Not less.
Someone’s Hunting Us review
Production company – NJ Advance Media
Rating – 
A while back I got interviewed on an American radio station. Not that I think it’s been released yet, or even will be. Due to a mix up with time zones, I was an hour late, and I rambled on terribly (really? me?) and got some shows mixed up. The host asked me if I liked true crime shows, and said that he didn’t, because they tended to glorify the suffering of others. I guess that can be true with some shows, but I said that I was more interested in hearing about what an awful job the police do at actually catching the right person. Which brings me rather nicely to today’s review.
So what’s it about?
They’re Hunting Us follows the disappearance of 15 year old Mawa Doumbia. Despite an extensive search, the police found no trace of her whatsoever. As the years tick by, more bodies start to appear, all killed in a similar manner.
The question is though, is who is doing this? The police seem at a loss, or more accurately, they can’t really be bothered. The women who have been murdered are all sex workers, and unfortunately, sex workers don’t seem to rate very highly in the NJPD’s list of important crimes. When you also factor in that all the victims were black, then you can see why the cases remained unsolved.
The main problem here is that there was a suspect. There was a man who had been seen around the women, someone who had attempted to kill one of them (and failed), and whose work colleagues were aware of his weird fascinations.
Is it any good?
This is a heartbreaking story. Not only for the loss of these young women, but also because if the police had done their job, then the number of murders would be a lot smaller. The inherent belief that black sex workers were “the less dead” is a horrifying realisation throughout this series.
The story told from the perspective of friends and family of the women was a novel touch, and one that hits home that these were real people, with lives and hopes and dreams. It also adds to the heartbreak, as they tearfully recount what happened as they dealt with the police who were supposed to “protect and serve”.
The hosts have a background of great investigative journalism, with other true crime podcasts under their belts already. Their style is different from other shows in that they really try not only to see things from the victims point of view, but also try and really understand why the killer did what he did.
Final thoughts
It’s been a while since I had a show that affected me the way this did. If you are a true crime fanatic, and haven’t heard this, then I heartily recommend it. If you are new to the genre, then this is certainly in the top ten of true crime shows I’ve listened to, and is a great place to start.
You can get Someone’s Hunting Us here:
https://www.greatpods.co/podcasts/someones-hunting-us-7669255
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