Covered by The New York Times, NPR, NBC, CBS, INSIDE EDITION  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. "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'sInto 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 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 Publishers Weekly Review Novelist and historian Hazelgrove recounts the fate of American cyclists Lauren Geoghegan and Jay Austin, who were slain by terrorists in Tajikistan in 2018, in this chilling true crime tale. Drawing from the couple's blog and interviews with their friends and family, Hazelgrove portrays Jay as a charismatic idealist who convinced Lauren to give up her job to follow him on a four-year bike trip around the globe, beginning in South Africa and ending in South America. In Africa, they faced charging elephants, flies, and malaria; in Europe, they dealt with suspicious officials and a few gnarly crashes. Still, they pushed forward for two years, winding up in Central Asia's Pamir Mountains (nicknamed the ;Roof of the World). In Tajikistan, a group of young men radicalized by ISIS stalked and ambushed the couple after encountering them on a highway; four were then killed by local police, while the ringleader died in an American prison. Hazelgrove's prose is utilitarian (;Jay and Lauren ride on into Botswana, which proves to be flat, arid, wild, and hot), letting the facts of the case carry the narrative forward. For the most part, the approach pays off, lending the account an unsettling air. Readers will be aghast. Photos. Nov.) Publishers Weekly BOOKLIST REVIEW Lauren Geoghegan and Jay Austin were young D.C. professionals in the summer of 2017 when they set off for a bike ride around the world. A year later, they were biking on the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan, which runs through the mountain system of Central Asia. This provides the otherworldly backdrop to the deaths of multiple cyclists not from the brutal elements but from a group of ISIS-backed radicals in a car, seeking the attention that would come from killing a young American couple. In Evil on the Roof of the World author and cyclist Hazelgrove takes readers on Geoghegan and Austin's arduous journey, including the injuries, repairs, and nights searching for a place to sleep. He looks at why each would give up a well-paying job for an ascetic life on the road. Through interviews with friends and the cyclists' own trip writings, Hazelgrove presents a generous picture of a couple in search of something bigger than the everyday, who became victims of an ideological war. Fans of Jon Krakauer's classic Into the Wild (1996) will appreciate this story of searching humanity. Jeff Connelly "An absolutely riveting story as only William Elliott Hazelgrove can write." Janet Parshall The Janet Parshall Show Moody Radio "It combines true crime aspect, travelogue aspect, adventure aspect...check out Evil on the Roof on the World..." The Steve Gruber Show "This book will fly off the shelves...You will love this story." Real Talk with Faune Riggin KZIM I read  about Jay and Lauren in the New York Times in