D.B.%C2%A0Cooper Case Exposed: J. Edgar Hoover Cover Up?

Nuttall%E2%80%94a former California Highway Patrol captain%E2%80%94offers an uneven exploration of one of the most baffling unsolved cases in recent American history: D.B. Cooper's 1971 highjacking of a Northwest Airlines jet. Aided by a former colleague, Harry L. Grady, of the San Diego Police Department, Nuttall examines vintage books, press clippings, maps, and law enforcement records, only to conclude the official investigation of the case was botched%E2%80%94particularly the failed attempt to capture Cooper after he parachuted from the stolen jet with $200,000 in cash. Nuttall's investigation turns up some interesting findings: the absence of radar tracking the highjacked jet, conflicting reports from witnesses aboard the plane, a lackluster search for Cooper in the wrong location, and the tardy release of serial numbers on Cooper's ransom money. But Nuttall's investigative work loses some credibility when he delves into late FBI chief%C2%A0J. Edgar Hoover's gambling addiction and homosexuality, tying those factors to an agency coverup, organized crime, and blackmail. Nuttall reaches some bewildering conclusions that blunt the book's potential as one of the definitive volumes on this mysterious case.