videosnyper's reviews
11 reviews

Why Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School Shooters by Peter Langman

2.0

Langman, while giving some insightful looks on the psychology of shooters and especially excelling in his accounts of dealing with children who had the potential to be shooters themselves, ultimately fails at trying to do more than giving a very basic insight into the ten shooters discussed in this book. It mostly comes down to Langman trying to be comprehensive while at the same time trying to give a general overview. It leaves any reader, like me, who's already pretty knowledgeable about the shooters mentioned, feeling like they've just been re-fed stuff they already know. Langman's attempts to seem more palatable to a layman audience also makes the book feel somewhat unsure of itself, as though we're reading a book from a student researcher instead of someone with a PhD in his field.

I would recommend Why Kids Kill for someone who knows absolutely nothing about school shooters as it does succeed in just being a good introduction, but I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who knows more than the bare minimum.