Robert Graysmith

Zodiac Unmasked was an interesting take on the real life incidents revolving around the Zodiac Killer.

This book could have been a LOT shorter than it is, there is almost so much content in this book I got bored (and I am OBSESSED with conspiracies and theories, I'll sit through long books and videos any day of the week). I almost quit this book completely because it was boring me to death. I did love all the research and information within this book, but it was almost too much.

This is one of many theories of who the Zodiac Killer was, and it truly is fleshed out. It may not be 100% correct, but it was a good read if you want to look into the information surrounding this theory.

The positives within this book is the amazing content within it, but that also ties with my major negative: it's long, repetitive and becomes quite boring due to those two factors. The theory itself is confusing and long, but that doesn't mean the book needs to be over 500 pages of repeating the same stuff over and over and over. I did enjoy the fact that the book was in chronological order, but I also felt that it didn't need to be. I would have loved all the hard hitting facts and awesome plot points first before all the boring, nitty, gritty details.

Overall, I'm not totally impressed with this book. It bored me to tears and I almost stopped reading it.

1 out of 5 stars.… (mere)

The three-star rating is my fault. I've watched Zodiac and seen several recent specials about the case, which means I already knew almost everything written in this book. There are a few tidbits, like about the clever greeting cards, and some pictures I hadn't seen before of the taunting notes Zodiac mailed to the police, but that isn't enough for me to feel more knowledgeable about the case than I did going in.

Robert Graysmith does a comprehensive job detailing each murder, laying out all the leads, and putting into perspective the roles of those chiefly responsible for breaks in the case, but by about two-thirds of the way through, he begins unspooling suspect theories that come across as anticlimactic. There is a lot of speculation and confirmation of leads, but there's a lot of rambling, too, and I had a hard time finishing the book.

For someone who doesn't know the specifics of the Zodiac case, this is a five-star read. For a hardcore murderino, it loses something by two-thirds of the way through. Since, to date, the Zodiac has never been caught, I imagine it's tough to write a suitable ending.… (mere)

It is difficult for me to understand how this book has gone through multiple printings and is still being sold. Presumably the readers are people fascinated with these unsolved murders from 50 years ago and drawn in by the promise of never-before-available details. Unfortunately the book is so poorly written that I had to force myself to finish it (and then only because the "Z" title fit nicely into a current reading challenge).

Other reviewers have complained about the amount of detail Graysmith includes, but IMO that's not the problem. It's the wretched writing! Much of the book alternates between police-blotter-like recreations of events, and descriptions of the author's efforts at detective work (for which he frequently applauds himself, albeit sometimes putting the words of praise into the mouths of other individuals).

I found myself wondering more than once why the publisher hadn't forced Graysmith to submit to an editor with a well-sharpened blue pencil. This selection from page 2 is typical of his graceless efforts at description: "He put his Timex wristwatch with chrome case and band on his left wrist, and shoved a dollar and fifty-five cents, all in change, in his right front pants pocket. He pocketed a white handkerchief and a small bottle of Binaca breath drops." Seriously? He put his wrist watch on his wrist and pocketed items in his pockets? Sheesh!

With so many wonderful true crime writers at work, it's unfortunate that this admittedly fascinating case was left to a cartoonist who happened to be at the right place and time. (No general criticism of the writing of political cartoonists intended - Tom Toles certainly excels at both.) But just because you work at a newspaper clearly does not mean you can write!
… (mere)