Mr. Shapiro co-authored The Blood Covenant with Rena Chynoweth, one of the 13 wives of polygamist cult leader Ervil LeBaron. Nicknamed the "Mormon Manson," LeBaron, ordered the murders of 2 dozen people, including members of his own family. The book, released by Diamond Books/Eakin Press, was the subject of a 1993 CBS made-for-TV movie, "Prophet of Evil: The Ervil LeBaron Story" starring Brian Dennehy, William Devane, and Tracey Needham.
Mr. Shapiro also co-authored the novelization of the critically acclaimed feature film, Belizaire the Cajun, a work of fiction set in the bayous of southern Louisiana in 1859. The novel, co-written with the film's director, Glen Pitre, was published in hardcover and trade paperback by Pelican Publishing Company of New Orleans in 1988.
His third book, Blondin, is a biography of the first man ever to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope in the mid-19th century. It was published by Vanwell Publishing Ltd. of St. Catherines, Ontario in 1990. 
His fourth book, The Eleventh Commandment, a suspense novel, was published in 2008 by PublishAmerica of Baltimore. How far will a reporter go to get a story? Tom Foster is about to find out. As the religion editor for a large daily newspaper, Tom goes undercover to expose a fanatical, polygamous cult leader suspected in the deaths of more than a dozen followers. He gets more than he bargained for when his own life is on the line, especially after he has fallen in love with one of the cult leader’s wives. Can Tom save her—and himself—when his deception is discovered? The answer comes after a tragic climax that shocks the world.
Mr. Shapiro’s fifth book is Historic Photos of Steamboats on the Mississippi by Turner Publishing. With paddle-wheels churning, tall smokestacks billowing, calliopes singing, and steam whistles sounding, the steamboats of the Mighty Mississippi proudly ruled the river. Some offered all the comforts of home (and more); others did the work for the industries that transformed the United States into the industrial giant it became. They carried presidents and kings, socialites and commoners, cotton and coal, lumber and steel. They enabled some of our nation’s major cities to grow and flourish. Told through historic photographs in these pages, the story of steamboats that plied the Mississippi and the glorious era they symbolized is vividly captured and enshrined for generations to come.
His sixth book is Historic Photos of Louisiana due out February 28, 2010 by Turner Publishing. From its founding in the early 1700s to the present, Louisiana has been one of the most fascinating and culturally diverse geographical areas on the North American continent. To many people, the name calls to mind images of sleepy bayous with moss-draped cypresses and the hot sounds of New Orleans–style jazz. But there is much more to “the Bayou State” than what exists in the popular perception. There exists a culture of hardworking people tilling the land, pulling fish and shrimp from the sea, staffing factories, and selling the fruits of their labors in the open marketplace. Louisiana is also a place where the joie de vivre—the “joy of life”—is celebrated like nowhere else. Both sides of this captivating locale, the work and the play, the struggles and the pleasures, are seen in the diverse, nearly 200 photographs showcased in this volume. Historic Photos of Louisiana is an entrancing look at this unique state.
He also ghostwrote Mackie Shilstone's Body Plan for Kids by Basic Media of Laguna Beach, CA.Mr. Shapiro contributed 375 entries to The American Spectrum Encyclopedia, a 16,000-entry, single-volume desktop reference work, was contracted by the American Booksellers Association through Harkavy Publishing Service of New York and released in 1991. He has also been contracted to write for several junior and senior high school history and geography textbooks in recent years.
Mr. Shapiro has been contracted to write essays and biographies for several junior and senior high school history and geography textbooks in recent years. He also is the author of ten screenplays, including Victim 341 which is loosely based on the Kim Groves murder he wrote about for the Crime Library website. Currently, he is working on a full-length nonfiction book on the same crime entitled Murder in the Lower Ninth. He has taught writing classes at the University of New Orleans and writes regularly for several New Orleans-area publications and websites.