Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers

FBI veteran Figliuzzi (The FBI Way) examines in this rattling work of true crime the serial murderers crisscrossing America behind the wheels of big rig trucks. Of the million registered semi truck drivers in the United States, the vast majority are just men doing their jobs, Figliuzzi notes. However, the FBI’s Highway Serial Killer Initiative is actively hunting 450 possible suspects involved in some 850 homicides, mostly of women whose bodies were dumped along major roadsides. Figliuzzi takes readers inside some of the most notorious cases—including that of the “Big Rig Killer,” who tortured more than 50 women during the 1970s and ’80s—and paints a hard-edged portrait of life on the road, replete with drug use, crushing isolation, and a thriving truck-stop sex trade. In a particularly memorable section, he rides for thousands of miles alongside a trucker who’s been on the job for 40 years and is struggling with the industry’s increasing tilt toward automation. Along the way, Figliuzzi circles a single, blaring question: Does the long-haul life create, or just draw, violent criminals? While he doesn’t arrive at a definitive answer, his blend of thorough research and immersive storytelling takes readers deep inside the conundrum. It’s fascinating stuff. Agent: Peter McGuigan, Ultra Literary. (May)