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lscheibal's review against another edition
4.0
WHAT HAPPENED TO D.B. COOPER??? WHO WAS HE? I will probably be thinking about this every night before I go to sleep.
bookishwendy's review against another edition
3.0
Oh how quaint, those long lost days of the monthly air hijack that ended either in Cuba, or in a parachute jump with a satchel full of cash. Back in the early 70s, before metal detectors and pat-downs became a rite of passage in airports, the hijack was practically a spectator sport. And, so the legend goes, it was all started by a John Doe known to the media as D.B. Cooper.
My first encounter with the D.B. Cooper urban legend was in a book I had as a kid about unsolved mysteries. I remember the details pretty well: a nondescript guy in a business suit hijacks a plane with a (fake) bomb, demands $200,000 in cash and a parachute, lowers the aft stairs of the in-flight 727 and leaps into the stormy night, never to be seen again. Even back then, I remember my 10-year-old self asking "what's the mystery? He's dead." The stolen cash never appeared in circulation again (though a few bundles were found buried on a beach near the probable drop site in 1980). Everyone who ever came forward, it seems, had a history of mental illness. Just because a few kooks swear they are the long-lost princess Anastasia doesn't prove their story--same with Cooper. There's just not enough evidence to prove anything at all. But that doesn't stop author Gray from tracking down and interviewing every last kook...and that's the REAL story here.
If you were looking for the "definitive" D.B. Cooper solution, this book doesn't deliver on that front. However, if you're a fan of This American Life-type stories in which the weirdness of the journey is more fulfilling than any neatly tied solution, this book might be a fun ride. The book starts out with a straightforward narration of the D.B. Cooper case, but as the author/investigator hits more dead-ends, he begins to follow crazier and crazier leads, ending with (I thought) a fitting meta-moment where. It's a hell of a long shaggy dog joke, perhaps, but I did laugh at the end.
My first encounter with the D.B. Cooper urban legend was in a book I had as a kid about unsolved mysteries. I remember the details pretty well: a nondescript guy in a business suit hijacks a plane with a (fake) bomb, demands $200,000 in cash and a parachute, lowers the aft stairs of the in-flight 727 and leaps into the stormy night, never to be seen again. Even back then, I remember my 10-year-old self asking "what's the mystery? He's dead." The stolen cash never appeared in circulation again (though a few bundles were found buried on a beach near the probable drop site in 1980). Everyone who ever came forward, it seems, had a history of mental illness. Just because a few kooks swear they are the long-lost princess Anastasia doesn't prove their story--same with Cooper. There's just not enough evidence to prove anything at all. But that doesn't stop author Gray from tracking down and interviewing every last kook...and that's the REAL story here.
If you were looking for the "definitive" D.B. Cooper solution, this book doesn't deliver on that front. However, if you're a fan of This American Life-type stories in which the weirdness of the journey is more fulfilling than any neatly tied solution, this book might be a fun ride. The book starts out with a straightforward narration of the D.B. Cooper case, but as the author/investigator hits more dead-ends, he begins to follow crazier and crazier leads, ending with (I thought) a fitting meta-moment where
Spoiler
the narrator hides in a backwoods cabin, overcome with paranoia, and helps one of his kooky witnesses search for a D.B. confession in a handwritten recipe for cheesecakehekate24's review against another edition
4.0
This is what I "read" for audiobook category in the 2015 Read Harder challenge.
One of the things that's interesting about taking on this challenge is how I keep book's 'category' in the back of mind as I consume the work. Case in point, I had Skyjack playing as I made a road trip. I suspect it might be tedious to read; lots of reviewers seem to be expressing frustration with the narrative jumping across time and place, going from subject to subject. Now, for me personally, I never really mind this approach. But I found that it was expressly welcome as I drove. Rather than blending into the background, the frequently shifting topics kept me very alert. During an hour of this presentation I could learn quite a lot about the shifting political approaches to skyjacking, the process of sex reassignment surgery in the 70s, and the present day culture of D. B. Cooper websleuths. Sometimes I had to scramble to remember who was who, but I was never bored. This book almost never felt like it was droning on.
That being said, the first 70% or so is much stronger than the latter parts. The minute-by-minute recreation of the actual hijacking is fascinating, and really puts the reader into the mindset of law enforcement, stewardesses, and pilots. The three showcased suspects are a fascinating bunch, too. Even if some of them feel like crackpot theories, you get to see a slice of three very different American experiences. This is also another book that focuses on the theme of obsession with an unsolved crime, and what that does to people. Sadly, the scientists that Gray pals around with in the last few chapters... just aren't that interesting. It was actually so tedious that I shifted from thinking "haha this book rules!" to thinking "oh god when will this book be over."
Still, this was a fun experience overall.
One of the things that's interesting about taking on this challenge is how I keep book's 'category' in the back of mind as I consume the work. Case in point, I had Skyjack playing as I made a road trip. I suspect it might be tedious to read; lots of reviewers seem to be expressing frustration with the narrative jumping across time and place, going from subject to subject. Now, for me personally, I never really mind this approach. But I found that it was expressly welcome as I drove. Rather than blending into the background, the frequently shifting topics kept me very alert. During an hour of this presentation I could learn quite a lot about the shifting political approaches to skyjacking, the process of sex reassignment surgery in the 70s, and the present day culture of D. B. Cooper websleuths. Sometimes I had to scramble to remember who was who, but I was never bored. This book almost never felt like it was droning on.
That being said, the first 70% or so is much stronger than the latter parts. The minute-by-minute recreation of the actual hijacking is fascinating, and really puts the reader into the mindset of law enforcement, stewardesses, and pilots. The three showcased suspects are a fascinating bunch, too. Even if some of them feel like crackpot theories, you get to see a slice of three very different American experiences. This is also another book that focuses on the theme of obsession with an unsolved crime, and what that does to people. Sadly, the scientists that Gray pals around with in the last few chapters... just aren't that interesting. It was actually so tedious that I shifted from thinking "haha this book rules!" to thinking "oh god when will this book be over."
Still, this was a fun experience overall.
blevins's review against another edition
3.0
This book about the skyjacking of a plane by DB Cooper in 1971 started off with a bang. How could it not? The mystery of what happened to Cooper after he parachuted out of the jet into a stormy night with 200,000 dollars strapped to his body is hard to resist. I have always been really fascinated by the story, so I was happy to see this book's release. Yet, as the book goes on, Gray becomes kind of desperate to solve the case, or be in contact with one of the eccentrics who are trying to solve it. He gets too caught up in wanting to solve it for the dramatic ending rather than let the nutjobs he is writing about carry the weight of the book. I never like it when the writer propels themselves into the fabric of whatever it is they are writing about and Gray does that way too much in SKYJACK. I still love reading about DB Cooper though.
heidim's review against another edition
3.0
I found the first 1/2 or so of the book to be quite interesting as it reviewed facts surrounding the actual hijacking and the initial investigative efforts of law enforcement. The last part of the book totally devolved into a mass of conspiracy theories and reporting on on-line chat groups around the event. Struggled to finish at that point and likely wouldn’t have if I had been reading it in print instead of listening to the audiobook.
pulp_fiction_books's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0
pharmdad2007's review against another edition
3.0
While the story is pretty interesting, the writing style can only be described as "'In Cold Blood' done really badly".
rhganci's review against another edition
4.0
I guess that I missed this episode of "Unsolved Mysteries." Thanks to a fever of interest from my father after his and my mother's relocation to the Seattle area, I wanted to read this book and learn about the only successful skyjacking in history, if "successful" is synonymous with "unsolved." Of the three parts of the book, the first was the strongest, while the last was the weakest. However, despite the book's novelistic stylings, the story itself, and intrigue it has produced over the past forty years, makes any discussion of Dan Cooper compelling (despite the ambitions of first-time book writers). I found the background on Tina, the stewardess, and her reticence is one of the sustainably interesting things about the case.
Structurally, the book is very readable, featuring short chapters, multiple and ever-shifting perspectives, and a lot of era-jumping. While this type of organization is problematic, Gray does not confuse the reader so much as impel him to learn about D.B. Cooper. The discussion of the evidence (and even the insert with the pictures) was as bold and enjoyable to read as the reimagined (and transcribed) dialogues that happened as Gray followed the case.
I enjoyed the book. It was a lively piece of non-fiction that had the mystery of a thriller. My critiques center on my view that Gray has overstated his case by entitling his third section "The Curse." He attempts to inject the story of D.B. Cooper with a degree of mysticism, of which the case is devoid; conversely, it is among the most mysterious heists I've had the pleasure to learn about. Gray needs to add none of the former to highlight the latter.
Structurally, the book is very readable, featuring short chapters, multiple and ever-shifting perspectives, and a lot of era-jumping. While this type of organization is problematic, Gray does not confuse the reader so much as impel him to learn about D.B. Cooper. The discussion of the evidence (and even the insert with the pictures) was as bold and enjoyable to read as the reimagined (and transcribed) dialogues that happened as Gray followed the case.
I enjoyed the book. It was a lively piece of non-fiction that had the mystery of a thriller. My critiques center on my view that Gray has overstated his case by entitling his third section "The Curse." He attempts to inject the story of D.B. Cooper with a degree of mysticism, of which the case is devoid; conversely, it is among the most mysterious heists I've had the pleasure to learn about. Gray needs to add none of the former to highlight the latter.
mrsthrift's review against another edition
2.0
In 1971, a normal-looking guy on a Northwest Airlines flight out of Portland hands a note to a stewardess. The note says that he has a bomb and he wants $200,000 and a parachute. The airline delivers. He disappears with the money and an urban legend is born. I've been interested in this case since I learned about it at the Northwest Mystery Museum a few years ago, so I was really glad I finally got around to reading a book on the subject.
The author starts from a position of nearly complete ignorance of the D.B. Cooper case. He develops his own theories and follows his own red herrings. Gray meets a lot of nutty people along the way. I don't know why I hoped that this book would end with a definitive answer to the D.B. Cooper case (obviously it is still unsolved!) but I was disappointed when I realized that we were not going to draw any conclusions. It is really about the Hunt for D.B. Cooper. There is a lot of interesting lore and some insights into the various D.B. Cooper legends over the years.
Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed reading this book. I talked about it a lot when I was reading it. I just can't say that I would recommend it or that it is an especially good book. The narrative jumps around a lot so that it's hard to stay oriented and remember who's your favorite suspect of the moment. A lot of the information and 'research' is provided by D.B. Cooper enthusiasts who all seem to have their own agenda. It seems like Gray used a message board to connect with the most dedicated amateur detectives, and parts of the book are actually message board conversations. I don't necessarily consider these people experts just because they are typing madly on a message board, so....
Two favorite/weird things:
1. d.b. cooper jumped not that far from where i live so i "got" a lot of the geography references and it was good to think about places i've been in the context of the cooper case.
2. one of the more popular theories is that d.b. cooper was a transsexual woman (life-long mechanic and pilot who was frustrated and depressed by financial inability to get surgery, etc) and. well, that sort of criminal queerness is a drug i find hard to turn down.
The author starts from a position of nearly complete ignorance of the D.B. Cooper case. He develops his own theories and follows his own red herrings. Gray meets a lot of nutty people along the way. I don't know why I hoped that this book would end with a definitive answer to the D.B. Cooper case (obviously it is still unsolved!) but I was disappointed when I realized that we were not going to draw any conclusions. It is really about the Hunt for D.B. Cooper. There is a lot of interesting lore and some insights into the various D.B. Cooper legends over the years.
Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed reading this book. I talked about it a lot when I was reading it. I just can't say that I would recommend it or that it is an especially good book. The narrative jumps around a lot so that it's hard to stay oriented and remember who's your favorite suspect of the moment. A lot of the information and 'research' is provided by D.B. Cooper enthusiasts who all seem to have their own agenda. It seems like Gray used a message board to connect with the most dedicated amateur detectives, and parts of the book are actually message board conversations. I don't necessarily consider these people experts just because they are typing madly on a message board, so....
Two favorite/weird things:
1. d.b. cooper jumped not that far from where i live so i "got" a lot of the geography references and it was good to think about places i've been in the context of the cooper case.
2. one of the more popular theories is that d.b. cooper was a transsexual woman (life-long mechanic and pilot who was frustrated and depressed by financial inability to get surgery, etc) and. well, that sort of criminal queerness is a drug i find hard to turn down.