The hitchhiker has been a central element of many a mid-century thriller, with the results of these rides ranging from hot sex to bloody murder, and several outcomes between. Above you see a cover for Jean Holbrook's Girl on the Run, and below is a collection of more paperback covers depicting various characters casting their fates to the road. Wish them luck—they’ll need it. And thanks to all the original uploaders on these.

Above is 1953’s Beyond the Law by Edward D. Radin, an author who used several pseudonyms to write a series of true crime books, the most famous of which was probably Lizzie Borden: The Untold Story. In that one he proposed that Clarice Blackburn was the murderer, and his theory about the crime was later adapted for a 1961 episode of the television show Armstrong Circle Theater. Beyond the Law is a collection of slightly more prosaic criminal case studies, but the Rafael DeSoto cover art is just sublime, so we had to share it.