This book follows a private detective named Spenser. A concerned Grandmother enters his office with a scrapbook about her grandson's alleged crime. Lily Ellsworth is convinced of her grandson's innocence despite his l
confession and the rest of the world being ready to lock him up and throw away the key. Jared Clark is accused of entering the school with his peer (Dell Grant) and opening fire on staff and students. Seven people were killed in the attack. Jared disappears after the shootings and is later ratted out by Dell for his involvement in the shooting.
The thing I really liked about this novel is the way Spenser approached the investigation. He never went into the situation thinking Jared was innocent but rather he wanted to know the why. He is stonewalled from the time he begins the investigation. This rich, rural community simply wants to sweep this incident under the rug so that everyone can "move on." Spenser is forced to visit local student hangouts to gather information from students after he is banned from the school where the shootings occurred.
As he investigates he realizes how the local police botched the situation and more people died as a result. The police did not have the experience to handle the situation and rather than rushing in to stop the situation they waited for the state police to arrive. The local police chief threatens Spenser if he continues his investigation and at one point he even pulled his gun and tried to shoot the private detective.
Spenser discovered a local bodybuilder named Animal used his brother (a gang member) to get guns for the two teenage students and even teaches them how to shoot. Spenser gets into several altercations with Animal and eventually he kills him. Animal uses the body of his dead girlfriend to lure Spenser into a local park and opens fire on the private eye. Spenser kills Animal in self-defense.
Spenser tries visiting Jared Clark in jail to see if he can understand why he committed this crime. After some digging Spenser discovers that Jared was having an affair with his school psychiatrist. The president of the private school discovers incriminating photographs in Jared's locker and begins blackmailing the psychiatrist. He forces her to sleep with him and end her relationship with Jared. She declares her love for Jared despite the age difference.
In the end we discover that Jared went into the school to kill the president but he was not there. The other student is the one who opened fire. It could not be proven that Jared actually shot anyone. He will go to jail for his involvement but the reader is left feeling sorry for Jared.
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