The Third Victim by Lisa Gardner takes a look at the very frightening phenomenon of school shootings. Kids bringing guns to school and shooting other kids (and in this case, a teacher). There's no denying the scary fact that this has happened, and I'm glad Ms Gardner decided to take a look into the situation and give us some insight as to how this can possibly happen. What makes a shy, quiet, but "normal" thirteen year old bring guns to a school and kill three people?

In this case, the kid is Danny O'Grady, son of the local sheriff. While there's some trouble at home, there's not enough trouble to explain why Danny did what he did. Investigating the case is Rainie Conner. She lived through a very traumatic incident in her past, of which she has never spoken. But now, it seems that her past might be catching up with her, and might be related to this case. Further, her past connection with the sheriff has the citizens of this small town accusing her of being impartial in this case.

Add in some botched evidence, some eye witness accounts that are written off as meaningless, a very troubled young girl who no one seems to want to help, and a bunch of blowhards arguing over who should have jurisdiction in this case, and you're left with a mess of an investigation.

I liked the fact that we're given tons of insight into the psychology of the juvenile mass murderer. Through the school's student counselor, and the FBI profiler, we learn an awful lot about the prevailing theories behind this phenomenon. In fact, it's the very normalcy of these kids that makes this such a frightening book, and makes me more than a little scared for our children.

However, that's about it for what I liked about this book.

There was so much more I didn't like.

There's a small town mindset where neighbors turn against neighbors. I can certainly believe that some of them would spray paint some nasty remarks on the O'Grady house. But, I don't really think someone would set out to harm his eight year old sister Becky. Speaking of Becky, she's pretty traumatized, too. She was right there in the middle of the crime scene. Now she's refusing to talk about what she's seen, and spending most of her time hiding in closets. Do her parents get her some professional help? Nope. Then there's the fact that a bunch of kids reported seeing a mysterious "man in black" at the time of the shootings. Do the police chase this lead? Nope. They decide the kids' imaginations must be running wild. OK... I can see that if it's ONE kid who said it, but multiple kids sharing the same wild imagination?

In the end, we're faced with a resolution that makes very little sense. Eventually we find out who the "man in black" is, and what he's been doing. But I never got a reasonable explanation for his actions. Motivation? None that made any sense to me. And as far as Rainie's mysterious past, while that was an interesting story, there were parts of it that made no sense at all. I simply didn't buy it. Finally there was the almost-romance between Rainie and the FBI profiler. I hated this part of the story. Considering that the main events take place over only six days, I don't find it very realistic that these two meet, get close, drift apart, get close again, etc. Who has time, in the middle of a huge investigation, to start a new romance? And who shares so much grief and aggravation with someone you only met less than a week ago?

In the end, I have to say this was not a great book. While I agree that the issue of school shootings is an important one to examine, I don't think the issue got the respect it deserves in this book. It's an "ok" read, but don't rush out and buy it.

Also by Lisa Gardner:

Gone

The Next Accident

The Perfect Husband

Recommended: No