I bought a New Hampshire author's latest bestseller a week and a half ago before heading on vacation. Who would have known that the fiction book I picked up would come to life a few days later in Blacksburg, Va.?

When I bought Jodi Picoult's "Nineteen Minutes" three days prior to the shootings at Virginia Tech, I was just excited to finally read something that didn't have to do with renovating my bathroom. The Hanover writer crafts stories with surprising endings — something I needed on a break away from home.

It turned out not to be too much of a break. While Seung-Hui Cho was taking the lives of dozens of others, as well as his own, I was beginning to dive into the fictitious story of Peter Houghton and his murders of 10 and wounding of 19 at his suburban New Hampshire high school. The biggest difference was that Peter did not kill himself.

The similarities creeped me out: both loners were seen as outsiders by others; both shooters' writings were taken a closer look at; both situations involved "Ishmael."

"Nineteen Minutes" is a great read with another twist at the end. Contrary to what the cable news stations throw at us, it's not always the outcast who has the issues.