This is a kind of wild ride. A man named Gary Stewart was abandoned as an infant and adopted. He has a good upbringing and as kind of needed closure to lingering abandonment issues he goes on to find who his birth parents were. His birth mother is alive and his father turns up deceased. Nothing here is wild or particularly unusual. A book this hardly makes thus if this was where this story ends there would be no FX series.
What actually happens is Gary's birth was quite the horror story in that his 15-year mother was more or less willingly kidnapped by a 28-year old psychopathic man whose name was Earl Van Best Jr. Judi, Gary's mother, was willingly kidnapped at least three times as a minor by Van Best. This resulted in their permanent separation and Van Best serving prison time. This actually makes a compelling story of abhorrent pedophile and his victims one of which was Gary Stewart.
The thing that blows this over the top is the fact Gary becomes convinced his father was not your typical pedophile but the even more horrific Zodiac Killer. Gary becomes so obsessed with this idea it takes a heavy toll on his personal life as he takes a deep dive into researching his father. He seems to manipulate his findings to support his fervent belief that his dad was the iconic killer of the unsolved Zodiac murders. He partners with a true crime writer who buys his research as legitimate and accurate. The book becomes a best seller to great controversy. The controversy only grows after the book is more scrutinized as it becomes evident Gary manipulated his research perhaps on purpose, maybe not? None the less much fails to hold up on the most accurate review.
This could make the FX series the last word exposing a flawed book as it shows the story warts and all. In this regard it has value and is intriguing. It proves that Earl Van Best may only be a very bad pedophile whose son has suffered greatly. In the end though it still leaves a crack open in which there is a sliver of possibility Earl Van Best Jr. shouldn't be eliminated wholesale as a potential suspect for Zodiac. After all the prime suspect Arthur Lee Allen has never been proven. This is just a wild ride in the end I'd say that was worth a watch even though Van Best Jr. is not highly likely to be the Zodiac. To the serie's credit it clearly states this.
What actually happens is Gary's birth was quite the horror story in that his 15-year mother was more or less willingly kidnapped by a 28-year old psychopathic man whose name was Earl Van Best Jr. Judi, Gary's mother, was willingly kidnapped at least three times as a minor by Van Best. This resulted in their permanent separation and Van Best serving prison time. This actually makes a compelling story of abhorrent pedophile and his victims one of which was Gary Stewart.
The thing that blows this over the top is the fact Gary becomes convinced his father was not your typical pedophile but the even more horrific Zodiac Killer. Gary becomes so obsessed with this idea it takes a heavy toll on his personal life as he takes a deep dive into researching his father. He seems to manipulate his findings to support his fervent belief that his dad was the iconic killer of the unsolved Zodiac murders. He partners with a true crime writer who buys his research as legitimate and accurate. The book becomes a best seller to great controversy. The controversy only grows after the book is more scrutinized as it becomes evident Gary manipulated his research perhaps on purpose, maybe not? None the less much fails to hold up on the most accurate review.
This could make the FX series the last word exposing a flawed book as it shows the story warts and all. In this regard it has value and is intriguing. It proves that Earl Van Best may only be a very bad pedophile whose son has suffered greatly. In the end though it still leaves a crack open in which there is a sliver of possibility Earl Van Best Jr. shouldn't be eliminated wholesale as a potential suspect for Zodiac. After all the prime suspect Arthur Lee Allen has never been proven. This is just a wild ride in the end I'd say that was worth a watch even though Van Best Jr. is not highly likely to be the Zodiac. To the serie's credit it clearly states this.