University of Richmond Book Signing

The University of Richmond's Osher Institute will host a book signing for Virginia Tech: Make Sure It Doesn't Get Out on June 3rd from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. The signing will be held in room 204 of the Special Programs Building. There is no charge, but participants are asked to register by calling (804) 287-6344.

May 8, 2014 WINCHESTER STAR REVIEW: Virginia Tech: Make Sure It Doesn’t Get Out

            A somber and hard-hitting nonfiction book, Virginia Tech: Make Sure It doesn’t Get Out takes a closer look at the April 16, 2007, shootings at Virginia Tech that claimed 33 lives, said Cariens, of Northumberland County.

            The book, which was published in February, takes readers through the shooting, aftermath, investigations and court cases that have sprung from the tragedy.

            It calls into question decisions made by people who led the emergency response and investigations and a Governor’s Review Panel Report on the shootings, he said.

            “I hope it opens people’s eyes,” he said. “In order to deal with these school shootings and try and prevent them, we need to have very hard-hitting, candid analysis of what went on. We haven’t had that.”

            Cariens’ family lost the mother of his oldest granddaughter in January 2002 at a shooting at the Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Va. From that he wrote, A Question of Accountability: The Murder of Angela Dales.

            He offered his research on school shootings to the families at Virginia Tech and from that sprang relationships that led to the writing of the book.

            Once he covers his expenses, proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the victims’ families that helped with it, which is what he did with his other book, he said.

            “I am not taking any money for this. I believe you do not get rich from the murder of people’s children, he said.

            Cariens is a retired CIA officer who currently teaches intelligence analysis and writing in the United States and abroad.

           

RICHMOND TIMES DISPATCH REVIEW

Below is the Review of Virginia Tech: Make Sure It Doesn't Get Out that appeared in the April 13th edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

In the long and escalating history of gun violence in America, one of the darkest chapters was written in Blacksburg on April 16, 2007, when student Seung-Hui Cho murdered 32 students and staff members before killing himself.

In “Virginia Tech: Make Sure It Doesn’t Get Out” (315 pages, CreateSpace, $19.95), Kilmarnock resident and retired CIA officer David S. Cariens Jr. examines the massacre and its aftermath, with emphasis on the events that led up to it.

His goal, he writes, is threefold: “to expose the abdication of leadership and authority by politicians, school officials, and law enforcement personnel … to raise public awareness … and to help all families understand what they can do in insisting that universities and colleges have in place effective security measures and that those measures are understood by faculty, staff, and students.”

Cariens, who teaches intelligence analysis and writing in the U.S. and abroad, paints a disturbing portrait of a devastating tragedy that occurred, he writes, “because people ignored the warning signals.” He concludes: “Nothing will change until all segments of society — priests, rabbis, ministers, doctors, lawyers, teachers, professors, politicians, blue and white collar workers, fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles, everyone — say enough is enough. Individuals can make a difference by demanding that more money be spent on mental health care, holding people in positions of trust accountable when their actions and inactions result in the deaths of innocent people, and finally, by not re-electing those who are in the pockets of the gun lobby.”

Richmond Times-Dispatch Review

FYI, the Richmond Times-Dispatch will carry a review of Virginia Tech: Make Sure It Doesn't Get Out in its book section on April 13, 2014.

VIRGINIA TECH BOOK AVAILABLE

Corrections to Virginia Tech: Make Sure It Doesn't Get Out have been made and the book is now available through CreateSpace and on Kindle. The book will be available on Amazon in a few days. My apologies for the delay, but when the changes were made the indexing had to be adjusted--a time-consuming process.

VIRGINIA TECH BOOK STILL OFF LINE

My apologies to those of you who have tried to buy Virginia Tech: Make Sure It Doesn't Get Out and cannot do so. An interview with one of the families was not updated, so that the initial publication did not have the correct interview. The book has been withdrawn and the correct version of the interview is  being replaced in the chapter. The process will take seven-to-fourteen days. If you would like a corrected copy, please contact me directly for a replacement at no cost. My email is:  dcariens@gmail.com. 

VIRGINIA TECH BOOK--OFF LINE FOR 48 HOURS

My book, Virginia Tech: Make Sure It Doesn't Get Out, will be unavailable on Amazon for 24-48 hours while two corrections are being made. The Kindle version of the book should be up and available this coming weekend. Sorry for the inconvenience.