Overview

On a bleak highway in the mountains of Tajikistan known as ""the roof of the world"", in July of 2018, Lauren Geoghegan and Jay Austin, along with two other cyclists, were brutally murdered by five ISIS terrorists. They were both Georgetown University graduates who had quit their well-paying Washington, DC, 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 Elliott 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 Lauren’s 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 only to have it end in tragedy.

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Reviews

Lauren and Jay chased wonder on two wheels across continents, only to meet evil face-to-face. Evil on the Roof of the World is a sobering, gut-punch reminder that even the boldest dreams aren't safe from the darkness we pretend doesn't exist. -- Cory Mortensen, bestselling author of The Buddha and the Bee A compelling investigation of both the liberating triumph and ultimate tragedy of Lauren and Jay’s cycle adventure. Evil on the Roof of the World sensitively explores the open-heartedness, courage, and complicated motivations of two promising twenty-somethings and poses profound questions about the world we live in and the nature of risk and reward. -- Charlie Walker, award-winning British explorer, author of Through Sand & Snow and On Roads That Echo, and keynote speaker Propelled by idealism and determination, Jay and Lauren set out to cycle around the world. Believing in the essential goodness of humanity, the couple find kindness and hospitality while slogging through desert sand in Namibia, fleeing an enraged elephant in Botswana, and enduring freezing rain in Spain. William Elliott Hazelgrove’s gripping account, reminiscent of Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild, chronicles Jay and Lauren’s epic journey toward an encounter with terrorists who decide that slaughtering these youthful seekers will serve ISIS’s cause. -- Doug Kari, author of The Berman Murders

Lauren and Jay chased wonder on two wheels across continents, only to meet evil face-to-face. Evil on the Roof of the World is a sobering, gut-punch reminder that even the boldest dreams aren't safe from the darkness we pretend doesn't exist. -- Cory Mortensen, bestselling author of The Buddha and the Bee A compelling investigation of both the liberating triumph and ultimate tragedy of Lauren and Jay’s cycle adventure. Evil on the Roof of the World sensitively explores the open-heartedness, courage, and complicated motivations of two promising twenty-somethings and poses profound questions about the world we live in and the nature of risk and reward. -- Charlie Walker, award-winning British explorer, author of Through Sand & Snow and On Roads That Echo, and keynote speaker

Author Information

William Elliott Hazelgrove is the National Bestselling author of ten novels and twelve narrative nonfiction titles. His books have been optioned for the movies and have received starred reviews in Publisher Weekly Kirkus, Booklist, Book of the Month Selections, ALA Editor’s Choice Awards Junior Library Guild Selections, Literary Guild Selections, History Book Club Selections. He was the Ernest Hemingway Writer in Residence where he wrote in the attic of Ernest Hemingway’s 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 is also the author of Dead Air: The Night Orson Welles Terrified America and Hemingway’s Attic: Hell and Glory in Cuba.

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