Play Audiobook Sample
SKYJACK: The Hunt for D. B. Cooper Audiobook
Play Audiobook Sample
(3.00) - 388 listener ratings
Quick Stats About this Audiobook
Total Audiobook Chapters:
Longest Chapter Length:
Shortest Chapter Length:
Average Chapter Length:
Audiobooks by this Author:
Publisher Description
“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…Karl Fleming, a respected reporter whose career was destroyed by a Cooper scoop that was a scam…and Barbara (nee Bobby) Dayton, a transgendered pilot who insisted she was Cooper herself. 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.
Download and start listening now!
"Wow. A lot of people seem to have hated this book. I found the mildly pretentious style to be a bit annoying at first, but I ended up getting used to it quickly. I really, really enjoyed the book overall. I'm surprised it rubbed so many people the wrong way. Whatever."
— Thomas (5 out of 5 stars)
SKYJACK Listener Reviews
-
" Disappointed, thinking this was a pretty clear and researched study. Turned out more like a way-too-long "This American Life" (for which the author also reports) article, ending up inevetibly no closer to a solution. I lost track so many times of who the players were, I didn't know half of the people involved. At some point I realized all were suspects, and I guess it shows how even the FBI simply couldn't process the information overload; but a pointless review, leading to no conclusions, narrowing down nothing, turning into conspiracy theories & cohorts who eventually clam up when they think they've found out enough to write their own book. Back to pure fiction or well-analyzed true crime, this was a bit of neither for me... "
— Charles, 2/12/2014 -
" I never knew until I read this book how common plane hijackings were in the 1970's. Yet D.B. Cooper is the only unsolved case; no one really knows what happened after he parachuted out of that Boeing 727 somewhere over the Pacific Northwest. This book is a great attempt to solve the mystery once and for all, but much like the final fate of Percy Fawcett in the Amazon jungle (which I read in The Lost City of Z by David Grann), there is endless speculation, but no certain answers, and probably never will be. "
— Christiane, 2/12/2014 -
" Love it or hate it. I loved it. Well done. Well researched and engaging. "
— Mark, 2/7/2014 -
" An update on the DB Cooper Skyjacking case. Its a good read but the conclusion kind of sucked. "
— Aaron, 1/27/2014 -
" I think this is the first time I've bothered writing something here, but I feel the need to explain the two stars. It's primarily for the writing and organizational skills of the author. Scatterbrain, at best. Very interesting topic. I'll probably seek out some of the other books on Cooper. "
— Steve, 1/4/2014 -
" This book gave me a lot of the background information on the hijacking carried out by DB Cooper, but it sorta rambled from place to place. It was an average book at best. "
— Paul, 12/24/2013 -
" Enjoyable. But the way the book ended was problematic. Going into it, I knew there would be no clear ending to the case. But I'm not sure that the way this book ended was necessarily the most engaging, effective choice. "
— Lisa, 12/21/2013 -
" Northwest Orient flight from Portland to Seattle is skyjacked. Man bails out in flight with 200k. Fellow passengers & crew had good look at him but descriptions varied. Over the yrs several prime suspects emerged but D.B. Cooper never identified so ending is a anticlimax and somewhat disappointing. "
— Dot, 11/20/2013 -
" Mostly useful in pointing out that the DB Cooper hijacking is as packed with weirdos and lunatics as any conspiracy theory you can think of. An adequate book, but a first book and it shows. "
— Susan, 5/20/2013 -
" Author spent many years researching the unsolved hijacking by DB Cooper. He thoroughly investigates three likely suspects but doesn't pick one of them as his choice suspect. A new angle is CIA involvement. Very interesting and I learned a lot. "
— Evelyn, 3/30/2012 -
" This is a strange, fascinating case, and I've long wanted someone to write a serious book about it. Alas, this isn't it. "
— Thomas, 12/13/2011 -
" The most interesting stuff wasn't the search for Cooper...but the previous suspects. Well written...I like a nonfiction book that reads like a novel. Last bit of the book was a bit hodgepodgey and the ending abrupt but overall a fun read. "
— Dave, 8/15/2011