Evil on the Roof of the World: A Cycling Trip that Ended in Terror

(Hardback)

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On a bleak mountain highway in the mountains of Tajikistan known as "the roof of the world" on July 29, 2018, Lauren Geoghegan and Jay Austin were brutally murdered by five ISIS terrorists along with two other cyclists. They were both Georgetown University graduates who had quit their well-paying Washington, D.C. jobs to pursue a bike trip around the world, looking for a different kind of American Dream. Pieced together from Jay and Lauren's Simply Cycling travel blog and social media posts, interviews with their friends and family, and media coverage of their murder, author William Elliot Hazelgrove creates a complete, narrative retelling of Jay and Lauren's story. Evil on the Roof of the World combines biking and travel adventure with true crime elements, sensitively presenting the trajectory of Jay and Laurens hopeful beginnings; the difficulties and meaningful experiences they found on their journey; the foreshadowing leading up to the attack; and the way they, their loved ones, the media, and the perpetrators made sense of this violent encounter. Like Jon Krakauer's Into The Wild, this is a story of a couple who went off the grid to find the great adventure of life.

Author Bio

William Elliott Hazelgrove is the National Bestselling author of ten novels and twelve narrative nonfiction titles. His books have received starred reviews in Publisher Weekly Kirkus, Booklist, Book of the Month Selections, ALA Editors Choice Awards Junior Library Guild Selections, Literary Guild Selections, History Book Club Selections, and optioned for the movies. He was the Ernest Hemingway Writer in Residence where he wrote in the attic of Ernest Hemingways birthplace. He has written articles and reviews for USA Today, The Smithsonian Magazine, and other publications and has been featured on NPR's All Things Considered. The New York Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, CSPAN, and USA Today have all covered his books with features. His books Tobacco Sticks, The Pitcher, Real Santa, and Madam President have been optioned for screen and television rights. Henry Knox's Noble Train was awarded the Distinguished Book Award by The Colonial Society of America. His latest publications include Morristown: The Kidnapping of George Washington, The Brilliant Con of Cassie Chadwick, One Hundred and Sixty Minutes, and The Race to Save the Titanic. He has two forthcoming books, Dead Air: The Night Orson Welles Terrified America and Hemingways Attic: Hell and Glory in Cuba.