THE SPIRAL NOTEBOOK by Stephen Singular refers to the diary and notes taken by James Holmes before committing mass murder in an Aurora Colorado movie theater. While following Holmes from the shooting and through the court system, he also brings into focus other shootings, such as Columbine, Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, and the Washington Navy Yard, using interviews and commentary from science in an effort to understand the reasons and prevent future crimes. Tom Taylorson reads the audiobook, moving from the dramatic recounting of events to the steady examinations of culture and stress. In a society that demands and rewards aggression to establish one’s identity, one that equates popularity, money, and power with self worth, the stresses that hit young kids early and often are out of control. The violent video game market has benefited from these stresses, becoming multi-billion dollar companies. But sometimes games such as Grand Theft Auto don’t provide sufficient relief from these stresses, and kids move on to real weapons. Since that part of the brain (frontal cortex) associated with decision making doesn’t fully develop until age 25, it explains why most mass shooters are between 18-25, and male (because peer pressure to physically dominate is greatest for males.) Add rejection, stress, loneliness, a feeling of estrangement or unfairness, of being “disrespected” (as one shooter put it), and you have the perfect storm of revenge. As contrast, the author (who lived in Spain for a time) contrasts the culture here with there. In Barcelona, he says, one does not sit alone in coffee shops, face down in a computer screen, not talking to anyone. They find American habits and obsessions with weapons odd, and sad, and they do not have even 10% of the per capita gun crime we do. He recounts one shooter saying that “if only one person had talked to me, or cared, I wouldn’t have done it.” The author suggests yoga (or even walking with a friend) as a better way of relieving stress than violent video games, which numb the mind to accept violence as inevitable just by repetition. A must hear.

PIRATE HUNTERS by Robert Kurson is the true story of the search for a legendary pirate ship, the Golden Fleece, which was captained by the infamous Joseph Bannister but was sunk in a sea battle off what is now the Dominican Republic in the late 1600s. Kurson spices up his story, not just with rum, but shadowy characters out of the “golden age” of piracy, and narrator Ray Porter is up to the task of dispelling the myths of pirates (who didn’t make people walk the plank, but more often shot them and threw them overboard.) Porter spoons out the tricks and treats with the tone of frustration and suspense that the principals (John Chatterton and John Mattera) must have felt in risking their fortunes on finding an extremely rare wreck hidden for centuries, despite charts and sketchy accounts that had rivals searching the wrong plots of undersea landscape for years. Most of the book is about that search on land, at sea, in history books, and the tensions between the men as they argued and planned an expedition to finally find what was under everyone’s noses all along. Since it’s a case that isn’t finished in the courts, or even in years of excavation, recovery, our cataloging, (not to mention who gets what and when and how much), it does make sense to focus on what led to the discovery, incorporating the history and legend and myths of pirates. Intrigue, real stories, and a great narrator. Can’t ask for much more. Another pirate book I never forgot was PIRATE HUNTER by Richard Zacks, from 2003, the unbelievable yet true story of Captain Kidd. That’s a book which puts you right on board with a immediacy that’s breathtaking, and twists galore. It’s read with always steady control and engagement by Michael Prichard.

THE SEA WOLVES by Lars Brownworth is a chilling history of the Vikings, and their conquests across England and Europe around 800 AD. It was a dark age of blood and violence, and this book shows how one’s twisted religious beliefs can influence how a man acts against those who are not in the club: with a club. The Vikings believed in Norse gods who were jealous rivals, hoarders, plunderers, and murderers. In their mythology the world would end bathed in blood, as hellish creatures fed on everyone (except for two gods who would survive to start the whole process over again.) Naturally, taking this positive message to heart, they also plundered, raped, and killed, showing no mercy to innocents (kinda like ISIS.) One Norseman called another a “child lover” for not wanting to participate in the blood sport of tossing live babies into the air and catching them on the point of a spear. They invented a game similar to hockey, and were heavily into fitness as well as other sports. Did anything good come of all the pillage and cruelty? Well, they settled Iceland, founded Dublin, and created the trial by jury method of law. Of course back then if you were found guilty, you could be thrown into a pit of vipers, naked. Where, no doubt, you would sing original Norse songs in praise of Odin (Supreme creator, God of Victory and the Dead), even as snakes bit into your flesh. Or you’d have your eyes put out by a hot brand. (More screaming than singing, in that case.) Life was brutal and short, and the Vikings accepted it would be, never doubting their society or its beliefs. Narrator Joe Barrett keeps the pacing of the history steady in an engaging, entertaining way, and is good at creating accented dialogue in places used as illustration of the historical characters in the book, evoking whatever humorous or dramatic edge is needed.