Book 40 - Columbine by Jeff Kass

Columbine: A True Crime Story, a victim, the killers and the nation's search for answers

960 books to go!

This is one of quite a few books written about the Columbine High School shootings. I'm a true crime buff and I'm actually fascinated with Columbine more so than other true crime stories for some reason. I anticipate reading more books about it and have already read one book prior to this one by Dave Cullen which was extremely good.

Honestly I didn't think this book was going to be that good but I was surprised. It's a pretty good precedent to Dave Cullen's work and is comparable. Jeff Kass starts by writing a chilling account of the killings, he than delves into Eric and Dylan's psyche and thoughts using writings that they both wrote prior to the shootings. He follows up with the aftermath of the shootings and delves into the detail of Isiah Shoel's and his family, Isiah was the only black victim of Eric and Dylan's horrible rampage. The conclusion of the book was a little boring to me, the beginning and middle had me gripped, I was a bit tired though while reading the conclusion so maybe if my concentration level was up to par I would have felt differently.

The author also suggests that there isn't enough access to some of the columbine evidence, he thinks some of it has been destroyed or covered up, I do agree with him, people need to be aware of this information and certain things need to be released to the public so that if the public chooses to study this information they can be vigilant and recognize potential signs in another school shooting before another columbine or Virginia tech incident happens again.

Just another side or personal note about this subject before I conclude this entry which seems to have turned into a little more than a book review. I am extremely baffled at how the Harrises did not realize that their son had all kinds of bombs and weapons in their home. I guess it's possible to turn a blind eye, or suspect something but not have any proof, but I would like to think if this was my child I would have some sort of idea that they had these things before they went off on a rampage unless they kept their weapons at a friend's home. I'm also a different person, I have never hidden anything from my parents, even if they didn't approve of something I was doing they at least knew what the deal was because I told them straight what I was up to. Then again I wasn't getting ready to plan a shooting. I've been told from friends and acquaintances who have hidden things from their parents that it can be easy to do so, but how could they have not searched their son's room or wondered downstairs and found part of his arsenal and confronted him about it. If they had realized something was amiss this tragedy could have possibly been prevented.

Ok I'm concluding this entry before it turns into a full blown diary entry, until the next book my readers.