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Zodiac

The Shocking True Story of the Nation's Most Bizarre Mass Murderer

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Zodiac

By: Robert Graysmith
Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
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About this listen

 After Jack the Ripper and before Son of Sam there was only one name their equal in terror: the deadly, elusive, and mysterious Zodiac. Beginning in 1968 the hooded mass murderer terrified the city of San Francisco and the Bay Area with a string of brutal killings. A sexual sadist, his pleasure was torture and murder. His first victims were a teenage couple, stalked and shot dead in a lover's lane. After another slaying, he sent his first mocking note to authorities, promising he would kill again. The official tally of his victims was six. The real toll may have reached 50. He was never caught. Graysmith, who was on the staff of the San Francisco Chronicle at the time of the murders, gives this gripping account of Zodiac's reign of terror.©1976 Robert Graysmith (P)2006 Blackstone Audiobooks Murder True Crime Scary Exciting

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Critic reviews

"Provocative....Bizarre....Graysmith's taut narrative brings the horror back with jolt upon jolt." ( San Francisco Chronicle)
"Will fascinate true-crime readers." ( Library Journal)
All stars
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Interesting and perhaps the most famous book about the Zodiac killings. "Starr" is Arthur Leigh Allen. Many including the chief Detective on the case - Detective Dave Toschi - believe Allen was the Zodiac killer. It is clear that he is one of the strongest suspects but he is one of several which suggests that the evidence against any of the suspects is far from watertight. Moreover, nobody has ever been charged with the crimes. There is even one brief suggestion that the Zodiac Killer could have been a British engineer ! This book is one of several good books about one of the most fascinating unsolved series of murders in criminal history. The same author has written an up to date version of his account.


My rating: 4/5. See also my review of another book on the Zodiac killings (on the 'Goodreads' website.

Zodiac - Unsolved

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beautifully written , intreging ,
leaving many thoughts on WHO the Zodiac is/was no surprise to anyone familiar with the case and if this account is as close as anyone will get , leaves you with an almost nailed on suspect

A true crime must

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A solid, interesting, investigation of the infamous unidentified murderer. It is necessary, because of the type of work it is, to concentrate upon it rather fully or one loses the thread of evidence. Not, therefore a light listen but it is gripping and I looked forward to the next session each time I hung up my headphones for the day. As is inevitable with this type of true crime, there cannot be the truly satisfying conclusion of - say - a novel but the author presents his case(s) clearly.

It is well and appropriately read and the Mr. Rudnicki, the reader, even manages to endear himself enough to compensate for the author's more than occasional self-congratulation that might otherwise have been a little grating.

'Zodiac' - almost gets 12 stars

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Whilst the title music is lurid, as noted above, this is a thorough examination and condensation of the known facts.

It contains a good balance of opinion and conjecture to cope with the ultimate open-endedness of the case.

A mystery tackled.

Thorough

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A fascinating insight in to the Zodiac murders and a how the author unravelled the coded letters

fascinating insight into the Zodiac murders

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Very well written and narrated. Often the narrator puts me off but this was a goodie. Bizarre case - a recent epilogue would be a plus

Update please

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1968 – a hooded mass murderer terrifies the city of San Francisco and the Bay Area with a series of apparently random and vicious killings. From his first teenage victims, shot dead in a lover’s lane, he goes on to kill at least six people, though the real figure could be as high as fifty. Working on the San Francisco Chronicle at the time of the murders, Robert Graysmith tells the story of the Zodiac’s reign of terror.

If the tale sounds familiar, it may be due to the influence it had on movies like Clint Eastwood’s ‘Dirty Harry’, made while the real killer was still active, as well as more recent productions, such as David Fincher’s ‘Zodiac’, starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Graysmith. The book, with its subtitle, ‘The Shocking True Story of the Nation’s Most Bizarre Mass Murderer’ tells the story of a destroyer of lives who has never been caught. During his study of the case, the author identified many potential suspects and although when the book was originally published in 1986 he had changed the names of those he suspected, it was later revealed that Arthur Leigh Allen and Don Cheyney were the main focus of his attention.

The book is a chilling and thought-provoking account that goes into great detail, revealing much information that at the time of the murders had not been released to the public.

At the time of writing (2019), the Zodiac remains unidentified.

Chilling and thought-provoking

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good narrator, interesting but just not my genre. if you do like true crime I'm sure you'll love it

just not my thing

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And spooky music at the end. Story is good but forever frustrating because we are no closer to the truth by the end.

Nice spooky music to kick off

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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes, I have actually listened to this book many times, over the years since 2007.

Has Zodiac put you off other books in this genre?

Not at all.

What does Stefan Rudnicki bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Excellent performance, no issues. His voice is commanding, clear and very easy to listen to.

Was Zodiac worth the listening time?

Yes because it got me properly interested in the case many years ago.

Any additional comments?

It must be stated that this book is almost a work of fiction. Don't get me wrong, a lot of work went into it by Graysmith, and it is compelling at times, but unfortunately there are many things in it, that he just makes up and are not in any way actual case facts, far too many to list here. Just be aware of this and don't go into it thinking this is the Zodiac killer case 101.

Excellent if you prefer a lot of fiction mixed in

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