Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Couldn't put it down, 3 Jul 2007
Without a doubt, the Zodiac killer is one of the scariest characters I've ever come across in fact or fiction!
The book is basically the result of years of investigation by the author into the still unsolved Zodiac murders. Robert Graysmith was a cartoonist who worked at one of the papers that Zodiac continually wrote to during his killing spree. Graysmith poured thousands of his own hours over a number of years into the case, determined to solve a case flooded with clues and suspects, but seemingly destined to go unsolved.
Graysmith sets the scene of the times so well, and his attention to detail (which although sometimes borders on the excessive) helps the reader paint a picture of the characters involved (victimes, detectives and suspects). As a result, at times the book is quite disturbing (descriptions of some of the murders are pretty gruesome) but because of the fascinating story behind the whole Zodiac thing and the passionate way it's told here, it's difficult to put the book down.
I finished the book wondering how a crime where there were so many clues, so many opportunities to catch the person responsible, is still officially unsolved to this day (although there is a prime suspect who is mentioned in the book) and despite the gruesome and just weird nature of the crimes, it leaves you wanting to find out more.
The book has now been made into a major film 'Zodiac' and it's also very good and quite true to the book.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating...frustrating...and frightening..., 5 Mar 2008
The strap line on the cover of this book is so poignant "There is more than one way to lose your life to a killer".
Written by Robert Graysmith, the political cartoonist of the San Francisco Chronicle during a spate of murders in the area that spanned over a number of years through the late 60s and early 70s, it charts in great detail the events surrounding each murder and the subsequent police investigations which have, to this day, proved fruitless in apprehending the killer.
Graysmith originally became involved in the case as the killer, who called himself "Zodiac", wrote a number of letters to the newspaper which bragged about the crimes, made threats about future killings and included complicated codes and ciphers to fool the authorities. Graysmith clearly became so consumed with the murders and the identity of the serial killer over the years, that he has, literally, lost his life to the case. Although the author does go into mind boggling detail, the book is incredibly interesting, and all the more chilling as this actually happened. It provides fascinating insights into psychological profiling, cryptography and forensics.
However, you get a real sense of the frustration felt by all involved that they could not catch the killer. In fact, frustrated is probably an understatement. He taunted the police and families of the victims over a period of 10 years. He was repeatedly one step ahead of the police. He sent a series of puzzling letters to both the newspapers and the law enforcement authorities. He eluded the police on a number of occasions, even going so far as to give two officers directions following one of the murders, sending them on a wild goose chase. He may, which is even more unnerving, have been alone in the same room with the author some years later. Problems with information sharing arose from the bizarre way the different states and provinces in the US appear to be governed. Unincorporated sections of cities or areas of disputed police jurisdiction led to multiple agencies working the case, but not sharing any progress each had made. At times I wanted to scream as you realise how close they came to catching him...just not close enough.
I now can't wait to watch the film...
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14 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
interesting if hard to get into., 6 Jun 2007
I hate myself for being a person who can't stop reading a book once I've started no matter how bad it may be. I have had this curse all my life, however, on this occasion I'm glad of it. This book is hard to get into and not the best written book in the world as is sometimes hard to follow due to the amount of victims / suspects / different police etc. With it being based on true events I finished it with my own theories and lots of questions mainly why in the world the police agencies failed to talk to each other! A mystery in itself. I wonder if we will ever find out who he was and if I'm right. Give it a go but please don't be one of those annoying people saying I only got to page 20. It drives me mad! I've forced my boyfriend to pick it up and carry on after he's tried to put it away once already but is now hooked. (I told you so springs to mind).
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