Skyjack

By: Geoffrey Gray

Narrated by: Geoffrey Gray

Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's Summary

I have a bomb here and I would like you to sit by me.

That was the note handed to a stewardess by a mild-mannered passenger on a Northwest Orient flight in 1971. It was the start of one of the most astonishing whodunits in the history of American true crime: how one man extorted $200,000 from an airline, then parachuted into the wilds of the Pacific Northwest and into oblivion. D. B. Cooper's case has become the stuff of legend and obsessed and cursed his pursuers with everything from bankruptcy to suicidal despair. Now with Skyjack, journalist Geoffrey Gray delves into this unsolved mystery uncovering new leads in the infamous case.

Starting with a tip from a private investigator into a promising suspect (a Cooper lookalike, Northwest employee, and trained paratrooper), Gray is propelled into the murky depths of a decades-old mystery, conducting new interviews and obtaining a first-ever look at Cooper's FBI file. Beginning with a heartstopping and unprecedented recreation of the crime itself, from cabin to cockpit to tower, and uncanny portraits of characters who either chased Cooper or might have committed the crime, including Ralph Himmelsbach, the most dogged of FBI agents, who watched with horror as a criminal became a counter-culture folk hero who supposedly shafted the system.

With explosive new information and exclusive access to FBI files and forensic evidence, Skyjack reopens one of the great cold cases of the 20th century.

©2011 Geoffrey Gray (P)2011 Random House

Unsolved mystery with many layers...

Dan ("D.B.") Cooper was one of many individuals who hijacked a jetliner for ransom money or transportation to Cuba in the '60's and early '70's. Cooper's ransom demand included $200,000 and parachutes, and he apparently jumped out of the back stairs of the hijacked 727...and was never seen again (although a small number of the marked bills in his ransom payment were found). To this day, this remains the only unsolved airline hijacking in the US.

Geoffrey Gray's book relates 3 tales---the story of the actual D.B. Cooper hijacking and follow-up investigation...the stories of some of the leading suspects...and the story of Gray's personal search for Cooper, which brought him into contact with some, umm, interesting characters. I didn't realize this when I started this book, but apparently, like the JFK assassination, the D.B. Cooper hijacking remains fodder for speculation, conspiracy theory and some unusual ideas. Of course, the D.B. Cooper mystery remains a mystery and there are some oddities in the case, so speculation and conspiracy are not unlikely outcomes, and there is still almost $200K to find...maybe...

Skyjack is well written and seems to be a fairly balanced account of the D.B. Cooper story. The book is narrated by the author and he does a very good job with that as well.

PS - One reviewer complained that the audiobook seemed to have technical difficulties. I didn't find anything missing or hear any problems.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

There Better Be a Sequel

Overall, this was a really well done book. It does not claim to know who D.B. Cooper is and fairly examines the strongest contenders, but it is left unfinished. I wish the Author would have added a few chapters narrowing down the suspects and finally picking one, even if it is only the Author's opinion. I will add this though, if there is not a sequel, the ending of the book is total bullshit. Also, I will add my opinion, that Joe, Duane's wife, if making her story up. I find it convenient that one: her husband cannot refute anything she says because he's dead; and two: he supposedly told her all of these things about D.B. Cooper which she claimed to know nothing about and didn't make the connection, then suddenly after his alleged confession, she becomes an expert on the case and sees connections everywhere. I personally find the transition suspicious and think it's her way to gain attention.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Technical problem?

This books seems to end practically in the middle of a sentence. It seems to have a couple of chapters missing or something. I checked it out from the library and it had this problem, so I figured it was a library problem. So, I used my Audible account and it has the same problem. I certainly can't recommend the book.

7 of 13 people found this review helpful

I Want the recipe!!!!!!

great book. great performance. kept me invested throughout. really really wanted more, but obviously that is the same with the DB Cooper case. The more you learn the further away from figuring it out you are. so I won't hold that against him. overall very entertaining read.

Very Disappointing

Any additional comments?

To start with the author has a good voice for a story narration. That is the only positive I took from listening to this book. The book starts out with 30 mins to 1 hour discussing very detailed information about the passengers on the plane and the PI he speaks to and the location of their meeting. The overly descriptive nature of the first half hour or so made it very frustrating and hard to continue. Over the 8 hour book there is probably only 4 or less hours spent on the details of the hijacking and information about possible suspects. The authors detail about non pertinent aspects of each subject made it seem as though he did not have enough material about the case to write a book so he had to use a lot of filler.

Also, to mention as a few others have done in their reviews I think the book just ends midway through it literally ends mid sentence as he is speaking to the widow of a potential suspect.

Amazing🛩

I am obsessed with the DB Cooper case. I have been researching for 2 years. There was nothing I disliked about the book. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries, wants to research DB Cooper, or needs a lengthy book.

Great Book

Great book, author did a great job narrating. Bit confusing going back and forth between the different identities but overall very well done.

Jgio

I was expecting so much more out of this book. There were some interesting facts but I would not recommend it for purchase unless you are a huge DB Cooper fan. It just rambles on and on at times about potential suspects and seems to drift from the main plot.

very good!

there is so much more to the db cooper story than i thought! great read and very well put together

Meh. It was ok.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

No. The story moved very slowly and was hard to follow at times. This book is probably better spent reading on a Kindle.

Would you be willing to try another book from Geoffrey Gray? Why or why not?

Yes. I won't hold this against him. I will say his narrating was not the best.

Have you listened to any of Geoffrey Gray’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No.

Was Skyjack worth the listening time?

I wanted to listen to a DB Cooper account. If I had to do it over again I would probably pick a different book.