Zodiac

Long intrigued by true crime and cold cases, I've always been interested in the case of the mysterious serial killer who plagued southern California in the 1960s.

Graysmith's book encompasses everything readers might want to know about the cases -- profiles on each of the victims, reproductions of the cryptic coded letters the Zodiac mailed to area newspapers, interviews with survivors, victims' families and law enforcement, information about the men most suspected to be the Zodiac. He skillfully combines a level of intense detail with a flowing narrative, immediately pulling readers into the mystery.

Of course, there is some element of "fiction" -- Graysmith can't know what exactly was going through the minds of victims in their final moments, or even exactly what they were doing in their last hours. Yet taking known information and taking the liberty of putting it into a more anecdotal format only serves to make the book work better.

Additionally, Graysmith provides a handy appendix with all known Zodiac facts -- timelines, victim information, etc. -- in case readers want an easy-to-access point of reference for their own research.

I bought this book after seeing the movie, hoping it would clear up a few things that were glossed over in the movie. But even after reading the book twice, I still have more questions than answers.
One thing is quite clear, that Mr. Graysmith has decided who the real Zodiac is, and only presents the facts that support his finding. Personally, I would have preferred to be presented with more of the facts, so I can make up my own mind.
It's true what others have said, about the book being not very well written. It's clumsy and hard to follow at times, and all the name changes definitely don't help matters.
But even with all that, it's gripping and hard to put down. I finished it in two sittings the first time through.
I think before I spend any money on "Zodiac Unmasked", I'll look for it in the library. I have a hunch I should have bought that one and not this one, anyway.

I enjoyed Graysmith's book, and the movie based upon it, but the second half of this book degenerates into semi-absurdity. Graysmith presents many facts about the murders and the murdered, as well as the investigation regarding Zodiac. So far, so good. But when the trail goes somewhat cold, he begins to postulate various things about the killer and his motives. Graysmith attempts to tie many murders that were not conclusively linked to Zodiac with various astronomical and astrological events. I'm not an authority on astrology, but his astronomical coincidences stretch credulity. He speaks of 'aphelion', Saturn ascending, various Jupiter occurrences, solstices and equinoxes and attempts to show how these might have influenced Zodiac. Hey, might be true, but he names so much astronomical stuff that it seems completely without pattern. After all, there is ALWAYS some type of astronomical event occurring. And Graysmith attempts to define "aphelion", but gets it wrong. It's obvious that he has only a limited understanding of astronomy and it's not enough to make his case convincing.

Other faults include his mention of various relationships or events involving the victims, but he never follows through. Why did the guy have on 3 shirts and 3 pairs of pants on a hot summer night? What did the girl know about a previous murder? These and other questions go unanswered. That may not be Graysmith's fault, but he spends too much time building them up to just leave them hanging. A cursory mention would have served much better.

Graysmith also attributes a bit too much glamor and mystery to the codebreaking and codemaking in the case. Surely, the initial break of Zodiac's first cipher was a masterful accomplishment ... but to claim that the NSA, CIA and Naval Intelligence couldn't break the codes, then some amateurs (and later Graysmith himself) did what they could not is also absurd. First, I think it likely that if the NSA did break the code, they'd keep quiet about it. More likely is that none of these agencies really took the time to try. And as far as making the codes: Zodiac could easily have accomplished that from reading one of many children's books on the subject.

Okay, why three stars then? He does a good job at presenting the cold facts of the murders, and of tying together some other possible Zodiac activity. There seem to be few places where one can read the entire story of the Zodiac in any coherent fashion, and here Graysmith does a good job. It's still an interesting read.

The author was intimately involved in the investigation of the Zodiac killer and this is his dissertation. Real life being more scary than fiction, this book was hard to put down and made it hard to sleep as well. The author does a good job of laying out the facts of the case, the details, and the main suspects. If you like suspense, thrillers, or murder mysteries, this real life drama surpasses all the fiction. Here's to hoping this case actually is solved one day.

Incredibly detailed story with tons of factual information. Graysmith does an excellent job of displaying the facts of the Zodiac case along with his own opinions. Some questions, however, are left unanswered, which is frustrating, but that is because the case will probably never be solved completely. One of the biggest unanswered questions for me was why were the authorities never able to track down Kathleen Johns; she was the only surviving victim that spent a significant amount of time with the Zodiac. She was the only victim to actually see and hear zodiac and live.

Graysmith's story is very similar to the movie however, there are a few details to the case that were left out and have a good amount of meaning relating to the case. Overall, it is a good read and will leave you wanting more.