by Dr. Harper
120 pages
I find it necessary to first clarify that this is a work of fiction. It was abundantly clear to me, but a lot of the comments were people who were upset that "Dr. Harper" isn't a real doctor but presenting himself as one. This is one book in a series of books. This is "written by" the fictional character, Dr. Harper. This book presents notes of six of Dr. Harper's most interesting/unusual cases.
This book is short and easy to read. I have been trouble sleeping and read through it all in one sleepless night. I'm not going to go into details about each of the cases presented, rather, look at the book as a whole. It was interesting. It was not my favorite book and it was not the best writing. I'm not entirely sure where this book falls in the series, but it is not necessary to read any others before reading this one. In this volume I was still able to learn who Dr. Harper is and gain empathy for him.
I will say that the title is slightly misleading. I guess that since there are others in the series, I figured all of the case studies in this volume would be about "Next School Shooters." That wasn't the case at all. Only the first study is about this and the rest are not. While the stories are seemingly all separate, they all come together in the end. It was pretty interesting how everything was intertwined.
I liked the story telling. I mentioned that the writing isn't the best, but that's okay. It was very familiar and conversational. It was well-suited to the style of the work. There were interesting characters in each story. Some characters you really felt for and grew to care about, even in the short amount of time we know them. Each case was unique and Dr. Harper's techniques are definitely unconventional. You will for sure question and even disagree with him, but it just helps add to the "reality" of the story.
Overall, I'd recommend this book if you are just looking for something quick and not too deep. Sure there are heavy topics, but they are addressed in a lighter way. You can read this quickly. I'll say I'm glad I read it, it was interesting, but I probably won't seek out the other books in the series.
3.5 Stars