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The Most Dangerous Animal of All: Searching for My Father . . . and Finding the Zodiac Killer Hardcover – May 13, 2014
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“I promise that you’ve never read anything like The Most Dangerous Animal of All. Mesmerizing from the first page, the story includes a shattering surprise that will sear itself in your memory. Be prepared to read non-stop; this really is a book you won’t be able to put down.” (Jeff Guinn, author of Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson)
“Convincing....The author painstakingly pieces together over a decade’s worth of personal research and verbatim interviews with family, friends and law enforcement, then goes further to scrutinize and compare handwriting samples, police sketches and photographs, all bearing uncanny resemblances to recorded documentation from the Zodiac files.” (Kirkus)
“Convincing....The author painstakingly pieces together over a decade’s worth of personal research and verbatim interviews with family, friends and law enforcement, then goes further to scrutinize and compare handwriting samples, police sketches and photographs, all bearing uncanny resemblances to recorded documentation from the Zodiac files.” (Kirkus)
About the Author
Gary L. Stewart earned his bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from Louisiana State University and is vice president of Delta Tech Service of Louisiana. Ten years ago, Gary began writing a journal, chronicling every detail of his search for his father and his own identity. That journal served as the basis for The Most Dangerous Animal of All. Gary resides in Louisiana with his wife, Kristy, and son, Zach.
Susan Mustafa is an award-winning author and journalist. She is the coauthor of Dismembered, written with Sue Israel, which chronicles the story of serial killer Sean Vincent Gillis; and Blood Bath, about the life and crimes of serial killer Derrick Todd Lee, written with Special Prosecutor Tony Clayton and Sue Israel. Susan lives in Louisiana with her husband, Scott.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
85 of 97 people found the following review helpful
By
grounden1985
on May 16, 2014
Format: Hardcover
12 Comments
Sending feedback...
Before anyone throws accusations around, I don't know the author.
I'm a true crime fan who was skeptical about this book like many others, but I have to say the evidence the author provides throughout the 360 or so pages is more than compelling. It would be idiotic to write it off as nothing or a mere coincidence if one is being honest with themselves.
Since I know many people just want to read the reviews and glean evidence from them, I'll list what evidence the author presents in the book to back up the claim the Zodiac was his father, Earl Van Best Jr.:
-A fingerprint of his father has a scar that is nearly identical to one seen on a print left at the Stine murder. A photocopy of the prints is presented side by side in the hardback and even a layman can see the scars are the same angle and length.
-A handwriting expert testified that the handwriting on Earl's marriage certificates (filled out by Earl himself) is the same handwriting as that in the Zodiac's letters, even stating he would testify to this in court if he was asked to. A document containing his response to the handwriting comparison is also included in the book.
-Earl Van Best Junior is in one of the Zodiac's ciphers--every letter. A test to see if one can find other names in the cipher, like Mary Smith (for example) yields no results, yet every letter of Earl Van Best Junior is there in a cipher the Zodiac said contained his identity? That's a mighty coincidence!
-Another cipher contains Earl's initials, making that two ciphers matching his name.
-A Zodiac letter was signed "EV"--the initials for "Earl Van."
-The mug shot of Earl is virtually identical to the police sketch of the Zodiac.Read more ›
I'm a true crime fan who was skeptical about this book like many others, but I have to say the evidence the author provides throughout the 360 or so pages is more than compelling. It would be idiotic to write it off as nothing or a mere coincidence if one is being honest with themselves.
Since I know many people just want to read the reviews and glean evidence from them, I'll list what evidence the author presents in the book to back up the claim the Zodiac was his father, Earl Van Best Jr.:
-A fingerprint of his father has a scar that is nearly identical to one seen on a print left at the Stine murder. A photocopy of the prints is presented side by side in the hardback and even a layman can see the scars are the same angle and length.
-A handwriting expert testified that the handwriting on Earl's marriage certificates (filled out by Earl himself) is the same handwriting as that in the Zodiac's letters, even stating he would testify to this in court if he was asked to. A document containing his response to the handwriting comparison is also included in the book.
-Earl Van Best Junior is in one of the Zodiac's ciphers--every letter. A test to see if one can find other names in the cipher, like Mary Smith (for example) yields no results, yet every letter of Earl Van Best Junior is there in a cipher the Zodiac said contained his identity? That's a mighty coincidence!
-Another cipher contains Earl's initials, making that two ciphers matching his name.
-A Zodiac letter was signed "EV"--the initials for "Earl Van."
-The mug shot of Earl is virtually identical to the police sketch of the Zodiac.Read more ›
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75 of 92 people found the following review helpful
By
Amazon Customer
on May 14, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
Verified Purchase
8 Comments
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First, I need to address the poor reviews: I can't help but wonder if these reviews came from people with their own personal "stuff" to work on. The Zodiac case has provided a source of obsession for so long that, of course, anyone coming out of the woodwork, who has not been a part of the particular obsession over this killer for 40 years isn't welcomed to the extent that there seems to be some fairly immature name calling going on.
(And to answer the name calling on one really odd level - this is a professional, polished, well-written, well-edited true crime novel. This isn't a home-brewed, vanity press monstrosity.)
I've read other books by people claiming some connection to this serial killer or that or to have discovered who this serial killer was or that serial killer was, and generally been entirely unimpressed with efforts that rely on shoehorning facts and sheering off inconvenient evidence to fit their cases. This book, not so much. The authors take some liberties inserting Van's name in the historical narrative, this much is true, however, the documented evidence provided is compelling.
Was Van Best the Zodiac killer? I'm not decided, but I do think that the evidence presented in this book raises that as a distinct possibility. Hopefully publication of this book will force the SFPD to provide Mr. Stewart the final piece of evidence either proving or disproving his theory by testing his DNA sample against that of the Zodiac's.
(And to answer the name calling on one really odd level - this is a professional, polished, well-written, well-edited true crime novel. This isn't a home-brewed, vanity press monstrosity.)
I've read other books by people claiming some connection to this serial killer or that or to have discovered who this serial killer was or that serial killer was, and generally been entirely unimpressed with efforts that rely on shoehorning facts and sheering off inconvenient evidence to fit their cases. This book, not so much. The authors take some liberties inserting Van's name in the historical narrative, this much is true, however, the documented evidence provided is compelling.
Was Van Best the Zodiac killer? I'm not decided, but I do think that the evidence presented in this book raises that as a distinct possibility. Hopefully publication of this book will force the SFPD to provide Mr. Stewart the final piece of evidence either proving or disproving his theory by testing his DNA sample against that of the Zodiac's.
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30 of 35 people found the following review helpful
By
W. Perry Hall
on May 19, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
2 Comments
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I'm surprised to see the ultra-negative reviews, many of which appear to have been written by those who haven't read it or microscope its flaws. I found this a compelling 5 STAR book, for revelations of not only the Zodiac's identity, but the impact of SF politics on a murder investigation and later, a cover-up.
I think the author has nailed it, when I consider:
(a) the credibility of both the presenter and the publisher (HarperCollins);
(b) the opinion of an esteemed handwriting expert of a 99% definite match between several documents written/signed by Van Earl Best, Jr. and those written by the Zodiac;
(c) the name VE Best, Jr. is embedded in TWO (2) of the Zodiac ciphers;
(d) both the Zodiac and VE Best, Jr., had identical scars on the same index finger; and,
(e) a number of other significant pieces of persuasive circumstantial evidence, too many to list in this review.
-
While the author also provides a compelling case for motive, means and opportunity (some of which he admittedly embellished), these elements would not be needed to convict. An antiseptic listing of the evidence above without discussing MMO would amount to a news article and otherwise bore one to tears.
What's missing for a slamdunk "beyond a reasonable doubt" case is a DNA match. Mr. Stewart and his biological mom have offered DNA to an independent expert who now holds the markers to match to the Zodiac's DNA. Eight years ago, Stewart gave a DNA sample to the SFPD, who buried it.
From all that appears, the SFPD Blue Wall has stalled for nearly a decade now, beginning with closing the 35-year investigation **the week the author began making inquiries for the Best file.Read more ›
I think the author has nailed it, when I consider:
(a) the credibility of both the presenter and the publisher (HarperCollins);
(b) the opinion of an esteemed handwriting expert of a 99% definite match between several documents written/signed by Van Earl Best, Jr. and those written by the Zodiac;
(c) the name VE Best, Jr. is embedded in TWO (2) of the Zodiac ciphers;
(d) both the Zodiac and VE Best, Jr., had identical scars on the same index finger; and,
(e) a number of other significant pieces of persuasive circumstantial evidence, too many to list in this review.
-
While the author also provides a compelling case for motive, means and opportunity (some of which he admittedly embellished), these elements would not be needed to convict. An antiseptic listing of the evidence above without discussing MMO would amount to a news article and otherwise bore one to tears.
What's missing for a slamdunk "beyond a reasonable doubt" case is a DNA match. Mr. Stewart and his biological mom have offered DNA to an independent expert who now holds the markers to match to the Zodiac's DNA. Eight years ago, Stewart gave a DNA sample to the SFPD, who buried it.
From all that appears, the SFPD Blue Wall has stalled for nearly a decade now, beginning with closing the 35-year investigation **the week the author began making inquiries for the Best file.Read more ›
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30 of 36 people found the following review helpful
By
Z. Rosenthal
on May 17, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
Verified Purchase
Comment
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The Zodiac case has always haunted me as I was a teenager in the 70's and had close relatives who lived in San Francisco. It is perplexing that he was never caught and all the clues evaporated into the SF fog....I was VERY skeptical when I starting reading this book. As I got deeper into the pages, I was intrigued by the author's sad but interesting story and yet I wasn't convinced. By the time I turned the last page, however, I knew that Gary was correct. He put a lot of hard work, time, plane tickets and sweat into his story. He hounded people, made some great friends and a few enemies. He was relentless in his quest and I take my hat off to Gary Stewart. Even if you don't believe him (and I don't see how you could NOT believe him), it is a good story......and now I too can put the Zodiac behind me. Thank you, Gary!
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