Killer on the Road: Violence and the American Interstate

Killer on the Road... by Ginger Gail Strand was another NPR summer reading suggestion. It's a thin little book (roughly 200 pages) with a lot packed into it. This book examines the construction of America's interstates and the ways - directly and indirectly - that the highways have led to an increase in violence, particular of the serial killing variety. Despite the fact that Ben mocked me for reading a book about how the highway system came to be, I actually found the book informative, thought provoking and well-written, and the history of the highways was the most interesting to me. (I was most amused by the fact that the PA Turnpike was considered a "dreamway" when it was built and cars waited for hours for the opportunity to drive it. My experiences on this road usually run closer to nightmare than dream, but I guess it was a different world.)

My complaint with Killer centers on the fact that it often had a bit of split personality, frequently feeling like Strand had written two separate books -  one on the construction of the interstate and one one serial killers - and smushed them together. In places, particularly the first chapter, this was done exceedingly well, while in others the connection between highways and murder appeared tenuous at best. I found her last chapter, where Strand examines the correlations between growth in highways and growth in murder rates in developing countries, to be especially intriguing. This book runs the gamut from urbanization and globalization to truck stop prostitution, 1950s' angst over juvenile delinquency and the military-industrial complex of the Cold War era. As usual, NPR is on the mark in recommending it.