Richard Paul Evans joins Glenn to discuss 'Michael Vey: Storm of Lightning' the 5th book in the mega-popular series

September 15, 2015

WRITER

On radio Tuesday, Glenn shared the story of how he first partnered with bestselling author Richard Paul Evans to publish the now wildly popular Michael Vey series. About five years ago, Glenn said he was looking for a way to reach the youth and at the same time, Evans was trying to find a publisher that didn't insist on "dumbing down" the story of Michael Vey.

"It's intriguing that a lot of your listeners will say, 'well, that's the guy who wrote The Christmas Box. He writes adult novels and romantic stories.' And the most complex thing I write is actually Michael Vey by far," Evans said.

Glenn said one of the things he finds amazing about the young adult series is that it subtly weaves in messages without the reader knowing it.

"My son, he loves to read," Glenn said. "And there's not a lot that he reads that is young fiction or ones that have a message to them, you know what I mean? He doesn't like message books at all. And this is one that he waits on every year."

Listen to the interview or read the full transcript below.

Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it might contain errors.

GLENN: Richard Paul Evans is a dear friend of mine, and he's sold more books -- I mean, I think God has sold more books than Richard, but it might be close. And now he has started five books ago, the Michael Vey series, which is a young adult series that is absolutely fantastic. Really, truly fantastic. If you don't know the story, let me just tell you real quickly. This is six years ago, five years ago. We are just starting to get our own imprint at Mercury, Inc. from Simon & Schuster.

And Michael calls my head guy and he says -- or, not Michael. Richard calls and says, "I've written something. And all the publishers are saying that we need to dumb it down." And I was just in a meeting saying, "We need to reach the youth. Somehow or another, we need to start reaching the youth. And we need to not dumb things down." And he said, "Would you guys read it?" And we read it, and I absolutely love it. And now it has become a summer event. This is the first year that I haven't had the advance to be able to read it in advance with my son. And I just got it a couple of weeks ago. And we're in the midst of finishing another book. So I start probably tomorrow or the next day on Michael Vey, "Storm of Lightning." This has really caught storm all around the country and the world, this series.

RICHARD: Yeah, the world. The world. Sometimes I see these books, I don't know what language they're in. What is this, Hungarian? You know, Polish? I have one fan in Poland who is incredible. He almost stalks me. His life is Michael Vey. And I heard from a woman in Paris who said, "It's the only books my son will read. Please write faster."

GLENN: Oh, I know. They're great. My son, he loves to read. And there's not a lot that he reads that is young fiction or ones that have a message to them, you know what I mean? He doesn't like message books at all. And this is one that he waits on every year. And I just -- I got it a couple weeks ago and I said, "Look what just came in." And he was thrilled. Pat feels the same way.

PAT: Oh, jeez. Yeah. I like to wait awhile to read them. Because then I get so pissed off that I have to wait until next summer for the next one to come out. Because you get so excited for the next release. So, yes, please write them faster.

GLENN: Tell me about this one.

RICHARD: This one takes off where number four left. They think their families have all been killed. So they're headed back to a ranch. And it was fun because, spoiler alert, the ranch actually was in Mexico. So I always travel to where the book takes place. So I went down there. That's actually where my ancestors came from, they came from these families that went down as immigrants who were kicked out by Pancho Villa. So I followed them back. And I got to follow my own family's footsteps in it, so it was really cool.

PAT: Wow.

GLENN: So they -- the -- I hate to say this because it's very subtle, but you're learning lessons all the way through it. And this one in particular tries to teach the lesson without being a lesson book, about how kings hold on to their power.

RICHARD: Yeah, it's very -- there's some interesting political overtures. It's intriguing that a lot of your listeners will say, "Well, that's the guy who wrote the Christmas box. He writes adult novels and romantic stories." And the most complex thing I write is actually Michael Vey by far.

And there's a part in here where Dr. Hatch, who is the villain, he's teaching one of his kids -- one of this youth that he's raised in his way, how to be a king. So he gives him a small country, the Tuvalu, to be a king of and to be a king over. And he said, "Well, this is how you keep them from usurping power. You keep them at odds with each other." And he tells him how to do it. How to teach entitlement. How to teach that they're all victims. He goes, "But what if they're not victims?"

"Oh, everyone is a victim, if you look back far enough."

And so he teaches him how to make sure everyone is a victim so they can't work together and he can control them.

GLENN: The last one -- was it the last one when they were in China?

RICHARD: Yes. Taiwan.

GLENN: Taiwan. You go over and you write them while you're there?

RICHARD: Yes. You have to be in the place because how else can you describe swamp eel soup?

GLENN: Yes. All I know is I will never eat that. After reading it, we were --

RICHARD: I kind of threw up in my mouth just even -- I still get sick thinking about it. It was the worst thing that ever crossed my lips.

STU: Well, can you explain it just a little bit?

RICHARD: It's like getting -- well, first of all, these are things that are in the swamp. So it's like a rat -- it's like a swimming rat that looks like a belt. And he brought it out. And he said -- he brought it out. I'm trying not to -- I'm pretty tolerant. But it's like, "Oh, I don't know if I can do that." And then he brings out mine, he goes, "I put some extra special yellow mucous on top of it." Like, oh, no. And my daughter looks at me, and she's like, "You're not going to really eat that, are you?" It's like, well, we have to be gracious, right? My stomach was only so gracious.

GLENN: You really are swallowing now like you're going to vomit.

RICHARD: I'm getting sick just thinking about it. It's the best diet. You lose weight. Yes, I just think about swamp eel, and I just don't want to eat.

PAT: So whenever you write about these places, like South America they've been there. Taiwan. So that's where you go and you write the --

RICHARD: Right. Because that's the only way to really feel where the kids are. I want to get the sense of -- these kids are being hunted. So cool thing, I crossed the Mexican border. We didn't have enough passports. My wife didn't bring hers. And I described the Michael Vey series, and they let us through. It was kind of cool.

PAT: So you're literally walking through jungles and mapping --

RICHARD: Literally. Absolutely.

PAT: Wow.

RICHARD: And, in fact, there's a haunted hotel called the Gadsden Hotel, which in its day it was the Waldorf Astoria. It is so beautiful. There's a million-dollar Tiffany mural, and this place, there's nowhere there. No one goes through Douglas, Arizona, anymore. And there's this beautiful hotel. Has big marble columns with gold on it. But it's haunted. And so I was like, "Well, I'll put the kids in a haunted room. How fun is that?" We stayed in this one room. And people have etched "666" on the door, and people then put crosses on it and cross it out. It's this really amazing room. I said, "I want to go like in that room and spend the night, where people are seeing these disembodied spirits." Because that would be really cool for the book. We didn't see anything. But it gives you ideas.

GLENN: I think I say no to the soup. And I say no to the door -- I think I just wing that part of the book.

PAT: I do too.

RICHARD: But that way you get into the feel and everything. Because Austin, who is so funny. And you're in there, and you think, you know what Austin would do if he was here? It's like, well, that's what he does.

GLENN: So when you were writing this, you told me at the very beginning, you said, you've never -- it's as if your fingers are doing the writing, not your head. Is it still like that?

RICHARD: It is. It is. People say, you know how the series does ends. Right? Because it's seven books. I said, "I'm getting glimpses -- I'm getting glimpses of how it ends." I get just enough to put the stuff --

GLENN: How do you know there's seven books?

RICHARD: I don't know. I just knew. I just knew there were seven books.

GLENN: You just knew.

RICHARD: I mean, weird things happen with this book. Like I told you, I'm looking at the kids' name. There's Michael, Taylor, Zeus, Ian, Austin, Michelle. I'm looking at this -- wait. Their initials spell Mt. Zion. It's like Mt. Zion. They publish peace, right? These things are happening in the book. And these kids that are being put away because they won't -- they won't support Dr. Hatch. And so they're put in a place called Purgatory. And one of them has powers that he can see everything. One, Abigail can take away pain. The other can create light and heat. And I thought, well, that's like God. And then I look at their initials, I am. Ian, Abigail, McCants. I am. It gave me chills. I didn't do that on purpose. You know, there's something coming through these books. So I'm intrigued, just as the readers are, to see where this goes and where it ends. And so it's --

GLENN: So hang on just a second. So you like -- like the next book, you have to -- you're writing now, right?

RICHARD: Yes, right.

GLENN: Do you know how that one ends?

RICHARD: No. But I have a glimpse.

GLENN: Really?

RICHARD: I really don't.

PAT: So they could all wind up dead.

RICHARD: Yeah, they could.

PAT: Hmm.

RICHARD: But I had a glimpse of something that happens to Michael. I'm starting to understand something. And the big question around the world is, who is the voice? Who is the voice? And most people think it's Michael's dad, right? He's not really dead. And they want his dead to be alive. It's like, it's not. There. You heard it here first. It's not Michael's dad.

PAT: Oh, it's not Michael's dad.

RICHARD: That's going to shake up everyone.

PAT: Do you know who the voice is?

RICHARD: I do know who the voice was.

GLENN: When did you find out who the voice was?

RICHARD: Last year.

PAT: So you didn't even know when you started writing the book.

RICHARD: I didn't know the voice.

PAT: I was so convinced the voice was his dad.

GLENN: Everything that I write I start at the end. I know what the ending is, you know what I mean? And then I write backwards. I would get so lost if I didn't know where I was headed. There are just a few times. In fact, just a speech I gave last week or the week before, I didn't write. And I had no idea where I was going. I just sat down and I just wrote. And it was a surprise to me. Wow, wow, that's really good. Wow, that's really good. But I've never said, "And, by the way, there are seven books, and they're coming out one a year." I mean, has there been any fear at all that you're like, "I don't know if I have --

RICHARD: It's all fear. It's complete fear. Because with one of my novels, I start from the end. Just like you said, I know how it ends.

GLENN: You do the same thing.

RICHARD: I do the same thing. That's how we get them there. You outline. This one, I'm not, if I may say it, allowed to do that. This one is pure faith. But Glenn has been that way from the very beginning. I didn't have a publisher. Simon Schuster didn't want -- they weren't that interested. They offered me a really low advance that we actually earned out -- that we would have earned out the first hour. And it's like, my agent came to me. She goes, "I don't understand it. Disney just rejected. I don't get it." And I said, "Laura, we've been here before. Remember? The book was called the Christmas box, and it sold 8 million copies. It's finding itself."

And then out of nowhere, I get a call from Glenn Beck studios, and they're asking about a business book I had talked about. I said, "I have something else completely different that no one wants. It's a young adults series."

GLENN: And it's exactly what we were looking for.

RICHARD: And now we're looking -- it's like -- we've had movie offers. We've had things coming in. Not the right thing. And all of a sudden -- is it okay to --

GLENN: It's fine with me if it's okay with you.

RICHARD: Yeah. It's like, all of a sudden, a guy shows up a month ago and says, "Why hasn't this been produced?" He's a British producer. He goes, "Why hasn't this been produced. It's better than anything out there." He goes, "I want to do a TV series. I'll give you two and a half million dollars next week to do a pilot." He goes, "Obviously, it's going to cost a lot more. But fortunately, book one -- he had read the books. He goes, "My kids are rabid Veyniacs." And he goes, "You know, book one takes place -- it doesn't take place in Taiwan or Peru, thankfully. So we can actually produce it. Put the money in special effects, where it needs to be." And he goes, "I'll give you the money. Let's get this thing produced because this is going to be huge." And then he came to our launch party on Friday, and he goes, "This is nuts. There are 3,000 kids at your book signing. 3,000 kids. Does the world know this?" And he goes, "They're not just here. They're insane. They know everything about the characters."

GLENN: I know everything about the characters. What's nuts is, Pat is reading it the same way. I'm reading it with my son. I love it as much as he loves it. And we know everything about the characters. This is one of those books like Harry Potter. You can read this, if you have kids or you don't have kids, it doesn't matter, you're going to love this series. You're going to love this series. I recommend -- do you think people can start here?

RICHARD: No, no, no, start with book one. Prisoner of Cell 25. I don't know if you remember. We actually kind of had a problem. We started -- there were all adults reading the books. And they were giving it to their kids, and the kids didn't want to read it because their parents liked it. So my first year and a half at book signings, there were mostly adults.

GLENN: I didn't remember that.

RICHARD: Yes. Then it started to turn. And it was book four, all of a sudden, we would go, and I'm sitting on this stage, and I asked my daughter, "Do you think anyone will come?" She goes, "Dad, there are kids coming, like crazy. The whole school is surrounded." And we had more than 2,000 kids came to that book signing. All of a sudden, it's like -- it got to the kids. But it took a while. The books won more awards than the rest of my books combined. We've won 11 awards now. It's being picked as the best book in state after state, and it keeps going. And yet, it's kind of flying beneath their radar. The New York Times never written about it. The magazines have never written about it. It's really amazing that it's all grassroots.

GLENN: It's really amazing. It is. And I said this to you. I mean, you've sold many more books than me. I've had, what, 13 number one bestsellers. This is the most successful thing that we've ever been -- if it's not now, it will be. I know that this -- I know this series has a very long life. There's something about this book. I don't know why it hasn't become Harry Potter yet, but it will. When it catches fire, it will. It is just fantastic.

So it is book five. It is called "The Storm of Lightning." Michael Vey. If you've been writing for it, grab it now. If you haven't started the Michael Vey series, start it. You will love this series with your family. Thank you so much.

RICHARD: My pleasure.

GLENN: Appreciate it.

Michael Vey. "Storm of Lightning," available now. Amazon. GlennBeck.com. Or wherever books are sold. It's out today.

How did Trump's would-be assassin get past Secret Service?

PATRICK T. FALLON / Contributor | Getty Images

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday was targeted in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. It occurred just after 6:10 p.m. while Trump was delivering his speech.

Here are the details of the “official” story. The shooter was Thomas Matthew Crooks. He was 20 years old from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. He used an AR-15 rifle and managed to reach the rooftop of a nearby building unnoticed. The Secret Service's counter-response team responded swiftly, according to "the facts," killing Crooks and preventing further harm.

Did it though? That’s what the official story says, so far, but calling this a mere lapse in security by Secret Service doesn't add up. There are some glaring questions that need to be answered.

If Trump had been killed on Saturday, we would be in a civil war today. We would have seen for the first time the president's brains splattered on live television, and because of the details of this, I have a hard time thinking it wouldn't have been viewed as JFK 2.0.

How does someone sneak a rifle onto the rally grounds? How does someone even know that that building is there? How is it that Thomas Matthew Crooks was acting so weird and pacing in front of the metal detectors, and no one seemed to notice? People tried to follow him, but, oops, he got away.

How could the kid possibly even think that the highest ground at the venue wouldn't be watched? If I were Crooks, my first guess would be, "That’s the one place I shouldn't crawl up to with a rifle because there's most definitely going to be Secret Service there." Why wasn't anyone there? Why wasn't anyone watching it? Nobody except the shooter decided that the highest ground with the best view of the rally would be the greatest vulnerability to Trump’s safety.

Moreover, a handy ladder just happened to be there. Are we supposed to believe that nobody in the Secret Service, none of the drones, none of the things we pay millions of dollars for caught him? How did he get a ladder there? If the ladder was there, was it always there? Why was the ladder there? Secret Service welds manhole covers closed when a president drives down a road. How was there a ladder sitting around, ready to climb up to the highest ground at the venue, and the Secret Service failed to take it away?

There is plenty of video of eyewitnesses yelling that there was a guy with a rifle climbing up on a ladder to the roof for at least 120 seconds before the first shot was fired. Why were the police looking for him while Secret Service wasn't? Why did the sniper have him in his sights for over a minute before he took a shot? Why did a cop climb up the ladder to look around? When Thomas Matthew Cooks pointed a gun at him, he then ducked and came down off the ladder. Did he call anyone to warn that this young man had a rifle within range of the president?

How is it the Secret Service has a female bodyguard who doesn't even reach Trump's nipples? How was she going to guard the president's body with hers? How is it another female Secret Service agent pulled her gun out a good four minutes too late, then looked around, apparently not knowing what to do? She then couldn't even get the pistol back into the holster because she's a Melissa McCarthy body double. I don't think it's a good idea to have Melissa McCarthy guarding the president.

Here’s the critical question now: Who trusts the FBI with the shooter’s computer? Will his hard drive get filed with the Nashville manifesto? How is it that the Secret Service almost didn't have snipers at all but decided to supply them only one day before the rally because all the local resources were going to be put on Jill Biden? I want Jill Biden safe, of course. I want Jill Biden to have what the first lady should have for security, but you can’t hire a few extra guys to make sure our candidates are safe?

How is it that we have a Secret Service director, Kimberly Cheatle, whose experience is literally guarding two liters of Squirt and spicy Doritos? Did you know that's her background? She's in charge of the United States Secret Service, and her last job was as the head of security for Pepsi.

This is a game, and that's what makes this sick. This is a joke. There are people in our country who thought it was OK to post themselves screaming about the shooter’s incompetence: “How do you miss that shot?” Do you realize how close we came to another JFK? If the president hadn't turned his head at the exact moment he did, it would have gone into the center of his head, and we would be a different country today.

Now, Joe Biden is also saying that we shouldn't make assumptions about the motive of the shooter. Well, I think we can assume one thing: He wanted to kill the Republican presidential candidate. Can we agree on that at least? Can we assume that much?

How can the media even think of blaming Trump for the rhetoric when the Democrats and the media constantly call him literally worse than Hitler who must be stopped at all costs?

These questions need to be answered if we want to know the truth behind what could have been one of the most consequential days in U.S. history. Yet, the FBI has its hands clasped on all the sources that could point to the truth. There must be an independent investigation to get to the bottom of these glaring “mistakes.”

POLL: Do you think Trump is going to win the election?

Kevin Dietsch / Staff, Chip Somodevilla / Staff, Kevin Dietsch / Staff | Getty Image

It feels like all of the tension that has been building over the last four years has finally burst to the surface over the past month. Many predicted 2024 was going to be one of the most important and tumultuous elections in our lifetimes, but the last two weeks will go down in the history books. And it's not over yet.

The Democratic National Convention is in August, and while Kamala seems to be the likely candidate to replace Biden, anything could happen in Chicago. And if Biden is too old to campaign, isn't he too old to be president? Glenn doesn't think he'll make it as President through January, but who knows?

There is a lot of uncertainty that surrounds the current political landscape. Trump came out of the attempted assassination, and the RNC is looking stronger than ever, but who knows what tricks the Democrats have up their sleeves? Let us know your predictions in the poll below:

Is Trump going to win the election?

Did the assassination attempt increase Trump's chances at winning in November?

Did Trump's pick of J.D. Vance help his odds?

Did the Trump-Biden debate in June help Trump's chances?

Did Biden's resignation from the election hand Trump a victory in November?

Do the Democrats have any chance of winning this election?

What is the Secret Service trying to hide about Trump's assassination attempt?

KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / Contributor, Anadolu / Contributor | Getty Images

This past weekend we were mere inches away from a radically different America than the one we have today. This was the first time a president had been wounded by a would-be assassin since 1981, and the horrific event has many people questioning the competency and motives of the supposedly elite agents trusted with the president's life.

The director of the Secret Service apparently knew about the assassin's rooftop before the shooting—and did nothing.

Kimberly Cheatle has come under intense scrutiny these last couple of weeks, as Secret Service director she is responsible for the president's well-being, along with all security operations onsite. In a recent interview with ABC, Cheatle admitted that she was aware of the building where the assassin made his mark on American history. She even said that she was mindful of the potential risk but decided against securing the site due to "safety concerns" with the slope of the roof. This statement has called her competence into question. Clearly, the rooftop wasn't that unsafe if the 20-year-old shooter managed to access it.

Glenn pointed out recently that Cheatle seems to be unqualified for the job. Her previous position was senior director in global security at America's second-favorite soda tycoon, PepsiCo. While guarding soda pop and potato chips sounds like an important job to some, it doesn't seem like a position that would qualify you to protect the life of America's most important and controversial people. Even considering her lack of appropriate experience, this seems like a major oversight that even a layperson would have seen. Can we really chalk this up to incompetence?

Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / Contributor | Getty Images

The Secret Service and DHS said they'd be transparent with the investigation...

Shortly after the attempted assassination, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees the Secret Service, launched an investigation into the shooting and the security protocols in place at the rally. The DHS promised full transparency during the investigation, but House Republicans don't feel that they've been living up to that promise. Republican members of the House Oversight Committee are frustrated with Director Cheatle after she seemingly dodged a meeting scheduled for Tuesday. This has resulted in calls for Cheatle to step down from her position.

Two FBI agents investigate the assassin's rooftop Jeff Swensen / Stringer | Getty Images

Why is the Secret Service being so elusive? Are they just trying to cover their blunder? We seem to be left with two unsettling options: either the government is even more incompetent than we'd ever believed, or there is more going on here than they want us to know.

Cheatle steps down

Following a horrendous testimony to the House Oversight Committee Director Cheatle finally stepped down from her position ten days after the assassination attempt. Cheatle failed to give any meaningful answer to the barrage of questions she faced from the committee. These questions, coming from both Republicans and Democrats, were often regarding basic information that Cheatle should have had hours after the shooting, yet Cheatle struggled with each and every one. Glenn pointed out that Director Cheatle's resignation should not signal the end of the investigation, the American people deserve to know what happened.

What we DO and DON'T know about Thomas Matthew Crooks

Jim Vondruska / Stringer | Getty Images

It has been over a week since 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks narrowly failed to assassinate President Trump while the president gave a speech at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennslyvania. Despite the ongoing investigations, we still know very little about the would-be assassin, which has left many wondering if the agencies involved are limiting the information that Congress and the public are receiving.

As Glenn has pointed out, there are still major questions about the shooter that are unanswered, and the American people are left at the whim of unreliable federal agencies. Here is everything we know—and everything we don't know—about Thomas Matthew Crooks:

Who was he?

What we know:Thomas Crooks lived in Bethel Parks, Pennsylvania, approximately an hour south of Butler. Crooks went to high school in Bethel Parks, where he would graduate in 2022. Teachers and classmates described him as a loner and as nerdy, but generally nice, friendly, and intelligent. Crooks tried out for the school rifle team but was rejected due to his poor aim, and reports indicate that Crooks was often bullied for his nerdy demeanor and for wearing camo hunting gear to school.

After high school, Crooks began work at Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center as a dietary aide. In fact, he was scheduled to work on the day of the rally but requested the day off. He passed a background check to work at the facility and was reportedly an unproblematic employee. Crooks was also a member of a local gun club where he practiced shooting the day before the rally.

It was recently revealed that sometime before his attempted assassination, Crooks posted the following message on Steam, a popular computer application used for playing video games: "July 13 will be my premiere, watch as it unfolds." Aside from this, Crooks posted no warning or manifesto regarding his attack, and little other relevant information is known about him.

What we don't know:It is unclear what Crook's political affiliations or views were, or if he was aligned with any extremist organizations. Crooks was a registered Republican, and his classmates recall him defending conservative ideas and viewpoints in class. On the other hand, the Federal Election Commission has revealed he donated to a progressive PAC on the day Biden was inaugurated. He also reportedly wore a COVID mask to school much longer than was required.

Clearly, we are missing the full picture. Why would a Republican attempt to assassinate the Republican presidential nominee? What is to gain? And why would he donate to a progressive organization as a conservative? This doesn't add up, and so far the federal agencies investigating the attack have yet to reveal anything more.

What were his goals?

What we know: Obviously we know he was trying to assassinate President Trump—and came very close to succeeding, but beyond that, Crooks' goals are unknown. He left no manifesto or any sort of written motive behind, or if he did, the authorities haven't published it yet. We have frustratingly little to go off of.

What we don't know: As stated before, we don't know anything about the movies behind Crooks' heinous actions. We are left with disjointed pieces that make it difficult to paint a cohesive picture of this man. There is also the matter that he left explosives, ammo, and a bulletproof vest in his car. Why? Did he assume he was going to make it back to his car? Or were those supplies meant for an accomplice that never showed up?

The shocking lack of information on Crooks' motives makes it seem likely that we are not being let on to the whole truth.

Did he work alone?

What we know: Reportedly, Crooks was the only gunman on the site, and as of now, no other suspects have been identified. The rifle used during the assassination attempt was purchased and registered by Crooks' father. However, it is unlikely that the father was involved as he reported both his son and rifle missing the night of the assassination attempt. Crooks' former classmates described him as a "loner," which seems to corroborate the narrative that he worked alone.

What we don't know: We know how Crooks acquired his rifle, but what about the rest of his equipment? He reportedly had nearly a hundred extra rounds of ammunition, a bulletproof vest, and several homemade bombs in his car. Could these have been meant for a co-conspirator who didn't show? Did Crooks acquire all of this equipment himself, or did he have help?

There's also the matter of the message Crooks left on the video game platform Steam that served as his only warning of the attack. Who was the message for? Are there people out there who were aware of the attack before it occurred? Why didn't they alert authorities?

We know authorities have access to Crooks' laptop and cellphone that probably contain the answers to these pertinent questions. Why haven't we heard any clarity from the authorities? It seems we are again at the mercy of the federal bureaucracy, which begs one more question: Will we ever know the whole truth?

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