This is the Zodiac Speaking...

'Zodiac' by Robert Graystone is one of the most frightening true crime books that I have ever read. The other was 'Helter Skelter' by Vincient Bugliosi and I plan to write more on that one later! I will always remember the circumstances leading up to my reading 'Zodiac'.

I had been hospitalized for 10 days in 1990 and my husband brought me 'Helter Skelter' to pass the long days of recuperation. 'Helter Skelter' was so good that I went on a true crime reading tangent. When we went to San Francisco in June of 1990, I saw the book 'Zodiac' for sale in the airport. What better book to read before going to sleep during our stay than a book that had taken place in the same city we were visiting? How interesting!

This book was extremely well documented and written by Mr. Graysmith, as he is THE expert on the details of this strange case. I was sucked into the story and especially the letters the Zodiac sent to the San Francisco newspaper were chilling to me. The surviving witness police drawings in the book were hair curling!

We were staying in a very lovely and reasonably priced little hotel in the Cow Hollow section near the Presidio. When I read about the cab driver who was the unfortunate victim of the Zodiac, I realized that the crime had taken place one street over from the hotel where I sat with the windows wide open, enjoying the very chilly night temperatures. I had to stop reading and slept with the light on that night. Of course, the window was slammed shut immediately!

I won't ruin the book by revealing details but each attack on a victim is recounted in detail and all the letters and resulting police work are recounted in an easy to understand style as well. Many police hours were devoted to finding out who was committing these terrible crimes and a suspect was even named as the Zodiac. But a competent case could never be put together to convict this man. The lack of a pattern in the victims chosen and weapons used made it difficult for the police to come up with a MO to help point towards a suspect.

There is a section analyzing the symbols and meanings of all the letters and messages. The writer was someone familiar with Navy code and also an avid student of astrology, which pointed toward the police's named suspect but there was never a fingerprint, hair sample or any other concrete evidence, only circumstancial. It was finally speculated that the Zodiac just got too old to murder anymore. I suppose murder takes a lot of physical strength.

This book is a classic true crime novel, is chilling and has many detailed factual points that it makes. I recommend it for anyone interested in the police work that is invested into finding a killer, even though Zodiac is never found. Zodiac is a very detailed and interestingly written book. AN OUTSTANDING READ!!!