Sniper In the Tower by Gary M. Lavergne

"Reading the authoritative account of the Whitman case, A Sniper in the Tower by Gary M. Lavergne -- which was published in 1997, before our recent mass murders -- one feels it's as much prophecy as history."

Frank Rich in a New York Times OP-ED Column, September 25, 1999

A Sniper in the Tower was first published in hardcover and trade paperback in April of 1997 by the University of North Texas Press. The limited hardcover edition sold out in ten days. Today, it is a collectors' item and is routinely sold for approximately $300.00. The only edition currently available is the UNT Press trade paperback edition. Copies can be purchased through Amazon.com or BN.com (Barnes and Noble). Any bookstore can order the trade paperback edition. Just ask for ISBN #1-57441-029-6. Customers can also purchase a copy directly from Texas A&M University Press by calling 1-800-826-8911.

In November of 1999, Bantam, Doubleday and Dell Books released the mass market edition of A Sniper in the Tower. SNIPER has the distinction of being a book, originally published in hardcover as a criminal justice/sociology title by an academic press, and reissued as a mass market true crime book. Mike Cox of the Austin American-Statesman wrote that Gary Lavergne created a "new genre"--true crime with footnotes. It may still be available online or some bookstores, but the edition is sold out and out of print.

On a sweltering afternoon in 1966, Charles Whitman ascended the University of Texas Tower with enough firepower to hold off an army. For the next ninety-six minutes he methodically gunned down forty-five strangers, killing fourteen. But as shocking as the rampage that made world headlines -- and the murders of his wife and mother the night before -- was the smiling photograph on the front page: a handsome, all-American Eagle Scout and U.S. Marine. A bewildered nation asked: How could this golden boy be a mass murderer?

At last we have an answer. Sifting through the facts and firsthand research, Gary Lavergne exposes the darkness behind Whitman's "golden boy" facade, and the issues this case forced America to confront: the insanity defense, domestic violence, military indoctrination, gun control. In his minute-by-minute account of one shattering day and its aftermath, Lavergne sheds new light on the mass murderers who have followed in Whitman's bloody footsteps, and the nation changed forever by their presence.

... Bantam Books

1997 Violet Crown Special Citation for non-fiction.

Austin Chronicle's annual reader's poll -- Best book by a local author.

Top Ten Small Presses Book for 1997.

Top Ten Books of 1997!

Read Stephen Goode's Washington Times article on TRUE CRIME--TEXAS STYLE!