and it was. Sadly, many of the departments tossed the DNA they collected from the rape kits simply due to the statute of limitations being up. I get they only have so much space and after a certain amount of time they can no longer prosecute, but I guess I am one that hopes one day rape will not have a statute of limitations. But that’s an argument for another day.

Whether you are familiar with the story or not, I think you will find the book interesting. I love that you hear from some of the main players in the investigation. I just don’t like the fact that DeAngelo has never talked and may never do so. I want to know so many things. Not to mention why he started and stopped? He would be an interview I hope happens one day, so we can get more insight into why these horrible events took place in the first place.

True crime stories have seemingly taken over places like Netflix. If you are one of the many fans, check out this book. Again, it is only available through Audible, but is a great listen to and from work. I finished it in about 2 days while I was off work due to icy roads here in Texas.

You can see my review of Evil Has a Name on Goodreads by going here – Goodreads

It is rated 4.46 out of 5 stars on Goodreads (6,763 ratings) and 4.6 out of 5 stars on Amazon (85 ratings).

For more of my book reviews – go here.