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From the New York Times bestselling author of Black Dahlia Avenger
Former LAPD detective Steve Hodel compiles never-before-seen evidence that reveals his father as a serial killer who may have been responsible for some of the most infamous murders of the last century- including the Zodiac killings.
Steve Hodel was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. He joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 1963. During his career at Hollywood Homicide, Steve was promoted to Detective II and in 1983 was the senior field homicide detective. He received more than 75 commendations and handled over 300 separate murder investigations and had one of the departments highest “solve rates. “ Steve promoted to Detective III (the highest attainable rank in detectives) and retired from LAPD in 1986.
Steve established Hodel Investigations in 1986. Steve has been a licensed California Private Investigator, conducting mainly criminal defense investigations, for the past 23-years. He worked over six-years as lead investigator on a high-profile international murder case which resulted in an innocent man (Yoshikuni Okubo) being released from prison in Tokyo, Japan and reunited with his family, after five years of detention.
Steve’s first book, Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder published in 2003. Black Dahlia Avenger is a New York Times Bestseller, a NYT Most Notable Book and was nominated by the Mystery Writers of America for an Edgar Award in the Best Fact Crime category.
The book was interesting and well written, but not the best book. While it had a lot of information which was very useful and fun to read, I am unconvinced that George Hodel was really what this book says he is. Those strings of murders were unrelated and had different MO's and signatures, and I doubt it was the doing of the same man. But if you want to check it out, it does for an interesting read. I wouldn't recommend it to just anyone, because I'm sure lots of people would find this book ridiculous. However, I would recommend it to someone who just wants information on the murders, although it wouldn't be my first choice.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted July 18, 2012
Fascinating read by Steve Hodel. The book contains solid evidence that his father was not only The Black Dahlia murderer but The Zodiac Killer.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted January 31, 2012
Intriging
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Steve Hodel not only makes a cogent argument but shows great courage. He is able to offer great support for his theory, and is able to present it in a way that most will be able to understand. I recommend this and the rest of Mr. Hodel's titles to anyone who is open minded is wiling to look at all the evidence before drawing conclusions on these historic and confounding murders.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Most Evil; author Steve Hodel picks up where he left off in his first book, Black Dahlia Avenger. In the first book he set out to prove conclusively that his father, Dr. George Hodel, was the perpetrator of one of Los Angeles' most notorious unsolved murders. In Most Evil, the son sets out to prove that his father not only committed that heinous murder, but strings of seemingly unrelated serial murders in multiple states, as well as in the Philippines; most notably, the younger Hodel asserts that Dr. George Hodel was the serial killer who called himself The Zodiac.
Steve Hodel, a veteran LAPD homicide detective, applies his expertise and intimate knowledge to draw a line connecting several murders in California in the 1940's to the "Lipstick murders" in Chicago (also in the '40's), then to another series in Manila, and finally to the highly publicized Zodiac killings in and around San Francisco in the '60's.
Decidedly, an interesting read to any students of the psychology and investigation of serial criminals, Most Evil does manage to draw some tenuous connections. In a purely surface sort of way, I can see where one could be convinced that each and every one of these dozens of grisly murders and attacks could have been committed by Dr. Hodel. By all description, he was a medical practitioner, brilliant and charismatic, a world traveler and suspected (arrested and charged, but not convicted) of molesting and even impregnating his own daughter.
However, in reading Detective Hodel's recounting of the "evidence", I found myself having to step back and ask if the "May haves" and "Could possiblys" weren't almost as likely to point in other directions. Like the UFO and Bigfoot "proofs" I enjoyed in my childhood, I see nearly as many holes in the story as there "facts". I lost count of the times the author wrote, "If there is any DNA on the missing item it might well prove."
Likewise, I found it disconcerting the way he continually misstated his own credentials; an LAPD Homicide Detective for 24 years. While I'm sure Detective Hodel was an active member of LAPD for 24 years, at least the first 5 to 10 of those would have been as a street cop, and only later would he have been promoted to the lofty rank of Detective. That he retired after 24 years and not 25 or 30 raises the question in my mind of "Why?" All of which only added to my doubt and unwillingness to take the information presented at face value.
In the end though, I have to admit that the seemingly overwhelming too coincidental to be coincidental details do paint quite a case against the late Dr. Hodel.
For buffs of this genre, Most Evil presents a lot to think about and a rare glimpse into the murky world of serial murderers. I may just have to reread John Douglas' book, "The Cases That Haunt Us", wherein he examines the actual Zodiac case and compare it to Hodel's observations.
ShawnP
Posted February 20, 2010
Very interesting reading.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.An absorbing read, Most Evil by Steve Hodel is an intriguing look at how the Black Dahlia murder, Zodiac murders, and the Lipstick murders may have all been the work of his father, Dr. George Hodel. For readers of the Black Dahlia Avenger (Steve's first book on his father), Most Evil expands the life story of George Hodel to include the possibilities (and in Steve's mind, the almost certainty) that he was involved in murders across the globe. Although seemingly fantastic as a theory, Steve Hodel does a good job in presenting evidence and explanations that make his conclusions seem feasible.
Whether Most Evil is just an engaging story or an factual portrayal of past murders may never be known, but I would love to see Steve's continuing discoveries in a future book. Considering the modern times we live in where TV justice (CSI, Law & Order, Criminal Minds) provides solutions and convictions in 60 minutes or less, Most Evil leaves the door wide open for continued exploration of the loose connections of some of the biggest murder sprees of the past. Most Evil leaves you looking for more, in a good and bad way. Good, because the book only whets your appetite for more detail, Bad because you always sense that "something" seems to be missing. For me, that "something" is what should be a massive trail of evidence in the personal items and conversations of Dr. George Hodel from his long and interesting life in the U.S. and abroad. For someone who may have committed one murder, let alone strings of murders in the U.S. and abroad, you would think there would be some kind of misplaced (or purposely hidden) evidence (notes, journals, safe-deposit box, etc.) that would provide a hard tie-in to the genius of such a person. Let's hope Steve Hodel continues to explore all of the open ends he created in Most Evil.
CRM200
Posted October 29, 2009
I've read thousands of books over my long life, both fiction and nonfiction. After reading Most Evil, it goes to the top of my list. George Hodel was a sick, evil genius who thought he was creating a bizarre art masterpiece out of murder. His son Steve and co-author Pezzullo have done a remarkable job piecing this elaborate story together and taking the reader into Dr. George Hodel's dark rabbit hole of a mind. This true story tops everything Stephen King and other horror writers have even written.
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Overview
From the New York Times bestselling author of Black Dahlia Avenger
Former LAPD detective Steve Hodel compiles never-before-seen evidence that reveals his father as a serial killer who may have been responsible for some of the most infamous murders of the last century- including the Zodiac killings.