West on 66, James Cobb

September, 1958. While on vacation, LA County Deputy Sheriff Kevin Pulaski wasn't looking for anything more than a cup of coffee and a hot meal when he pulled into the lonely truck stop. But what he finds is a beautiful and enigmatic young woman, a link to a decade-old multiple murder and a blood and fire-scarred road leading to a lost fortune in gangland money.

In his undercover persona of an easygoing California hot rodder, Pulaski finds himself swept up in a two-thousand-mile chase down the length of Route 66. From the concrete canyons of the Chicago Loop to the desert wastes of the Mojave, Kevin's only allies are a hot '57 Chevy and a hotter Colt .45.

Haunted Highway: The Spirits of Route 66, Ellen Robson and Dianne Halicki

Haunted Highway combines the love of America's favorite highway (Route 66) with true ghost stories or hauntings along its 2400 miles, starting in Chicago, covering all eight states, and ending in Santa Monica. In addition, each site has tourist information listed for those who wish to get their kicks with the spirits of Route 66!

The Grapes of Wrath (centennial edition), John Steinbeck (originally published in 1937)

The first and foremost Route 66-related story, this compelling tale traces the traumatic travels of the Joad family from Dust Bowl Oklahoma to the illusive Promised Land of California. Brutally vivid, The Grapes of Wrath was an instant bestseller at the tail end of the Depression and was the source of Route 66's appellation, "The Mother Road."