Dr. Lynne Fenton attended Chicago Medical School, using a scholarship provided by the United States Air Force. She served as Chief of Medicine at Lackland Air Force Base until she left the Air Force. After that, she moved to the University of Colorado, where she completed her psychiatry residency. She was employed in the capacity of director of the student mental health center on the Anschutz campus. It was here that she took on a new patient, James Holmes. She mentioned several times throughout the book that she met him a little over 100 days before the shooting. She mentioned several times that he made her nervous, that he was odd, that he was not opening up. She claimed that she didn't have enough to place him on a psychiatric hold, though she did inform others of his comments about wanting to kill a lot of people. She also broke protocol to call his mother to discuss his weird behavior. She was absolutely crucified in the media once it was uncovered that she was his therapist, and got smacked with some lawsuits as well.

James Holmes was born in 1987. (It is so odd to think that we are the same age.) His father was a scientist and mathematician. His mother was a registered nurse. It has been reported that he began to enter a mental and social decline around age twelve. He claimed there were ghosts hammering his walls all night. He decided to go to the University of Colorado to obtain a degree in neuroscience. His dating life was pathetic, though he did have one girlfriend. He apparently hired sex workers and reviewed their services online on a message board. He was awkward and made jokes and puns that nobody got or thought were funny. He didn't try very hard in school. He became obsessed with the Joker and the game Doom. He was also obsessing over killing people. He began purchasing weapons and practicing at the shooting range. Nothing ever came up on a background check for him.

Holmes went to the Century 16 movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado on July 20, 2012. He snuck out the exit, propping it open. He went to retrieve his weapons and put on the body armor that he bought before going back inside. The film that was showing was the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises, which makes sense, given his obsession with the first film and the Joker. He set off tear gas and shot into the audience. 70 people were injured, 58 of those were injured from gunshots. Others were injured trying to escape. Twelve people were killed. He was given twelve life sentences for each person he killed, and he received 3,318 years for attempted murder of everyone else.

This book was wild. I remember this event happening, and I remember the aftermath of it. I recall a few details from the trial, but there are so many people that do not know how to act that go out and do things like this in the United States that it is (sadly) hard to keep track. I cannot believe that this guy is the same age as me. I also mentioned to my sister that we had a strange kid in our school who talked about shooting everyone with this same name. I think people do not understand the limitations that there are regarding reporting and what you can legally do as far as placing someone on a psych hold. I think that it is unfortunate that this doctor got ripped apart in the media and got so many death threats. I think people need to direct their anger and outrage when things like this happen and need someone to blame. The people who sold the weapons to him did what they were supposed to do. They checked his ID and background. Nothing showed up. The people that were treating him did what they legally could, which was not enough, obviously, but there are standards and rules. If the standards and rules do not work, they need to be amended. The school allowed him to enroll, but they are not responsible for his actions. He is. It was a disgusting situation and so tragic and traumatic for all of those people who experienced it, and are still experiencing it every day. The book offers a perspective from someone directly involved in the case, who was not able to speak or defend themselves at the time due to a gag order. It offers some interesting thought about mass shooters in general, and this particular one. I thought it contained a lot of information about this guy and the case, as well as the parameters for treating someone in the mental health field. If you are interested in this subject, this might be a good book for you to look into.