God’s Not Here, Only Devils

Revelations from the Toolbox Killers

Laura Brand (Author) , Lawrence Bittaker (Foreword)

God’s Not Here, Only Devils

Revelations from the Toolbox Killers

Laura Brand (Author) , Lawrence Bittaker (Foreword)

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Description

The District Attorney began his opening statement with, “If you don't know what hell is like, you're about to find out.”
In 1979, Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris went on a rape and killing rampage. The pliers, screwdrivers, hammers, sledgehammers, and ice picks they used on their victims became their calling card and moniker: The Toolbox Killers. They were soon apprehended and convicted for their atrocities, but for decades, refused to reveal the location of their victims' bodies. More than two decades later, criminologist Laura Brand had the opportunity to interview this sadistic pair as they sat behind bars, probing the depths of their depravity right up to the days of their deaths. Over this relentless six-year period, Bittaker finally gave Brand what he had withheld from law enforcement and families alike: the precise locations of two victims' remains. Brand's investigation tore open sealed police reports, court transcripts, and witness accounts, and unearthed brutal and shocking new findings: undisclosed victims, forgotten evidence, and chilling new insights that resurrected this nightmare in unimaginable ways.
God's Not Here, Only Devils is told through a powerful blend of narratives: the voices of Bittaker himself, his victims, traumatized witnesses, the tenacious lead detective, and the hardened District Attorney. This book pulls the reader into a visceral retelling of the horrors that unfolded and the legacy of terror the Toolbox Killers left behind.

Foreword by Lawrence Bittaker
Introduction: What the World Deserves
Chapter 1: We're All Mad Here
Chapter 2: Folie à Deux
Chapter 3: Nancy Drew
Chapter 4: Birds of a Feather
Chapter 5: Why?
Chapter 6: No Witnesses, No Worries
Chapter 7: Built For It
Chapter 8: The Making of Murder Mac
Chapter 9: A Serial Killer's Sanctuary
Chapter 10: Homicide Hits Home
Chapter 11: Grab the Toolbox
Chapter 12: Killer Keychains
Chapter 13: The Gift You Never Wanted
Chapter 14: Model Behavior
Chapter 15: Universal Love
Chapter 16: The Angel Who Pleaded to Pray
Chapter 17: Always Here for You
Chapter 18: Fireworks
Chapter 19: When You Wish Upon A Star
Chapter 20: Wildfire
Chapter 21: Pretty Please, Can I Go to Prison?
Chapter 22: Tell God I'm Hanging out with Satan in the Parking Lot
Chapter 23: The Devil's Den: San Quentin's Death Row
Chapter 24: I Died so a Siren Could Rise
Chapter 25: Reign of Terror
About the Author
Index

Product details

Published	28 May 2026
Format	Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
Edition	1st
Pages	256
ISBN	9798765189535
Imprint	Bloomsbury Academic
Illustrations	11 bw photos
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

Author

Laura Brand

Laura Brand is a criminologist who holds a degree…

Foreword

Lawrence Bittaker

The full story of the horrific Toolbox Killers, Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris, has never been fully told since their arrest in 1979, until criminologist Laura Brand went into the cage with them and persuaded them to reveal to her their remaining secrets and the darkest depths of their depraved murders shortly before they died.

Peter Vronsky, author, "American Serial Killers," "Sons of Cain," and "Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters"
Laura's insight into the mind and life of a notorious and demonic serial killer is truly compelling. Having been involved in serial killings as an investigator for 26 of my 38 years in Law Enforcement, I only wish that other investigators would read this book as a road map of how to conduct interviews by listening and understanding while keeping personal feelings outside the interview room.

Gil Carrillo, former homicide detective, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
For true crime devotees, this is a must.

Publishers Weekly
As a long time victim advocate and a board member of Parents of Murdered Children and Surviving Family Members of Homicide, I have learned the stories that truly matter are the ones we refuse to look away from the truth. In Laura Brands God's Not Here, Only Devils, she does exactly that. Her work on serial killer Lawrence Bittaker, is not sensationalism, it's based on meticulous facts of a predator who destroyed so many lives and devastated so many families. What sets this book apart from others in the serial killer genre is her compassion and respect for the victims whose lives were stolen from Bittaker. This is the kind of work that ensures victims are not considered to be footnotes by glamorizing the killer. Laura Brand brings clarity where there has long been a distortion, and she does it with the attention and integrity that victims and their families deserve. God's Not Here, Only Devils is a vital contribution to victim centric true crime and a reminder that truth handled with care can be a powerful form of advocacy.

Andy Kahan, Director Victim Services, Crime Stoppers Houston