The Road Out of Hell, Anthony Flacco
The Road Out of Hell, Anthony Flacco
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

The Road Out of Hell
Sanford Clark and the True Story of the Wineville Murders

Author: Anthony Flacco, Jerry Clark

Narrator: David Lee Garver

Unabridged: 10 hr 35 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/27/2026

Categories: Nonfiction, True Crime


Synopsis

From 1926 to 1928, Gordon Stewart Northcott committed at least twenty murders on a chicken ranch outside of Los Angeles. His nephew, Sanford Clark, was held captive there from the age of thirteen to fifteen, and was the sole surviving victim of the killing spree. Here, acclaimed crime writer Anthony Flacco—using never-before-heard information from Sanford's son, Jerry Clark—tells the real story behind the case that riveted the nation.

Forced by Northcott to take part in the murders, Sanford carried tremendous guilt all his life. Yet despite his youth and the trauma, he helped gain some justice for the dead and their families by testifying at Northcott's trial—which led to his conviction and execution. It was a shocking story, but perhaps the most shocking part of all is the extraordinarily ordinary life Clark went on to live as a decorated WWII vet, a devoted husband of fifty-five years, a loving father, and a productive citizen.

In dramatizing one of the darkest cases in American crime, Flacco constructs a riveting psychological drama about how Sanford was able to detoxify himself from the evil he'd encountered, offering the ultimately redemptive story of one man's remarkable ability to survive a nightmare and emerge intact.

About Anthony Flacco

Anthony Flacco is the author or coauthor of several works of fiction and nonfiction, including The Hidden Man, The Road Out of Hell, and the New York Times bestseller Impossible Odds. The holder of an MFA in screenwriting from the American Film Institute, he was selected for a prestigious Walt Disney Studios screenwriting fellowship, where he spent a year writing for the Touchstone Pictures division. He adapted his first nonfiction book, A Checklist for Murder, as a two-hour television movie script and sold it to NBC Studios for a movie of the week.
An experienced public speaker, Anthony frequently gives seminars on crime writing and is a featured speaker on writing for writers' conferences and clubs. He serves as an editorial consultant to Martin Literary Management in Seattle, Washington.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Paul on July 10, 2010

I've noticed some folks here on goodreads didn't enjoy this book. It's not any easy nor enjoyable read,far from it! But the fact that this kid could go through so much with his truly evil uncle,including being raped and molested.But STILL grow up to be a fine upstanding man and husband is REMARKABLE! To......more

Goodreads review by Carlos on November 24, 2017

This was such a tough book to read , not because it was badly written but because of its subject matter. The Wineville murders were unknown to me before I read this book, it is unbelievable to be able to comprehend how much suffering this guy went through at the hand of his uncle . This is a biograp......more

Goodreads review by Jack on October 15, 2022

This was such an upsetting read. Admittedly, before picking up a copy, I knew nothing about the Wineville Chicken Ranch murders. After reading this I only wish I stayed ignorant. What Sanford Clark went through was beyond horrible. 50 pages in I was ready to vomit I was so upset. The suspense in the......more

Goodreads review by Michelle on July 06, 2010

"I have never read a book like this in my life. When I finished, I wanted to crawl into a ball and sob but also wanted to throw up at the thought of everything that little boy had to suffer. I'm still shaken up by the book that my stomach is still churning several hours after finishing, but I wanted......more

Goodreads review by britt_brooke on January 30, 2026

Horrific story. As a fairly avid true crime reader, I was not previously aware of the 1920s Wineville, CA Murders. The content was worthwhile, but I was not a fan of this first-person nonfiction narrative format. Additionally, the audio voice for Northcott was creepy as hell. It felt sensationalized......more