Unmasked: My Life Solving America's Cold Cases

In what way is the memoir’s title (“unmasked”) a useful metaphor for Holes’s endeavors?

Why does Holes include aspects of his personal life, such as his marriages, in the narrative?

The book references how investigators assign nicknames to prolific serial criminals whose real identities are unknown. What purpose does Holes suggest such nicknames or monikers serve?

Consider Holes’s commitment to investigating the East Area Rapist cold case even when his supervisors have ordered him not to work on cold cases. What attitudes toward law enforcement are coming into conflict in this situation?

Discuss one of the lesser-known cases Holes discusses in Unmasked (e.g., the Bodfish case). What purpose do these anecdotes serve?

Readers of Holes’s memoir may already know the Golden State Killer’s identity. What techniques does Holes use to maintain suspense despite this?

Toward the end of the book, Holes references the media attention he received after uncovering the identity of the Golden State Killer. Given his social anxiety, how does Holes navigate this attention? How does Holes’s social anxiety interact with the memoir genre as he recounts his story?

Examine I’ll be Gone in the Dark, Michelle McNamara’s posthumously published book about the Golden State Killer. In what ways do McNamara’s ideas about the killer parallel Holes’s? Do they differ in some ways? In what ways are these similarities or differences significant?