I dithered about the rating. This wasn't a bad book, but it definitely starts to drag around the 60 percent mark. I think if Jensen had followed the conclusion to the cases he introduces readers to through and moved on to another case it would have worked better. Instead the book starts off trying to do that, and then it goes into how he meets Michelle McNamara and her quest to find the Golden State Killer. And from there the book focuses on her death and it jumps around a lot to Jensen talking about a case and then Michelle or a case and the Golden State Killer. Then the last portion is focused on Citizen Detectives and I hard cringed about it. I don't know. Jensen seems adamant that he does not expect to be praised by law enforcement and he does the things he is doing to help the families of murder victims, but then at other times in the book you can "see" his frustration with law enforcement not looping him in on things or not giving credit to Michelle McNamara. I think I would compare this book more to a journal where he is getting all of his feelings out about a whole host of subjects.

"Chase Darkness With Me" is a memoir written by Billy Jensen that shows how he became invested in true crime cases and why he started to report and then help investigate them. I think some True Crime readers and podcast followers recognize his name. I only became aware of him when I read Michelle McNamara's book and I knew he was one of the people who helped finish her book after her death. I have tried to get into podcasts here and there on True Crime, but honestly the only one that I like these days is "Murder Minute." I don't like to listen to Stay Sexy Don't Get Murdered because it definitely got too big for me to stay into it anymore. Most of the show seems to be the hosts trying out their comedy routine with each other and the victims in the story don't feel important. I love Murder Minute since they walk you through current murders in the U.S. and then into their topic of the day. I tried to listen to Mr. Jensen and Mr. Paul Holes's podcast but I could not get into it. 

So first off Jensen seems like a nice guy, but his writing I found to be all over the place. I think the first part of the book with him showing us how his father got him into true crime was really good. And then we get to see his first case he got involved with that I even know about (Howard B. Elkins murdered a woman he was having an affair with, Reyna Angélica Marroquín who was pregnant at the time). From there Jensen just jumps around in his narrative and tries to provide us information about cases that have stayed with him.

I honestly think the book could have cut out how he used social media to track down suspected murderers. He explained it once to readers and we didn't need to read it every time. And then at times he seems to want praise for spending his own money on this and then frustrated when he doesn't hear back from the police right away. I don't know, this memoir was weird for me. I get his frustrations. When he explains the number of unsolved murders in the United States and how many more get added on every year i shook my head. I mean I knew just on talking to my friends in law enforcement how many murders are not solved without a confession or a killer whose DNA is already in the system. I don't know if Citizen Detectives are the answer though. I joke about "Black Twitter" tracking down people, but I caution people doing that on a day to day basis. Especially after Twitter people wrongly identified a man as the one who assaulted two children this past weekend. The wrongly identified man ended up getting death threats over it. Social media is very powerful as we have seen over the past few weeks, but I think everyone has to be careful how they use it. 

And when Jensen tries to go into the Golden State Killer case I just got totally lost. I already read McNamara's book so it didn't really need to be included here as well, except I guess to show how it affected him and others involved in the True Crime business. 

The book ends on tips to be a citizen detective and I had a flashback to when at the end of G.I. Joe cartoons they always did a PSA to the kids watching and ended on Go Joe. It just didn't add much to the book for me and I really don't know about a bunch of untrained people running around trying to solve crimes. Jensen tries to show positive and negative outcomes to these detectives, but I was left baffled in the end. 

Hmm good book for True Crime readers. I think Jensen does peg a lot of True Crime readers correctly that most of the readers want things solved and don't like mysteries. I am not one of those though.

And I love love love that he calls out the issues with unsolved murders in the United States and how often people skip over cases involving POC, sex workers, and others. Most True Crime readers seem to only want to read about the "famous" murders. I personally love reading everything because don't all victims stories deserve to be told? 

He also gets into how he met Michelle McNamara and how her death affected him. I do like the photos included too. Okay back to the book!

audible audiobook

Summary: Have you ever wanted to solve a murder? Gather the clues the police overlooked. Put together the pieces. Identify the suspect.

Journalist Billy Jensen spent 15 years investigating unsolved murders, fighting for the families of victims. Every story he wrote had one thing in common - it didn't have an ending. The killer was still out there.

But after the sudden death of a friend, crime writer Michelle McNamara, Billy became fed up. Following a dark night, he came up with a plan. A plan to investigate past the point when the cops have given up. A plan to solve the murders himself.

In Chase Darkness with Me, you'll ride shotgun as Billy identifies the Halloween Mask Murderer, finds a missing girl in the California Redwoods, and investigates the only other murder in New York City on 9/11. You'll hear intimate details of the hunts for two of the most terrifying serial killers in history: his friend Michelle's pursuit of the Golden State Killer which is chronicled in I'll Be Gone In The Dark, a book Billy helped finish after Michelle's passing, and his own quest to find the murderer of the Allenstown 4 family.

Gripping, complex, unforgettable, Chase Darkness with Me is an examination of the evil forces that walk among us, illustrating a novel way to catch those killers, and a true crime narrative unlike any you've listened to before.

My review: ALL THE STARS!!!!

PEOPLE. I'm in love with this book. I love how this wasn't just pure true crime, but that it was Billy's story. That he told us about his life. And also told us about the work he is doing and the cases he worked on.

The writing/the audio book was so damn good and so entertaining, he kept my attention the whole way through.

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

I’ve been eagerly awaiting Micah’s book ever since he was rescued from the enemy a few books back (I can’t remember which one). I love a story of a character who has had an extremely hard life and learns to overcome it to have a happy-ever-after. I do want that happy ending to come from only from the significant other. I want to see the character find something else to see that life is worth living.

Jacee is a bartender at the closest bar to the Alpha pack compound. She knows how to work the crowd at her bar to get the best tips while doing her best to keep the worst of the drunks off of her. Add that to the fact that she has a history with Alpha pack member, Jax, and she isn’t well liked by members of the Alpha pack. She has always thought Micah seemed like a nice guy when he did appear at the bar, but it isn’t until he comes to her rescue that they get close enough to learn that they’re mates.

Both of these characters aren’t without their character flaws. At times, it seems like it will be more than they can overcome. Some of these issues are so common, it was almost cliche. For example, Micah was on a new drug to help him recover from his trauma of his imprisonment. When they learn that it is causing some bad side effects, the doctor wants him to wean him off the drugs. He keeps a bottle, “just in case”, he wasn’t actually taking them, and he wasn’t. But, Jacee finds the bottle and there is a huge explosion between the two.

There are some things that I didn’t like about this book. There is some slut shaming. The pack really treats Jacee pretty bad at the beginning, which was completely unfair. It wasn’t just the guys, but some of the women as well. There is foreshadowing another couple between a gay man and a straight man. I just don’t think this is necessary.

As with many of the books in this series in the past, I’m not overwhelmed with the plot or even the romance of these two characters. I find that it is the each of the characters as whole that I love, both main characters of each book and the secondary characters of the series that keep me coming back.

Narration

Marguerite Gavin does a great job with the narration of this book. She is a narrator that I’ve enjoyed since I’ve listened to her do the first book. I know she is still somewhat new to this series (this is her second book), but since she is a favorite narrator of mine, I can’t complain with the change. I love her male and female voices. I love her pacing and tone. There is nothing bad to say about her narration.

I like to thank Tantor Media for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Chase the Darkness (Alpha Pack #7) by J.D. Tyler

Believed dead by his Pack mates, Micah Chase, a wolf shifter and Dreamwalker, was held captive for months, subject to tortures that left him physically scarred and emotionally unsettled.
Now under the care of the Alpha Pack’s doctors, he’s been prescribed an experimental healing drug, but he still can’t shake the nightmares. Even more damning is that Micah’s problems pose a danger to his team, and if he doesn’t get himself under control, they’ll all suffer a terrible fate.
There is a key to his salvation. Jacee is a beautiful coyote shifter, and though her kind is hated, she’s falling in love with a man whose very future is in her hands. Together they’ll face his personal demons as well as a deadly enemy—and for both of them desire has never come with such risk.


My Review:

Because who doesn't mind some juicy love? (haha)
In all seriousness the whole three way mate thing was a little disjointed and since we already have enough between the drama, the meds, the questionable relationships among other things the added who's who in the bedroom became a slight distraction from the h/h relationship. There's also the confusing mention of the dream ability that wasn't given any particular rhyme or reason or explanation. The funny thing is everyone seems to be confused about how they feel about one another when it comes to their intimate relationship (or so it comes across) so it was difficult for me to invest in the couples as the HEA types despite how happy they said they were. Still it was a decent story and had plenty of random strings to leave openings for other books to step in and fill in the blanks.

My Rating:
3 Stars

Reviewed By: Krissy's Bookshelf Reviews
http://kkmalott.booklikes.com/


Note: I received a print copy in exchange for an honest review from Berkley