Mass killings on school campuses have, unfortunately, become commonplace in American society. Just a week ago today, a shooter opened fire at a Broward County high school – killing 17 people and injuring another 15.
These incidents have left the country divided on whether we need more guns or less guns, better mental health care or harsher responses from governing bodies to red flags, the death penalty or mercy for the killers…
Perhaps no recent work of fiction better handles this subject – and all the gray areas in between the nation’s pretty black-and-white divide – than “Patriots” by Will Kane Thompson.
Due to the frequency of these types of events, Gulf Coast Live had actually booked Thompson weeks ago on the already-relevant subject, but now, South Florida itself is in the process of recovering from the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
Thompson joins the show to talk about his novel, which details an attack on a South Florida campus that was inspired by Florida Gulf Coast University.
You can read the first seven chapters of “Patriots” for free on the novel’s website.