Evil Has a Name

as a true crime junkie, I knew of this story and how advances in DNA was used in solving the horrible crimes by a trash bag human being. this was a very well done series, felt more like a podcast than an audiobook but it was comprehensive. the product one was tasteful - not too dramatic but attention to detail was nice. this vilified the evil man & celebrated the case solvers and survivors (as true crime rightfully should!).

as someone who consumes a frightening amount of true crime, the tone and intention really matter. are you doing it for the shock factor? are you going to drone on and on about “how smart the killer was” or are you doing to talk about the impact on society, how the victims were failed by institutions, how survivors coped and how hard work and better structures can help solve (or) prevent such needless violence. the tone and intention for this series were quite well done, it was super thorough. there were parts when the survivor's descriptions really got to me (but trigger warnings were stated at the beginning of every chapter so good on them). this was not an easy listen but in the end, I am glad the survivors are living a life w/o fear and all those hours of hard work paid off and that the old shitbag is in jail fck off joseph.

this one is for paul and Michelle and all the brave strong men and women who lived a rich full life despite the horrors. for the legends in law enforcement who solved this after 40 years. and to all the other dirtbags who escaped their crimes in the 60s and 70s, they are coming for you losers.

Evil Has A Name is a very immersive podcast that apparently I get to log as a book. No complaints here, but there's no denying that this is not really a book. Keep that in mind if you don't usually enjoy podcasts.

It's fascinating to hear the stories in the investigators' and victims' own voices, and the level of emotion you feel through their words is more than you'll ever get from reading them on a page. Some reviewers mention that there isn't really any new information that you can't find by scouring the internet forums and news articles. I mostly agree with that, but the collection of all these stories and perspectives into one cohesive listen is perfect. The pacing and flow of events is well done and makes you want to keep listening. I think the most interesting part for me was the amount of time and effort that went into creating the family trees to search for the GSK. I don't feel any article I read up until now truly conveyed the gravity of the work that was done and how incredible it is. I honestly wish they went into more detail about it.

The only major complaint I have is about the audio, and since it only exists in audio form I feel it's necessary to address it in my review. The audio levels vary from interview to interview, with some being much poorer quality than others. The background noise is sometimes purposeful and atmospheric (the sounds of driving on Russell Blvd in Davis, CA), while other times it clouded the speaker's voice (echoing rooms/bad recordings).