The Devil's Rood Book

These days, killers are a dime a dozen. Even a serial killer doesn't turn heads anymore. But no book has been written so dramatically about America's first serial killer, a man named Herman Mudgett. Until now. The Devil's Rood is a dramatic monologue about Mudgett, a man so evil it's hard to believe he really existed. Told through conversations, letters, and diary entries of spouses, employees, and victims, The Devil's Rood exposes the mind of a serial killer, and, along the way, reveals some surprises.

The US Five are a Jacksonville University professor of English and four former students who began research on the novel as part of a creative writing course in 1993. After seven years of research, writing, and editing, The Devil's Rood was published in February, 2000. The US Five are: Bob Stanton, Associate Professor of English at Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, FL; Sandi Branum, Gary Izzo, Dedra Torelli, and Nina D. Wade. All five live in the North Florida area and are collaborating on a second novel.