Hm. The promotion hype for the book boasts that unlike so many others (or words to that effect), this author provides actual evidence (or words to that effect) that his suspect is the real deal (or words to that effect)…but I can’t seem to find anything of the sort in what he has (ghost) written. The fingerprints? Clearly not. The cipher "solution"? Not even close. The handwriting? Hardly.

It’s a good story – searching for your long lost father only to discover he was the Zodiac killer – but it doesn’t seem to be anything more than that.

PS I agree with what many of you have touched on in this thread: if you have a good suspect (which you may have) but aren’t a cryptologist (which you probably aren’t), you’re better off leaving the ciphers alone. Putting together a decent case based on circumstantial evidence will be much more convincing than – yet another – contrived solution to the "my name is…" cipher.

I couldn’t wait for the print edition, so I downloaded the audio version and listened to it in the car. The audio version was actually narrated by the author which I thought was cool. I think that Earl Van Best Jr. is the most interesting and likely suspects yet in my opinion for several reasons:

E.V.B . . .
– Had an absent/abusive father and a rejecting mother who actually wished he was a girl
– Spent time in Japan and England
– Learned code from his father Father
– Had Interest in weaponry
– Had an obsession with women much younger than him
– Knew Anton LaVey personally (SF Church of Satan)
– Travelled freqently to Mexico
– Worked as a cab driver in SF
– Knew and appreciated opera/The Mikado
– Striking resemblence to the Zodiac WANTED poster

Genesis, you certainly are welcome to your own opinion, but you certainly will face some Friendly debate about Best. Here’s some now:

– Had an absent/abusive father and a rejecting mother who actually wished he was a girl–
Alot of people did, and they didn’t become serial killers

– Spent time in Japan and England
Alot of military men spent time in those places, and not all of them are serial killers. The japanese interest by Zodiac may be as it relates to the Mikado, and the english influence like use of the word,’SHALL’, may come from an interest in english lit & authors

– Learned code from his father Father
Anybody with interest in codes or ciphers is of interest, but how do we know this is truly fact? As I recall, his Father was a Chaplain in the military, how do we know again he had code training?(I forget if he details it in the book)

– Had Interest in weaponry
Again, besides the mention of him hunting for dinner in the book, how do we know this is true? How do we know he was into guns & shooting?

– Had an obsession with women much younger than him
There’s no evidence that Zodiac had any interest at all in young girls

– Knew Anton LaVey personally (SF Church of Satan)
Zodiac never mentioned LaVey of made reference to him, so this is a moot point

– Travelled freqently to Mexico
Just because Zodiac mentioned Mexico in his speech at Berryessa, does not mean that he frequently went there.

– Worked as a cab driver in SF
So did a thousand other guys

– Knew and appreciated opera/The Mikado
Anyone with an interest in the Mikado usually gets a bit of attention, but alot of people were into Gilbert & Sullivan

– Striking resemblence to the Zodiac WANTED poster

A passing resemblance, sure, but again, a thousand other guys in SF could be Z if we are convicting them on looks. Plus, Fouke mentioned that Zodiac had a widow’s peak(Best did not),that Zodiac was barrel chested and stocky(Best was not). I would challenge anybody to find a better likeness to that sketch than Ross Sullivan, dead ringer in all detail, right down to the Widow’s peak!

Again, these points I am making are not totally directed at you, they also go to the Author and his book. The things he brings up are the same things you bring up too, and as you can see, it’s easy to diminish these points as i did above

I am quite certain that individuals will, and I quite welcome the debate. In fact if it wasn’t for this forum, I wouldn’t have known about the book myself as early as I had. However, I should have presented myself more clearly in my original post. My intention was to provide a list of points I found interesting now after having read the book in its entirety. These points are, of course, entirely circumstantial, but they are certainly worth further examination in my mind. My point was to spark some interest in the book which would perhaps encourage people to actually read it and scrutinize it. The points I made are only a subset of dozens of things the author presents to paint the picture of Best Jr. potentially being the Zodiac. Each of the points can easily be refuted and debated (as they should), but my point is to say that after having read the book and looking at the totality of the circumstantial evidence, the author does in my mind, present one of the most intriguing potential Zodiac suspects to date. I think our job should be to thoroughly analyze the points the author makes with a very fine toothed comb, and then start asking our own questions, and I have a plethora of questions after reading the book.
The fact that Best worked as a cab driver by itself isn’t particularly relevant, but the questions that this fact provokes are interesting. Being a cab driver he would have had an intimate knowledge of the routes in San Francisco and we should ask if he knew Paul Stine. If he did, can we investigate if he had a grudge against him, if there was any sort of rationale to Stine’s killing? These are the types of questions I have and will continue to have after reading the book again.
Bottom line, Best in my mind deserves a ton of further investigation and scrutiny because while the author provided a well-researched book with a lot of interesting information, there is a lot we don’t know about Best and that is where the focus needs to be in my mind.

I had an unused credit at Audible.com so I downloaded the book, but can’t quite bring myself to listen to it

If I’m not mistaken, I think that Audible will refund you on a book if you didn’t like it. Hummm, maybe!

I had an unused credit at Audible.com so I downloaded the book, but can’t quite bring myself to listen to it

If I’m not mistaken, I think that Audible will refund you on a book if you didn’t like it. Hummm, maybe!

The audio version is actually read very well by the author himself, I think it’s at least worth your time for an interesting story and it certainly would help pass the time on a boring drive I am personally just really fascinated with Best after having read and listened to the book and would love to have the intellegence of this community thoroughly scrutinize this individual.

Went to Chapters today with the intention of buying this book. It had a high price tag ($34.99) so I decided to spend some time on one of the store chairs reading it. I have to say I am glad that I did so (saving $40!) because what I read left me thoroughly unconvinced.

Went to Chapters today with the intention of buying this book. It had a high price tag ($34.99) so I decided to spend some time on one of the store chairs reading it. I have to say I am glad that I did so (saving $40!) because what I read left me thoroughly unconvinced.

I save a lot of money by reading in the chairs at Chapters. Makes you wonder why they have chairs there. Sorry to get off topic.

I doubt this book is selling well. Z is pretty niche topic right now, and most of us amateur detectives are too jaded and savvy to buy into most of the b.s. literature on the topic

Newly received Earl Van Best FBI file, for anybody who’s still interested in him. I got these via FOIA request. I was excited when I found the package it in the mail from the FBI, but less than excited when I found out it was Earl Van Best material…..oh well

Thanks morf!

Thanks Morf — leaving no stone unturned is a good policy.

There is a whole section blocked out. I wonder why.

Noticed something here: Best worked – allegedly – as an installer of sprinkler systems. So did Paul Avery’s unnamed suspect. Was Best Avery’s man? I haven’t properly read this book and I don’t plan on buying a copy – does the author mention Avery and his suspect?

As for the blocked out section – no idea, really. But I suppose it could pertain to the Yugoslav (not to Best as such).

Avery is mentioned — as I remember, Avery interviewed him in jail.

Another interesting fact is that in Graysmith’s book, Arthur Leigh Allen shows ciphers to his brother and sister in law, and claims he got them from a crazy child molesting inmate at Atascadero. Best was sent to Atascadero for molesting Stewart’s mom who was 13 (even though she was supposedly in love with Best and everything was consensual). All the other suspects, I always wondered how the ciphers tied in, how they became experts at it, Stewart at least explains how his suspect became an expert. The ALA tie in and the Rick Marshall tie in, I always wondered if Zodiac was a team, maybe there was a team of ALA/Best or Marshall/Best.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Best made contact with Avery after his legal troubles, and maybe Avery became suspicious of him. I too noticed that sprinkler system comment, and thought of Avery’s suspect.
Here’s a ZK thread about Avery’s Suspect- http://www.zodiackiller.com/mba/ozs/342.html

I wouldn’t be surprised if Best made contact with Avery after his legal troubles, and maybe Avery became suspicious of him. I too noticed that sprinkler system comment, and thought of Avery’s suspect.
Here’s a ZK thread about Avery’s Suspect- http://www.zodiackiller.com/mba/ozs/342.html

Kinda interesting! Who was the old poster on ZK named Thomas Richardson that made some of those posts?