by Dave Cullen
First published 2009
Dave Cullen spent nearly a decade investigating what really happened at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. The acclaimed journalist dismantles the myths that emerged from that tragic day. He reveals that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were not outcasts from the Trench Coat Mafia but popular students with many friends. Their original plan was not a shooting but a bombing designed to rival the Oklahoma City attack. Cullen draws on hundreds of interviews, thousands of police files, FBI psychological profiles, and the killers' own recordings and journals. He exposes Harris as a calculating psychopath and Klebold as a depressed follower who attended prom just three days before the attack. The book uncovers police mistakes, media distortions, and the signs that adults missed. Cullen provides the first complete account of how two teenagers accumulated weapons, documented their hatred, and manipulated everyone around them. This investigation offers readers a clear-eyed look at the deadliest school shooting in American history and the lasting impact it had on the nation.
Genres: 20th-century, crime, non-fiction, 21st-century, true-crime, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigative-journalism, true-crime
Setting: Columbine High School
Period: 1999
417 pages · Hardcover · Twelve
Content warnings: murder, violence