Amerithrax: The Hunt for the Anthrax Killer

by Robert Graysmith

From the New York Times Bestselling Author of ‘Zodiac’ and ‘Zodiac Unmasked’.

AMERICA WAS THE CRIME SCENE

Six days after the devastating events of 9/11, as the dust still clung to the air over New York, a new terror descended upon America. An invisible enemy that when inhaled, fatally ravaged the lungs, body, and brain.

Mysterious envelopes filled with lethal powder contaminated everything and everyone they came in contact with. They began arriving at their destinations and unsuspecting victims inhaled the microscopic dust particles carrying the Bacillus anthracis bacteria, more commonly known as anthrax. In this weaponized form, inhalational anthrax is at its most lethal.

These poison pen letters would contaminate USPS mailboxes, machinery, letter carriers, mailrooms, newsrooms, and the Capitol, all starting with an entire building in Boca Raton, Florida. Putting in motion one of the most critical manhunts in US history.

This is the definitive story of the insidious threat—and the relentless hunt to stop America’s most sinister bio-terrorist.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

486 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2003

About the author

ROBERT GRAYSMITH is the New York Times Bestselling author and illustrator of Zodiac , Auto Focus , and Black Fire . He was the political cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle when the letters and cryptograms from the infamous Zodiac killer were opened in the morning editorial meetings. He lives in San Francisco where he continues to write and illustrate.



Graysmith's latest book Shooting Zodiac is now available in paperback!
As well as the beautiful new edition of The Sleeping Lady: The Trailside Murders Above the Golden Gate in paperback and Kindle!

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Books-A-Million | Kobo | Apple Books | Google Play Books

Two films have been based on his books: Auto Focus and Zodiac. Graysmith is portrayed in the film Zodiac by Jake Gyllenhaal.

Also narrated by the author are the audiobooks Black Fire and Zodiac Unmasked .

Reviews

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I was certainly old enough and aware enough to pay attention to the anthrax accounts as they were happening, for some reason I didn't follow the story. I suspect it had something to do with being in college and having to pay more attention to organic chemistry than anthrax, but when I saw this book in the bargain bin, I figured it was worth educating myself about this event.
The author does a great job of telling the story from the instant the first letter was opened through the charging of a suspect in the attacks. There are pictures in the center of the book, probably ones that were in the original news reports, but they added authenticity that will be valuable when people who weren't around to see those reports decide to read this book.
I suspect there was quite a bit of speculation that went into telling the story, as it was mentioned in the book that the original letter sent to the tabloid company was never located, yet somehow they knew it was addressed as a fan letter to Jennifer Lopez and the course it took until its disposal.
Unfortunately, this book is already dated, as I remember seeing a news story not long before I began the book that the lead suspect in the anthrax attacks had killed himself. That man was not the one the authorities were charging with the crime when the book was written. In fact, the index in the back of the book doesn't even show a mention of the now deceased suspect.
As long as readers realize that the book was written soon after the attacks and therefore it does not contain everything that is currently known about the anthrax contamination, it is a very good book to educate people about anthrax and the danger posed by just a couple letters.

[Katie Lembo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Robert Graysmith. This is a great, informative book, but it's definitely dense and chock full of technical info. It's not an easy read, but I learned a lot about both the attacks themselves and the science behind anthrax.

[Aimee Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of great info

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

TL;DR if you don't know how this whole thing turns out already just Google who the culprit is first/its a time capsule of the period/its speculative bc there wasn't a real answer at the time

3.5? 3.65? 3.8? What are numbers? Sorry y'all I don't like rounding down and I maybe have a coherent thought once a year. I wouldn't say I enjoyed it (it's goddamn anthrax) but I think it was well done.

This book is written in an engaging manner, but some of the more scientific stuff isn't the best explained. I got the gist of what the overall conclusion of each thing was but it still messed with the pacing a bit (sorry Robert I'm a dumdum). There is also a lot of historical context regarding anthrax and biological warfare that amps up the atmosphere.

My biggest problem(s) with the book.
At least one other review mentioned how sensational and speculative the book is given that it was written and published before the culprit was brought to light.

He does a good job of capturing the paranoid atmosphere in my opinion, but may have done it a little too well to the point that he plays into it.

I concede it could be an accurate depiction of sentiment at the time and that he could have been trying to be impartial by documenting what everyone was reporting. But it does run into the issue where making a real tragedy engrossing enough for a consumer can feel a touch insensitive, and where the inclusion of certain information can feel like tacit approval. But also not including it could mean missing a vital portion of the story when you're trying to document the pervasive terror everyone was feeling? This paragraph doesn't factor into the score, I'm just musing while I think over what I've read.

[Ruthie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author of this book was famous for writing about the Zodiac killer. It was easy to read because of the true crime style presentation, and it contains lots of information about the government’s prior suspect Steven Hatfill, who seems just as much if not more guilty than Bruce Ivins. A big deal is made about Oh they couldn’t find any anthrax on these guys. It’s almost like Biohazard Level 4 precautions work. 🙄 The book contained many wild assertions of Iraq’s biological weapons capabilities. Wonder how that matched up to reality? Update?

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was written before they "caught" the suspect who killed himself and they suspiciously closed the case. The good aspect of this book pertains to the multiple details regarding the case. They bad aspect of this book is that the author frequently goes off on tangents in which whole chapters and large portions of chapters are devoted to topics that have little-to-nothing to do with the case. You may find yourself bored, and/or skipping over pages until you see the author get back round to the actual Amerithrax case again. If you are hoping to glean some deeper insight into this strange unsolved case of terrorism, you will find there is not a lot here to satisfy you. There is very little in depth ivestigation about the possible motives for why the killer might have targeted the victims that were targeted, which is, of course, the real key to learning who the killer may have been. If you simply wish to have many dry and matter-of-fact details about the case all in one place, this book is not bad. But it is the fact that it is such a dry read that it took me so long to get through it. I kept putting it down, picking it up weeks and even months later, and putting it down again. Ultimatley, I found the book only moderatley satisfying and I hope to someday read a more investigative study.

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Morgan has gotten paranoid about vaccinations, bio-terrorism, etc. In my former medical librarian life, I knew a little about these things, but technology has advanced. I'm most amazed by the impact of the mapping of the human genome. I'm hoping to have more rational answers to her questions, but finding I'm a bit paranoid myself.

This was more about the news/current events aspects of the anthrax crime than about the science.

[stormhawk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had much higher hopes for this account of the 2001 Anthrax Attacks. Now I know why this was in the 3 for a Buck bin at the supermarket. It's not that it's actually bad, but that it reads more like a technical science book than the gripping detective story the front cover promises, and gets bogged down here and there in the history of anthrax descriptions.

[David Corleto-Bales · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good one from Robert Graysmith, the preeminent crime writer of our time, (he wrote "Zodiac") trying to piece together the 2001 anthrax case in the wake of September 11th.

[Donna Medina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was waiting to find out who the perpetrator was and it was never revealed. I had to go online to find out they never conclusively determined who it was.

[Mike · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book had way too much drama and sensationalism in the wrong parts. I couldn't get into it of finished it.