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Evil on the Roof of the World

A Cycling Trip that Ended in Terror

Evil on the Roof of the World cover

Evil on the Roof of the World

A Cycling Trip that Ended in Terror

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Description

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 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.

Table of Contents

Preface
Author's Note
Acknowledgments
Prologue: July 29, 2018, Pamir Highway, The Roof of the World
Chapter 1: Getting Ready: May 2017, Washington, D.C.
Part I: Africa
Chapter 2: June 9, 2017, South Africa
Chapter 3: Georgetown, 2012
Chapter 4: Namibia, The Great Karoo Desert, July 2017
Chapter 5: Botswana, August 2017
Chapter 6: The Under Five Gang, 2015
Chapter 7: September 2017, Zambia
Chapter 8: The Georgetown Gang, 2025
Chapter 9: November 2017, Tanzania
Chapter 10: The Tiny House, 2012
Part II: Europe
Chapter 11: December 2017, Spain
Chapter 12: Into the Wild, 1992
Chapter 13: January 2018, Spain
Chapter 14: The New York Bicycle Murders, 2017
Chapter 15: February 2018, France
Chapter 16: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1871
Chapter 17: V and Bob, 2024
Chapter 18: April 2018, Croatia/ Montenegro
Chapter 19: Wild, 1995
Chapter 20: On the Road To Kazakhstan, May 2018
Part III: Central Asia
Chapter 21: 1985, Selga, Khatlong Province, Tajikistan
Chapter 22: June 2018, Kazakhstan
Chapter 23: Jea and Jesse, 1984
Chapter 24: The Roof of the World, The Pamirs, July 17, 2018
Chapter 25: The Lost City of Z, 1925
Chapter 26: July 29, 2018, Sixty Miles to Dushanbe
Chapter 27: An Opera of Death, July 29, 2018
Chapter 28: The Aftermath, July 29, 2018
Chapter 29: July 30, 2018, United States
Part IV: Home
Chapter 30: Evil on the Roof of the World
Chapter 31: “Can You Explain to Me Why You Killed Them?”
Chapter 32: 2025, The Walden Pondo Coffee House
Appendix
Bibliography
Index
About the Author

Product details

Bloomsbury Academic Test
Published Nov 13 2025
Format Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
Edition 1st
Extent 296
ISBN 9798881800390
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Illustrations 10 B/W Photos
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

William Elliott Hazelgrove

William Elliott Hazelgrove is the national bestsel…

Environment: Staging