I found the research that was put into this book to be rewarding. Reading something of sound facts and knowledge is refreshing. However, I struggled to get into this book. Around the 30% mark the repetitiveness, mixed with the long rambles about her personal life mixed in seemed to get monotonous.

Overall, a well researched and sound foundation for a memoir, a much slower burn/read than I am fond of.

This book is based on important, tragic events, and is a story that should be told. Most of us go through life with our eyes closed to what is happening around us until it impacts someone we know. Hopefully this story can raise awareness. Undertaking a book about such matters is difficult and I think the author did it with heart and respect for the victims.

really excited to read this book soon! thank you to netgalley, the publisher, and of course the author!

This was a difficult story to read. This is the true story of a serial rapist. The recounting of his attacks and the horror his victims experienced was unnerving. The author included aspects of her personal life as well. Knowing that what I was reading was fact-based left me a bit shaken. I appreciate the time Ms. Leitner dedicated to this book and her willingness to share details of her life. Fans of true crime will not be disappointed by this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this book.

I want to rate this book higher than I have, but I can’t. I couldn’t find myself even wanting to read it until to 20% mark. I don’t know whether it was the disjointed storyline or the author’s penchant for rambling about herself for pages at a time.

At times I could almost see her putting together her notes from the cases and adding connecting words to make it coherent. With this style it was hard to feel very much of anything. I felt for the victims mentioned in this story but it was more due to their experiences rather than how the author represented them. To me it seemed she was more emotional speaking about herself because she happened to live next door. Well the truth in this matter is that unfortunately rapes are always happening next door and maybe it’s not a stranger that is committing the terrible act. It doesn’t even always hit the papers.

I wanted to be invested in the victims stories because of the connection the author was able to help us feel. What I did not want was to feel forced to feel for the author because she was near a terrible event when it happened.

That being said you can tell everything was well researched.

There was a serial rapist loose across the country. Nothing seemed to stop him.
From 1991 to 1999, this man was out raping women, terrorizing neighborhoods, and stealing from the victims more then just their sense of security.

The author was a budding crime reporter in Phoenix in 1999 when the rapist was literally across the hall from her. The serial rapist raped her neighbor, thus beginning a decades long quest to bring him to justice.

That was 35% of the book, was the rapist, the crimes, the victims, the locations.

The rest of the book, 65% of the book, was the author talking about wanting to write the book, badgering the police and victims to talk to her, and going to the places where the rapes happened DECADES Later, to you know, get a feel for the place. EWWW

The author was so distracted that she included personal stories about her husband Rob. While fascinating...did NOT contribute to the true crime that was happening in the book.

Further, the editor should be fired. The chapter would read, Chapter 33, PHOENIX 1999. Then the chapter would be set in 2001 or even 2021. IT was horribly confusing.

This story needed to be told, but not by this author, who just kept inserting herself into the story. It was creepy and weird.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, it was truly terrifying to learn how long this predator was active. The author provided compelling portraits of the victims. Her own story of trauma, particularly the gaslighting by a loved one was very relatable and I thought it was a good addition to the narrative.
Cons- it was a bit derivative. From the title of the book(words spoken by the predator) to the inclusion of personal obsession with the cases was a little to close to I’ll Be Gone in the Dark. Also struggled with the sequencing and timeline of the chapters and events in the book.
That being said, I did want to keep turning the pages so there is something to be said there.

(2.5 stars)
"I had always been drawn to the tragedies that others turned away from: sexual assault, drug addiction, murder, suicide. I was fascinated by human nature and how some survive and thrive after misfortune, finding strength in adversity, while others are destroyed by it." Tamara Leitner is an American journalist, which is what made me pick up this book. It sits somewhere between true crime and a memoir centred around uncovering a serial rapist and how that overlaps with meeting a master manipulator in her personal life.

"Karen spoke openly about the vicious attack. I had not yet experienced this amount of transparency with any sexual assault victim in my career." This is a book about real women's lives impacted by this rapist, and I think reviewers have a tendency to be positive because they want to support the strength and resilience of those victims and survivors. As a book though, I have to confess I found it tedious and in need of a good edit. The writing is simplistic and lacks nuance. The relationship with police, who feed journalists information to help crack stalled cases, was uncritical. Tamara's obsession with her raped neighbour, "Lily", who declined to be interviewed but brought the case proximal to the writer, felt like further violation of someone who deserved her privacy.

I guess the problem is the book felt more about Leitner, who "loved writing about the underbelly of society, telling stories that shocked and informed the public" than directed by the women impacted by the crime themselves. The contrast between her desire to lay bare the details of invasive sexual violence sat at odds with the way she described being able to "divorce herself from the subject of an article", liking "relative anonymity" and nothing "about baring your soul came naturally to me". In fact her idea of "immersion journalism" which included being taken down (in padding) by a police dog, visting the sites of the rapes to imagine what happened, and pretending to be arrested and spending two days in a jail cell, I felt like she treated the women's experiences a bit like a theme park.

"As a journalist, I let a victim guide me on how deep she's capable of delving into the past." The author does set out what she sees as journalistic ethics in the book. But I am not convinced those ethics extended to "Lily". Probably the most truthful bits are where she explained she inaccurately identified "someone as a sex offender" in her coverage, and then used the apology call to pump them for information about their family members, putting the burden back on us: "the general public doesn't always understand the gravity of when they speak to a member of the media ... we are not their friends." I think it would have been nice to see Leitner apply this to the victims and survivors she encounters rather than saying you "don't want to push, but you do want to provide a safe outlet if they are willing to speak." A safe outlet is a counsellor who doesn't have career goals that depend on publishing your story.

This book starts out strong but mid way through feels very repetitive and clunky. I appreciate the author taking extensive time to research these sexual assaults, it just started to feel boring after a while and there were so many/kept coming back to them many chapters later, I can see it becoming confusing for the reader. But you can tell the author really cares about the victims and their stories.

Thank you NetGalley and Tamara Leitner for letting me read this book.

As a victim of sexual assault, this book was hard to read at times but there was also an empowering feeling I felt knowing that there were people that put in the effort to never stop digging for the truth. Unlike the women in this book, I did know the person. It was interesting to me to hear the other side of the coin, where the person wasn’t known. I know there are tons of stories like that but ths book gave me the opportunity to read it at my pace, a pace that didn’t overwhelm me. One of the hardest things is the fact that I knew the person that groomed me so no one believed me. I could identify with several women that were victims of Hull.

When I picked this book, I didn’t realize it was based on true events. I also didn’t realize it was about rape or I probably wouldn’t have read it. I think reading it has helped in my healing, mentally.

Thank you NetGalley for providing this ARC!

Don't Say a Thing: A Predator, a Pursuit, and the Women Who Persevered is unlike anything I have read. The author, Tamara Leitner, adds a unique and personal layer to the crimes she investigates, and her journalism background makes this read even more enjoyable. Perfect for anyone who loves true crime.

Perhaps what I enjoyed the most about this book, was how, through her thorough investigation and in writing this book, the author was able to find a way to heal from her own abusive past. As I read the the Epilogue, I was in tears at the author reflected on her own growth from her work on this book.

I highly recommend Don't Say a Thing: A Predator, a Pursuit, and the Women Who Persevered! It will be one that sticks with me for a long time.

I was really interested in this book due to being a big fan of “I’ll be gone in the dark”. This book is extremely well written and highlights important issues. It’s a fascinating story and one that will stay with me. The writer shares personal information as well which adds to the sincerity of the book. I highly recommend and it was refreshing to have a break from my usual fiction books.

Don't Say a Thing
A Predator, a Pursuit, and the Women Who Persevered
Tamara Leitner
In a powerful true-crime memoir, an Emmy Award–winning journalist seeks closure in a decades-long series of crimes and freedom from her own personal demons.

Tamara Leitner provides details and analysis of the crimes and the victims. She adds another story within the book..her personal story and why she knew this had to be written. When so many were failed by the system, she has a way of allowing them to tell their own stories. Claude Dean Hull II, a serial rapist and spent years not being caught.
Brilliantly written, and very interesting as each woman is allowed to finally speak and seek justice.

This book was so well written. It stood out to me due to the author’s ability to add a personal factor to it by detailing and explaining why these cases stuck with her for so many years. As she recounted the facts, the author told her own story while still very thoroughly analyzing the crimes and the people involved in it. For true crime fans, this will be a hit for sure. I hadn’t read a true crime book in a while but this one had me completely hooked.

Much like “I’ll be gone in the dark”, this is true crime with the author also adding a personal layer. The author provides details and analysis of the crimes, the victims and the perpetrator to a degree which will satisfy true crime buffs. She also tells her own story and seeks to explain why these cases have consumed her for so many years. It’s a fascinating book and the writing skills which the author has honed through years of journalism shine through.