Retro Review: Zodiac
/When I started this blog, I had been posting reviews on Goodreads for about 6 months. In the interest of having all of my book writing in one place, I will post one of these old reviews every Friday. They weren't written with a blog in mind, so please forgive the lack of summary and off-the-cuff tone.
4 stars. My reaction to this book: okay, what the actual fuck.
Truth is stranger than fiction, indeed.
Fans of true crime will really enjoy (?) this classic book detailing the crimes of the legendary zodiac killer, a man whose identity is still unknown. I could barely put it down despite the anxiety, discomfort and fear I felt while reading. I mean, I had nightmares.
The story of the zodiac killer is attractive to obsessives, I think, because he exhibits so much obsession himself. The codes, the clues, the patterns, the timeline, the victims … he set out to say something, to send a message, and Robert Graysmith is committed - I mean really, really committed - to discovering the truth. There are so many different ways to examine the case: psychologically, sociologically, emotionally, medically … the murders occurred during an interesting time in American history and Graysmith could’ve easily filled the story with sweeping social observations about the end of an era (similar to the way the Manson murders ushered in the “end of the 60s”). Instead, he sticks to the cold hard facts because, well, they are fascinating. And horrible.
Don’t read this for prose or plot or academic insight. Read this if, like me, you can’t resist staring into the face of pure evil.