The Zodiac Killer

The Story of America's Most Elusive Murderer

By: Michael Butterfield

Narrated by: Mack Gordon

More than 50 years after the Zodiac Killer mysteriously vanished, his crimes and letters still haunt the world.

The Zodiac Killer conducted a campaign of terror in the late 1960s, killing seven victims before taunting investigators through a series of cryptic letters, clues and coded messages sent to local newspapers.

For more than five decades, investigators have searched for the identity of the Zodiac Killer. Hoaxes and forged letters fueled an ongoing media circus while the mystery inspired TV documentaries, feature films, books, websites, podcasts, and even copycat killers.

This compelling biography is written by Michael Butterfield, a writer and researcher who has been investigating the Zodiac case for more than 30 years. He separates fact from fiction and lays out what we know about the crimes, the mysteries and the theories surrounding the case, its legacy in popular culture, and where the investigation stands today.

©2025 Arcturus Holdings Limited (P)2025 Arcturus Publishing & ID Audio

Unbiased and Organized

Appreciate the factual information and how it’s laid out and explained. Good stuff thank you.

The definitive book!

True crime can often be sensationalized or pretty close to historical fiction, that’s why I don’t often read it. This is facts only, no conjecture or what ifs. Just damn good writing.

A must listen for Zodiac junkies

Well researched and lots of interesting facts about the Zodiac’s crimes. My only complaint was the narrator kept mispronouncing many of the names of the Northern California cities…Benicia, San Rafael, Yountville…which was annoying.

Very good source.

This is more of a factual overview of the case to date. If your looking for story this is not it. The narrator does a fine job, but it not going to be exciting as he is only reading the book as a case file (which he should for this). Over all very good. Been waiting for this for years.

Mostly parrots Graysmith’s “Zodiac”

This is a strange book. I have previously read Robert Graysmith’s “Zodiac”, which is longer and reads more a product of in depth and direct research, helped along by being there at the Chronicle at the time, on the part of Graysmith.
I opted to try this one because it advertises itself as giving a clearer, less biased view of the Zodiac murders than Graysmith’s book does, but in reality it simply parrots most of its text directly from Graysmith’s book, including research and discoveries that are universally attributed to Graysmith, but go uncredited here. It’s not that it gives incorrect info. It just kind of gives the Cliff’s Notes version of Graysmith’s book, while managing to take one or two digs at him. Odd.
If you’re new to the story, I would recommend Graysmith’s “Zodiac” over this one.