Book excerpt: Take a tour of Route 66 unlike any other, discovering the secrets, memorable characters, and little known stories behind many of the route’s enduring icons. Find the answer to the question, “Who was Ella Jones?” and pay a visit to a secluded cemetery that few road warriors even know exists. Learn why Hooker, Missouri, disappeared, and who murdered Billie Grayson in Chandler, Oklahoma. Did you know that a strongbox full of gold still lies buried near the Colorado River, or that tragedy hounds a tiny place in Arizona named after a cartoon? Is it true that ghosts and monsters lurk along the highway’s reaches? Do you know what a Walldog is, or whether nuclear weapons were once used to blast a path for the route? Get the answers in Secret Route 66: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure. Two of the historic highway’s most recognized authorities, Jim Ross and Shellee Graham, chronicle these and dozens of other tales as they peel away the layers of history to expose the weird, wonderful, and obscure of America’s Mother Road.