The Zodiac Killer: a serial killer in the late 1960s that ran rampant through California, claiming to have killed more than 30 people. He was in constant contact with the police, but was never caught. This book has all of the information, and more, on the infamous killer.

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Why this book?: I love me some true crime.

I would like to thank the people at Wildblue Press for allowing me to have an advance copy of this book via NetGalley.

I have an odd range of interests. I like to read and write, but I also like to knit and watch horror game play-throughs on YouTube. But I also like to dig my claws into infamous serial killer cases, and watch documentaries and books on the killings. Or I just sit back and rewatch Forensic Files. Either way, you can tell that my tastes are a bit eclectic. Reading and murderers. Knitting and horror games.

The Zodiac Killer is one of those killers that I keep coming back to, and I don’t know why. I guess the fact that he was never found, despite so many eye-witnesses, really boggles my mind. And with everything else that Morford and Ferguson put forward in this book, I just can’t believe that they never caught the guy. What’s weirdest is that I don’t think any of the suspects they brought forward really fit the persona of Zodiac. 

Onto the actual book: I kind of struggled with this one. I loved all of the information that Morford and Ferguson brought to the table, but I really wasn’t a fan of how it was handed out. I understand that this book was a podcast transcription, but no one even tried to mask what it previously was. And let me tell you–reading an entire book of podcast transcriptions is boring as hell. There was absolutely no personality to it either–I just felt like I was reading about two deadpan guys talking to each other. The pictures made the story interesting, but they were few and far between. After the beginning, I really didn’t see that many, and so I was stuck with reading just transcripts.

While minor, I wasn’t a fan of the casual homophobia thrown into this. There were jokes about the Zodiac being a “latent homosexual” and how being called that had angered him and how one of the suspects might be the Zodiac because he had a large dildo. How does having a dildo relate at all to being the Zodiac? Why would it matter? Are all queers the Zodiac now?

There’s really not much else to say. Morford and Ferguson brought up information that I had honestly never heard of before, but at the same time, brought up information that I have heard every single time I look into the Zodiac case.

Final Rating: ★★★☆☆

Overall?

I guess my only problems with it was the casual homophobia and the choice to leave the entire book a transcript. Other than that, they gave solid information, with sources, and even had pictures of some of the original documents and from the original crime scenes. It was definitely interesting.

Would I Recommend?

Sure! I would say that this would be a good book to have if you already know some information on Zodiac but wanted more. I will also mention that it doesn’t follow the podcast *exactly* so if you wanted to listen to the podcast and read the book at the same time, you might find yourself pausing and putting down the book every once and a while.

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Additional Information:

Published: May 24th, 2018

Publisher: WildBlue Press

Page Count: 270

Genre: NonFiction/True Crime

Synopsis: via Goodreads

In the late 1960’s, and early 1970’s, an enigmatic serial killer terrorized the San Francisco Bay area of Northern California, and teased the police tasked with stopping him. Through bold letters and cryptic ciphers mailed to local newspapers as well as taunting calls to police, the Zodiac left his mark on the state of California. Without warning he was gone, but not before achieving infamy in the annals of true crime history. Just who was the Zodiac Killer?

Criminology podcast takes the deepest dives into the most mysterious true crime cases using actual case files, documents, and police reports to help tell the full and accurate story of the crimes they cover.

Now for the first time, Criminology Podcast and WildBlue Press brings the series to readers in book form with added commentary, photographs, and documents.