Zodiac by Robert Graysmith
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Book Reviews of Zodiac
Book Review: Disturbing truth
Summary: 4 Stars
Well-written book, excellent research. Disturbing that several police departments were unable to solve the case and unwilling to share information to help bring down the killer. Disturbing that Californians apparently didn't demand better police work. Sad that Mr. Graysmith worked night and day looking for a killer while tax-paid police feigned interest but didn't join in. Sad that the SF's lead investigator blames others when he loses his job even though it was nine years and counting at that point with no one behind bars. How is it investigators get only one search warrant for a suspect with several homes? A sad and disturbing story all around.Book Review: Scary--real life horror movie
Summary: 4 Stars
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.Book Review: excellent true crime
Summary: 4 Stars
Robert Graysmith was the cartoonist on one of the papers who received letters from the serial killer named Zodiac. He was drawn to the case and went on to carry out his own investigations into who was Zodiac( for the record they never did capture him) yet Graysmith had his own ideas into who was Zodiac. For anyone who watched the recent film this is a must read. Chilling.Book Review: Early Impressions
Summary: 3 Stars
After watching the movie twice & reading the first couple of chapters of the book, I offer the following observations. First, there is a lot of detail. One gets the sense that Graysmith put in every scrap of information he had (whether or not it was truly relevant). As an example, I offer below the list of characters introduced in Chapter Two alone. Second, his writing style is neither here nor there. It doesn't read like a fictional account of the same subject yet it is more than a summary of known facts in the case. If it were not a real case, I would not continue reading as the storyline is overcrowded with seemingly unimportant data. However, it's this same jumble of information that gives the reader a sense of what it must have been like for the detectives working the case.
1. Darlene Ferrin: shooting victim
2. Bobbie Ramos: Darlene's co-worker at Terry's Restaurant
3. Dean Ferrin: Darlene's current (second) husband
4. Dena Ferrin: Darlene & Dean's baby daughter
5. Bill & Carmela Leigh: Ferrins' landlords; Dean's bosses at Caesar's Palace Italian Restaurant
6. Karen: Darlene's 17 year old babysitter
7. Pam Suennen: Darlene's younger sister
8. Jim "Phillips" (assumed last name): Darlene's ex-husband
9. Bobbie Oxnam: previous co-worker of Darlene at San Francisco phone company
10. Leo Suennen: Darlene's younger brother
11. Mike Mageau: shooting victim; close friend of Darlene's
12. David Mageau: Mike's twin brother; also a close friend of Darlene's
13. Jay Eisen, Ron Allen, Rick Crabtree & Sydne: friends who attended Darlene's painting party
14. Richard Hoffman, Steve Baldino & Howard "Buzz" Gordon: police officers who attended Darlene's painting party
15. "Paul" the bartender (not real name): "creepy" attendee of the painting party; later a prime suspect in the murders
16. Linda Del Buono: Darlene's other sister
17. Leo: Linda (& presumably Darlene's ) father
18. Christina: Darlene's 15 year old sister
19. John Lynch: Detective Sergeant with Vallejo police
20. Harley Scalley: manager at Terry's Restaurant
21: Jane Rhodes: Darlene's acquaintance at Terry's Restaurant
22. Janet Lynne: Darlene's second babysitter
23. Pamela: Janet Lynne's friend
24. George Bryant: Blue Rock Springs Golf Course caretaker
25. Debra, Roger & Jerry: teens who came across the victims following the shooting
26. Nancy Slover: Vallejo P.D. switchboard operator
27. Ed Rust: Sergeant with Vallejo P.D.; John Lynch's partner
28. Richard Hoffman & Sergeant Conway: Vallejo P.D. at the crime scene
29. Arthur Ferrin: Dean's father
30. Officer Shrum & his partner: Vallejo P.D. sent to notify Mageau family of shooting
31. Evelyn Olson: Darlene's co-worker at Terry's Restaurant
32. Lois Mckee: cook at Terry's Restaurant
33. Carmen: Mike Mageau's mother
34. Detective Sergeant Bidou: Benicia P.D.
35. Jack Mulanax: Vallejo P.D. who inherited Ferrin case from Lynch
Book Review: A good read, but fast and loose with some facts
Summary: 3 Stars
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.