The Serial Killer Travel Guide Across America isn’t your typical road trip companion. This darkly fascinating guide is quirky and unconventional and takes readers on a dark journey through the United States, exploring notorious locations linked to infamous and not-so infamous serial killers. From the shadowy forests of the Pacific Northwest to the sun-bleached basements of suburbia, each stop offers true crime devotees an unsettling glimpse into the macabre.
Designed like a 1960s-style travel guide, this book offers a coast-to-coast tour, showcasing select spots and delving into the twisted histories of the perpetrators. Blending history, psychology, and a hint of gallows humor, this book is part travel guide and part true crime encyclopedia.
Whether you’re planning a dark tourism pilgrimage or just indulging your morbid curiosity from the safety of your home, The Serial Killer Travel Guide Across America will take you closer to the truth—and the horror—than you ever thought possible. THE SERIAL KILLER TRAVEL GUIDE ACROSS AMERICA: Your Coast-To-Coast Tour of Terror-Johnny Trevisani

A Crime That Shattered Paradise... A Chase That Became Legend.
Crystal Beach, Florida—1949. A peaceful seaside haven where crime was unheard of. Until one early morning, a brutal act of violence changed everything.
John Calvin "Rastus" Russell, a drifter, thug, and small-time car thief, committed an unthinkable crime—the torture and murder of Norman Y. Browne and the near-fatal assault on his wife, Anne. The savage attack sent shockwaves through the tight-knit community, turning everyday citizens into armed vigilantes determined to bring a killer to justice.
But this was no ordinary murder case. Russell's dramatic capture the next day was just the beginning of a story far stranger than fiction. As investigators pursued justice, shocking secrets unraveled—about the victims, their pasts, and a tangled web of deceit that no one saw coming. With a desperate escape, a relentless manhunt, and a hurricane crashing into the chaos, the pursuit of Rastus Russell became a deadly game of cat and mouse, pushing the limits of 1940s rural law enforcement.
For nearly a month, terror gripped Crystal Beach and West Central Florida. The case became national news, a chilling tale whispered for generations. But nothing will prepare readers for the explosive and controversial ending—one that left residents and police stunned. 
"Just like the movies," one headline declared. But this was real. And now, for the first time, the full story of Rastus Russell is told—a tale of crime, deception, and justice that will haunt you long after the last page. MADMAN: The Incredible True Story of John Calvin Russell, the Heinous Crime, and Sensational Manhunt that Terrified Central Florida in 1949—M.F. Gross

In the quiet town of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, the idyllic calm of 1978 was shattered by a series of brutal murders. Karol Beavers, a vivacious high school junior, and her mother, Clementine, became the unsuspecting victims of a heinous act of violence that left the community reeling. For six months, the case went cold, fear gripping a town unaccustomed to locking its doors. Then, another shocking murder occurred, tying the threads of horror together.
A Monster in Mount Pleasant delves into the unraveling of this dark chapter. Drawing from years of meticulous research, the story reveals not just the pursuit of justice, but the profound emotional scars left behind. From the shattered dreams of a bright young girl to the lifelong grief of families torn apart, this book captures the deep humanity behind the headlines.
This compelling narrative is told through the eyes of a classmate of Karol—and the murderer. Now a federal judge, the author unearthed the societal cracks that shaped both the victims and the perpetrator. It’s a haunting journey into a community forever changed by tragedy, where resilience and the quest for truth stand as testaments to those lost too soon. A MONSTER IN MOUNT PLEASANT: A Story of Murders and Justice-CJ Williams

How one father, determined to reclaim his daughter's memory, brought down Alex Jones.On December 14, 2012, Robbie Parker's daughter Emilie was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary, a tragedy that changed Robbie's life and the country forever. By the next day, Alex Jones was on air claiming the shooting was a hoax.
So begins Parker's David and Goliath story, a tale of hope and resilience amid hatred and division. While Robbie and his family spent the next decade attempting to grieve, Jones's fans harassed them, calling them crisis actors. The hatred pushed Robbie inward, disconnecting him from the world and his family. Four years after Sandy Hook, an Infowars listener accosted Robbie three thousand miles away from Newtown, Connecticut, repeating the same lies Alex Jones had spread for years.
Soon after, seventeen students were murdered at Florida's Marjory Stonemason Douglas High School. Robbie and his wife spoke with one of the victims' parents and learned they were also being bombarded with hateful messages. He realized he could no longer avoid this terrifying reality, and with the help of Sandy Hook parents, lawyers, and supporters, Robbie stood up to Alex Jones in court to heal and reclaim his daughter's memory.
A Father's Fight is more than a memoir; it's a stirring portrait of an unbreakable human spirit. It's a testament to a father's love and perseverance in the face of insurmountable grief. A FATHER'S FIGHT: Taking on Alex Jones and Reclaiming the Truth about Sandy Hook-Robbie Parker

Baby-faced teen Giovanni Macedo is desperate to find belonging in one of LA’s most predatory gangs, the Columbia Lil Cycos—so desperate that he agrees to kill an undocumented Mexican street vendor. The vendor, Francisco Clemente, had been refusing to give in to the gang’s shakedown demands. But Giovanni botches the hit, accidentally killing a newborn instead. The overlords who rule the Lil Cycos from a Supermax prison 1,000 miles away must be placated and Giovanni is lured across the border where, in turn, the gang botches his killing. And so, incredibly, Giovanni rises from the dead, determined to both seek redemption for his unforgivable crime and take down the gang who drove him to do it.
With The Rent Collectors, Jesse Katz has built a teeth clenching and breathless narrative that explicates the difficult and proud lives of undocumented black market workers who are being extorted by the gangs and fined by the city of LA—in other words, exploited by two sets of rent collectors. THE RENT COLLECTORS: Exploitation, Murder and Redemption in Immigrant LA—Jesse Katz

For Yves Trudeau, the blood was all business. An assassin for the Hells Angels in the ’70s and ’80s, Trudeau was known as Apache, the Mad Bumper, and the Mad Bomber. As a contract killer, he did his job so well that the bikers sometimes lent him out to other organized-crime empires in Montreal, including the east-end French gangs led by the deadly Dubois brothers and the upstart Irish Mafia in the west end.Yves Trudeau remains one of Canada’s most prolific serial killers. When he narrowly missed being assassinated because he was in drug rehab, he turned government informant and confessed to his crimes, which included killing forty-three people. But as a witness, Trudeau was a disaster. And the sweetheart deal he got with little jail time for his murders caused outrage.Award-winning writers Julian Sher and Lisa Fitterman tell the incredible story of how this assassin escaped the police and the justice system for over a decade.A compelling and revealing account of corruption, incompetence, and murder, Hitman is based on extensive research and exclusive new interviews with police, lawyers, and bikers who knew Yves “Apache” Trudeau. HITMAN: The Untold Story of Canada's Deadliest Assassin-Julian Sher and Lisa Fitterman

Something Big tells the story of the infamous Brown’s Chicken massacre, a brutal case that captivated Chicagoland after remaining unsolved for nearly a decade.
Customers know Brown's Chicken for its crispy buttermilk fried chicken and flaky biscuits. The Illinois-based franchise has a reputation for delicious but simple comfort food. But through no fault of its own, the words "Brown's Chicken" are also synonymous with one fateful night in January of 1993.
“A Real Hometown” is the trite but apt motto of Palatine, Illinois, a quaint middle-class suburb west of Chicago. On a snowy Friday evening, the staff and owners of the city’s local Brown’s Chicken franchise were closing up when two final customers arrived just past 9 p.m. As the night drew on and the employees hadn’t returned home, the families of the owners and workers began to worry, prompting police to investigate. When they entered the dark building, police were shocked to find seven bodies stacked in the restaurant’s freezer and fridge. The killers, of course, were long gone. In the months that followed, the horrendous story rocked Chicagoland and the case remained unsolved for nine years.
The Brown’s Chicken massacre is one of the most infamous cases in Illinois history, yet it is often misremembered. In Something Big, Patrick Wohl gives a new account of the story, taking readers behind the scenes and sharing the perspective of the people who lived it.
SOMETHING BIG:The True Story of the Brown's Chicken Massacre, A Decade-Long Manhunt, and the Trials That Followed-Patrick Wohl

The latest collection from true crime master Michael Benson looks at some of the ghastliest murders in Rochester, N.Y., history. One of them takes place in Genesee County, but it's a good one. Stories include: The Davis Street Fiend: The Murder of Tessie Keating; Shallow Grave at Holy Sepulchre: The Murder of Anna Schumacher; The Linden Lunatic: The Murders of "Ruth", Frances Kimball, George and Hattie Whaley, and Benjamin Phillips; Of Bondage and Bullets: The Murder of Gertrude Smith; Trail of Blood: The Murder of George Hickey; and The Jay Street Ax Man: The Murders of Millie Marcucci and Francesca Cotogno. Plus updates on three cases Benson has written about in the past, cold cases that are cold no more: Cathleen Krauseneck, Wendy Jerome, and Victoria Jobson. SHALLOW GRAVES: Ghastly Murders, Rochester NY-Michael Benson

Caroline Fraser grew up in the shadow of Ted Bundy, the most notorious serial murderer of women in American history, surrounded by his hunting grounds and mountain body dumps, in the brooding landscape of the Pacific Northwest. But in the 1970s and ’80s, Bundy was just one perpetrator amid an uncanny explosion of serial rape and murder across the region. Why so many? Why so weirdly and nightmarishly gruesome? Why the senseless rise and then sudden fall of an epidemic of serial killing?
As Murderland indelibly maps the lives and careers of Bundy and his infamous peers in mayhem—the Green River Killer, the I-5 Killer, the Night Stalker, the Hillside Strangler, even Charles Manson—Fraser’s Northwestern death trip begins to uncover a deeper mystery and an overlapping pattern of environmental destruction. At ground zero in Ted Bundy’s Tacoma stood one of the most poisonous lead, copper, and arsenic smelters in the world, but it was hardly unique in the West. As Fraser’s investigation inexorably proceeds, evidence mounts that the plumes of these smelters not only sickened and blighted millions of lives but also warped young minds, including some who grew up to become serial killers.
Murderland transcends true-crime voyeurism and noir mythology, taking readers on a profound quest into the dark heart of the real American berserk. MURDERLAND: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers-Caroline Fraser

A twisting, deeply engrossing investigation into the many lingering questions surrounding the sudden disappearance of the McStays, a family of four who vanished from their suburban San Diego home without a trace—until their skeletal remains were found in the Mojave Desert nearly four years later—from New York Times bestselling author Caitlin Rother.
On February 15, 2010, Joseph McStay, his wife Summer, and their two young sons were reported missing from their new home in San Diego County. They left eggs and fruit rotting on the counter. Their Dodge truck sat in the driveway. Their dogs were abandoned outside without food. But investigators found no blood, signs of a struggle, or clues to their whereabouts. Did the family take an unannounced vacation? Were they running away from personal problems? Or were they victims of foul play?
 Nearly four years later, a motorcyclist found the McStays’ remains in and around two shallow graves, one hundred miles away in the Mojave Desert. Their skulls showed signs of blunt-force trauma, likely due to the sledgehammer buried with them. Authorities focused on Charles "Chase" Merritt, a close friend and subcontractor for Joseph’s company. Despite a lack of physical evidence, scenarios that defied logic, and numerous unanswered questions, prosecutors convinced a jury of Merritt’s guilt. After an emotional sentencing hearing, the judge imposed the death penalty. But did another possible suspect, who was ignored by investigators and ducked a subpoena to testify, get away with murder?
In this twisting, deeply researched true-crime mystery, New York Times bestselling investigative journalist Caitlin Rother hunts for answers to reveal the truth behind a heinous crime that became a nation’s obsession, with a controversial trial in its wake, and lingering questions of justice.
Joining me to discuss, DOWN TO THE BONE: A Missing Family's Murder and the Elusive Quest for Justice—Caitlin Rother