The Most Dangerous Animal of All

The Most Dangerous Animal of All

I know now that sometimes things should be left in the past, that knowing isn't always better. Sometimes the truth is so horrible that it must be uncovered in bits and pieces, snippets here and there, absorbed slowly, as the whole of it at once is simply too shocking to bear.

An explosive and historic book of true crime, The Most Dangerous Animal of All: Searching for My Father…And Finding the Zodiac Killer by Gary L. Stewart with Susan Mustafa is an emotionally powerful and revelatory memoir of a man whose decade-long search for his biological father led to a chilling discovery: his father was one of the most notorious, and still-wanted, serial killers in America.

Born in New Orleans and abandoned in the stairwell of a Baton Rouge apartment building as a newborn, Gary L. Stewart was lucky to have been adopted into a loving home. He had an idyllic childhood, and went on to have a successful career and a family of his own. When Gary was 39, he was contacted for the first time by his birth mother, Judy, and subsequently decided to search for the identity of his father, whom Judy had not been in contact with since Gary was abandoned. This quest would lead Gary to a horrifying truth and force him to reconsider everything he thought he knew about himself and his world.

While combing through government records and news reports and after tracking down relatives and friends, Stewart turned up a host of clues"including forensic evidence"that conclusively identify his father as the Zodiac Killer, one of the most notorious and elusive serial killers in American history. Written with award-winning author and journalist Susan Mustafa, The Most Dangerous Animal of All reveals the name of the Zodiac for the very first time. Stewart and Mustafa construct a chilling psychological profile of Stewart's father: as a boy with disturbing fixations, as a frustrated intellectual with pretensions to high culture, and as an inappropriate suitor and then jilted lover unable to process his rage.

At last, all the questions that have surrounded the case for almost 50 years are answered in this riveting narrative, a story rooted in Stewart's search for the father who callously abandoned him when he was only one-month old. The result is a singular work of true crime at its finest"a compelling, unbelievable true story told with the pacing of a page-turning novel"as well as a sensational and powerful memoir.

Gary L. Stewart earned his bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Louisiana State University and is vice president of Delta Tech Service of Louisiana. Ten years ago, soon after his biological mother contacted him, Gary began writing a journal, chronicling every detail of his search for his father and his own identity. That journal served as the basis for The Most Dangerous Animal of All. Gary resides in Louisiana with his wife, Kristy, and son, Zach.

Susan Mustafa is an award-winning author and journalist. Susan is the co-author of Dismembered, written with Sue Israel, which chronicles the story of Louisiana serial killer Sean Vincent Gillis; and Blood Bath, about the life and crimes of serial killer Derrick Todd Lee, written with Special Prosecutor Tony Clayton and Sue Israel. Susan lives in Louisiana with her husband, Scott.

The Most Dangerous Animal of All
Harper Collins Australia
Authors: Gary L. Stewart with Susan Mustafa
ISBN: 9780007579808
RRP: $19.99