Name: The Most Dangerous Animal of All
ISBN: 9780007579815

Gary L. Stewart

Susan D. Mustafa

An explosive and historic book of true crime and an emotionally powerful and revelatory memoir of a man whose ten-year search for his biological father leads to a chilling discovery: His father is one of the most notorious-and still at large-serial killers.

The Most Dangerous Animal of All

Lisa Wright

Not your typical true crime book

The author of this book who was adopted was just searching for his birth parents when he unexpectedly found compelling evidence that his father was the Zodiac killer.

The majority of this nonfiction book is written like a fictional story. The author strung together a narrative from paper trails, verbal stories, and other bits and pieces gleaned from anyone who encountered his father. Based on significant circumstantial evidence laid-out in this book it does seem likely Earl Van Best Jr was the Zodiac Killer. If I said why, I’d spoil the book somewhat.

Susan Mustafa

A New York Times Bestseller A San Francisco Chronicle Bestseller Soon after his birthmother contacted him for the first time at the age of thirty-nine, adoptee Gary L. Stewart decided to search for his biological father. His quest would lead him to a horrifying truth and force him to reconsider everything he thought he knew about himself and his world. Written with award-winning author and journalist Susan Mustafa, The Most Dangerous Animal of All tells the story of Stewart's decade-long hunt. While combing through government records and news reports and tracking down relatives and friends, Stewart turns up a host of clues—including forensic evidence—that conclusively identify his father as the Zodiac Killer, one of the most notorious and elusive serial murderers in history. For decades, the Zodiac Killer has captivated America's imagination. His ability to evade capture while taunting authorities made him infamous. The vicious specificity of his crimes terrified Californians before the Manson murders and after, and shocked a culture enamored with the ideals of the dawning Age of Aquarius. To this day, his ciphers have baffled detectives and amateur sleuths, and his identity remains one of the twentieth century's great unsolved mysteries. The Most Dangerous Animal of All reveals the name of the Zodiac for the very first time. Mustafa and Stewart construct a chilling psychological profile of Stewart's father: as a boy with disturbing fixations, a frustrated intellectual with pretensions to high culture, and an inappropriate suitor and then jilted lover unable to process his rage. At last, all the questions that have surrounded the case for almost fifty years are answered in this riveting narrative. The result is a singular work of true crime at its finest—a compelling, unbelievable true story told with the pacing of a page-turning novel—as well as a sensational and powerful memoir.

Searching for My Father . . . and Finding the Zodiac Killer

Taylor

I listened to this as an audiobook and I really enjoyed it. The story is interesting and keeps you going along with the narrative with only minimal cringing at overdone (and as the author admits, completely reconstructed) dialogue. To anyone complaining about all the family stuff in here - it’s literally in the title that this book is about searching for the author’s birth father. If you want an unbiased and in-depth account of the Zodiac case, you should probably look elsewhere. As a personal narrative by someone with a very deeply held conviction that his father is the Zodiac, it’s gripping and heartbreaking and just gross enough to satisfy anyone with a passing interest in true crime. I also really enjoyed listening to the audiobook narrated by the author, who has a gorgeous Louisiana accent, even if he’s talking about the rape of his birth mother and other awful events in a slightly cringeworthy way. Solid 3/5, would recommend as a memoir more than a true crime thriller.

An explosive and historic book of true crime and an emotionally powerful and revelatory memoir of a man whose ten-year search for his biological father leads to a chilling discovery - his father is one of the most notorious-and still at large-serial killers.

Searching for My Father ... and Finding the Zodiac Killer

Mary Baldwin

If you're looking for a crime focused account of the Zodiac, don't pick this up first. If you're interested in adoption and the effect it can have on a family; albeit in exceptional circumstances, you might enjoy it.

For me it was too much memoir, not enough fiction and not enough fact. I was expecting a lot more, but that's not a failing of the book, it's just not what I wanted.

It's an interesting spin off story to the account of a prolific serial killer. It isn't a forensic dissection of a case. It's decently written and easy to ready, and I guess is a pretty unusual scenario.

G. Jason Head

** spoiler alert **
           As a stand-alone book, I found it compelling and read it in about 2 days. As someone who has a lot of interest in this case ever since I read the classic Zodiac book in high school way back in the 80's, I found it a bit lacking. Mostly because many of the folks on zodiackiller.com message boards have debunked a lot of the possibilities that he *was* the zodiac.

Regardless, it's still an interesting read - and one thing that can't be argued is that Earl Van Best Jr. was one odd individual.

The Most Dangerous Animal of All

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